Friend...Confused What To Do.

Hey everyone! I’m here for some advice (posting in both r/askgaybros and r/gay) I have a close friend who I developed feelings for. Feeling mushy and relaxed during the Christmas time, I broached to him about my feelings through a text. I was half expecting him to say he can’t reciprocate, and I’ll just move on. To my surprise, he said he was flattered, and that I’m a good friend to him. In my opinion, it was intentionally ambiguous. I didn’t really know what to say after so I didn’t really say anything after that, except maybe a few days later, out of the blue, thank him for not making me feel bad. Aside from that, we talked…normally before and after the event.To put a bit of background, we’re both seniors in college in the same major (STEM field). We are also both…intellectually driven, so the concept of dating, relationship, stuff like that is a bit…foreign to us than what some other people here might consider...if that makes any sense. He and I have similar social circles, academic involvement, so bringing up these topics, even harmless as asking about his sexuality, seems…unprofessional and salacious to me. And deep down…I don’t know how to articulate this…I know I’m the ‘inferior’ one in this quandary. He definitely is more strongly attached and inveterate to the social circle than I am, smarter, and probably more attractive. So…given this fact…this adds to the awkwardness I feel and is the reason why I didn’t say anything else after my mushy text back near Christmas.…But on the contrary, he wouldn’t have said his texted response to me if it didn’t have some value in it. And, while I may not be strongly fit into the social circle as he is, I’m not a pariah or something. I don’t obsess over his texted reply but it has been eating at me ever since. Did I miss an opportunity to say something that I should have said or done? What I should I do now in this final semester and afterward?I know the most common answer would be ‘just talk to him’, but I’m not satisfied with that answer for some odd reason. …If he’s subscribed to this Reddit page there’s a chance he might see this…ugh…