Chapter 7

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 kilometers.

On Sunday, when Zachary had already left and Timothy was home alone, he saw that Cycle's distance was 4.8 kilometers. He sent a message.

[Frost: Did you stay home today?]

When there was no reply, Timothy sent a picture of the dish he had made.

[Frost: I made some baked fish with mushrooms. Would you like to come and have some?]

After a long time, Cycle replied to him.

[Cycle: I made honey-glazed ribs.]

[Frost: Can I get a picture?]

Bob sent a photo.

Timothy requested a voice call.

He asked, "Why don't I pack the baked fish and come to your place?"

Cycle replied, "I'm already eating."

"Are you afraid of meeting me? I don't mind your age."

It sounded like Cycle chuckled. "Why are you rushing?"

"I want to see you. Why don't we do a video call?"

"No."

"If you keep refusing me, I might just wait for you outside the LRM building."

"You can try."

"Forget it. I'm afraid of running into your boss. Besides, I don't even know what you look like."

"Aren't you going to his class?"

"Meeting him twice a week is my limit. Just thinking about seeing him tomorrow will give me nightmares tonight. Forget him. When will I get to have a meal with you?"

"I've been quite busy recently."

"Busy enough to cook ribs for yourself?"

At that, Cycle definitely laughed and said, "You sound resentful."

Timothy did not admit to that. He retorted, "I'm just stating facts."

Cycle said, "Hmm, facts."

Timothy somehow sensed a hint of indulgence in those words. He suddenly realized that he had not heard any eating sounds from Cycle since the call began. Cycle had been talking to him without eating.

Timothy's voice dropped as he said, "Continue eating. I won't disturb you then."

After hanging up, Timothy replayed Cycle's voice in his mind. He recalled how Cycle asked him to try when he said he would wait for him outside the LRM building.

He wondered if it was unethical to check the LRM department's website for pictures of their researchers.

Cycle's voice rang in his head—try.

To hell with ethics.

Timothy opened his laptop, found the LRM department's website through the college's site, and then navigated to the staff section.

The first thing he saw was Professor White's picture. He did not dare look at it for long and quickly scrolled to look for an American male researcher.

Timothy found two male researchers who seemed American based on their names. One had no photo. The other had a picture, but the person did not match Cycle's voice or demeanor.

Was it the one without a photo?

Timothy stared at the name without a photo for a while.

Henry Armstrong. Was Cycle Henry Armstrong?

It did not seem to fit.

Timothy zoomed in on Cycle's profile picture and compared it with the researcher who had a photo. The face didn't match at all. The researcher appeared to be heavier, and the upper torso in the image did not match Cycle's stated height of 187 cm.

If Cycle were 187 cm, he should be taller than him.

Suddenly, a face appeared in Timothy's mind— a man wearing rimless glasses with thin metal frames, his eyes looking down at him from behind the lenses.

Timothy's neck went cold. When he took a shower that night, he could not even get an erection when he wanted to relieve himself.

The next morning, Timothy rode his bike to school and arrived at classroom S17 at 8:01 a.m. There were few people, so he chose a seat well distanced from the podium, hoping not to attract the professor's attention.

A few minutes later, Xander arrived, sat down, and asked, "Did you succeed in your plea?"

Timothy replied, "Pleading with him is self-degrading."

Xander showed interest and asked, "How so?"

Timothy glanced at Xander and said, "Do you really want to hear me being degraded?"

Xander replied with a tone of camaraderie, "Of course not."

However, his face clearly showed that he thought, 'Hurry up and tell me.'

Timothy was not keen on going into details. He said, "Anyway, I'll be coming to class from now on."

At 8:14 a.m., with the professor still absent, Timothy thought he might as well send a message to Cycle to see if he was free for lunch.

He checked the Distance app to see if Cycle was at the college that day.

Timothy opened the app and looked at the distance below Cycle's name.

Xander nudged Timothy's arm and whispered, "The professor is here. Quick, put your phone away."

"Oh." Timothy put his phone under the table and looked up at the podium.

Was he mistaken? Was Cycle only three meters away?

Timothy glanced at the distance again. It was still three meters away. Three meters meant Cycle was in the classroom?! Was Cycle there to see him quietly?

Timothy surreptitiously scanned the classroom for students—male, American, around 30...

American students in the classroom were already a minority; he knew all of them. Even if he could not name them, Timothy had at least met and greeted them before.

The researcher with the photo on the department website was not in the classroom. Timothy looked at each person, feeling that none resembled Cycle. He even stared at Xander for a while.

Xander turned to Timothy and said, "Timothy, what's with that creepy look?"

Timothy averted his gaze and said, "What does Cycle mean?"

Xander asked, "What? The Cycle you mentioned? Are you crazy? Why do you ask? Did the professor mention this?"

"No." Timothy stuffed his phone into his pocket and focused on the class.

In the last five minutes of the class, Professor White did a roll call as usual and then announced the end of the class.

Applause erupted around him, and Timothy clapped twice to play along. While no one had left the classroom yet, he quickly took out his phone to check the distance in the app.

Cycle was still three meters away.

While packing up his things, Xander asked Timothy, "Aren't you leaving?"

Timothy kept his gaze fixed on his phone and said, "You go ahead."

As the other students filed out, the number of people in the room dwindled. The distance of three meters remained unchanged.

Then, only five people were left in the classroom.

A German student in the back was still copying the notes from the board, and three students at the podium were asking questions. They were all German.

Timothy remained seated. The Distance app still showed three meters.

Timothy suspected that the app was malfunctioning.

He texted Cycle.

[Frost: What does the current distance show on your end? It says three meters here, but I don't see any Americans within a three-meter radius.]

No, that was not right.

There was an American within a three-meter radius.

Timothy never considered him, so he did not count.

Timothy suddenly looked up at the podium. The students asking questions had left, and only one person remained on the podium collecting notes.

Timothy turned around; the student copying the board had also left.

Only two people were left in the classroom—himself and the professor at the podium.

The professor was American, male, 36 years old, 187 cm, and wearing glasses. Timothy's legs weakened. He was dazed.

No, it could not be...

Timothy desperately tried to recall the two voices—Professor White's and Cycle's. Only then did he remember that there was a difference in tone when one spoke face to face and over the phone.

He also recalled that when the man spoke English and German—he could sound different. He had never heard Professor White speak English; he had never heard Cycle speak German, either. The vast differences between the two languages made it hard to realize it was the same person.

At that moment, Timothy still harbored a sliver of hope—maybe Cycle's location was turned off.

He kept his head down, using his peripheral vision to watch the professor. Once everyone had left the classroom, he checked the distance on the app—12 meters.

Damn. It was a nightmare. Had he been flirting with Professor White?

Damn, what had he even said? He called him dear, and he flirted with him about a tie.

Damn it!

No, Timothy suddenly realized it was not even the worst part.

He seemed to have said even more horrifying things. He said Professor White lacked humanity, that he was petty, that he had nightmares about him.

No, that was not the worst, either.

The worst part was the night before he had to plead with the professor in person, he sent Cycle a message to complain about it!

[Frost: If it weren't a required course for our major, I doubt anyone would choose his class. The professor is such an idiot, always causing trouble, and his failure rate is so high. Who would want to take his class?]

Plus, the cherry on top...

[Frost: Oh, I wasn't sick. I just drank too much earlier, so I overslept yesterday.]

Timothy fainted.