Stopped reading when it seemed to be querbait after all, and yep.
It makes me wonder why am I annoyed at queerbating, if the story is about friendship, and not enjoy it, since I enjoy many comics about platonic friendships, and hetero romances - apart from the obvious feeling of being lied to, ofc.
Certain levels of affection and desire, between people when there is no "hormones make you want to bump uglies", seem creepy, and a sign of extreme lack of social maturity (in this case, apt). Like, if you longed to be someones friend the way you have an unrequited love, it seems like idolatry, and.. hm not exactly stalkerish, but a bit similiar? Certainly codependent, but that can be interesting, whereas this, if not for pretty art, would make me feel the same way an image of an old ugly weeb (like me) salvating after his attractive autistic coworker, and pretending it's just a standard coworker relationship
Or maybe it's the feeling of reading 2 different stories- one told through the subtext, and the other told through text, and feeling as if the author either had no balls, or was just trying to satisfy 2 different markets.