The more I think about it the more I conclude that realistically, Min and Ryan absolutely do end the show in what we'd nowadays probably describe as a queerplatonic relationship, whether or not they're presented as explicitly "Gay". #InfinityTrain Thread, Spoilers ahead->

So obvs #Rymin are very emotionally entangled and about to get moreso by living and running a business together full-time. Romantically involved or no, they are life partners, and any romantic or they make as adult men in 1980s America would involve and impact the other.

But rly it comes down to the way the show skips right from leaving the train to Ryan and Min-Gi performing a show, and what's missing in between. Specifically, the choice Min-Gi still has to make in real life, and the inevitable fallout the show p much says would result from it.

Time passes normally when you're on the train, according to @OweeeeenDennis. So what we're looking at is Rymin being missing for weeks, if not months. With Min's last sighting being on a train to New York, immediately after Ryan visited him again for the first time months.

Ryan says his family doesn't care about him unless he's "doing something", and well--he's probably got their attention now, though its hard to know if that's good. But Min's parents were always highly controlling to the point of repressing him, and p much tolerated Ryan at best.

Tbf, we never see them being unkind to him. But since we know they're unsupportive of Min's favored instrument and musical dreams, we know they'd be displeased with Ryan's influence on him to some extent, and view him as something for Min to outgrow--like the stylophone itself.

So realistically, the boys are dropped at the Diner and either get reported to authorities right away or walk home to their families. Then they'd struggle to explain what exactly happened to them, giving both families plenty of unknown space with which to fill their anxieties.

MAYBE Ryan's family is just happy to see him home safe and happily welcomes him home. Min's family, however, has good reason to be apoplectic with Ryan and blame him for stealing their son away at best, or exposing him to some dangerous kidnapping or situation at worst!

They'd have no way to know, and even if Rymin just told the truth I imagine Min's parents as real people trying to deal with this bizzare reality they've never been exposed to before and the only response that seems realistic to me is "Did Ryan get you DOING DRUGS?"

And then of course they'd try to usher Min away from Ryan and into their home, where they can keep him safe and start getting him back on the life path they set out for him. Min would be coerced into an immediate choice, at least for the moment:

Back down and go along with them (thereby tacitly accepting the narrative that Ryan is a bad influence to keep away from, even if he tells himself its just for a few days), OR Stand up for himself and choose Ryan. I think its pretty obvious which he'd choose post-train.

I also think it's obvious how that would go down with parents as controlling as Min's. Maybe he's disowned, or maybe he's just estranged from them in a "Well chase your silly pipe dream if you want but you won't have any help from us." but I don't think he sleeps in their house.

Either way the result remains: Min is most likely rejected and denied support from his family for as long as he chooses a (pretty heavily queer-coded) alternative career path, and specifically his relationship with another man, over them and their plans.

Whether or not Ryan's parents are there for them is an open question. So the boys most likely start their career in earnest either partially familially abandoned, or in fact fully and with only their combined savings and the clothes and musical instruments on their backs.

This is pretty obviously strongly evocative of the experience of many Queer/LGBT youth, and particularly so in the mid-80s when Rymin start their careers, with the AIDS crisis in full swing. It is a genuine portrayal of a real thing that happens to LGBT young people all the time.

I honestly don't think the show needed to show us that conflict explicitly to make it canonical, btw. We were shown how controlling and coercive Min's parents were throughout the show, to the point that imagining they'd respond more positively feels like wish-fulfillment.

And I don't think I would've derived a ton of emotional value from it either. Maybe it's just being a gay guy, or maybe its the fact that I arrived here by thinking about how to logically continue their story in fanfic form, but I feel like I can trace out the conflict easily.

Why wouldn't I? Almost every closeted queer person with families at least somewhat as functional as Rymin's has at the very least grown up with the *fear* of such a dramatic, cataclysmic confrontation with family decisively severing the bond, if not actually lived it.

And LGBT media tends to focus on the tragedy and suffering spectacle of that kind of thing, besides. It might've been nice, but the story didn't NEED to show me Min suffering that intensely. I'm happy to know he was just able to move on and make his dream come true w/ Ryan.

In any case, the fact that I can so believably read that particular part of the queer experience into Min's ultimate choice to rebel makes it a lot more meaningful to see the gay rainbow colors splashed behind Rymin on the wall of their show.

As for whether they kiss or not? I like the show's message about not rushing into things. I think Min sums it up best himself in the season's final line:

"We're working on it."

After a lot of thought, I think this might be my favorite season of #InfinityTrain after all. It's different from its predecessors, but it's given me something very beautiful and personal that I haven't seen anywhere else. My deep thanks to the creators.

#RenewInfinityTrain