We caught up with Apa at Blue Bottle Los Angeles, Thursday ... and he cleared up rumors about tying the knot with Clara.

He said, "I don't think we need to put a label on love, but do I want to get married? Yes." ... and if that wasn't telling enough, our photog flat out asked him ... to which he replied no and pointed at his naked ring finger.

Of course, folks have every reason to believe that KJ and Clara may have secretly gotten married ... he hinted at it, himself. In an Instagram post, he referred to the French model as his "wife" ... back in October 2021.

As you may know .. the two confirmed their romance, back in 2020. And, a month before calling Clara his wife, they welcomed their baby boy, Sasha Vai Keneti Apa.

We should also add ... KJ has openly toyed with the idea that he might, in fact, be married to Clara many times but never officially made it clear ... at least, until now.