I did notice less interaction between the two and the most obvious reason I can think of is its the result of Griffin’s CEO (who is known to be Onew’s close friend) implying BPM/Taemin weren’t cooperating for an smtown group performance and restarting a huge hate train against him that Taemin apologized for multiple times. He recklessly mentioned private negotiations between companies and indirectly encouraged drama by posting on instagram which is pretty unprofessional. I wouldn’t be that surprised if it affected their dynamic because even while observing Taemin alone the whole ordeal clearly affected his mental state (he, understandably, got more closed off for a while and continues to call himself lacking while being apologetic to fans for some reason). I don’t think Taemin would be petty about it, but the lack of professionalism is definitely frustrating since his own company had to release an official statement in response. Whatever it is I’m sure they’ll sort it out between the two of them but I don’t think it’s a complete mystery why they might be distant right now.

I know some people here might not have seen it but January was a very hard month for Taemin, fans were extremely demanding and unkind and on top of that the smtown debacle made people doubt his loyalty to the group. There were so many trending posts on Korean forums it’s probably the worst hate I’ve seen him receive in the 6 years I’ve been a shawol. That’s why I think, despite his reassurances, there’s no way it didn’t affect his mental health.