Hi! first of all sorry for the delay, I finally figured out the interview you were talking about and got to watch the video! it was soo insightful thank you for putting that on my radar.

I think that moment fits extremely well in the narrative I've created in my mind for them!! which is not to be taken too seriously, I just love making up scenarios

Kei loves being loved and that's one of the reasons why he likes being around people like Euijoo (and in a way the same works for Jo too imo), who adore him so openly.
He likes feeling like they can rely on him, likes that they look up to him. And I think he cares deeply for all of them, in his way. But I also think being vulnerable with them doesn't come as easily to him. And that's where the thing with Euijoo comes in, because the two of them got really close at a time in Kei's life where he couldn't really help but lean on Euijoo too. So on one hand that did get them really close, but it also forced him to reveal a weaker side he didn't mean to share, maybe even the uglier parts of himself, and watch how Euijoo still stayed by his side with the same admiration he always had.

So now Kei keeps him close enough for Euijoo to need him, but with enough distance between them so he can protect himself from being seen like that again. And I find it really fascinating how that distance sometimes appears in the way Kei talks to or about Euijoo. A bit condescending here and there, genuinely fond other times, he goes from knowing exactly how Euijoo will react to things, to saying things about him that explicitly contradict everything Euijoo has ever said about himself. He keeps him at arm's length but still pulls him in so he won't move on. They have an interesting dynamic, I like them a lot.