9:38 a.m.
Susu woke up groggily, eyes still half-closed. She grabbed her phone and texted Yike:
"Can't believe I slept in this late."
Then she set the phone aside and started getting ready. She had booked an afternoon group workout class. Before she knew it, it was already past 1 p.m.
Ding.
A message.
She opened WeChat.
"I just woke up too," Yike wrote.
She laughed and replied, "Nice. Must've slept well. I'm all set—heading to the gym later."
"Cool. I'm browsing 'men's Taobao.'"
"Wait. Taobao has a gender now?"
"Hahaha."
He sent a screenshot—CS game skins and gear. Gloves, knives, weapon skins.
Susu laughed. "Not cheap…"
"There are cheaper ones."
"Have fun browsing. I used to play. But once I moved the mouse too fast, I'd get dizzy."
"You might get motion sick from 3D."
"Probably. I'm heading out to work out."
"Go ahead."
—
After the gym, Susu stopped by her friend's place to pick up her two cats. By the time she got home, it was already 5:15 p.m.
That's when she noticed Yike's earlier message:
"Did you pick up the cats today?"
She snapped a photo of the two of them drinking water and sent it over.
"Okay. Don't forget to eat tonight," he replied.
"My takeout just arrived. What about you? What are you eating?"
"Not sure yet."
She unpacked her food and casually sent him a picture.
He reacted with a shocked emoji. "You guys in Guangdong really turn everything into soup, huh?"
"Alright, eat first," he added.
"Okay."
While eating, she told him she'd been trying to schedule a video call with a friend in Peru to discuss a potential collaboration, but their time zones never matched.
"Then you'd better work hard and make money," Yike joked. "I plan to live off you and buy every single skin from that screenshot."
She burst out laughing. "Working on it."
"You have to."
"Haha, we'll both work hard."
"1."
A moment later, another message:
"Miss you, beautiful. When I have time, teach me some Cantonese."
She paused.
"Calling me "beautiful"? Hmm… sounds kind of formal."
"So what can you say in Cantonese right now?"
"Let me order some takeout first."
"Go ahead."
"Haha, I was just saying it."
"I only know one phrase. You know which one."
She tried to remember but couldn't.
"Hmm… 'Hello'—Lei hou?"
"Hahaha, don't be so serious. We'll learn later."
"By the way, have you had dry pot crispy fish?"
"You mean that super chewy grass carp you have down there?
Are you ordering that?"
"I was scrolling through takeout and saw that crispy grass carp. Isn't that only a Guangdong thing?"
"Yeah,it is.I'm going to sleep soon. You should rest early too. Good night."
"Good night."
A long pause.
Then Susu typed:
"Miss you."
Before she could even put her phone down, a video call came in.
—
Three short minutes.
She felt a little shy, a little happy.
The moment the video connected, Yike smiled.
"You look really good. Your skin looks better. Has it improved?"
She blinked, caught off guard.
"Maybe," she said softly. "Because of you."
He smiled.
"Let's video call more often when we have time. Okay?"
"Okay."
It was her first night back to real life.
And somehow, it felt warmer than she expected.