Yeah, and a shitty excuse, I suspect, If lack of free time had really been the problem he could've just proposed living together or sth.
depending on HOW busy they are, it might be even more frustrating. I know because both my parents work and often miss each other by even a few minutes, it happened for them to literally talk once in a week at times, and this even though they live in the same house and share the same bedroom. It's fine with them although they're fighting a lot more lately since they've been together for 30 years and they know that this situation will only be temporary, but for a relationship like theirs look like (salaryman x college student who probably have been together for at most a couple of years) it's spelt "busy" but it reads as "the end"...
Such a dad-like advice