'Who was the one who laid down 40 euros from their wallet while holding a cigarette after sex?'And who was the one who put a glass jar by the bedside, planning to deposit money into it regularly?' Bob thought.Timothy also thought for a moment and said, "Isn't this unfair to your other students?"He was silent for a while before saying, "Forget it. I don't want to copy the notes anymore. I don't want to turn our relationship into something like that—as if dating you is just a way for me to pass an exam."It's the same as wanting to go 50-50 before—I don't want to make things so complicated."His voice grew quieter, almost inaudible. "Um, we shouldn't complicate this."Bob glanced at the glass jar on the bedside table and sighed inwardly.If it felt like compensation, so be it. The kid wanted to feel a bit more independent and have a pure romance—who was he to stop him?He ruffled Timothy's hair and said, "Alright, I get it."After eating, they went for a walk and passed by a
When Timothy finished washing up and went downstairs to the dining room, Bob had already changed and was reading a newspaper.The table had freshly baked croissants, fried eggs, fresh orange marmalade, Nutella, butter, and a short glass pot of hot coffee.Timothy noticed that nothing on the table had been touched yet. Bob was waiting for him. It felt like a parent waiting to send their child off to school.Timothy looked down at himself. He was wearing nothing but Bob's pajama pants, which he had put on commando because he could not find his underwear. There was no way he could go to class like that."Uh, where are my clothes? My jeans and shirt?" Timothy asked.Bob's eyelids lifted slightly, his gaze moving from the newspaper to Timothy. "Where did you take them off?"Where did he take them off? Timothy started to recall. Bob had stripped the shirt off him yesterday, and he vaguely remembered it had been thrown onto the balcony on the second floor. He could not remember what had
Bob curled his lips, pinched Timothy's chin, and gave him a quick kiss. "Alright, focus on eating your breakfast.""Okay."Timothy tried to focus on his food. As he ate, he suddenly thought of something. "Are we going to class together later?"Bob replied, "Why not?"Timothy said, "It's early, and everyone's heading to school for class. What if people see me getting out of your car?"Bob asked, "What do you suggest?"Timothy thought for a moment and said, "Maybe you can drop me off a few hundred meters before the school, and I'll walk."Bob nodded. "Alright, we'll leave a bit earlier today."That was necessary. Professor White always entered classroom S17 at exactly 8:15, but students could not afford to cut it that close, especially since Timothy had to walk a bit further.That day, Professor White, who had never arrived early, showed up in the classroom at 7:58. Every student who came after that worried they were late, including Timothy, who made it at 8:05.Timothy had not
It was a Souverän Black-Blue pen. It featured a body of black and dark blue stripes, a silver nib, and gold accents.The more Timothy looked at the pen, the more he felt it resembled Bob himself—appearing deep and profound at first glance but full of flair when inspected up close. Bob was a pen connoisseur.The teaching assistant had not finished handing out the lecture notes when a student jokingly said, "Professor, you're handing out notes? I must've forgotten to check my calendar this morning—is it Christmas?"The classroom erupted in laughter, and a few students shouted, "Merry Christmas!"Timothy glanced up at Bob. Did he really say he wanted to improve everyone's learning efficiency? Right...Professor White had been teaching for years and had never cared about his students' learning efficiency. Then, he was suddenly playing the good Samaritan—no wonder everyone felt like it was a holiday.Bob's gaze swept past Timothy; they made eye contact for less than a second, but Timo
After the class ended, Bob was surrounded by a few students asking questions as he walked out of the classroom, leaving Timothy without a chance to return the pen.Xander approached the desk in the front row and asked, "Timothy, are you going to the library?"Timothy replied, "Oh, no. I forgot to bring my bag."Xander said, "What's going on with you? How do you even forget to bring a bag to class?"Timothy responded, "I left my house in a rush.""Alright, I'm heading to the library," Xander said.Then, he added, "Hey man, you were something else today."Timothy asked, "Something else? In what way?"Xander glanced toward the door to ensure the professor was gone before lowering his voice. "You dared to speak up for us, complaining about the exam being too hard right in front of the professor."Timothy thought, 'If I told you that I called the professor an idiot to his face, would you be scared to death?'Wait. On second thoughts, that would not be the most terrifying thing. If
Bob said, "During the day, you mentioned there was something you wanted to tell me.""Oh, oh..." Timothy realized that he had intended to talk to Bob about the favoritism issue, but it seemed too abrupt to bring it up then. "It's just… um… maybe we should talk face-to-face?"Bob looked at Timothy through the screen and said, "Aren't we technically face-to-face right now?"Timothy hesitated for a moment before saying, "Can I come over to your place now? It won't take me long on my bike."Given how insistent Timothy was, it did not seem like a trivial matter. Bob glanced at the time and said, "I'll come over.""No, no… actually…" Timothy, imagining Bob driving after a busy day, felt it would be too much trouble for him. "Maybe we should forget about it for now. I have classes tomorrow. I can talk to you about it later.""Timothy, I don't like postponing things until the next day." In a few words, Bob had already opened the garage door. "I'm driving over. Give me ten minutes." The
After everything that happened earlier, Timothy Snow lay on the ground, absolutely deflated.His phone was also on the floor. It vibrated, and a message popped up on the screen.[Tim, take a few days off and come over here. Whenever my friends encounter something like this, they take time off to clear their minds.]Timothy had drunk too much, so he was still asleep. He missed out on the notification.The screen was flooded with messages when he woke up the next afternoon and picked up his phone from the floor. The most recent one was from his classmate, Xander Harmony.[Xander: Timothy, are you dead? It's the first day of college. We had robotics first thing on Monday morning! How dare you not come? You can try apologizing to the professor via email; there might still be hope for you.]Timothy clutched his head, which felt like it was about to split. He called Xander."Hello…" Timothy felt as if his throat was on fire. "I had some personal matters, so I didn't go in the morning."Xande
On Monday at 9:45 a.m., Bob White flew to Leipzig for an academic conference after finishing his first robotics class.After dining with his fellow academics, he waited for Malvis Ryder in the hotel."Hey." Malvis approached from behind him. She sat across from him. "It's been a while."Bob signaled to the waiter, ordering two glasses of Cuba Libres. Malvis interrupted him and asked the waiter to replace one of the drinks with tea. He also decided not to have the Cuba Libre and opted for decaf coffee.Once the waiter left, Bob said, "Your taste has changed."Malvis replied, "Pregnant women shouldn't drink."Bob peered at Malvis's high heels through his rimless glasses and said nothing.Malvis said, "Bob, your taste has changed too."Bob said, "I've never liked alcohol or sugary drinks."Malvis was momentarily stunned but quickly smiled in realization. "You're peculiar. You can endure things you don't like for a lifetime."Bob said, "What I like isn't that important.""I know