ooo yes, love that you caught that! i DO think they have a hard time understanding each other. i think with binsung it manifests where they're just different people who are really alike in some ways and not others. like their goals are insanely aligned when it comes to work and creativity, but not so much when it comes to their interpersonal dynamics. a past anon said "a lot of early jisung's worst traits just made no sense to (changbin)" which i love -- like that's really the gist of it, they can't interpret each other well. they don't necessarily know how to read each other because they would make different decisions from each other, and that leads to some confusing moments of misunderstanding or tension between them.

i also think there's an underrated on-screen off-screen dynamic for them that leads to tension specifically on camera that might not be there otherwise. like we all know about Jisung's Skinship ThingTM, but we also know that when changbin tried to work on it OFF camera that jisung got embarrassed by it. and we also know that changbin asks for attention off camera; like when he would come home from the gym and show jisung his body and do aegyo and ask jisung to praise him -- he would literally not get caught dead doing that on camera. whereas, with jisung, he is really desperate for changbin to prove his love on camera, and changbin actually genuinely (endearingly) likes to keep that mostly off-camera and then tells us about it randomly sometime later.

i think a lot about how changbin's reaction to jisung's on-camera antics is usually just holding very still and letting jisung do what he wants until jisung runs out of steam. like they have such a weird dynamic because jisung is just SO sensitive to changbin and changbin is hyper-aware of that. if he just holds still and lets jisung do what he wants, then mission accomplished. i actually think this is why a lot of their little moments are really cute physical bits together where they mimic each other and dance with each other and play that way, because there's no pressure to perform any kind of joke where the other person doesn't know where it's going and neither of them will be embarrassed... like jisung getting embarrassed when he leans their foreheads together, or tries to get changbin to play along with a kiss only to scream when he actually does, or changbin trying to joke and jisung getting pouty, etc etc.

it's actually so cool because i got this before neospring crashed and i didn't answer it in time, but in the meantime, bom wrote this exact perfect paragraph in her binsung fic, learning curve:

Jisung sighs, staring up at the ceiling. He thinks the shade of white is different from the one in his own bedroom, off by about six colors. He thinks of all the times he and Changbin glide right by each other, living in different shades, barely touching along their edges, but close enough that from a distance it looks like the same paint.

i think that's the perfect metaphor for them. they are kind of opposites, especially in the way they approach interpersonal relationships, but they're seemingly so similar that their differences get overlooked. nearly the same! but not quite. which is why i think they're not a perfect opposites attract trope and why people don't trope them like that. but i am me, so i'd love to see it regardless asdkfjk

WAHHH GREAT QUESTION. i agree, re: babying and babied chan. i think chan really changes things between them. he makes binsung so much stickier than they are when it's just them. 3racha is really its own solar system in a way, right. all these inside jokes and established dynamics that feed off each other plus their aligned work flow and goals. binsung are way more bro-y and less careful with each other when chan is there -- like i think this is a more authentic peek into how they are with each other off camera than them interacting one-on-one, simply because chan alleviates the expectation and attention of any moment they're stuck in together. chan is SUCH a good temperature gauge because he can sort of... steer them at times. if jisung is going too hard, he can reel him in or if changbin is moody, he can tease him out of it. not that i think binsung are incapable of that on their own, but things are SOOO much more malleable with chan there.

changbin is way more willing to indulge chan than he is jisung, and jisung finds it really easy to be sincerely obsessed with chan in a way that he could never be with changbin simply because the embarrassment would kill him. i love love when binsung band together to tease chan. i think changbin is much more likely to following jisung's directive in a 3racha setting, like when jisung ropes him into messing with chan. changbin doesn't initiate a ton of that stuff, but he will go along with it, and that's such a sweet spot with both jisung and chan, they both really love when changbin plays along with them.

actually i just ran into this video because i'm rounding up all my binsung tweets, but during a stage game jisung gets annoyed because changbin can't guess what he's saying and he goes to jokingly choke changbin out, and changbin looks at CHAN who is sitting there watching them and smiles at HIM. like idk, it's like a electric circuit where the current has to go through all the parts to make a full loop, they're just in tune with each other in a way binsung on their own struggle to be.

as a trio they've really practiced and learned each other's boundaries so they can figure out their work and interpersonal flow, and i think that does bleed into binsung's dynamic as well because they understand the work they have to put into understanding each other and it's worth it to do that. it's just that binsung on their own have different approaches and expectations, but chan bridges that gap with his understanding of them both.

i do think within the idol system, there's an expectation that you won't always be the best and other people will have greater strengths than you, so i think jisung was prepared for that reality in some way hence not really being jealous, but the competitive nature of the system helped him focus in a specific way as he honed his skills. but then the flipside of being a creative genius was this like excruciating interpersonal dynamic he had with basically everyone sdklfj love his little anecdote in the jilix 2kr where he told felix he asked changbin how to talk to him because jisung didn't know where to begin.

i definitely think changbin has been an influence on jisung in all those ways, but i also think they're really different in the way they pursue things. part of jisung's arc has kind of been learning that. trying things different ways and learning what works for him, especially with self-discipline and, seemingly, his mental health.

i think a lot of my noodling relies heavily on assumption so you can disregard this but i personally love the idea that changbin "avoiding" jisung was him deciding that actually he couldn't help jisung or hold him to his standard and that created distance between them when maybe he was genuinely trying to mentor him before. but it's like SO much energy to pour into one guy when you have 6(/7) others that make the entire team. and in that time, changbin realized he wasn't really in a position to scold jisung and jisung chilled out a little more and figured out the dynamic he needed to have with others and that change kinda booted them into this fascinating space of closeness that they're navigating now 🧐

YEAH i totally agree about predebut and rookie years impacting their relationship, like changbin has talked at length about how he settled the dongsaengs fights for them and while the wording is vague but from what we have heard about their fights, i do assume that he's mostly talking about JISUNG'S fights. like it takes a lot to be the guy who is smoothing things out when jisung literally won't stop fighting with the others. i love changbin admitting that he lied to the members separately about the other person apologizing so they would stop being mad. at the end of the day, he's only a year older than these other boys LMFAO

another roman empire of mine is in their 2kr when they're talking about skinship and jisung wanting changbin's love where changbin is like "when i was avoiding you, you thought i hated you?" and that wording is really so important to me, like imagining a time where changbin was so genuinely fed up with jisung's shit that he was like idk you're not my responsibility so do your own thing, and then them having to navigate that "break" in their relationship and come back from it in a way that was genuine for them. i think jisung complaining in the 2020 varieties about changbin not giving him attention was his way to try to control changbin keeping his distance, but obviously i have no real concept of that timeline! just that they got infinitely hornier in 2021.

i LOVE how you said "can't bring himself to baby jisung" because i think that's such a huge part of how they interact with each other as well. i think changbin won't spoil jisung because jisung's ego and what changbin perceives as his ego. changbin has a hard time playing into it when jisung wants to be the center of attention and he has a habit of pulling away if jisung wants to rope him into fanservice. like part of changbin doesn't want to indulge jisung for his own reasons, and IT MAKES ME CRAZYYYYY LMAO actually that's one of my favorite things about them, because when they do play along and when they do something sweet or cute or horny it's like the ultimate indulgence and it makes them both smile so dopey and blush and be super weird like. that's beautiful. THE TENSION.

my real answer is that changbin is really cool and has his shit together professionally and is effortlessly confident in a way most people genuinely aren't, and i think jisung really admires those things about changbin and really wants changbin to reciprocate that admiration. basically jisung thinks changbin is COOL and wants changbin to think he's COOL too. and sometimes skinship is kinda cringe and being vulnerable is worse and they get weird about sincerity with each other, which makes things awkward. like if you don't know if it's serious or a joke... i think they're both REALLY aware of the other person's temper as well. it seems like they're pretty sensitive around each other, which adds to how hard it is to know how to approach each other.

i ALSO think there's a thing where changbin does consider his relationship with jisung fundamentally different from the relationships he has with the other dongsaengs. and i'm not sure if it's because they're in 3racha, or because he had to help jisung with his relationships with the others, or because he and jisung have fought before... but my biggest guess is their 3racha dynamic, and imo for changbin to not dote on jisung and not baby him as they work together in a professional sense and for the team, he has to remove jisung from the baby zone in his head. but i think jisung genuinely enjoys being in the baby zone. he's whined about changbin not doting on him SO many times. he enjoys being 3racha maknae. so it's like this fundamental difference in what they want from their relationship with each other in a way.

i think if they were actually brotherly, they would be able to figure it out easier LMAO like it wouldn't matter, there wouldn't be that tension. that's why chan can SAY "my little brother felix" but it means next to nothing in the grand scheme of chanlixisms, there's that ambiguous tension that keeps the ship intrigue. i feel that way about binsung, the fact that they can't figure out their easiest dynamic with each other and the fact that there's tension where they're constantly trying to navigate each other's reactions is deeply compelling to me.

also on a less serious note but as a shipper, OBVIOUSLY the reason they have such a hard time with skinship is that they're so insanely horny for each other, they have no idea how far they can let things get between them before it's too obvious that they want to turn each other inside out.

NOT THE HUG i'm cryinggg honestly the hug itself, as a singular event, is kind low on my binsung ranking simply because it was straight forward. there was cause for it, it was celebratory and something you would expect in that situation. but the hug's Impact, the Lore, the Meta... so meaningful that changbin would like... see jisung needing comfort and commit to it for SO long on stage just to soothe his precious dongsaeng. then it spawning an entire fundamental dynamic moment -- inspiring how we translate literally all their interactions... it's rare that ships have a singular moment of definition like that. not like the big bang, but like the first creature walking on land -- monumental and propelling us towards more complex arrangements...

like the FIRST thing i think of is that one 210809 live changbin did where he talked about jisung and their skinship -- of course that's inspired by the hug lore! but god he spent SO long how jisung was so cute all the time, and how he treated jisung cutely and would tickle his chin, AND how he actually did do more skinship with jisung, but jisung was the one who got flustered and wouldn't let him. then he realized that he still didn't try skinship with jisung as much as other members and he was like sorry hanie..........

it makes me crazy, especially from the angle of like... the skinship thing was such a set up for jisung just because he wanted to be the center of attention, and he wanted skinship publicly, and he wanted changbin to do it more -- but ultimately jisung wanted skinship because it translated something specific to the fans -- proof he is loved by this person. but when it came down to it changbin was like completely unwilling to do it publicly while jisung begged for it, but he DID do it privately and jisung couldn't handle it!! and like the... shrinking from it privately because it's harder to accept when it's actually just them makes me so fucking crazy. changbin admitting that he did it more so jisung wouldn't be as awkward. years later it's still a hurdle they haven't overcome because it was such a roadblock for so long.... the way their touch cannot be careless or thoughtless, but can be impulsive and impactful is like the CRUX of so much of their physical tension. even when they're trying to do something naturally, they are always weighing how it's been seen and viewed by others but ALSO how it's being interpreted by each other... RAAAAAH crazymaking!!!