I just want to know

I think tj is deeply in love with Ian, more like an obsession of whats his rather than the actual Ian (that what see & feel for now) but is also codependent on him, he love that Ian sees him only hence why he tries to engrave himself in Ian mind, twisted as it is thats tj real for ian. With Ian, I think there is a point where he did fall for tj and had a heated affection for him but after so long in not putting a label and how tj still prefers power, he kind just fell out of it but still cares for him because that all he knows. But really, we don't have any confirmation especially on Ian part. And we don't have any communication, since S2 started, present time they only met two times and it lead to nothing but sex, with Ian saying for the last met up was that it just felt like two beast licking each other wounds and using sex to forget their real life issues for a small moment. The rest of their scenes are just flashbacks currently (up to ch58)

Good point. Thank you for the response! They don’t have a proper conversation for us to clearly judge yet. I know some people already think Ian loves TJ or Vice versa but it’s hard to exactly say that is true or not true.

I can’t say it’s not true because I don’t know for sure, Vice versa.

I think it's romantic, since Ian did answer "There is..." when Jo asked him if there was someone he loved and they were talking about romance. I don't think it's clearly unambiguously stated anywhere tho. TJ's feelings were romantic since the beginning while Ian treated him as a friend. Might be that he only dated women up to that point?? That's what I got from only seeing him with women and from TJ thinking it's impossible that Ian would leave with David, not sure tho. Ian knew and knows that TJ's love is romantic (confirmed during their season 1 fight, kinda). Or if he didn't consider it as love in the past (16 years ago) then at least he was aware that TJ was attracted to him.

It's hard to decipher where the line between love and attachment is with them, like how do you even define that.

I'd say that the "wretched fate" lines could dictate that it's romantic. Since Ian likes Jo's eyes (those eyes that 'make his heart weak'), and during the confession scene (Jo has the same expression again) he compares the look in Jo's eyes to how TJ would look at him and "It made me want to test my wretched fate one more time. Even if it ends up laughing at me again". And then when he decides to come back to TJ's side it's "Even if my wretched fate ends up laughing at you and me..." So if we consider Jo's confession scene as a possible beginning for a romantic relationship then it would imply that the relationship with TJ is romantic too. Seems like he just thinks they're doomed, he's doomed.

In the newest chapter Ian was asked about the homophobia in Asian gangs so maybe we'll get something more about how they deal with their sexuality or why they never put a label on it.

Ahhh I don't really agree. TJ liked Ian /before/ he was "his" in any way. And he wasn't "his" for a long time. And I'm not sure what do you mean with "Ian sees him only", it's not true in like a physical sense since they both have/had other partners. And it feels more like he's trying to engrave Ian in his mind than the other way around, even before he disappeared he said a line like that. I don't think TJ prefers power really since he joined the gang pretty much for Ian, I interpret it as him wanting power because power is protection. And even if that would be his motivation, Ian recognizes that that's what keeps /him/ alive. I don't feel like either of them fell out of it, that's subjective tho. I wouldn't say their season 2 interaction was only smut. Besides the fact that it was probably one of the more intimate smut scenes, it was pretty much a continuation of their last scene in season 1 - Ian devoting himself to TJ, pledging to stay at his side and kill ppl who threaten them, and TJ trying to keep Ian away from the gang (to keep him safe and to not let Ian become a monster).

“I don't think TJ prefers power really since he joined the gang pretty much for Ian”—But is that what Ian wants? Did he wish for that? Probably not. I think both of them were dragged into it obviously, but I doubt Ian wants TJ to risk himself for him. Vice versa.

Even if both of them has had other partners, they’re still very physical with each other and only have each other in their mind.

Ian also said, “There was…” after saying “There is…”
He thinks he’s poetic jk.

And thank you for taking the time to write back a response, appreciate your view. And yeah, this is a very codependent and complex relationship with ambiguous responses.

I think you read properly than me. Even if I read, I have short term memory so that’s that. Honestly I even forgot half of what I wrote in my post so don’t mind that lol.

I just find it hard to point it as romantic love or platonic. They’ve spent so many years together that sometimes people can confuse love for another in which Ian and TJ both didnt have familial love. But I do believe that Ian has feelings for TJ at some point and as years passed by, he got used to his feelings and with their codependent relationship, he probably doesn’t mind it being like this forever even if he can’t ever confess due to their environment.

"But is that what Ian wants?" Not like they had much of a choice. And they were doing work for the gang before anyways. Obviously Ian didn't want TJ to risk himself but Ian himself was already in a bad situation.

Hahaha yeah. Doyak said this scene is "where Ian blurts out his true feelings without realizing it and then hides it again" (but that's machine translated so pls don't quote me on that)

Thanks for replying too, I enjoy it!

I forgot most of it too honestly, that's why I decided to re-read it. I recommend doing that, I noticed a lot of details and connections that I missed before or forgot about. But yeah, I'm only able to point out a lot of scenes and quote them because I'm re-reading the story now and literally making notes sksk I'm trying to piece together the flashbacks and they're sometimes spread out through like three chapters with 20 chapters in-between. There's single scenes in some of the early chapters that I forgot about completely by the time they came back in a longer flashback.

Yeah, same! It's hard to pinpoint what would count as romantic and what would count as platonic, the line is probably blurred for them too. I'm interested in what they'll say about the homophobia, since Jason and Ian have been pushing TJ to marry because it's expected of him.

You're repeating what I'm saying at most. When I said "Ian only sees him" I meant that's what tj loves, for Ian to only look and depend on him.
Now him wanting power for protection still equals him preferring power because he does have power but he did not help Ian despite of it (him sending Ian to jail when he had enough power to prevent it; if he want help Ian he could've sent him to rehab or therapy).
I didn't say their scene was only smut I said it always lead to smut aka ending in smut rather than something else that would progress their relationship better.

Also I'm tried of seeing ppl saying "tj trying keep Ian away from the gang" when he's the damn reason Ian in the gang and the reason Ian is in danger in the first place. tj kept trying to bring him back to the gang.

Ok! I get it!
Honestly I'm still not sure about why he sent Ian to jail, I hope we'll get some more insight in that.
I think their smut scenes say a lot about them and still lead to something. The only way to progress more would be a very sincere conversation but I don't see it happening with either of them.

Well he wanted Ian to be in the gang with him because Ian needed protection and money. TJ literally sacrificed his career to make it happen. And if TJ didn't ask Jason to let Ian in too then Ian would be all alone and/or in danger. Ian was already in a bad situation and it wasn't TJ's fault. And now he's in danger whether he's in the gang or not, his safety depends on TJ, he says so himself. Also TJ realized during the car crash that it's better to keep Ian away so he keeps him away now, while Ian is unhappy about it. And still Ian is in danger, we're literally waiting for Jamie to make his move.

Update for you!
Spoilers for the new chapter.

Ian was the one who made the first move and "crossed the line".

What is this one referring to? I forgot what I typed

Ohh. Is this the part after Ian was possibly raped by the other dude? And TJ found out I believe or he hasn’t yet?

Ah sorry! For your overall question and "Someone who read raws said that the way Ian looked at TJ isn’t the same as how TJ looked at him." Since I kinda described their past relationship.

Yes. We got more flashbacks. I don't know how much spoilers you want tho sksk But I believe it's basically: them working for Jang -> David (the other dude) -> Ian's addiction (Ian is aware of TJ's attraction at that point) -> David again and TJ finding Ian passed out -> TJ asking Jason to get them into K35 and getting the scar while protecting Ian -> David's death (not by TJ) -> TJIan first time initiated by Ian.

We don't know what Ian was thinking tho, I hope we'll get his internal monologue at some point. But TJ was reluctant while Ian was the one pushing for it and reassuring him that he's sober and knows that he's crossing the line and there's no coming back.

That is a simple bad way put it. Despite Ian going to tj it's obvious it's due to trauma response. Saying he cross the line is not right because tj noticed Ian triggering response as "withdrawal". So Ian didn't "cross the line".

It's not... Obvious. In any way. That's why I said I want more of his monologue. He is clearly determined and aroused. Why? That's not something we know as of now.

And TJ is in doubt. The 'withdrawal' line is his thoughts, his overthinking. It isn't supposed to be taken as fact, it's supposed to be taken as TJ being worried that Ian isn't able to consent, that Ian isn't thinking clearly. Which Ian denies repeatedly. He states he's sober and that he isn't under any influence.

The "crossing the line" conversation on the other hand is literally explicitly acknowledged by both parties. It's TJ making sure that Ian knows what he's doing and knows the consequences. And Ian says he does.

I never stated it /has to be/ romantic. But Ian is the one who came onto TJ and the one that decided to cross the line. TJ didn't try to take advantage of Ian. Ian made the decision. That's just facts.

I looked at the 'withdrawal' part again and at that point it's also TJ being surprised. He didn't expect Ian to do that, so he's looking for a logical explanation. I think Ian said that he didn't take drugs only once but did so steadfastly. What I said earlier still applies too tho.

I don't understand why you want to undermine Ian's autonomy. He's not a kid, he understands what he's doing and he makes it clear. TJ already asked all the questions in that chapter and Ian cleared all those doubts. He literally put in all the work to convince TJ and somehow it's not enough? Saying he didn't cross the line when he himself acknowledged that he's doing just that... Let him make his decisions.