Oh. Oh, poor Tae-gun. Huuuuug. Such hug, and petting.

"Checking my answers is fine? I - dungeon metaphor, apparently I only know how to think in these things now - I'm not bothered if you don't agree with my tactical conclusions or want me to explain them. The problem's when... I guess it's when the hell iPhone autocompletes what looks like my logic that it - hurts. Because my hell iPhone goes, 'Ah, yes, that's what he actually thinks of you and your logic,' because, um. I am also a mess. Sorry."

Another giggle-hiccup. "Yeah."

"You're both huge messes," says a teleporting Woo-young—

He doesn't screech because, one, it'd be undignified, and two, he's hugging Hye-jin, but he very definitely jumps.

"We have just established that, thank you," snorts Hye-jin, amused.

"But since I'm so nice I got you bingsu anyway," he says, offering them a bowl each with their favourite toppings.

"You're a dick."

...but he's not gonna say no to bingsu.

"Thank you, Woo-young-oppa. But yes I agree."

"It's a gift."

And he vanishes again.

Well trust Woo-young to be a dick and nevertheless make Tae-gun stop crying and feeling sorry for himself.

"I trust you, Hye-jin-ah. And I—it was scary to engage. It still is. And I, I know it doesn't justify the, the, um, but I just. I don't think you're—those things you said." ...Lee Tae-gun she literally just said that "absence of criticism isn't the same as positive regard", surely you can hold this in your working memory for three minutes. "I think you're smart, and competent, and kind, and thoughtful, and—even before I was—able to talk about this, when it was just you and Woo-young—I would've trusted whatever you decided to do."

"Oh." Yeah, she had no idea he would have trusted her whatever she decided to do. He - mostly seemed like he was trying very hard not to engage, not. Trusting her with his once-love's final fate. "Thank you. I appreciate that." She kisses his forehead. "A lot."

Well he was also trying very hard not to engage, but the only reason he felt like he could do that rather than set himself on fire and engage anyway was because he trusted her.

"So, u-um. I think that was. All. I was thinking about."

Yeah, that distinction is not clear to anyone besides him, and maybe Woo-young.

"Okay. I think we managed to cover most of my stuff over that, though I can still give you that emotional overview?"

"Yeah. I think I—no, I know I'm really bad at—that—I'm not autistic though—"

(Si-yeon can be heard cackling from the living room.)

("Sometimes I wonder if you even listen to yourself, hyung.")

("I think we have conclusively established that he does not.")

...he hates esper senses so much.

"A-anyway, I'm bad at this, so—yeah, I think it'd help."

"Okay. ... But you are absolutely autistic though." Forehead kiss. "I am too! Probably! Anyway, uh."

("I have to say thinking he's not displays sort of astonishing amounts of unselfawareness.")

Fuuuuck yooooooou.

...he likes the forehead kiss though, he'll keep that.

"Go away we're having feelings~!" calls Hye-jin in a playful singsong, before she lowers her voice to something only Tae-gun can hear.

"My emotional state... it's... ... I don't know how to explain it, like, um. Thinking something would be easier to handle than it actually turned out to be, or that - thinking this shit wouldn't affect my life as much as it does, but. It did. It. Just. Turned out to affect basically every single facet of my life, was sitting in the back of my mind every single moment, and, I. I was the only one coming up with ideas." Shrug. "And turns out I wasn't enough, see: how I got shot in the head. So. Current emotional state is 'all of the suffering I did amounted to absolutely nothing, and now I'm being asked to do it some more and I'm trying but I really can't.'"

...okay he's gonna have to put his bingsu down so he can properly hug her again.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry I couldn't come up with ideas. I'm—sorry you felt like you couldn't count on me. ...I'm sorry that you actually couldn't."

Leaaan.

"I mean, I also - didn't come to you about anything downstream of the problem, either. Because that felt too close to the thing that was shutting you down and causing you such pain. So. My housing woes and - everything else -" she shrugs again.