Curate, connect, and discover
He really did want to pretend for a moment that everything was normal between them. I feel like he also just really misses having ppl who care. During the Mingle game, when he goes off to “find another group”, we can clearly see how happy everyone in his group was when he survived. Jung bae literally hugs him when he finally sees him and everyone is smiling and it’s just SO sweet. Inho might have money and power and stuff but in the end, being the frontman is really fucking lonely. Everyone obeys because they have to. They’re around because they need to be. Because he holds power. The games gave him a moment to be normal again. And he cherished it for as long as he could.
like ok heres the thing. inho infiltrated the games to earn gihuns trust and then break him and get him on his side right. ok. but he didnt have to do everything he did.
like, he didnt have to defend him so threateningly against player 100 (arguably... possessively... like bro he aint going NOWHERE calm your ass DOWN!!!) or like, he didnt have to call him 'gihun', he couldve, SHOULD HAVE, called him 'hyung', but he calls him fucking??? gi-hun-shi?????? INSANE BEHAVIOUR.
he didn't HAVE to smile at him then, so bright-eyed. he didn't have to share his tragic backstory. he didn't even have to fucking help him with the revolution, he didn't have to shoot his guards he could've pretended to be a terrible shot. he could've betrayed him anytime and yet chose to maintain his mystery until he got away from gi-hun and FAKED HIS DEATH. like what possibly could he gain from this?? gi-hun must find out who he is sooner or later, who cares if it's sooner??
HE CARES. HE. CARES. whether you view them romantically or not, in-ho CARES. there's a piece of him that plays into this entire inner conflict that makes him CARE. FOR GI-HUN. HE CARES FOR GI-HUN even to SOME degree. and that is INSANE to me.