How can I recover from this - is there still a chance?

As-salamu alaykum. I came across a brother online whom I’d like to get to know in a proper, halal way. There’s no community connection, no mutuals, no family link, and it’s not from a matrimony site - just him offering something public online. I thought the respectful way in was to join his advertised Arabic class so we could build rapport while I actually benefited from the lesson. But the classes didn’t happen, and that basically scrapped my plan. Now I’m unsure what to do. If I suddenly backtrack and message him out of the blue, will that look odd even though my intentions were sincere? I genuinely wanted to attend the class and would have taken another session if his was the one I saw. When I asked once about it and he declined, the tone I got suggested he wasn’t keen to continue chatting. Maybe he’s being cautious because we’re both Muslim and it was an Arabic class - which I respect. Should I leave it and wait for a natural chance to come up again, or is it acceptable to reach out directly if I’m upfront and respectful about wanting to connect with proper intentions? I realise in hindsight this might not have been the smoothest approach, but it felt like the only viable option since he doesn’t really use socials aside from the place he advertises classes (Telegram), and that’s not exactly a casual social space. I didn’t want to message him like a complete stranger. I really hope I haven’t ruined my chances. Any advice on how to salvage this situation would be appreciated.