(this is a rewritten publish because i was a dumbass and accidentally deleted the other response trying to fix a typo)

Oh my God, Anon, I have waited my entire life for this moment.

Where Joshua is usually openly physically affectionate with his members, Jihoon is generally averse to physical touch; however, no matter how playful, Joshua understands how to love someone sincerely without needing to touch. In this essay, I will—

HAVE YOU EVER CONSIDERED: how impossibly tender they are. how joshua is usually physically affectionate with how jihoon shys away from physical touch when he (see: seokmin and the playful way that jihoon still evades him after all this time, even if it's just for the bit). consider: someone who adapts to the way you love, reaches out first, but also waits to make sure you're comfortable with it before they do!! someone who extends a branch to you as if asking 'i want to touch, is that okay?', knowing you'll be flustered but trying anyway because what if this time, you're willing to meet them halfway? (see: https://x.com/BBYO_archive/status/1724014607864607090)

fandom likes to write jihoon as repressed, but have you ever considered how joshua is his perfect parallel in that he's one of the members with the strongest personas on stage? a mask, even? it makes it so that they are both such private people, but when you look at them, you see the way that the love overflows because no matter how much you willingly conceal, isn't love always the most obvious?

shua is always so gentle with him, but not like he thinks he's fragile. it's just impossibly tender; like overflowing love - teasing because you know that this much is okay, that this much will make him feel the love. and jihoon, on his own accord, will gravitate towards him HE HAS A CRUSH ON HIM

as a dynamic, they're so good for pining, they're so good for repressed love. they're so good for the dynamics of a lived in love that's built purely on: "i understand you, that's love itself." they're also so good for secret relationships because what is better than a love that you only see because you understand one another so well that you feel more than you see!!!

anyway, once again, rewriting that made me dizzy and feral, i hope u enjoyed my emotions being thrown up all over the floor, anon. ✨