[M21/F22] Can we stay friends after a long-distance situationship with no future?

I'm in my early 20s, going through a major shift in life as I'm prepping for something that demands total discipline and focus.

At the same time, I caught deep feelings for someone I met online. We connected hard because of our similar interests, similar energy, and we really understood each other. There was no official relationship, just a strong emotional bond, and mutual respect.

The issue is, we’re from completely different worlds. Think different countries, religions, families that would never accept it. We both kind of knew there was no real future, but the feelings didn’t care.

Now I’m trying to move into a chapter of my life where I need to give 100% to myself and my goals but letting go of this connection is way harder than I thought.

We didn’t end things badly. We’re still friendly. But the emotional attachment lingers. I’ve cut back on flirting, we talk less, but even tiny messages hit deep.

Some mutual friends worry it’ll make things awkward. Others say I should just treat it like a passing thing and carry on.

I’m not sure how to walk away from someone who felt like home without leaving a hole behind. I don’t want to drag it out. I also don’t want to feel numb.

If anyone’s been through this, please let me know how do you emotionally detach when things didn’t go wrong, they just weren’t meant to be?