#like how Hyuna almost ALWAYS wears sunglasses around Mizi

[celestialstage]

[This is part two of a larger post, part one is here.]

(MAJOR spoiler warning!)

I’m going to shift away from Round 6 momentarily, because this moment in round 3 is incredibly important, and you really can’t talk about Ivan and Till’s relationship without talking about Black Sorrow.

The second time (again, chronologically) Ivan and Till meet each others gaze is in Round 3, when they’re running away together. Up until this point, Till has been shown only from Ivan’s perspective, only looking past him instead of at him.

But here, they look up at each other. Because even if Till doesn’t realize it, they’re in the same boat. They’re both two scared teenagers who can’t imagine a life without the person they love, their reason for living, their god.

And so they stay.

These last two moments of connection between the two are the exception, not the rule though. This is no Mizi and Sua.

When Ivan teases Till in this scene, he just glances away. Because even if they care about each other, they don’t understand each other fully. Ivan reaches out, but Till only has eyes for Mizi, so the connection is severed.

These two are just never on the same page with each other. Even if Till considers him a friend, he doesn’t truly see how Ivan feels about him. Even if Ivan loves Till, he can’t see that Till values his friendship even if he doesn’t love him romantically.

Even when Ivan is cradling Till in his arms, his eyes are shut. He’s just completely oblivious to Ivan’s feelings.

That is, until Ivan kisses him. And they stare each other dead in the eye, for the last time.

And Ivan just weakly smiles. Because Till finally knows. Even if he hates him forever, he can’t avert his gaze from this. Till finally sees him.

(Sorry if these posts are somewhat incoherent can you tell I drafted them at midnight.)