Hi everyone, I’ve been at my company for 6 months. There’s a male coworker — calm, shy, respectful, and polite with everyone. At first, we didn’t talk. But one day I greeted him while wearing a pink cap (he often wears one too), and he held eye contact a bit longer than normal and smiled. Since then, I started noticing little things that felt different from normal coworker behavior.

He’s gone out of his way to help me, even interrupting calls or ignoring others while staying focused on me. He’s also been playful at times — like once changing my screen theme, laughing when I said I’d change it back, then immediately removing it. Another time I asked if he’d apply a fix, and he sarcastically said, “Do you want to do it yourself?” It was surprising coming from him, and I laughed nervously. We’ve also shared eye contact that felt more personal — he didn’t look away.

After that sarcastic moment, a female coworker mimicked how I smiled and told me I should act more serious. Not long after, I saw her laughing and joking with him, which confused me because she usually keeps her distance from male colleagues. Since then, things between him and me have cooled off — our messages are more formal, and we don’t follow up in person like we used to.

So I’m wondering — do you think he might like me but is holding back because of our conservative, professional environment? Or is he just being polite and I’m reading too much into it? Would love to hear your thoughts.