Kieran

There's more evidence than you think for Mike being bisexual, though he is clearly repressed if true. Just a few off the top of my head:

-He looks at Will differently than he looks at the rest of his friends and even El; he's possessive of him in a way that rings true for a lot of Suspiciously Close Friendships between two queer kids who don't realize it yet.

- He turns into a completely different person when he starts dating El that reads as insecure about how he comes off to people (which is true for a lot of 13-14 year old boys), whereas Lucas and Dustin don't have complete personality changes in their relationships with Max and Susie. The way it changes his dynamic with Will specifically could be read as repressing his feelings for him - the same kid who said they would go "crazy together" in S2 is all but ignoring him in S3 in favor of performing his perfect relationship with El.

- Re: the painting: El tells him in a letter that Will's painting it for someone he likes. At the airport, Mike asks about it immediately, and Will brushes it off. The "cool" from Mike afterwards is objectively the least cool "Cool" uttered in the entire show. It's like he's jealous that it could be for someone else, since HE has a lot of Will's art at home.

- And speaking of his home, there's a "one way" sign pointing towards his closet in his room. Come on.

It's not media illiteracy to pick up on subtle cues like this. It's actually the opposite. Do I think it's going to happen? No because it's 2025 and the world is very anti-queer right now. But if it DOES happen, it would NOT be out of nowhere. From season 1 it was established that they have a special bond. Who else is a pair of friends one describes with a "special bond" others might not understand? Robin and Vickie. I digress.