◎ The Single and Free Also Have Love and Passion. ◎
Su Yun was about to leave when Fang Ko called out to him.
“Do you and Yang, ahem, Mark, want to apply for company dormitories? I heard from administration that a few dorms have become vacant recently and haven’t been posted on the OA system yet. If you need them, you can go straight down to administration to apply.”
“Great, thank you.” Su Yun paused, and taking advantage of the fact that no one else was around, he called out, “Boss.”
KG’s headquarters was built in a relatively prosperous commercial district in City A. Surrounding it, aside from two or three upscale residential areas, were office buildings and shopping malls.
During this time, Su Yun and Yang Ximing had searched all around online, only to find that nearby housing listings were not only scarce in number, but also exceedingly high in rent.
Su Yun did not have high demands for where he lived, as long as he had a place to sleep, and since he spent most of his time at the company, getting a dormitory would be a great option.
The dorms were built right opposite headquarters, but because many people within the company applied for them, they were difficult to secure.
“Did Mark mention anything to you recently about wanting a position transfer?” Fang Ko asked again.
Just as Su Yun was about to say no, Yang Ximing popped half his face and half his torso out from the doorway like a lingering ghost, his gaze sharp: “Kent, I feel like I just heard you talking behind my back.”
“Ahem, how could that be?” Fang Ko cleared his throat. “Didn’t you say you wanted to transfer departments? I checked with HR, and the engine team happens to be short-staffed.”
Yang Ximing froze, incredulous: “Boss, you are clearly retaliating against me.”
Fang Ko denied it: “Sigh, how could that be? Weren’t you previously doing game programming? It’s a perfect professional match.”
Yang Ximing was agitated: “Did you forget why I transferred out in the first place? It was precisely because that ghost of a job makes it impossible to keep one’s hair.”
Looking as though he had only just found out, Fang Ko said, “Oh, then you might as well just continue being my assistant.”
“Ahhhhh.” Yang Ximing fled in a breakdown.
Smiling, Su Yun walked out of Fang Ko’s office. Life seemed to have changed, yet also seemed unchanged, and this was actually quite nice.
He called over Yang Ximing and Jiang Yiyi, who also wanted to apply for a dorm, and headed down to the administration department.
“Apologies, the dormitories have already been fully applied for. We will notify everyone when new ones become vacant.” Just as Su Yun stated their purpose, the administrative staff member in charge of managing the dorms delivered the bad news.
“They’re already all applied for?” Yang Ximing was shocked. “Didn’t they just open up? You guys haven’t even posted them on the OA system yet.”
“There really are none left,” administration apologized. “Those colleagues just finished submitting their applications and completed their check-in registration.”
Su Yun looked toward the colleagues who were currently filling out application paperwork, they were people from Design Department 2.
“First come, first served. Surely people understand that basic logic,” one of them muttered sarcastically.
The voice wasn’t loud, but it was just enough for Su Yun and the others to hear.
“Hey, you.” Upon hearing that person’s tone, Yang Ximing felt somewhat displeased.
During this period, as Fang Ko’s assistant handling a lot of work, he had distinctly felt that the people from Departments 2 and 3 had very low cooperation levels, so he already held some dissatisfaction toward the people in those two departments.
Su Yun patted Yang Ximing’s arm, signaling him not to get angry, and left the administration department along with Jiang Yiyi.
“We didn’t even say we were going to snatch their dorms,” Jiang Yiyi said, vaguely sensing that the atmosphere was off.
“They weren’t talking about the dorms,” Su Yun explained.
Before Huan Fang Equation merged into KG, KG’s design center only had Departments 1 and 2. After Huan Fang Equation joined, Departments 1 and 2 became Departments 2 and 3, while Huan Fang made a dazzling debut and became the core of the design center.
Such a large-scale parachuting-in of personnel was bound to provoke dissatisfaction from certain people, the most obvious manifestation of which was Group 2 leader Shi Yingchuan.
“Then what were they talking about?” Jiang Yiyi was a pure technical geek who only cared about drawing and didn’t understand the winding politics of the office.
Su Yun didn’t continue explaining.
Yang Ximing chimed in: “I finally get it, it turns out we’re just catfish.”
“Catfish? Aren’t we carps?” Jiang Yiyi chuckled foolishly. “Leaping over the great dragon gate of KG.”
Affectionately ruffling Jiang Yiyi’s curly hair, Su Yun thought to himself that innocence was wonderful indeed.
At the very top floor of KG’s headquarters, Si Yan occasionally glanced at the phone resting on his desk.
The chat window displayed on the phone showed that the last message remained from a few days ago.
He had told Su Yun to reach out to him whenever he was free, and Su Yun had agreed.
To clear out time for a date, he had worked overtime around the clock, advancing the framework of the new Stellar Journey map ahead of schedule.
He had plenty of time next week for Su Yun to draw his portrait, yet the other person never reached out to him.
“Is he really that busy?” he muttered inwardly.
“Buzz, buzz.” The phone vibrated as if in response.
Quickly picking it up, Si Yan discovered that the sender was actually Fang Ko.
Fang Ko: “It is the weekend, care for a drink? Your treat.”
Si Yan let out a soft hum of laughter and replied: “Alright, and I happen to have something to ask you.”
The bustling central district was adorned with brilliant lights.
Inside a cozy pub, soothing jazz music flowed slowly.
Si Yan sat at the bar counter with his long legs resting on the footrest of the high stool. His black shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, and his sturdy forearms displayed smooth muscular lines due to the tension in his fingers. The hand not holding a wine glass tapped absentmindedly on the screen of his idle phone.
“Sorry, sorry, I’m late.” Arriving tardily, Fang Ko sat down beside Si Yan and asked the bartender for a glass of soda water.
“Is the workload at KG that over-the-top?” Si Yan asked.
Fang Ko complained: “It’s all because of you, building the framework for the new map ahead of time. My entire Department 1 is up to their ears in work right now.”
“Since I finished early, shouldn’t your time be even more abundant?” Si Yan said unhurriedly. “You should be thanking me.”
“In order to keep up with your pace.” Fang Ko looked around and then asked, “Couldn’t you have picked a place closer to the company? There’s nothing particularly special about this spot.”
“For your own good, you’d run into colleagues over there,” Si Yan said.
Playing dumb, Fang Ko said, “What are you afraid of? Afraid people will say that a parachuted-in design director like me is just a nepotism hire connected to the big boss? In that case, I’d actually welcome it. Ah, pity those subordinates of mine, clearly connected personnel, yet they couldn’t even apply for a dorm.”
Raising one eyebrow slightly, Si Yan realized a moment later and smiled: “How many people?”
Fang Ko smiled beamingly: “Three.”
Si Yan was decisive: “I’ll arrange it. I guarantee they’ll have a place to stay.”
Nodding with satisfaction, Fang Ko said, “My business is done. What about yours?”
“Didn’t you ask me to treat you to a drink?” Without answering, Si Yan gestured toward Fang Ko’s soda water with his gaze.
“Can’t a person talk without drinking?” Fang Ko’s curiosity was piqued. “What on earth is it?”
Si Yan silently brewed his wording.
“If you’re not going to say it, forget it. I’m going home to coax my wife. I’ve been busy for over two months, if I don’t go back now, I won’t even be able to enter my own front door.” Fang Ko made a motion as if to leave.
Si Yan shot him a sympathetic look.
Fang Ko gave a cold laugh: “You wouldn’t understand, this is also a kind of happiness. Never mind, you single-and-free fellow, telling you is pointless anyway.”
A trace of a smile appeared on Si Yan, the upward curve of his lips erasing much of the stern coldness from his frame.
“Hey.” Fang Ko tapped his glass against Si Yan’s and said in a low voice, “There’s a handsome young guy at the corner of the bar staring at you the whole time. If you don’t have anything urgent, I’m taking off to avoid ruining your romantic encounter.”
Hearing the words “handsome young guy,” Si Yan turned his head slightly to look, but quickly turned back and said indifferently, “Not interested.”
“If you’re not interested, why’d you turn around to look?” Fang Ko condemned him.
That handsome young guy seemed discouraged by Si Yan’s cold and frosty demeanor and walked away with drooping shoulders.
“Not interested means not interested, why’d you have to go and scare the guy,” Fang Ko shook his head, seeing that male beauty apparently had no effect on his single-and-free friend.
Si Yan took a sip of his drink. The very first person who had crossed his mind just now was actually Su Yun, and discovering that it wasn’t him did bring a sense of disappointment.
The two chatted about random things, mostly with Fang Ko doing the talking.
After finishing his second glass of soda water, seeing that Si Yan was distracted, Fang Ko urged: “If you don’t tell me your business now, I’m really heading back.”
“Let me ask you something,” Si Yan finally spoke.
“Alright, ask away,” Fang Ko sat up straight.
Si Yan had always been resolute and decisive in his handling of affairs, and it was extremely rare to see him so irresolute and absent-minded. Fang Ko guessed he might genuinely have encountered some thorny issue.
“If someone agrees to contact you when they are free, but ends up never contacting you at all, what does that indicate?” Si Yan asked.
Pondering briefly, Fang Ko replied, “It indicates they were just exchanging polite pleasantries with you.”
Si Yan wasn’t too satisfied with this answer: “But it was he who first brought up wanting to stay in touch.”
Pondering again, Fang Ko replied, “It indicates he later changed his mind.”
Si Yan fell silent. He and Su Yun had only met once, and all other contact had taken place on WeChat. He had studied their chat history and felt confident he hadn’t said anything off-putting.
“What? Did you fail to poach someone?” Knowing that the engine team lacked staff, Fang Ko didn’t let his mind wander elsewhere, mainly because he couldn’t imagine Si Yan being troubled by matters of the heart either. “It’s also possible the other party is purposely leaving you hanging, waiting for you to offer a better price.”
Si Yan squinted slightly as he looked over: “You sound awfully familiar with this tactic.”
Giving a light cough, Fang Ko said righteously, “Don’t go concocting loans of imagination to slander me in your heart. When I didn’t immediately say yes to Thomas, it was definitely not to hold out for a higher price. I have dreams to chase too! If it weren’t for your sake, hmph.”
“Thanks.” Si Yan smiled and clinked glasses with Fang Ko.
Finishing the soda water in his glass, Fang Ko said, “Poaching talent takes patience. Just like when we used to do photography back then, in order to capture a good shot, we’d squat down for a day or even several days, right?”
Si Yan grew thoughtful.
“Of course, you also have to be proactive, interact a few more times, win them over with sincerity and tempt them with salary,” Fang Ko continued offering suggestions. “If all else fails, just have Thomas scout someone else. There’s no shortage of talent these days, are you really worried you won’t find a suitable match?”
Si Yan shook his head: “Not interested in anyone else.”
Fang Ko put on a look of viewing a monster: “Hearing you say that, anyone who didn’t know would think you were looking for a wife.”
Si Yan suppressed the corners of his mouth that wanted to lift: “You should get going, lest you fail to get through your front door.”
Fang Ko had already stood up, but still jokingly inquired, “So I’m really leaving then.”
Si Yan’s mood was visibly much better than before. His brows were fully relaxed, his lips still retaining a hint of a smile, and his gaze grew gentle in tandem: “Go on, don’t interrupt my talent poaching.”
“Don’t forget about the dorms,” Fang Ko reminded him.
“Alright,” Si Yan added, “Guaranteed to give them a feeling of home.”
[Author’s note]
Si Yan: One step closer to abducting my wife home.