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
After being with the same person for many years, Timothy's flirting skills had deteriorated. He did not even know what to say to Cycle then.Zachary was still urging him from the side. "Hurry up and send him a message."Timothy thought for a long time and finally sent a single word.[Frost: Hello.]Zachary responded with an exasperated sigh."Tim, your basic conversational skills are seriously lacking," Zachary said as he grabbed the phone and went to Cycle's profile. "You need to find conversation points from the other person's profile and status. Hey, why does his profile have nothing on it?"Timothy said, "Maybe he doesn't spend much time online."Zachary returned to the chat interface with Cycle, stunned to see the response was just as dry.[Cycle: Hello.]"You really are a Perfect Match," Zachary said, tossing the phone back to Timothy and walking away. "You two chat."Timothy did not know what to say. He typed, deleted, and typed again but could not send another word fo
Bob sat in his study, reviewing the lecture notes for the next day. With theories and technologies constantly changing, it was essential to update his course material. Bob had a habit of reviewing his lecture notes one last time the day before the class.His phone sat silent and face-down on the desk.After finalizing the lecture notes, he noticed a new message on his phone.[Frost: Do you often leave your tie at other people's homes?]Bob chuckled.[Cycle: Never happened to me.][Frost: Well, would you like to leave one at my place for a change?]Was that flirting? Or an invitation?Bob had never used that kind of social app before. He had never flirted with a man and had certainly never been invited by one. He was not sure how to respond. Agreeing seemed unrealistic, and refusing seemed impolite.After some thought, Bob replied.[Cycle: Depends on the situation.][Frost: What do you mean by that?][Cycle: It means we'll see.][Frost: Send me a voice message. I want to he
Timothy woke up to find Zachary by the coffee machine."Up so early? That's rare," Timothy remarked.Zachary replied, "I'll go back to sleep after coffee.""You stayed up all night gaming?" Timothy walked forward and took Zachary's coffee. "Stop drinking it and go get some rest."Zachary grabbed another cup and asked, "Are you heading to class again?"Timothy said, "What do you mean again? I have classes every day."Zachary, disinterested in classes, took a few sips of coffee and started teasing him. "So, how's Mr. C?""What about him?" Timothy asked."Oh, come on, don't play dumb. How's the chat going? Did he send any photos or videos? Is he handsome?"Timothy said, "Not that quickly. He seems pretty composed."Zachary scoffed. "Well, he's quite a bit older. Of course, he's composed. But what's the use of being composed? You're looking for a partner, not a father. What's his job?"Timothy replied, "I didn't ask. I didn't want to pry into his private matters. Anyway, I need
In the LRM Department, Bob had just finished a research group meeting with his graduate students and returned to his office.On his phone were two messages from Frost. The first was a voice message, and the second was a text.[Frost: Where are you now?]When Bob checked the message, Frost's distance was 219 meters. That number was steadily decreasing. Two minutes later, it had dropped to 103 meters.Then, it was 82 meters; 57 meters; 22 meters; 23 meters; 22 meters.Finally, the number stopped moving. It was probably because Timothy did not have access to the LRM building and could not get any closer.That was pretty bold. Bob typed a message to Frost.[Cycle: Are you looking for me?][Frost: I'm at the LRM entrance.][Frost: Are you working in this building?][Cycle: Yes.][Frost: You scared me.][Frost: Earlier, when I saw the distance was over 500 meters, I thought you were following me.][Frost: Are you a graduate student? A professor? Or…]The department had two Amer
Timothy waited with bated breath for the receiver's reply.After a few seconds, Cycle said, "I've been quite busy recently."Timothy replied, "Well, let me know when you have some free time.""We'll see.""How about breakfast then?""Hmm.""Please let me know a day in advance so I can prepare myself for it."Cycle sounded amused. "Hmm.""Alright, I'll let you get back to work then. I'm heading to the library."From that day on, Timothy occasionally dropped hints to remind Cycle about their planned meal.For example, during lunch at school, he would ask Cycle if he had eaten. In the afternoon, when leaving school, he would send Cycle a message asking if he had finished work and mention that he had yet to have dinner.Cycle's responses were either that he had already eaten or was still busy. Timothy noticed that Cycle was not always at the college on weekdays. Sometimes, the dating app showed that the distance between them was a few hundred meters; other times, it was several