Five years later, Elio attends a chamber-music concert in a church. The Florian Quartet is comprised of elderly musicians, and people are surprised to see interest from someone so young. Elio meets an older man, Michel, in the audience. He senses that Michel is flirting and finds himself attracted to him. They dine together after the concert, and Michel tells Elio about his father, who passed away when Michel was around Elio’s age, leaving Michel with his law firm. Michel asks Elio to meet him again at the same church next Sunday. Though Elio is surprised he’s not extending the night, he agrees to meet him again and kisses him underneath his ear as a goodbye.

Michel surprises Elio at the conservatory where Elio teaches music two days later. They go out to a café, and Michel asks Elio about his love life. Elio reveals that he doesn’t do one-night stands, that his most recent relationship was with a woman who broke up with him, and that he once was in love with a man who later married a woman—referring to his relationship with

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