beta
I understand how everyone's bothered by this and I'll start my comment by establishing that I am in fact part of the Jaekyung hate club and screamed in the comment section multtiple times before, so it's not that I'm defending, jic.
However to logically dissect this, there are two points that make this sex different than the ones before and make us NOT back at square one.
1)The power dynamics here shifted. Before, Dan was forced to have sex for the payment for his grandma's hospital bills. He didn't get a say in the matter or a say in how it was done, and his mentality convinced him he can't either. On the other hand, it might not look this way rn cause Jaekyung hates not being in control so much he exudes so much false confidence (and it seems to work since y'all convinced this is square one again) but he's not the one in control in this situation, it's Dan. He's the one who needs Dan, he's the one trying (but can't wait for it to be even more desperate and pathetic) to make Dan come back, and he's the one who stands to lose in this situation. You may think Dan is overpowered again, but nah. He's the one who suggested it, and while ik someone will say "but he was forced to, to get rid of him because he's stalking and harassing him" no guys he really wasn't forced to use that method at all. Also Dan has a lot of dirt on this bitch he could've used any of them to push him away completely.
2) This is the first time we see Jaekyung taking his time with foreplay and all to give Dan pleasure instead of solely focusing on his own. He thinks he's doing this to prove a point, but with Dan"s repeated rebuttals it only proves how delulu he is and how he's just in denial at his own feelings towards Dan. He doesn't realize this, so his inner monologue seems disjointed, but he does admit Dan us different to him than the ones before. And this sex scene is not rape, I'll stand on this hill tbh.
We /are/ seeing character development in both characters, it's just not at the level everyone wants yet because it's not logical to go from 0 to 100 in so little time without triggers, too. If you go back and reread early chapters you'll see Dan was different and Jaekyung was also different than what they are now. Give it time, I'm trying to also hope that the road for Jaekyung redemption is still ongoing, and I'm glad Dan isn't giving in. I think it was intentional and metaphoric that this sex scene is from Jaekyung's pov and we are deprived of Dan's.