@dsid2814 it's a mixture of sunk cost fallacy and not being able to look away from a train wreck. At least that's what it is for me. At this point, I'm just here to see how many flips this burning wreckage can do as it tumbles down the cliff it has been barreling towards for the last few chapters.
@b4nji imo the problem is with pacing and the source of drama. There was so much buildup towards the "big confession arc", only to have it... not even end, really, just kind of get overtaken by the "they might be going away forever" arc, which comes now immediately on the heels of an identical arc we just finished. Why the buildup if you explicitly don't have a payoff? Why have arcs with identical stakes back to back? What's with the sudden psycho mom that hasn't even been relevant once until now, and which will again not resolve the confession arc but rather kickstart some wacko arranged marriage thing, I guess?
My point is, the setup, pacing and structure are all over the place, like the author is trying to have three climactic arcs all at once without thinking any one of them through.