@themadmeg I absolutely agree with your comment!
On the one hand, I wouldn’t mind if the story focused on their friendship and left it at that. For these two it’s always been about the emotional support first and foremost, putting all romantic implications aside. Where the main story left them though, these two were in the realm of the forever unspoken and unfulfilled “what if” of being something more.
So on the other hand I’d also be happy with what looks like is more likely, that do end up in a romantic relationship together, because sexuality is fluid and can evolve over time. For Yuan to realize he has deeper feelings for Huan Wen isn’t coming out of nowhere; as others have said, they’ve been close for years after they’ve left university. The boundaries between emotional intimacy and physical intimacy can sometimes naturally become overlapped. And personally I think the evolution from friendship to romance here would be incredibly sweet, organic, and realistic too.
In either case, I’m really excited to see where this goes, because I’ve become really invested in Huan Wen.