ummm...

Realistically... if the story had started with a chapter or two that focused on building Souhei and Akihiro's connection before flashy Lucas showed up out of nowhere, most of us would be rooting for them. The same plot, but different emphasis, changes it completely. Even if events unfolded exactly the same way, if more attention was on Souhei and Akihiro's interactions and they were framed to be the focus, they would matter way more than Lucas. There isn't even much attention on Souhei's feelings for Akihiro, except insofar as they affect his relationship with Lucas. You're being expertly guided to like Lucas and see Akihiro as an obstacle.
That's not bad! It's good storytelling. But I just wanted to point that out.

What you said is true to a point, but I think I still wouldn't have liked Akihiro. A "friend" who knows his friend is 8n love with him, doesn't return their feelings, uses those feelings to manipulate his friend, and tries to tell his friend who he can spend time with just comes across as a total ass. This most recent chapter really clenched those feelings for me. Akihiro doesn't come across as having concern for a friend. He makes decisions for Souhei without Souhei' s input or permission, like with his pictures. That just rubs me the wrong way.

Fair point - you're right, it really does depend on the characters too. Half the time, in the type of plot that focuses on the original friendship/unrequited love, I'm still hoping it'll work out with the "new" guy. I was kind of thinking most of these two manga, http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/kataomoi_to_parade/ and http://www.mangago.zone/read-manga/kocchi_muite_ai/ because they're such great examples of each version of that scenario.
I'm still on the fence about Akihiro as a person. I think he really does care about Souhei and enjoys 'looking out' for him, perhaps a little bit too much. And I'm not convinced he knows Souhei is in love with him - I got more of a feeling that he liked that Souhei was close to him and relied on him but was aloof to everyone else. It might not have occurred to him that Souhei had any deeper feelings. Which makes him dense AF, but not a bad person. But I could be wrong! Anyway, I'm sure that endgame is Souhei and Lucas, I'm not pushing a SouheixAkihiro ship or anything!

Please don't misunderstand. I was just stating my reasons for disliking Akihiro in particular. I'm not arguing your point at all. You made a valid statement. There are plenty of manga where the unrequited love interests are extremely likable characters. In this instance, however, I find Akihiro sketchy, for lack of a better term. Even if it's a sense of superiority based on Souhei's lack of interest in anyone else, I don't find that to be a very attractive characteristic. The characteristic that really turns me off about Akihiro, though, is his penchant for making decisions for Souhei without Souhei's permission or input. I believe there is more to his actions than just denseness. The expressions Akihiro has been showing seem to suggest something more anyway. It's possible I'm wrong about him, but with the limited amount of information available at the moment, I stand by my "I don't like him" statement.