i think that’s the point of the whole manga. they were not meant to be but they loved each other deeply to the point they broke “destined partners”, similarly to how the ml’s parents broke the their own fate because of love. in short they didn’t let the string dictate who they should love, they found it on their own
ithink it's knda implied all along that the red string does not literally translate to "love", just that you will be drawn to this person for life. that it's fated your paths will meet. it's more "fate" or chance, than love.
Yes, it's somehow explained in the first manga and continued here, Kaoru can see the red string, so he cannot have his own, this is why at first he pushed Hara away, because he wanted Hara to be with his fated person. And like in previous comments was already explained, red string is not like 'destined true love', more like fated partner, and in thia series they confirm that fate is not the true love for them, Kaoru and Hara love each other no matter what
Kaoru has no red string, so he is destined to never have a fated partner. This is why he had a hard time accepting anyone because everyone always left him whenever they found their fated partner, that is until he met Kazunori. In any case, connected string doesn't represent love nor feelings, but it increases the frequency of chance encounter.
can someone explain to me why their strings aren’t connected if they love each other so much ?? like how can that be "the love of your life" but then not have their strings connected ?