Chapter 4

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 hear your voice.]

Bob sent a voice message. "What should I say?"

Timothy sent a voice message back. "Tell me what you're doing."

"Cleaning my glasses."

"You wear glasses? What will you do after cleaning them?"

Bob opened his laptop as he sent another message. "Checking my emails."

"You're replying to emails this late?"

"It's a habit."

"How dedicated. Hey, I have something to tell you. I'm taking a course with a really tough professor this semester. I emailed him early this morning, and he still hasn't replied."

Bob opened his email and dealt with a couple of messages before responding to the voice message. "Professors are usually busy. It's normal if they reply within a week."

Timothy sent a longer voice message. "The course is on Monday and Wednesday mornings. Tomorrow is the second class, and I won't know whether to attend it if he doesn't reply today.

"How can there be such a twisted professor? Just because I missed the first class, he's making me retake it next year.

"I even gave him a sick note. I wonder if anyone would choose his class if it weren't a required course for our major. The professor is such an idiot, always causing trouble, and his failure rate is so high. Who would want to take his class?"

Bob noticed an unread email from Timothy Snow as he listened to Frost's voice message. The email was earnest, begging.

[Professor, please give me another chance to learn. I really want to take your class.]

Bob glanced at the email's sending time and signature, then looked back at his phone screen and replayed Frost's voice message.

Bob clicked on Frost's profile, went to his page, and then clicked the three dots in the upper right corner. He selected one of the buttons—Remove Contact and Block User.

A white box popped up on the screen.

[Distance: This person is your Perfect Match. Are you sure you want to remove your match and block messages from this user? The chat history will be deleted as well.]

Just as Bob was about to confirm, he suddenly changed his mind.

He returned to the chat with Frost, replayed the long voice message for the third time, and removed his glasses. As he cleaned them, he listened carefully to the message.

When he put his glasses back on, he had a smile.

He sent Frost a voice message. "You took a sick day yesterday? Are you feeling better now?"

Frost replied, "Oh, I wasn't actually sick. I drank too much, so I overslept yesterday."

Immediately after, Frost sent another voice message. "Do you think it would help if I went to the classroom tomorrow morning and pleaded with the twisted professor in person if he didn't reply to my email?"

Bob smiled and replied, "Give it a try."