◎ Depends on Where I Stay Tonight. ◎

Happy times always pass too quickly. After a weekend filled with high levels of tension and romance, Monday morning arrived.

The hotel front desk called me unexpectedly. At some point, X had left a package of local specialties for me there.

When I saw the sheer amount of stuff, my eyes widened. I immediately sent him a text, bombarding him with messages: “Thank you, but don’t you think you bought way too much?!”

X: “If you don’t mind, you can share them with your colleagues.”

I had never been one to turn down a good deal while acting coy. “What if I say I do mind? If I eat them all myself, I’ll gain ten pounds.”

X: “Then I’ll have to trouble the front desk to mail them back as souvenirs for my friends and family.”

I chuckled. “You’re thinking way ahead.”

X: “Just learning to be prepared, like Teacher Seagull.”

It was a silly and meaningless conversation, yet we both enjoyed it endlessly.

Between two people caught in an unspoken mutual attraction, talking about money would ruin the mood. So, I accepted the gift without hesitation and promised to send him some specialties from my hometown in return.

In the end, I shared everything with my colleagues. When they asked where it came from, I hesitated for a moment before saying, “A local friend bought it for me. There’s too much for me to finish alone, so I thought I’d share.”

Everyone gasped. “Wow, your friend is so generous!”

I smiled. “Yeah, well, good friends, you know.”

The group eagerly gathered around the paper bag, excitedly picking out their favorites.

Only my roommate grinned knowingly and teased, “Oh! A friend, huh? Lexin, looks like you’ve made a really good friend.”

I tried to suppress the smile creeping up my lips. “Stop it, stop it.”

She drifted over, bumped my shoulder, and confessed, “Alright, I’ll be honest. Yesterday at noon, when he dropped you off, I happened to be downstairs picking up my food delivery. So, you know.”

I jumped in shock. “Wait, you saw that?”

“One word—perfect.” She quickly gave me a thumbs-up. “An absolute dream. Don’t tell me you haven’t made a move yet.”

My face burned. “Soon, soon.”

She seemed even happier than I was. Even later, when we were working overtime at our desks, she kept muttering to herself.

I leaned over to listen. With a satisfied expression, she whispered, “See? Romance is only fun when it’s between a handsome guy and a beautiful girl. I’m dying over here. This is too good.”

Romance?

Such a simple word, yet it left me uncertain.

X and I seemed to be following a different pattern than a traditional romance, but judging by the way things had progressed over the weekend, we were clearly speeding toward something very close to it.

I felt conflicted. Was it the excitement of meeting someone new? Or the subtle influence of spending so much time together?

I couldn’t figure it out, so I gave up trying. Fortunately, the busy workweek arrived, pulling me back into reality. I was buried in work, completely absorbed in my tasks. Even in my dreams, I was crunching numbers.

Time flew by when I was busy. On Friday morning, I had a video call with my manager. She had originally planned to visit in person, but a last-minute work commitment forced her to check in remotely.

She was a perfectionist when it came to details, going through every document meticulously. The review dragged on for nearly an hour, making me anxious the entire time—I didn’t want to disappoint her trust in me.

Thankfully, she seemed pleased with my progress. “You did better than I expected. Choosing you to lead the team was the right decision. You didn’t let me down.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, jotting down a few key points from our conversation before cautiously suggesting, “There are only a few minor issues left. I’ll make sure they’re handled. Maybe we can skip overtime tonight and let everyone head to the train station early? It’s Friday, after all, and they’ve worked hard these past two weeks.”

Still reviewing files, she nodded. “As long as the work gets done, I have no objections.”

The rest of Friday carried a cheerful energy. We wrapped up the final tasks, and by evening, most of my colleagues had already left. I stayed behind to clean up any loose ends, making sure there was nothing urgent that would require remote follow-ups.

By the time I finally stepped out of the office building, the night sky was filled with stars, and the entire industrial park was deserted.

I instinctively reached for my phone and saw a message from X.

He asked if I had work tomorrow and whether I was free to meet up.

The client had offered to send a car to take me back to the hotel, but I declined.

To be honest, my body and mind were utterly exhausted. But despite that—

I really, really, really wanted to see X.

There was no logical reason for it. No explanation. No warning. The thought surfaced out of nowhere and took over my entire mind with unstoppable force.

It was so overwhelming that just picturing myself in his arms made me smile like I had just received a massive raise.

That was when I realized—I was done for. I had officially become a hopeless romantic.

It was already past eight, and considering that X and I weren’t exactly lovers or even just friends, asking to meet without prior plans was somewhat inappropriate. But I didn’t care. The thought of parting ways soon made every fiber of my being scream at me to go see him.

My longing was urgent and undeniable.

To soften the impact of my abrupt request, I typed out a dramatic, poetic message:

“Dear Teacher X, My heart has just sent me its final warning. If I don’t see you soon, it will wither and die. Helpless, with no other choice and nowhere to turn, I must rudely disturb you at this late hour. The seagull at the dock awaits your reply.”

I hit send with satisfaction.

Then I reread it.

Oh god.

What was this cringey nonsense?

Regret hit me instantly.

That was when I realized—I had already fallen for him.

If I hadn’t, I would have been calm and collected. But now that my emotions were involved, my intelligence had clearly taken a nosedive. Love and reason rarely coexisted.

Luckily, X didn’t leave me agonizing for long.

He called almost immediately.

“Finished working? That was pretty early for you today.”

His voice carried a smile.

I hummed. “It’s Friday. I have to keep up the good tradition of enjoying it.”

X paused for a moment before saying, “Just now, you said—”

I cut him off immediately. “Do not—under any circumstances—mention that embarrassing text!”

“Aaaah!” I let out a small groan, burying my face in my hands. “That was so cringey. What was I thinking?”

X was stunned for a moment, then let out a soft laugh. “I don’t know why you would say that, but I can tell you very clearly that my feelings are completely different from yours, the complete opposite. I’m very happy.”

I let out a couple of hums, clearly unconvinced.

As I requested, X didn’t mention the details of our WeChat messages again. He simply said, “When I received your message, I was in the middle of editing something. I was about to ask you what time you’d be up tomorrow morning so I could pick you up.”

Determined to redeem myself, I blurted out, “What time I wake up tomorrow morning depends on where I sleep tonight, doesn’t it?”

At that moment, we both fell into a silent understanding. I could hear the sudden change in his breathing—deeper, heavier.

It was strange. I could almost see those ears of his, which turned red so easily, once again appearing before my eyes.