dulcedays

ok but before we get to psychoanalyzing cheoljin do we not think the sex scenes are hot...minwoo being ALPHa when he tells cheoljin to open his mouth so he can kiss him (remember in the past cheoljin would tell minwoo to open his mouth when he was teaching him how to kiss, the REVERSAL yum)..cheoljin finally getting hot and bothered and into it and actually VOICING HIS DESIRES wowww. minwoo literally trying to carry cheoljin to have wallsex because he think of cheoljin as a delicate beautiful girl lmao

imo pretty straightforward why cheoljin is lying? minwoo is literally begging cheoljin to tell him the rumors are untrue, and cheoljin doesn't want minwoo to hate him. remember in prior chapters minwoo said that he KNEW that cheoljin was doing all kinds of things on the side but he never asked because he didn't want it to be true. from cheoljin's pov he probably thinks he needed to use his body to get something important? (he clearly didn't look like he was enjoying it lol). he views what he has with minwoo as something completely different and "pure" -- something that he compartmentalizes away from the "uglier" parts of his life.

tldr minwoo doesn't want to see the "ugly" parts of cheoljin still (still wants to live in a fantasy) -- in this way he's denying seeing cheoljin's full self. and ofc cheoljin won't reveal his full self because he thinks minwoo will hate him (+ cheoljin's philosophy of letting people see what they want to see ) like if minwoo asked - I want to understand why you did what you did - would cheoljin respond differently?

(once we get to cheoljin's pov I have a feeling that minwoo will seem very uncurious about him, like he's not interested in getting to know cheoljin more. I also have a theory that cheoljin was wrapped up in all kinds of shady things in the entertainment industry but then maybe something bad happened so that's why he quit being an idol? idk.)

minwoo = ship; cheoljin = ocean; sunbae = wind

especially when you remember how this ties back to minwoo being scared of the ocean!!)

minwoo has been put through difficult situations/been hurt because of cheoljin (basically, he's been a ship battered by the ocean). cheoljin's pov: a ship belongs on the sea, and it's expected for a ship to be damaged if it's traveling on the sea. basically, minwoo is meant to be with him, being hurt (?) in love and life is an expected part of the journey. (imo this is core to cheoljin's life philosophy: you suffer for those you care for. it's clear that he's suffered a lot for his family/those he cares about.) in fact, love is when you decide to do the difficult things for the person you care for.

sunbae's pov: yes, ships will be damaged on the ocean, but wouldn't it have been easier if the waves had been calmer? (Basically, did you have to hurt him so much? couldn't you have made the process easier?) also, if minwoo has been "damaged" and had to "heal/repair" himself, if so much of him has now been "replaced," is he still even the same person cheoljin thinks he is?

cheoljin prides himself on "knowing minwoo" and he always loved young minwoo's transparency and predictability -- it probably was so refreshing to him in his life. hence him being like clearly theseus' ship is the same ship. but you can tell sunbae's words have shaken him: what if minwoo HAS changed? what if minwoo doesn't want him anymore? and then, what if cheoljin/the sea has changed and he's become someone unloveable by minwoo?

ofc, cheoljin reacts by basically accusing the sunbae of being an interlocutor who has no business being there and is leading minwoo astray -- the "arrogant wind" (cheoljin's crazy eyes when he says this lmao) "I wonder how the ship will remember the journey" -- cheoljin is trying to claim that minwoo will ultimately remember this as all being worth it. BUT ofc he's rattled bc what if minwoo actually doesn't think cheoljin is worth it?? (somehthing so delicious about cheoljin being shaken...I am a pervert)

so excited for the next chapter. also what do we think minwoo chose? I wonder if it'll be an answer that's more in-between.

(if someone has raws pls link me.....)