What is this ううん meaning


In general I understand that , in general, ううん has a negative connotation.
e.g. used when denying / disagreeing with what someone has said. In general it
would be very strong and unusual to solely use ううん with nothing else said
afterwards. e.g. if Someone asked whether someone else had come yet, the
answer might be ううん、まだ来ていないよ.

In the below ううん doesn't look like it is negating/denying what was said above,
so what is it doing?

> 「何も言ってくれないから、口に合わなかったのかなってドキドキしちゃった」
>
> 「みあの料理がまずいことなんてないって。本当に美味しい」
>
> 「 **ううん** ……でも、わかってても言ってほしいことってあるんだよ」
>
> 「例えば、『好き』とかそういうこと？」
>
> 「う、うん……えへへ」
>
> 「わかった。これからはちゃんと口に出して言うよ」
>
> 「弁当、美味しかった」




There is actually a layer of contrast in the contextual subtlety here,
although it is not flat-out negation. My jab at giving a loose translation
would look something like this (In the interest of accurate meaning, I am
taking some liberties with the actual words):

> A (Mia): You didn't say anything. I was worried you don't like it.
>
> B: I never said your cooking is bad or anything like that. It is really
> delicious.
>
> A: It's okay... Well, actually, there are things which although I understand
> I would still like to hear them from you.
>
> B: Things like "I like you"?
>
> A: Mm-hmm... yeah.
>
> B: Sure. From now on I will make it a point to express myself to you.
>
> A: The bento... was delicious.

As you can see I didn't translate 「ううん」as "no" but as something that works
better in the context.

Note that a lot of things are being implied by these words. A (Mia) is
apparently unhappy that B hasn't complimented Mia's cooking. B assures Mia
that they like it. Then Mia tells B not to worry about it. A number of
possibilities could be on Mia's mind and implied here: "Don't worry about it.
I am not mad. I know you like it." "It's okay. I understand." "You don't have
to explain." "It's okay, even if you don't like it." In Japanese conversation
these possibilities are always implied and seldom directly said. It is not
unusual at all.

