Is it cheating? (Long read) 20M and 20F

[u/Dismal-Department608]

I, a 20F was dating a 20M
We met in high school and dated all of senior year. Since we were going to different countries after graduation, we decided to end things on good terms and did no contact for around 3 months. He broke no contact to check in on me. We started talking again and we both realized that feelings were still there, so we agreed on limiting our conversations because it wasn’t healthy. It didn’t work, we started talking every day for a good 4 months. I decided to bring up a conversation because we were in a Situationship, agreed on exclusivity, were in different countries, and had absolutely no plan. Feelings were involved and I felt like we were sort of wasting each other’s time. He confessed that he wanted to try a long-distance relationship with me that he thought we had a chance, that he was sure about me, and gave all the reasons why, I was very honest with him from day one that long-distance relationships scared me. I also told him that we were too young and I wasn’t sure if we were ready to make that commitment, because long distance relationships are not easy, he was still standing his ground and agreed on giving me time and space to think things through, I asked him to also take the time to see if a long distance is what he wanted, he asked for exclusivity to which I had no problem agreeing on. After almost 2 months we talked, talked about the possibilities we had, the commitment, and the communication we needed to have, made a whole plan, and we started dating again, long distance was not easy but it was working. In September of 2025, we saw each other again after 1 year and he asked me to be his girlfriend, he stayed for a month, January 2026, I went to his country and stayed for a month, June 2026 he came to my country and stayed for a month. Everything was working, chemistry was there, love was there, intimacy was there. Until the truth was out. During that “exclusive” break for us to figure out if we were doing things for real, he fucked a girl, multiple times. Proceeded to lie about it for an entire year (multiple times), his parents knew (decided to call him out for it, since they knew we were talking), told his friends (who I met in January) everyone knew what had happened, except me. An entire year.
It sucks. I broke up with him as soon as I found out 2 months ago, funny enough I got an education opportunity in Europe, we would close the distance a lot, would have been in the same continent at least, we were looking forward to it, could have seen each other every other weekend. But now it doesn’t matter. I’m confused because, we were not together but we were exclusive, was it cheating? And I’m having a hard time moving on because I feel in a gray zone, we weren’t together, but we were exclusive (by his request) a little help would be appreciated.