if u had a bf, and this is some guy u knew for a very short time, i doubt it qualifies as a 'love triangle', that woukd insinuate there were two people chasing u, or u CONSIDERED between the two, but u in fact were not chased by either and had a bf. tho i cant confirm if 'kawaii' is used normally in a flirty context
uhhhh kawaii is generally kinda common, i mean ofc its gonna have some type of romantic context when you call another person but its not really “rare” or “special” in japanese. if it was a diff word probably but people say kawaii like a ton, women say it more but men still do. js sounds like a compliment rather then chasing

I have been reading BL lately, and something caught my attention.
In my country, Japanese/Chinese/Korean people are very rare. In college I had 2 Korean classmates, and they mostly kept to themselves. So, I'm not familiar with how people use this expression.
A couple of years ago I met a Japanese man through my then boyfriend. He was handsome, beefy, and a bit taller than me. We hit it off right away. He told me about Japan, and I told him about my country. It was fun.
However, during the day my BF kept acting cold towards him. It was uncomfortable because I wanted him to feel at home. So, even though they were friends, he spent most of the day with me. At the end of the day, he said I was "cute" and he was happy that we met. He gave a big hug and left.
So, was I in a love triangle there? In my country we don't use that expression but I have noticed that "cute" has a special meaning for Japanese people.
Excuse me if I'm just being silly. I'll show myself out. (▰˘◡˘▰)