Chapter 3

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 for ten minutes. He glanced at the time at the top of the phone, thought about his classes early the next morning, and then sent a message.

[Frost: Sorry, I have to go to bed. I have classes tomorrow.]

A few minutes later, Cycle replied with a single word.

[Cycle: Okay.]

Timothy was about to sleep, while the night was just beginning for Zachary.

Zachary dug out a pink shirt from Timothy's wardrobe, wearing it over a T-shirt and shorts that barely reached his knees. He then asked Timothy for the key to his bike and set off alone to the city center to find a nightclub.

As soon as Zachary left, the doorbell rang again. Timothy thought Zachary had forgotten something, so he pressed the intercom to unlock the building's door, opened his door, and called out as he walked toward the bedroom.

"Zachary, can you at least bring a key with you? There's a spare in the bowl by the door. Take it when you leave and open the door yourself when you come back. Don't keep ringing the bell and disturbing me. Also, close the door when you leave, alright?"

"Timothy." A familiar voice sounded outside the door.

Timothy paused before he closed his bedroom door, walked out, and saw Leonardo standing at the door.

Timothy rubbed his forehead and said, "Did you forget something?"

Leonardo asked, "How have you been?"

Timothy replied, "Alright."

"Have you been eating?"

"Mm."

"Smoking again?"

"Mm."

"Stop smoking."

"We'll see."

Leonardo tried to enter the apartment, but Timothy said, "What did you forget? I'll get it for you."

So Leonardo had no choice but to stand there.

"I have class tomorrow. I need to sleep," Timothy said, about to close the door.

Leonardo put his hand against the door and stepped forward to hug Timothy, saying, "Let's not break up, okay? After all these years, I really can't accept it."

For long-term couples, physical contact was terrifying. The familiarity of the other person's skin, warmth, and scent was confusing—it was as if nothing had changed.

At that moment, Timothy nearly had the illusion that Leonardo had just returned from a trip. His body did not remember Leonardo's mistakes and refused to accept the break-up command from his brain.

His body only remembered that Leonardo was the person he was closest to and trusted most, and his body was recalling how much it missed him and his embrace.

Timothy pulled away and said, "Leonardo, don't do this. This situation is already awkward enough. Let's just end it quietly."

Leonardo said, "I'm not afraid. Which ugly side of me you haven't seen? How do you want me to apologize?"

Timothy said, "You know I have a bad temper. Let's leave it at that. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

Leonardo wanted to say something more, but Timothy said, "I'm ready to start a new chapter."

Leonardo did not believe it. He stared at Timothy briefly, then glanced around the room and said, "I know your brother is here. Don't try to fool me."

Timothy said, "I'm not talking about him."

Leonardo asked, "Then who?"

Timothy did not know who. He just wanted to get Leonardo out of there quickly.

Leonardo knew Timothy well. He knew Timothy would not have gotten close to someone new in such a short time. He also believed he could mend their rift if he spent time with Timothy. So, he had to stay with him that night.

He did understand Timothy, but not thoroughly enough. Timothy had a terrible temper; he picked fights over trivial matters and did not relent on principles.

However, for significant issues, he would not argue about right or wrong, did not want apologies, and was not interested in assigning blame. He just needed the other person to leave.

Seeing Leonardo's intent, Timothy realized that if he did not do something, Leonardo would not leave. So, he took out his phone and sent a voice message to Cycle in front of Leonardo.

"Goodnight, dear."

Leonardo, feeling helpless, said, "Timothy, who are you pretending for?"

Timothy stared at the phone, silently praying for a reply. 'Come on, reply quickly; as soon as Leonardo leaves, I'll thank you,' he thought.

"I'm not pretending for anyone. I met someone new," Timothy said.

Leonardo said, "So what if you've only known him for two days? I don't mind. Let's start over."

Timothy remained silent and typed to Cycle.

[Frost: Are you asleep? Please reply with a voice message, just as a favor. My ex is refusing to leave.]

Cycle finally replied.

[Cycle: Call the police.]

[Timothy: Calling the police will disturb the neighbors and waste time. I have classes tomorrow that I have to attend.]

After a while, Cycle replied.

[Cycle: What do you want the voice message to say?]

Timothy felt a wave of relief and continued typing.

[Frost: Wish me goodnight. Make it endearing. Feel free to add your own spin to it.]

Cycle did not respond for a while.

Leonardo said, "Timothy."

Timothy looked up and said, "I'm chatting with him."

Leonardo said, "Sure, I'll wait."

Two minutes later, Cycle sent a voice message, and Timothy opened it.

It seemed like Cycle was speaking close to the phone's microphone in a quiet room, so his voice was low and deep and had a magnetic, attractive quality.

"Good night."

Leonardo's expression darkened.

Timothy pretended not to notice and sent another voice message to Cycle. "Oh, by the way, you left your tie at my place last night."

Soon after, Cycle replied with a voice message, but Timothy dared not open it. He was worried Cycle would expose his lie and ruin everything.

Leonardo stared at Timothy and asked, "Where's the tie?"

Timothy said, "It got dirty, so I took it to the dry cleaners today."

Leonardo's face grew dark, but he said, "I don't believe you."

Timothy typed to Cycle.

[Frost: What did your voice message say? It won't expose me, right?]

[Cycle: Listen to it.]

Timothy found those three words incredibly reassuring and opened the voice message. Cycle's voice said, "I'll come pick it up in a couple of days."

Timothy told Leonardo, "See, I didn't lie to you."

Leonardo looked at Timothy for a long time before saying, "After all these years, you're really willing to let go."

Timothy was momentarily at a loss for how to respond. After all those years, was he really willing to let go? The more he thought about it, the more he felt like laughing. After all those years, who was the one willing to let go first?

"I'm closing the door," Timothy said, not wanting to argue further. "If I find your stuff, I'll send it to you. Don't bother coming here."

After Leonardo left, Timothy lay on the bed and felt a wave of fatigue immediately hit him. He sent Cycle a message saying his ex was gone and thanked him for the night. Cycle did not reply.

Throughout the night, Timothy slept lightly. At around 6:00 a.m., Zachary, who had forgotten his keys, rang the doorbell furiously, waking him up.

Timothy opened the door while scolding Zachary.

Zachary tossed a paper bag on the table and said, "I even bought you breakfast. I should've known better and not bought it. Heartless."

"Heartless? Get your stuff together and leave; stop living like a stray dog here."

Timothy could not sleep, so he had to get up and wash up. By the time he finished, Zachary had not said a word, which seemed odd to Timothy.

When he exited the bathroom, he found Zachary sprawled on the sofa, one leg draped over the backrest, snoring softly and sleeping soundly.

Timothy threw his blanket over Zachary, then took his laptop to the dining table. He ate the breakfast Zachary had bought while checking his emails.

Aside from the usual school newsletters, there was only one unread email from Professor White. Timothy's heart sank as he opened the email.

It was bad news from the very first line. The professor of the killer course, Professor White, instructed him to retake the course, not next semester, but the following year. The course was only offered in the summer term.

All because he missed the first class.

Timothy lost his appetite for breakfast. He messaged a few classmates for advice on handling this situation, and their consensus was that the German professor had a lot of autonomy in that matter, and the school could not do much. The only option was to plead with the professor.

Timothy cursed the professor in his mind while drafting a reply, begging for another chance. He promised to thoroughly study the first class's content from a classmate's notes and assured him that he would schedule an appointment during the professor's office hours for any questions.

Throughout the day, he kept checking his email during breaks. By the end of the day, he had smoked an entire pack of cigarettes, yet Professor White still had not replied.

Exhausted from a full day of classes, he returned home only to find Zachary playing games loudly on the speakers, which was even more annoying.

"Zachary, can you use headphones?" Timothy asked.

Zachary, eyes glued to the screen and hands on the keyboard, replied, "The headphones are out of battery."

"Out of battery? Don't you know how to charge them?" Timothy retorted before heading into the bedroom, shutting the door behind him to block out the noise.

Feeling agitated, Timothy fiddled with his phone and somehow opened Distance. The chat list had only one person—Cycle.

He visited Cycle's profile again, which was still blank and had no updates. Returning to the chat window, he re-listened to the four voice messages from Cycle.

Timothy heard himself say, "Goodnight, dear."

Cycle replied, "Good night."

Timothy said, "By the way, you left your tie at my place last night."

Cycle replied, "I will come pick it up in a couple of days."

Cycle's voice was pleasant. Timothy replayed the last message several times, imagining what Cycle might look like. He could not picture it.

Cycle's voice sounded reliable, trustworthy, and convincing, like someone who would never lose composure. The thought that such a person had played along with him last night made Timothy want to laugh.

He suddenly felt like talking to Cycle.

Timothy hesitated, then typed.

[Frost: Are you off work?]

Cycle did not respond.

Timothy continued typing.

[Frost: I had a full day of classes today. Are you free to chat tonight?]

He sent the message and waited, but Cycle did not reply. So, Timothy set his phone aside and went to call Zachary for dinner.

When it was around 10:00 p.m., Timothy checked his phone again and saw a new message from Cycle.

[Cycle: I had meetings all day. Just got home.]

Timothy opened the message and was about to reply when he suddenly noticed that Cycle's location, previously 287 km away, was then 4.8 km away.

Timothy wiped his phone screen and rubbed his eyes—4.8 km? The screen still showed 4.8 km. What was happening? Was there a bug in the app?

[Frost: Why has the distance between us changed to 4.8 km?]

After a while, Cycle replied.

[Cycle: I've been out of town for meetings the past few days.]

Timothy was puzzled. Out of town for meetings? So, Cycle, who he thought was 287 km away, could drive over in ten minutes?

[Frost: So, you can come by to pick up the tie?]

He immediately regretted sending this message, but it could not be undone. Feeling a bit nervous, he looked at Cycle's profile picture in the chat window.

Ten minutes later, a new reply appeared on the screen.

[Cycle: Yes, if I did indeed leave the tie at yours.]