It's ok; not all of us understand things so quickly. Some of us need very clear words and actions to get the message.
Of course, I'm being sarcastic here; many people desperately need some very basic social skills, and it's unbelievable that at a certain age we still have to face this type of encounter.
We've all been there at some point; we probably didn't behave like that, but it's normal to like someone and interpret their ambiguity as them liking us back. That shouldn't mean we're completely certain about the other person's feelings. We should always keep a safe margin of doubt, at least until there is explicit confirmation. Until then, our advances should be subtle, and we should always wait for a voluntary response from the other.
But what happens when somebody never understood this very basic rule of human behaviour? Is it our job to teach them?
I frankly think we don't have to; instead, we should protect ourselves, and every time we see someone like this, activate the toughest boundaries protocol ever. When implementing something like this, it's important to remember we're not doing it to teach the other person anything; we're doing it for ourselves and ourselves only.
We know rejection stings, but those who were rejected should face the truth: our empathy shouldn't exceed our self-love. We should always protect ourselves first, even if that means being unkind, because (clearly) our kindness is misinterpreted as openness to being close to someone we don't want to be close to.
Has anyone else had an experience like this with a coworker who couldn't read the room? What did you do to neutralize it? Do you think involving HR is important in cases like this?