im not sure if you finished reading this chapter but i mentioned towards the end about the "mistrust sown by the watch issue" which was supposed to hint to the reader that jaebum hadn't forgotten it, even though he had chosen to overlook it at the beginning of their relationship. which brings me to /why/ he had decided to overlook it on that first night, even though he wasn't 100% sure that jinyoung was telling the truth (and jinyoung only gradually earned his trust with time as he proved to jaebum that he wasn't with him because of money). as you said, it WAS stealing and jaebum was right to call him out (i have to thank your comment for helping me realize that jaebum was right to use such a harsh word) but i think what was more important to the characters at that time was their intentions. when jinyoung took the watch, i made clear that he did not have the intention to steal (as in sell or pawn or exchange it for money). he was in a vulnerable, fragile and emotional mood after their first night together, and feeling insecure about whether it was just a one night stand and if he would ever see jaebum again. so i wrote him taking the watch on impulse as a memento because it was "remniscent of the security of jaebum's hand around his" i am not justifying or defending his action but i also said "for reasons he can't figure out later" (forgive me if my quotes arent exactly accurate im quoting from memory lol and since this fic was written nearly a year ago and i havent reread it recently my memory is foggy i even had to go back and reread the scene you were talking about to better compose my response) mostly, i was trying to make a point about when we are emotionally vulnerable sometimes people do things that they can't figure out why later and these things may be foolish or stupid (or maybe thats just me lmao idk). anyway i meant to write jinyoung feeling like jaebum was unattainable and slipping away, and he was grasping at straws. so when jaebum confronted him and hurled the word "stealing" at him (which is a harsh word but like you pointed out absolutely appropriate and justified), still, it is a negative accusation that no one likes being called, especially by their lover. jinyoung felt wounded, misunderstood and indignant because in jaebum's actual words he thought the watch was why jinyoung had "approached" and gotten close to him, and slept with him, which wasn't true so when i imagined jinyoung's reaction i could see him bristling at the words and implications (that he was a gold digger, causing him to feel cheap) even though jaebum's assumptions were only natural. when i write characters' actions and dialogues i don't try to judge them as right or wrong, i just picture how they would act in that situation so maybe my characters' actions and speech would not always be morally righteous. perhaps it would be better or make my readers feel more closure if they had a scene where jinyoung admitted to stealing and apologized formally for his mistake but i couldn't see him doing that. both of their personalities here are very prideful and unwilling to be the first to back down, even if it /is/ their fault. the closest jinyoung came to an admission was when he apologized in the office later and told jaebum that he "didn't mean to" take his watch. that falls under what i said about their intentions being more important to each other than their actions, so to answer your question about jaebum's reaction, when jinyoung seemed to be honest when he said he had no intention to steal jaebum's watch and did not know the value jaebum felt relieved and bad about being so fierce (you have to understand that he was smitten with jinyoung at this point which might have caused him to act in irrational ways).
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