Song Yuanxun sent Zhao Han to the airport security checkpoint gate. When he returned to his car, his phone suddenly buzzed with a notification alert.

“Mu has matched with you.”

Song Yuanxun picked up his phone and realised that the notification came from an app that he had never seen before. Opening the app, he only saw a selfie occupying more than half ?of the screen.

The chin of the person could be seen in the selfie and he was dressed in a black T-shirt. The collar of the T-shirt was neither loose nor tight, and it covered up half a delicate looking collarbone. Under the T-shirt, the chest looked very flat. Just by looking at the photo, it was a bit difficult to tell the gender of the person.

Song Yuanxun scrolled down, and under the photo was the person’s basic information. This person was called Mu, a male, Asian, 21 years old. Following that was a section detailing the instructions on how the app worked. Sliding to the right would mean that he accepted this match, and if he slid to the left, the match would be rejected.

When Song Yuanxun saw that, he immediately understood. Zhao Han had installed a dating app for him.

The words on the screen flashed, as though urging Song Yuanxun to come to a decision.

Song Yuanxun had wanted to slide his thumb to the left, first rejecting the match with this Mu person then uninstalling the app. However, as he looked at the photo on the screen, somehow his thumb paused and went the opposite way of what he wanted. The cool colour of the app then changed to a warm tone, and accompanying the change in colour was a short snippet of the beating of a heart and an announcement showing that Song Yuanxun and Mu had matched successfully.

Mu seemed to be waiting for Song Yuanxun to accept the match. When the announcement showed, he immediately sent a message to Song Yuanxun, and it was a voice message.

Song Yuanxun looked at the screen. He did not open the voice message. Then a call from Zhao Han, the mastermind came in. Song Yuanxun accepted the call and Zhao Han’s jubilant voice could be heard. “Have you seen my farewell gift yet?”

“What did you install on my phone?” Song Yuanxun asked Zhao Han, and a trace of anger could be detected despite the calm tone.

“It’s just the app that I mentioned to you,” Zhao Han was not frightened by him. He clicked his tongue, “Did you forget what we were talking about yesterday?”

If Song Yuanxun’s friends had to be ranked according to their unreliability, with the most unreliable ones at the top, Zhao Han would be so far ahead of them that all that could be seen of him was dust.

Song Yuanxun searched his memories and recalled that Zhao Han did seem to have talked to him about some nonsensical matters last night.

Zhao Han had dropped by C City yesterday and crashed at Song Yuanxun’s place. While drinking Song Yuanxun’s beer and smoking Song Yuanxun’s cigarettes, he displayed an attitude that was worthy of a beating, asking Song Yuanxun, “Ah Xun, your mom doesn’t dare to ask you, so she always runs to me. Now I also want to know, are you fucking gay or not?”

Song Yuanxun was on the computer analysing the results of his experiment that he had recorded in the day. Hearing the word “gay”, he was reminded of that girly person in the lab. He instantly shuddered and glared coldy at Zhao Han, retorting, “Do you want to sleep on the bench tonight?”

“No no,” Zhao Han saw that Song Yuanxun even switched off his computer, standing up and walking towards him, looking as though he was ready to fight. He immediately raised his hands in surrender, “I’m just asking only. This is all because Auntie kept asking me about it. Why are you reacting this way?”

“What gay or not gay, it’s disgusting.” Song Yuanxun replied expressionlessly.

Hearing that, Zhao Han was slightly taken aback. He said slowly, “Your view isn’t quite right.”

Song Yuanxun opened the refrigerator and poured himself a glass of beer. Leaning slightly against the wall, he looked at Zhao Han who was on the sofa and gave a one-word reply. “Oh.”

He then quickly followed it with a question. “Is it not disgusting?”

Zhao Han sat up. He glanced at Song Yuanxun, drinking his beer. “Hey, do you know there’s a saying about how homophobic people are actually just hiding deep in the closet?”

Seeing that Song Yuanxun remained silent, he continued, “I think that it makes quite a lot of sense. What do you think?”

“Zhao Han,” Song Yuanxun ignored his question, and only replied coldly. “I’ll reply your previous question. I’m not gay.”

The conversation ended there, at least, it did so in Song Yuanxun’s memory. Hence, Song Yuanxun was unable to confirm exactly what Zhao Han was referring to when he said, “What we were talking about yesterday?”

“This app’s pretty good,” Zhao Han said. “I didn’t register an account with your actual identity. Don’t worry and have fun with it. Let go of your control and nature.”

“I’ll uninstall it straight away. If you touch my phone again, don’t blame me for being rude.”

Song Yuanxun hung up after saying that. He was about to delete the app, but Mu then happen to send another message. Reflexively, he played the message, and Mu’s voice drifted out from his phone.

“How are you? I’m Mu.”

“Hi?”

The person’s tone was breezy, his voice was gentle, and Song Yuanxun recognised it.

Before Song Yuanxun could react, the person sent another message. “Andrew, why didn’t you say anything after accepting the match?”

That person’s voice was nearly the same as usual, with an innate indolence, but also sounded somewhat mysterious, different from what Song Yuanxun was used to.

Fang Zhaomu… was using this app too? How long had he been using it? How many matches had he made?

Song Yuanxun stared at the screen as though possessed. He moved his thumbs and replied the sissy from the lab that he abhorred, “What did you say?”

This was the first time Fang Zhaomu had ever used a dating app, so he was a little nervous about it. However, having not a single person he could talk to at school, he was truly very lonely.

He was still not very familiar with the workings of the app. After completing the registration, and selecting a few interests, the app started showing him a few possible matches. He swiped past profiles that he had no interest in, then a profile with the name Andrew appeared.

Andrew was a 29 year old Chinese mechanical engineer. Much like Fang Zhaomu, his face was hidden in his photo. Dressed in a shirt with the top buttons unbuttoned, he exposed his 8-pack abs. Zhaomu was not a fan of showy photos, but was intrigued by the fact that the other party was an engineer, and 8 years older to boot. He decided to swipe right, and gripped his phone tightly, anxiously awaiting a positive response from Andrew.

This year, as he did his exchange at T University, he was met with all sorts of bitterness.

In the beginning, nothing was out of the ordinary, but gradually, Fang Zhaomu discovered that the other Chinese people in the laboratory were reluctant to associate themselves with him. Although the caucasians in his modules were quite friendly, their conversations were always short. As for his friends back home, due to the time difference, they could not help much.

He dreaded solitude, and constantly surrounded himself with friends. As such, these silent days were foreign to him. And as if the silence weren’t enough, it also made him fearful; even the moment where he had to leave his room every morning filled him with fear.

No one had said it directly, but Fang Zhaomu could feel that his ostracisation was because of Song Yuanxun. As for why Song Yuanxun did not like him, Fang Zhaomu did not have a clue.

He only knew that everyone revolved around Song Yuanxun, and since Song Yuanxun did not like him, everyone else started distancing themselves from him, whether on purpose or not.

Having to bear such silent abuse from adults would instil fear in a person. Fang Zhaomu had a countdown set on his phone that counted down to the end of his exchange. Every day he would look at his phone, longing for his day of departure, a parallel to when he was still in his university; he longed for his exchange to start.

Fang Zhaomu had downloaded this app a while ago, but never had the courage to try it, not even daring to register an account. It was only because he had been angered today, and without anywhere to vent his frustration, he finally gathered his nerves, and wanted to try it out to relieve his pressure.

He sent Andrew two messages, then stared at the chat and fell into a daze. On his twentieth time going through his memories to try to see if he did have any unhappy interactions with Song Yuanxun ever since he entered the lab, Andrew replied his message.

“What did you say?”

The four words and a question mark startled Fang Zhaomu. He had nearly forgotten how long he had not spoke Chinese with anyone during the evenings in City C.

Fang Zhaomu tapped on the voice message function, asking Andrew, “Where are you?”

Exiting the chat screen, he took a look, then told Andrew, “The app tells me that we’re only 3 miles away from each other. We can easily meet up if we want.”

After a while, Andrew replied. “Meet up?”

Fang Zhaomu paused, and then received Andrew’s third message. “Where are you?”

Fang Zhaomu thought about it, and told Andrew that he stayed near T University. He then tried to ask him out, “Is this your first time using this app? If you have the time, let’s come out and have a drink.”

Andrew’s replies were very slow. Fang Zhaomu put down his phone, looked at a few pages of his book, before he received another reply. “Why are you in such a rush?”

Fang Zhaomu felt that Andrew was a little strange, and he switched to typing, asking him in return. “Isn’t the app for this purpose?”

This time, Andrew replied very quickly, but it was another question. “Which purpose?”

Fang Zhaomu looked at the screen for a few seconds, and lost interest in replying. Putting aside Andrew’s chat, he started looking at other profiles.

Not long after, Andrew sent another message. “You’re a frequent user of this app?”

Scrolling through many profiles, Fang Zhaomu did not see anyone else that he was interested in. As such, he once again returned to his conversation with Andrew, and replied honestly, “I’m using this for the first time as well, you’re the first person I matched successfully with.”

“Why did you try matching with me?” Andrew asked.

Chatting online had reduced the sense of reality of their interactions. Andrew did not send Fang Zhaomu any voice messages, and his words were very cold. Fang Zhaomu felt as though he was chatting with a robot, and could not help but want to tease the other person. Sending a voice message, Fang Zhaomu told Andrew, “I feel that engineers are very sexy, and I like people who are older than me.”

Even after a long pause, Andrew still did not reply. Fang Zhaomu then asked him, “Don’t tell me you’re feeling embarrassed.”

“No.” Andrew replied instantly.

Fang Zhaomu felt that Andrew’s reaction was very entertaining. He had never felt such joy in a very long time, and so continued teasing Andrew. “I don’t believe you.”

Without waiting for Andrew’s response, Fang Zhaomu asked, “Why are you using this app? Is it because you’re shy in real life, and can’t find a boyfriend?”

“No.” Andrew repeated.

“I think I’m right,” Fang Zhaomu joked. “You don’t even dare to send me a voice message.”

After half a minute, the other person finally sent him a voice message that was two seconds long.

Fang Zhaomu listened to it, it was a very cold and low male voice. “No.”

When he heard it, Fang Zhaomu suddenly felt that he seemed to have heard this voice somewhere before. However, in the next moment, he burst out laughing at the person’s serious denial. Listening to it a few times, he then sent a mocking reply. “Andrew, you’re so stupid.”

Andrew ignored him, then Fang Zhaomu continued. “However, has anyone ever praised you for your voice?”

“I bet your colleagues definitely won’t,” Fang Zhaomu was getting addicted to teasing him. “Then, I’ll compliment you. Andrew, your voice is very nice — and your muscles look very good too.”

When Song Yuanxun stepped into the lab in the morning, he saw Fang Zhaomu standing by the document cabinet, arranging things with his side facing the door.

Maybe because he felt someone entered, Fang Zhaomu looked up. When his eyes met with Song Yuanxuan’s, he quickly lowered his head.

Fang Zhaomu was a lot shorter than Song Yuanxun. His back and shoulders were slightly hunched, and he looked very stiff. Any traces of his relaxed manner on the app last night could not be seen at all.

Song Yuanxun’s feet did not stop. He walked past Fang Zhaomu, and headed in the direction of his group member, Zhang Ranyu.

Last night, after listening to Fang Zhaomu’s compliments, Song Yuanxun then decisively deleted the app. After all, to be successfully goaded by someone like Fang Zhaomu into sending a voice message was incredibly irrational of him. And to chat with such an academically incompetent gay, it was a pure waste of his time.

“Brother Yuan.” Zhang Ranyu greeted Song Yuanxun, and showed him the results of last night’s computation.

Their group’s experiment was more than halfway done, and had already reached its conclusion stage. Today, after a short meeting in the lab, they would have to start writing their thesis.

It did not take much time for the remaining members of their group to arrive and for Song Yuanxun to finish assigning them their tasks. All of a sudden, they could hear the sound of glass breaking.

Everyone turned their heads to look. Fang Zhaomu had broke a test tube, and was bending down to pick the shards up.

“It’s him again…” Zhang Ranyu had a mocking look on his face. “Embarrassing.”

Zhang Ranyu’s voice was not loud, but Fang Zhaomu had heard it. Fang Zhaomu threw the glass shards into the bin, then turned around and looked at Zhang Ranyu. He asked Zhang Ranyu in a cold voice, “How am I embarrassing?”

Yesterday afternoon, it was Zhang Ranyu who had angered Fang Zhaomu.

If Song Yuanxun was the invisible nucleus of the chinese people in the lab, then Zhang Ranyu would be a character like the many eunuchs next to the emperor that could be seen on television.

Song Yuanxun was working on two degrees, and was seldom in the lab. He would not have any direct conflicts with Fang Zhaomu, and had rarely spoken to Fang Zhaomu, mostly just ignoring and avoiding him.

However, that was not the case for Zhang Ranyu. In his life, Zhang Ranyu only had two hobbies. One was to suck up to Song Yuanxun, and the other was to think of ways to make Fang Zhaomu feel uncomfortable.

Yesterday, when Fang Zhaomu was holding on to a reagent, he accidentally bumped into an electronic weighing scale that Song Yuanxun was using.

Song Yuanxun was standing next to Fang Zhaomu, and he quickly used the lab report in his hand to push Fang Zhaomu’s hand away. With a poker-face, he stared at Fang Zhaomu. Then, before Song Yuanxun could even open his mouth, Zhang Ranyu had leaned over, ?blaming Fang Zhaomu for destroying Song Yuanxun’s half hour of work.

At the start, Fang Zhaomu still apologised nicely, but after getting unrelentingly scolded by Zhang Ranyu, his face also turned cold, and he walked off with his reagent.

Zhang Ranyu had not expect that the usually tolerant Fang Zhaomu would dare to retort. He was stunned, and watched Fang Zhaomu walk towards him.

“How am I embarrassing?” Fang Zhaomu drew closer to Zhang Ranyu, and asked again.

Although Fang Zhaomu was not tall, he was still half a head taller than Zhang Ranyu.

His eyes were fierce, and he was still holding on to the half-broken test tube. Stared at by Fang Zhaomu, Zhang Ranyu took a step back in panic, and his backside pressed against the table. He then mustered up his courage, raising his neck up to confront Fang Zhaomu. “Was I talking about you?”

“Then who were you talking about?” Facing Zhang Ranyu, the corner of Fang Zhaomu’s lips twitched.

“Alright, alright. Stop arguing.” Zhou Meng, standing next to them, came to mediate. She told Fang Zhaomu, “Ranyu was just speaking casually, why are you treating it so seriously.”

Fang Zhaomu still wanted to argue, but the professor and the assistant chose that moment to enter the lab, so he could only let it go.

He went upstairs to his own table and switched on his computer. He then took out his phone, and opened the app that he had started using yesterday.

After complimenting Andrew’s muscles yesterday, Andrew seemed to have turned shy, opting for silence.

Fang Zhaomu felt that he ?might have gotten himself imprinted on Andrew like a little duckling. Other than Andrew, he was not interested in anyone else. He opened his chat with Andrew, and sent Andrew another message.

He first typed a message, telling him good morning, and asked him if he had woken up already. After spending some time on his analysis report, Andrew still had not reply. Fang Zhaomu then pressed on the voice message button, dragging his words out, he asked Andrew, “What are you doing?”

“I met an idiot again today, and I’m in a bad mood. Chat with me,” Fang Zhaomu persisted. “Ok?”

Just as he finished, Fang Zhaomu heard a small noise coming from behind him, and he turned around to look. Surprisingly, Song Yuanxun had also came upstairs, which he rarely did. With his back facing him, he took out his computer.

Now that there was someone else present, Fang Zhaomu was unable to send a voice message anymore. He sent a few crying emojis to Andrew, then started looking at through his materials.

After Fang Zhaomu finished reading a thesis, he could not resist opening the chat again, discovering that Andrew had replied. Andrew asked, “That idiot made you cry?”

“Mn,” Fang Zhaomu lay on the table, typing his message to Andrew. “I cried.”

This time, Andrew replied a lot faster than he did last night. He told Fang Zhaomu, “I don’t believe, take a photo for me to see.”

“I’m in the lab, there’s people next to me.” Fang Zhaomu turned his head to take a look. Song Yuanxun was typing on his computer very seriously, he should not notice him. He then lowered his voice and told Andrew, “You’re not working?”

“I’m working,” Andrew said. “I saw that you said you weren’t in a good mood, so I took some time out to chat with you.”

Fang Zhaomu felt that Andrew was a little different from last night, he seemed to have become friendly. Fang Zhaomu did not know what else to say, so he told him, “Thank you, with someone to speak to me, I feel a lot better now.”

“You can send voice messages in the lab?” Andrew asked Fang Zhaomu. “What are you studying?”

“Sure I can.” Fang Zhaomu told Andrew his major, then asked him, “What does a mechanical engineer do at work? Is it very busy?”

Before his voice faded away, more noise sounded behind Fang Zhaomu. He turned around to see Song Yuanxun stand up and walking quickly in the direction of the staircase with his phone.

Andrew’s side of the conversation suddenly fell quiet again. After Fang Zhaomu analysed some data, he looked up and casually sent another message. “Are you really that busy?”

After a moment, Fang Zhaomu then received a reply. In it were only four words, “I’m really quite busy.”