Tbh this development is more annoying than anything else. This is why I generally dislike the Childhood Friends in these types of settings. They never attempt to bridge the gap until someone else comes along. They desperately try to maintain the status quo instead of advancing the relationship until someone else is around.
Now she is essentially putting him in a rough spot by telling him to not answer it yet. This will just lead to awkward time spent together walking on egg shells during the rest of the festival. When he never intended on leaving her there during their time together. She spent so long hesitating, and then decided to take action at the worst possible time. Be it unintentional or not.
It all feels so contrived at this point. Waiting for another month to get essentially nothing that we could have already assumed through context of previous chapters.
She just put him on the spot because of her assuming he was going to leave, and essentially just trying to monopolize his time. I can't really feel any sympathy for her right now, because we don't even know her.
Oh man... justice for the childhood friend, justice for the short-haired girls
Even if it is normal to act like this at her age. It still does not justify her trying to monopolize him like this. She has already had plenty of time with him at the festival. Now what she is doing is coming off as guilt tripping him into staying with her. Potentially isolating him off more, because she only ever sees him during summer break. What about after summer break? From her position she is making him "Blow off a friend" so she can continue to monopolize him. He showed the respect to her for prioritizing their plans to go to the festival together, but now she isn't respecting his plans he makes after the festival. It comes off as unbelievably selfish from anyone else's pov. She is not showing him the same respect he showed her, and on top of that guilt tripping him into staying with her, and blowing off his other friend.While I generally tend to agree these types of developments aren't necessary for a plot like this, if taken in the context that this has now happened and we have to follow along then I can genuinely see things from her perspective.
Our MC has shown that he has an aversion to being around people. She just assumed (for better or worse) that he would continue to be isolated and no one would even try approaching him. She stayed at arm's length recognizing that he had hang ups of being around people too, including her. It isn't her fault, it is just the way he is.
Then, when seeing that someone else invaded his personal space where she WANTED to be, she threw everything at him desperate for his attention. She wants to be the one next to him and with him so it makes sense she would act this way. Is it right? Maybe not...but also they are high school kids. Can't say high school age makes the right decisions all the time. Heck...I am an adult and I don't make the right decisions.
after the lastest hima-ten chapter im not so sure about there being zero chanceIt sucks because we all know this is just prolonged drama, there is zero chance the childhood friend even gets to win. If she does, then all those development of the MC and the (assumed) FMC will just be thrown out the window. If there's any semblance of good writing this drama should immediately stop.