i actually feel like the pacing here is perfect - yuyang has been hurt over and over again and has closed himself off subconsciously to the idea of romantic love for years now. from his experience, guys either 1. turn out to be straight after all or 2. even if they are gay, they don't like him back. he's gone through too many of the same experiences to want to experience the same hurt again, so this is his defense mechanism bringing back up the walls after he almost let himself be vulnerable with lihuan. he's a character with many deep-rooted fears, and i think it's natural that it's going to take so much time for him to come around. lihuan hasn't been communicative enough to break through that wall yet (which has always been a fault with his character - yuyang has always had to reach out himself to actually understand what lihuan's thinking). this isn't really a "misunderstanding" - i think yuyang actually knows lihuan really likes him, but he's not ready to let him like him yet.