(spoilers incoming) haruto was born out of a need of the way minho's character develops over the course of the story. before the twist in chapter 7, the reader is supposed to think minho is really well-adjusted and healed from the post-disbandment in contrast to jeongin. in chapters 2/3 he's kind of too perfect? at that point jeongin hiding his living situation is the only thing keeping the reader on the string of the narrative since the romantic chase is already over for minho and jeongin at this point. so in chapter 4, i needed to introduce sympathy for minho, otherwise his perceived lack of flaws would start to become really boring.

when i thought about how minho would want to explore his sexuality post-band, i didn't see him as someone who would learn about it online, rather that he would want to seek out actual communities and speak to real people, ideally older gays. it would be too risky to do that in korea, so japan was the obvious answer, considering he can speak the language. i also see minho as someone open to paying for professional services to be taught how to have sex correctly, rather than try to stumble through a series of relationships where he has no experience and no control over how it might end (with the threat of someone outing him to the media).

i did some research on japanese male prostitution and came across an article about 'urisen', and that's how i got the idea for haruto. he was his early 20's (while minho was 31 at this point in the timeline) and orphaned, so the urisen was like his family and support system. he did like being a sex worker when the clients were nice, so any of minho's attempts to 'rescue' him from that life would have ultimately failed. i can't remember if it's implied in the fic but it certainly is in the snippet i wrote, that he was a drug-user and that was ultimately the cause of his death. regardless, he was intelligent, though maybe not super book smart, and very savvy with a petulant, moody streak, so even though minho was initially drawn to him because of his appearance, minho definitely fell in love with haruto as a person and his personality.

if you can imagine a french film about a tragic romance, with intimate, quiet, almost uncomfortable cinematography - that is the vibe of minho and haruto's relationship. it was very raw and very emotional, for minho especially. he felt responsible for the disbandment of the band, believed he was the cause of jeongin cutting everyone off, he felt guilty for losing contact with the rest of the guys (not because he didnt want to, because, at that time, he can't stomach it)... on the on the other hand, he was desperate for this new experiences, to explore his sexuality after it got put on hold when jeongin was fired, lgbtq+ history was becoming something he had a serious interest in. he was very aware that it was unhealthy, borderline dangerous, but at the time it was kind of the one good thing he had, and he was clinging onto it.

at some point, i think minho probably realised he was doing the same thing that jeongin did with his secret relationship years previous. the experience with haruto helped minho understand why jeongin would make all those stupid decisions when there was so much at risk.

haruto also allowed minho to feel and outlet some of his emotions through their sessions and their time together, whether from the pleasure being so good, or haruto playing (consensual) cruel bedroom games with him. this was a very healing experience for minho. and its why minho feels like he's only able to emotionally communicate and connect with jeongin through sex in the fic, and why outside of the bounds of the bedroom, minho constantly dodges talking about what happened between them in the past.

but yeah, minho breaking down when he shows jeongin the polaroid in chapter 4 is supposed to be the first time the reader realises that there's something more under the surface of what's going on with minho. after chapters 5/6, that feeling of unease around what the hell happened with minho's backstory should grow. and then chapter 7 happens and jeongin says "you ruined my life" which should be the exact freeze frame moment the whole story flips on its head.

thank you for the great question!!!!