You're not wrong.
Fun fact, Final Fantasy VII has a hidden affection value during the course of Disc 1. It tracks your relationship with the female characters based on your actions and choices in dialogues, leading up to a Date Scene at the Gold Saucer (an Amusement Park come Casino). Yuffie is harder than Tifa and Aerith, because she comes a lot later (and also starts with the lowest affection value of the three girls). Aerith technically starts with the highest affection value, but that's because by the time you meet her, if you did everything right, Tifa will be 1 point ahead of her, they give Aerith a head start so she can keep up.
However, you can also go on the date with Barret, who you get if you do and say very specific things (example: you can buy a flower from Aerith at one point, and when you return to Tifa's bar, you can give the flower to either Tifa or Marlene, Barret's Daughter).
It's all
here.
There's actually some interesting things in here that inform Tifa and Aerith's characters; like the Don Corneo scene, if Tifa is chosen by Don Corneo, asking Aerith if she's okay will improve your relationship with Aerith, while showing concern for Tifa lowers Aerith's affection. Conversely, if Aertih is chosen and you ask Tifa if she's okay, that will lower Tifa's affection, but showing concern for Aerith
improves your relationship with Tifa.
Getting Cloud picked by Don Corneo is the only way to use that situation to improve your relationship with Barret (by claiming to Don Corneo that Barret is your boyfriend).
It's a really complicated system that only amounts to one scene near the end of Disc 1.
Well, there is that one screenshot of Chrom...