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A rare time when a romantic triangle was actually vital to the story and the right characters ended up together. It was extremely poignant and beautiful that Sonoda was rooting for his rival, even if he couldn’t be with the person he liked it healed something in his younger self. As a young queer person he was used to seeing gayness mocked or treated as entertainment. Seeing a successful, loving relationship was something he needed to see. Therefore, Jou and Kouki had to end up together. There are still other reasons too. This was also about Kouki confronting his past and communicating while being open to new experiences, not running away and jumping into the arms of another. So Sonoda and Kouki sleeping together was also a necessity (plus we got juicy scenes for Sonods AND Jou wins for fans of both, kinda). Sonoda needed to explore his feelings for another man and Kouki needed to explore the possibility of moving on without Jou. Jou needed his cool guy facade and arrogance to be challenged. He even admitted that although Kouki wanted to break up he thought he could come right back to where they left off, not even communicating before a year and a half was up. Ultimately everyone finally learned how to communicate and it was lovely.