first of all, they are harsh at all. i don't see how you think they are. they 're being as polite as possible to a fellow coworker. he was overstepping their boundaries and they politely told him to back off.
secondly, he was trying to make him not feel about himself. he told him he wasn't angry and he shouldn't apologize when he doesn't know why he's apologizing. that's one way to make people feel comforted about their guilty feelings. if i apologized bcs i thought someone was pissed at me for an unknown reason, and they replied the same way he did, i would feel a lot more better about myself.
last but not least, i'm guessing you're hetero bcs he was just avoiding the situation as much as possible. he's right, overly supportive people can come off as prejudiced sometimes with their repeated "i'm not prejudiced!!!! love between men is DEFINITELY ok!!!!" in unnecessary situations. he's just steering clear of it as much as possible so the coworker wouldn't suspect it at ALL ever again. he apologized at the end of the day and suzume accepted his apology so i don't see why we should overcomplicate things.
i meant "they aren't* harsh"
Hey! Tbh I thought the same when I read it the first time so I went to reread it again. I think it was probably after Tanaka said not to worry about it and continued talking that it became more rude and overstepping their boundaries. Because even if they were in a relationship, it's none of his business unless they actually told him. And leaving him to figure out why he was wrong can come off as confusing but then again Keishi isn't responsible for teaching him.
Hope this helps somehow.
Aren't they kinda too harsh on Tanaka? I get it he's annoying colleague, but he isn't mean or evil or anything. Should think a bit before speaking.... First of all, if you date in workplace, especially superior-subordinate , then you need to talk about how you will approach a case when it becomes known, together. That goes for any couple hetero or not. Second, what was all that Keishi preaching to Tanaka , telling him to figure it out and apologize when he knows the situation etc...like he lied to him so how is he supposed to figure it out?? Also if my partner said he would never date someone like me, in front of people we know, even if only as a joke, I would be pissed as hell (not like this tho) but still , he should've apologize properly for