So the opening of this episode is the ominous end of the last, asking about a ‘reply’ to his father, Seungho’s face took on that scary murderous look.

But, the episode is mostly occupied with Nakyum back in Seungho’s room. And what is he doing? Fantasizing about Seungho… much to his own chagrin.First, he’s mad at himself because his emotional defenses are crumbling faster that a sandcastle at high tide, and worse, this boner…

His mind is racing, because his fantasy of Seungho calling him Kyum came true, but this assertion from Heena floats back to his mind:

“Even if your feelings are true… they cannot be acted on. He will only bring you misfortune.”

And for the first time, Nakyum really starts processing (to us anyway) these feelings he has… and they are definitely feelings. It’s not just sex… Nakyum wants Seungho to hold him.

Nakyum’s feelings boil down simply to wanting be held by Seungho… and that leads us into what is in retrospect, one of the saddest sex scenes in all of POTN.

Seungho returns to the room to find Nakyum masturbating (and thinking about being called Kyum over and over), insensate and the logical conclusion to all their previous play begins to play out…One of my favourite moments between them in all of this story, is when Nakyum is lost in his own autoerotic pleasure, and the music box begins to play, and for a bit he doesn’t even notice. I expect it wove its way into the fabric of the fantasy he was having.

But when Seungho starts having sex with him, Nakyum senses something is wrong, we don’t get a sense of it beyond a few words, but perhaps its in a loss of playfulness, a loss of tenderness, a new roughness that hadn’t been present between them for a long time.

And while the scene plays itself out… you do get a sense of the erotic, until you the reader catch a glimpse of Seungho’s hand.

Seungho doesn’t focus on pleasure, Nakyum or his. This is something else. The look on Seungho’s face, made it look like he was trying desperately to escape a demon, using the only method he was familiar with.

The sex is over in seconds.

We are left wondering what the fuck message he sent to his father… he’s got that starey shit going on again, and it’s not good. I don’t think this is what either of them intended.

Editor’s Note: Apologies for the gratuitous shots of Seungho’s Back. It needs its own zip code. It needs its own soundtrack. It needs its own sovereignty. We should throw parades. We should write songs in tribute. We glorify its name. It should be enshrined in BL. (Sorry, just had to get that out there.)