Since when is easiness the metric? A lot of Mitzvos are easy and a lot of Divrei Reshus are hard.
The closer a person is the more more love there is supposed to be. This is not about Lifnim Meshuras Hadin or a utopian ideal. This is Din.
We see that Hillel applied this in practice to mean that what you wouldn’t want to be done to you, don’t do unto others. This is not quite the ultimate definition of love. The Gemara says not to marry someone that you won’t end up loving since you are supposed to love your wife because of the Pasuk, Ve’ahavta Lerei’acha Kamocha. So, as we see, it goes in stages and is in proportion to Rei’acha.