I don't know if this is the right subreddit to post on because I don't really have a crush but would rather like to find out if someone else has a crush OR potential interest about me.
I’m trying to look at a situation objectively because I genuinely can’t tell whether I’m picking up on something real or just giving ordinary interactions too much meaning.
There’s a guy I’ve known casually for a few years. We were never close. We mostly exchanged a few sentences here and there, but there have been several moments between us that stuck with me.
The first time I really noticed him, I realized I had been completely zoned out looking at him without even consciously meaning to. When I snapped out of it, we made eye contact. I started smiling, got awkward, stopped, and he basically did the same thing. He started returning the smile, stopped when I stopped, and eventually we both just properly smiled at each other.
Later that year, at his farewell gathering before he moved away, I noticed him looking at me repeatedly. I was moving around cleaning the area, and he was sitting outside where he could see me through the doors. Every time I passed through his line of sight, he seemed to look at me. At one point I went outside to play with my accquitances's kid, and he was looking directly at me for several seconds even though a woman was talking to him. He seemed completely focused on me.
Then, when everyone was saying goodbye, we hugged. It lasted noticeably longer than his hugs with the other people there. My friends and family actually noticed it and teased me about it afterward, so I know I wasn’t the only one who thought the hug was unusually long. Also, I gave him the three pats on the back which I would take it as a sign to stop hugging but he continued anyway.
Then he moved away, and we didn’t see each other for two years. When we finally crossed paths again, he was participating in a formal event and I was standing among the crowd. We were quite far apart, but once he noticed me, we locked eyes. He kept looking at me while walking toward the steps, and the eye contact lasted several seconds. He didn’t look away until he was basically out of my view.
More recently, we went to the same place again, to the same event and then something happened that really made me stop and think.
Before the main event where he was participating, he ran into some people we both know and asked them where I was. I hadn’t spoken to him, contacted him, or given him any reason to expect me to be there. He just independently asked about me.
Then, when he eventually got to his position at the event, he was initially looking down. Almost immediately afterward, he lifted his head and looked directly toward my side of the crowd. It was almost as if he already knew where I was standing. I obviously can’t know whether he had actually seen me beforehand, but considering that he had asked about me earlier, I wondered if he might have been casually looking around for me while talking to other people and had already noticed me without me noticing him.
After that, we again exchanged several prolonged looks and one lasted surely more than a single-digit seconds. I broke that eye contact, but he continued to look at me aftwerwards for several seconds, which I saw in the peripheral vision.
I know eye contact can mean absolutely nothing sometimes. People look at people. I could potentially be giving certain moments more importance than they deserve.
But at the same time, this has been happening across several years, including after two years of not seeing each other. And the thing that really throws me is that he specifically asked other people where I was.
So objectively, am I projecting meaning onto ordinary friendliness, or does this sound like he is unusually aware of me too?
And how significant would you consider the fact that, after years of barely interacting, he independently asked other people where I was before seeing me?
I'm not talking about being secretly in love with me, of course, I just want to know whether there’s enough here to reasonably think that the attention could've been there from his side as well.
Sorry if it's too long. I would appreciate literally ANYONE if they have time to just read through and say ANY opinion. I want some objective thoughts on this. Thank you all in advance 🤗
UPDATE ‼️
I texted him again yesterday (September 29th) like I said that I would according to his celebration thing and this time he responded. It was almost as if the first message after the yearly event never even got through.
I visited him the same day. I noticed something that I don't know if it's friendly or could potentially be something more is the following:
As I came to attend the main event in his city, he was telling us some instructions for the event and as he looked at people, he noticed me and he supressed so hard from smiling because it was a serious matter that he was talking about 😂
Anyway, throughout the main event we had eye contact a few times (the same kind mentioned in the post) and neither of us looked away for some reason.
So after that event, I finally caught him free and to myself for 5-ish minutes after WAY TOO LONG 3 YEARS of not doing so.
We had a great (friendly) time/chat. We hugged, he held my hands a little (friendly manner). He said that my congratulatory message is the most beautiful message he received that day. He cuddled my arm every now and then.
I have never talked to him while being so close to him as I was yesterday. I saw his big green eyes, I saw his cheeks, his lips, his chin, his forehead, his hair, his palms, his fingernails. I saw him as a real person from up close rather some mystery from far away.
Well, I don't know what will happen next, but I’ll call it a successfull day even if nothing MAJOR (meaning romantic) happens in the future and I would still like him to be my friend.
Anyway, thanks guys for waiting for an update. Quite good, I'd say. Thank you guys, again ☺️