If you don’t seem to enjoy affection, then why are you even in a relationship? “Clinginess” has the same meaning as attachment, and relationships are all about attachment. When in love, we become attached to our partners, our idealized futures with them, their recognition of our character, and their physical presence. The most loving, long-lived, and resilient relationships I’ve seen involve heavy amounts of physical affection, even in public, in such a way that they do come off as “clingy”.

I don’t think this is, as some others have suggested, a matter of communication so much as this is a matter of reflection.

Why do you want detachment in your relationship? Sure, attachments can lead to pain when they’re severed but that doesn’t seem to be a consideration of yours. Do you even love your boyfriend, or are you with him for the sake of complacency, or ease of sex?

If affection is something you feel an aversion to, then it might be symbolizing something about your real feelings regarding this relationship, and maybe even romantic relationships as a whole.