◎So You Are This Kind of Blind Date Match◎
Yang Ximing expressed deep sympathy, urging Fang Ke to cut ties with that person.
Su Yun’s phone emitted a subtle vibration, and upon seeing the avatar of the WeChat sender, his eyes lit up.
Si Yan, who had already been saved in his contacts under the moniker Orange Cake, had sent him a message: “Are you off work yet?”
This was followed by a supplementary note: “No other intentions. You went out to dine with me tonight, so I need to ensure you arrive home safely.”
The corners of Su Yun’s mouth lifted involuntarily as he typed out a reply: “Our boss showed mercy today, I am already on my way home.”
Inside the car, Su Yun was in high spirits, listening quite contentedly even to the sad love songs playing on the radio.
In the passenger seat, Yang Ximing was flipping through his phone, muttering as he scrolled. “So strange, how come I cannot find it anywhere? The editing technique is so professional. Could those two actually be celebrities?”
“Still looking for that video? Forget it if you cannot find it,” Su Yun said.
“Oh,” Yang Ximing felt even more frustrated than Su Yun. “Tell me, why did you suddenly want to watch that video?”
Guiltily glancing into the rearview mirror, Su Yun replied, “I did not finish watching it at the time, so I was a bit curious.”
Knowing Su Yun had a mild case of perfectionist obsession, otherwise, he would not have remained so fixated on someone whose profile he had only caught a glimpse of, Yang Ximing figured that once Su Yun saw the person in reality, that stubborn fixation would likely fade away.
Determined to prevent his friend from developing yet another obsession, he decided to try searching a bit harder.
Back at the dorm, Su Yun placed the cake inside the refrigerator and took out his phone to reply to Si Yan.
The previous message remained at Si Yan’s: “Let me know when you get home.”
He selected a panda sticker, preparing to send it, but then decided it looked too childish.
During dinner earlier, Si Yan had seemingly assumed he hadn’t yet graduated from university.
Pondering over it for a long time, he settled on a simple reply: “I am home.”
Si Yan replied almost instantly: “Then get some rest early. Goodnight.”
This was the fourth time Si Yan had said goodnight. Just one more would earn him an Active Bird badge, and three more would allow him to make a wish.
Unfortunately, after Su Yun replied with his own goodnight, he received no further messages from Si Yan.
Lying in bed, he recalled Si Yan’s appearance and muttered they really look identical with a silly grin before closing his eyes and drifting into a contented sleep.
Si Yan had not gone to sleep yet, reading a remote reprimand sent by Fang Ke: “The stuff you sent is going to give me nightmares.”
Si Yan replied: “Nightmares are better than insomnia. There are now 7 hours, 20 minutes, and 14 seconds left until you report to KG.”
Fang Ke sent back a cartoon panda flinging a keyboard in anger.
Seeing this sticker for only the second time, Si Yan frowned and typed back: “7 hours, 20 minutes, and 1 second.”
Then he added: “Such a cute sticker doesn’t suit you. Don’t use it again.”
Whether Fang Ke had been angered into silence or had gone off to suffer nightmares, he stopped replying.
Si Yan closed his laptop, preparing to turn in for the night as well, when another WeChat notification popped up.
Tapping it open, the moment he saw the profile picture, featuring a face similar to his own striking a flirty, aloof pose, he immediately pulled his phone back into his trouser pocket.
They always say what goes around comes around; one more glance and he feared he would suffer nightmares tonight himself.
Yet the sender had no intention of letting him off so easily, as his phone buzzed several times in succession.
With Star Journey rolling out its release in Country A, he needed to monitor the situation in real time and couldn’t power off his device. Gritting his teeth, he tapped open WeChat, intending to block the person entirely.
When the chat window opened, however, a photograph practically washed his eyes clean.
The person in the photo was wearing a graduation gown, with soft facial features and light-toned eyebrows, exuding a pretty and tranquil aura. The slightly upturned corners of his lips added an extra touch of docility to that quiet demeanor.
Docile?
Si Yan recalled the person in the photo, who had stolen glances at him multiple times during dinner, grabbed his sleeve upon parting, and even sent somewhat aggressive stickers.
Still, he felt the person was quite well-behaved. Every message he sent had been answered earnestly by the other party.
“Mom sent this to me,” Si Yu sent over, hiding behind his flamboyant profile picture.
“Just confirming, is this the person you met tonight?”
“Well? Does the other person catch your eye?”
“Why aren’t you replying to my messages?”
“Did I interrupt you guys?”
“Damn, you guys didn’t actually get interrupted, did you?”
“At this hour…”
“The person is so well-behaved, don’t go bullying him right off the bat. Don’t ruin the Yan family’s reputation.”
“Ask him if he has any interest in being a model.”
Si Yan saved the photo and, purely for the picture’s sake, replied with patient forbearance: “No comment, you’re disturbing me, mind your own business, no.”
Once sent, he promptly blocked the sender.
The world was finally peaceful.
Looking at that photo, he felt certain he wouldn’t have any nightmares tonight.
Su Yun slept soundly through the night. Although he had only logged a little over five hours of sleep, he felt refreshed, the exhaustion from the previous night’s all-nighter completely gone.
The area outside his room was quiet; Yang Ximing probably hadn’t gotten up yet.
After washing up, he pulled open the fridge intending to pour a glass of milk to warm up. The moment he spotted the cake box, his mood blossomed as brightly as the flowers printed on the packaging.
The box could be opened from the side. Pulling a small gap open, he scooped up a bit of frosting with his finger and tasted it.
The chilled frosting had a wonderful texture, and the citrus aroma was even more delightful.
“What are you up to?” Sleepy-eyed and scratching his messy bird’s nest of hair, Yang Ximing appeared behind Su Yun.
Startled, Su Yun hid his frosting-covered finger behind his back. “I am pouring some milk.”
“Oh, can you help me pour a glass of ice water?” Yang Ximing let out another massive yawn, dragging himself dejectedly to the chair by the small bar counter.
Their living quarters weren’t large, making this small bar counter serve as their dining table. Since they spent most of their time at the company, its utility was low, and it was piled high with all sorts of bottles and jars.
“Drinking ice water in the morning is bad for your stomach. I will warm up a cup of milk for you too,” Su Yun said, then asked, “Do you want to share some cake?”
Touched, Yang Ximing replied, “Yes please, thanks Xiao Yun.”
Taking advantage of the heating milk, Su Yun cleared away the clutter on the bar counter and set out the cake.
Coming out after brushing his teeth, Yang Ximing looked surprised at the tidy desktop, before coming to his own realization: “Right, life needs a bit of ritual.”
Sitting opposite each other, Yang Ximing praised how delicious the cake was, while Su Yun licked the frosting from his lips. “Why did you wake up so early today?”
Looking blank, Yang Ximing murmured, “True, why did I wake up so early today?”
Su Yun continued eating his cake, waiting for him to remember.
“Ah, I remember now!” Yang Ximing whipped out his phone. “I found the screenshot of that video last night, I will send it to you.”
Hearing his phone chime, Su Yun did not look at it, continuing to relish his small cake. “You woke up early just for that?”
“No, I just happened to remember. Aren’t we going on a business trip to Country L the day after tomorrow? The boss wants me to go to KG with you today to handle some handover matters, so I am hitching a ride in your car,” Yang Ximing said. “By the way, are we moving soon? This place is pretty far from KG.”
“KG has dorms, but we can only arrange them after officially joining. We will see then.” Having finished eating, Su Yun took a sip of milk. “Are you still eating?”
Half the cake remained. Yang Ximing shook his head. “No more, save it for yourself. I will wash the cups.”
Su Yun packed up the rest of the cake, preparing to put it back in the fridge.
Holding the cake box in one hand, he operated his phone with the other, tapping open the image Yang Ximing had sent him.
Clatter.
The cake box slipped from his hands and hit the floor.
Yang Ximing flinched, almost dropping his cup.
“What is wrong?” He peered out from the kitchen to see Su Yun standing frozen before the refrigerator, staring blankly at his phone while the fallen cake box lay spilled open, smearing the floor.
“Such a waste.” Seeing how much Su Yun loved that cake, Yang Ximing said, “Leave it, I will clean it up.”
“No worries, I will do it myself.” As if stripped of half his soul, Su Yun mechanically put away his phone, silently cleaning up the mess on the floor. His arched back radiated an indescribable sense of desolate gloom.
Scratching his head, Yang Ximing figured his roommate must really love that cake.
On the drive to KG, Yang Ximing broke the silence. “Did you look at the screenshot I sent you? Heh, luckily one of my netizens managed to screenshot two front-facing shots of the guy.”
With a dreamy daze in his voice, Su Yun hummed in acknowledgment.
“Ahem, my netizen said the guy is pretty handsome. I think he is just so-so, definitely not as handsome as me,” Yang Ximing boasted playfully.
As the new-energy compact car swerved around a corner, Yang Ximing nearly bit his tongue. Noticing Su Yun’s terrible complexion, he quickly added, “Not as handsome as you.”
Su Yun let out a small hum, seemingly agreeing. Upon second thought, he still felt unsatisfied. “Not even as handsome as Fang Ke.”
Thinking that bootlicking the boss this early in the morning lacked professional ethics, yet feeling trapped in a moving vehicle where his life hung in the balance, Yang Ximing wisely shut his mouth and accepted ranking third.
The most handsome Fang Ke had arrived two minutes before them, deliberately styling his hair to cover his hairline, which did make him look slightly better than usual.
“Boss, you look really handsome today,” Yang Ximing chimed in before Su Yun could speak.
“Hmph.” Fang Ke remained unmoved by the flattery, his expression foul, making the dark circles under his eyes look even heavier.
Sandwiched between two waves of low pressure, Yang Ximing pulled out his phone to check the day’s old almanac.
The almanac read: “Unfavorable for all endeavors.”
Tremblingly tucking his phone away, Yang Ximing walked on thin ice as he followed the menacing Fang Ke and the crestfallen Su Yun into the KG headquarters building.
The HR manager came out to receive them and led them to the office area.
“President Fang, this is the office area for Design Department 1, and your office is right over there,” the HR manager said while walking. “Next door are Departments 2 and 3. You can check the internal extensions and contact info for each department on OA. I have already emailed your usernames and passwords.”
“Got it,” Fang Ke nodded.
After exchanging a few more polite formalities, the HR manager left.
Fang Ke headed into his office. Since the two original assistants from the design center had abruptly tendered their resignations yesterday, Yang Ximing had been drafted as a temporary assistant to handle the handover work later, and Fang Ke was briefing him on precautions.
Normally, at a large company like KG, resignations required a one-month handover period, but those two assistants had submitted theirs the day before Fang Ke took office, clearly intending to be a thorn in his side.
Fang Ke had no intention of using such people anyway, opting instead to have Yang Ximing step in, at least he was one of their own.
Su Yun held the position of team leader for Department 1, leading team members who had transferred over from Phantom Equation. He didn’t have Fang Ke’s headaches yet; his purpose at KG today was to familiarize himself with the environment and coordinate with the modeling center regarding the game assets modified over the past few days.
Since the scheduled time hadn’t arrived yet, he headed to his own office first.
His office here was larger than the one at Phantom Equation, equipped with top-tier computers, monitors, and drawing tablets. Likely considering his identity as a designer requiring inspiration, looking out the floor-to-ceiling windows of his office revealed a garden view.
At the moment, the weather was bright and sunny, the garden lush and vibrant. Several yellow poui trees standing close to the floor-to-ceiling window were in full golden bloom, a magnificent sight under the warm spring sun.
Yet Su Yun felt entirely in no mood to appreciate the scenery. Dejectedly, he pulled a Bulbasaur mascot from his backpack and placed it on the desk.
His phone rested right beside the Bulbasaur. He stared at it hesitantly for a few seconds, then devoutly and vigorously rubbed the Bulbasaur before finally picking up the phone to tap open the two pictures Yang Ximing had sent him that morning.
The background of the images was the airport arrival exit, where a long-haired beauty in dazzling clothes had her back to the camera, familiarly linking arms with a cold-faced man.
Though it was a video screenshot, the image clarity was more than enough for him to recognize who that cold-faced man was.
Wasn’t this Si Yan, the blind date who had wished him goodnight four times and left him floating on cloud nine all through last night?