bruh
well he really lives up to the archetype, hoping against hope for some horny shit to happen in the baths but the instant an opportunity knocks to make that a remotely possible future in any goddamn timeline he fucking wimps out
at this point i wish something inappropriate like he was imagining HAD happened just so we could witness whatever legendary fuckup this man would surely commit, she could hire a goddamn skywriter to say she likes him and he would
still fumble, ffs
Yes, his self esteem is somwhere between zilch and non-existant, but consider this:
- She took him out of pity when he lost his home.
- She is his senior at work, considered a top worker at the office and immensely popular.
- He is considered a "well he doesn't screw up too much but should try harder".
- (Most important) a woman who get married is expected to quit work and become a housewife.
.·. He's feeling he cannot ask that of her, since it would ruin her career and he can't provide for them both.
points 1-2: valid
point 3: that's what the readers were feeling up to this point too! but now he IS screwing up, and in the dumbest possible way!
point 4: "most important" lmao no. dumb
but sure, i get that he's feeling inadequate, especially considering point 1 probably weighing particularly heavily as a motivator to not want to fuck up their relationship (since it at least beats being homeless) but she's been fairly direct, perhaps even as direct as she can be without risking a situation where the living situation & her seniority at work can be seen as some form of coercion, or holding it over his head to get the relationship she wants, if someone were to interpret things as severely as possible. he likes her as well so he deserves all the shit-talking in the world for that weak ass "yeah" bs instead of at least saying "i enjoy being with you too". if he's so terrified of all these hypothetical worst-case scenarios, it's 100% his fault if their relationship sours because he can't even commit to telling someone who has unreservedly supported him since they met, & he'll be in a way worse scenario by letting that connection wither on the vine than he would be by confessing (in the parallel universe where she isn't obviously just waiting for him to fucking do that & thus wouldn't reciprocate his feelings) and making shit awkward.
no matter how unworthy he feels, if he can't even squeak out anything better than a "yeah" here after all of the events that have happened between them (she invited him to live with her, kissed him, and asked him if he was in a relationship CHAPTER 1 BRO) he's rapidly losing any sympathy the readers might've had remaining on that front & really needs someone to fuckin slap him awake or something lol