I think the fact that he chose that career is because of that season when they were friends, so it was an important point in his life. For better or worse, the manga describes that encounter as what motivated him to choose that career.
Now, it seems unlikely to me that he had romantic feelings all this time. Although apparently neither of them has had a romantic relationship in those four years, nor have they been very separated, so maybe it has always been lingering in their fantasies. The ridiculous thing is that in four years they have never spoken.