In the novel, it clearly states that Yuri only felt an admiration for him, He didn’t necessarily have romantic feelings he just was captivated by his presence and beauty
Read it properly, man... His love was genuinely platonic and not a crush at all. It was purely because Yuri was captivated by Xinlu’s beauty when they first met. The proof that it wasn’t a crush or anything like that is that Yuri went on with his life normally after saving Xinlu and never even tried to find out how he was doing. And the reason Yuri still remembered Xinlu when they met again was simply because his face was still as beautiful as Yuri remembered it. The story makes this pretty damn clear. It’s honestly kinda sad that you still couldn’t see it.
you got literal rocks for brains
I’m I the only lowk weirded out by the fact that Yuri had a crush on Xinlu since he was 12/13 ?? In my mind I REALLY do hope it was platonic or just in love with the “view” of a beautiful person, but not a CRUSH ??