#this is about patink ig

[transpat]

bad buddy's storytelling is so grounded in their present it barely gives us snippets into their past to clue together how they feel about the other (like when exactly pran fell and how pat too had been in love all along) and then there's other things that aren't clearly explained but if u think about it along w the facts we were presented it suddenly does.

like pat and ink. through out ep 4 and 5 it was the only thing i could think about bc i understand them not dating bc ink's a lesbian but that pat hadn't tried at all? that he never confessed before? i mean after pran left, ink was still there, she was w him for two years so why hadn't he ever made a move? it makes sense if u look at the 'pat's always been in love' perspective. both times, his interest in ink arose bc of her (possible) proximity to pran and while he did like her, his romantic interest started as misdirected jealousy. so it makes perfect sense that his feelings would disappear as soon as pran was removed from the equation. not just his jealousy but pat had projected his crush on pran to others too, and he did like those girls he dated in the past he's not that kind of asshole (it is possible to like more than one person at a time too so). but from the beginning for him, it's always been pran.

that's why pran being removed from his life makes him lose interest in the girl he likes so drastically he doesn't bother pursuing her. or maybe he still liked her but didn't care enough to try. or maybe he was so heartbroken he forgot everyone, everything else.

in ep 5 after he realizes w an irrefutable certainty that he's in love w pran, his first impulse is to turn to ink and confess to her. he's testing it out, seeing if those feelings for ink were ever there, and if they were, was it strong enough to make him care. she gives him the answer to both.

but turning to ink is also that one rare instance of pat running away, of pat choosing cowardice. he's at a stage rn w pran where pran doesn't even want to be friends w him, so what happens if pran finds out he's in love? since their separation pat's had this deeply rooted fear of losing pran and then realizing he loved pran and could possibly lose him was like ripping band-aid off a fresh wound. like a knee jerk reaction, he tries to rid of anything that could possibly snatch pran from him. he's done that in the past, he recognizes that now. each time he'd redirect his feelings for pran on some other girl was so that pran wouldn't grow distant from him, and he knows that w time he'd start to genuinely like her so he doesn't think what he's doing is wrong. but ink rejects him and hauls him back to his senses.

that's why i love that whole scene so much. we see pat, who's usually such a selfless, rational, good person, become someone selfish, senseless and cruel. previously we saw how far he goes in helping pran bc he's afraid to lose him, but a desperation that strong obv has an ugly edge, his unresolved insecurities would naturally fester. he's lucky it was ink, lucky it was one of his best friends. if it was someone who didn't know him that well, he would have made a mistake. if it was someone who was interested him that way, he would have hurt them. but its ink, who knows who understands. so he's relieved when she turns him down, she saved him.

ik ink's known about pranpat for a while, but during the hotpot date when she asks pat if he ever liked her at all, u realize she's known all along. that pat's initial interest in her was born out of his need to separate her from pran and even this time he simply fell into the same rabbit hole. pat did like her in the past and he liked pran at the same time. things were different now. pran was much closer to him than he's ever been, pran's been letting pat into his room, even let him stay the night, and now pat doesn't want anything else.

ink's been the one person who saw their story beyond the façade they were putting up, she's the one who provided them a safe space to nurture their friendship in school and their romance in college, she's the steady support they'd dearly needed. she's so important to the story and particularly to pranpat, and to see a female character in bl written as the bridge that brought the leads together, the catalyst that pushed them into action, instead of some pathetic, poorly written obstacle was refreshing and wonderful. (they even gave her a gf as a bonus!!) ik the story was centered heavily on pranpat and i love that the leads were the focus of their own show, esp since they're such wonderful characters, but if we get a sequel or spinoff god i hope they center it on her i wanna know everything about ink.