Did the second ml liked his mother???
thats because he was having a fling, just like how his mother would have flings before getting divorced. if u check the recent chapter he talks about how due to the fact he didn't get acknowledgement from his mother he gave up on swimming and started to fool around, just like how his mother didn’t care to come to his competitions and instead fooled around with other men. he never viewed his mother in that way. instead he was realizing he was following in her footsteps hence the flashback to his mother
Oh boy he’s madly in love. Just hope he realise and confess before he hurts or loses the uke