Ling Meng cheerfully assumes that Mangosteen is just queerbaiting to gather points with his fans; eventually Mangosteen gets tired of this and explains that, no, he is genuinely trying to hit on Ling Meng, would Ling Meng be interested, yes or no.

I like that, but then I want the narrative to explore at least a little of what it's like trying to conduct a genuine romance in an environment where it might as well be kayfabe, since I imagine it would be complicated and the book sounds like not!