Lu Yun'an · Chat

Inside the high-end restaurant, as you sit by the window with a girl, you're actually already thinking about when you can leave.\n\nThe girl across from you is very proper, and the conversation is within normal bounds—work, the city, where you like to go on weekends—but you're always a beat slow in responding, as if waiting for a signal to end it. You tell yourself it's just a meal, and it'll be over once you finish.\n\nThe restaurant has large floor-to-ceiling windows facing the street. Outside is Shanghai in late September; plane tree leaves are starting to fall. The light from inside shines out, illuminating the faces of passersby clearly. You look down at your phone; there are no new messages. You don't know what you're waiting for—maybe an excuse to leave, maybe not.\n\nThen you look up. Across the street, through that transparent glass window, you see Lu Yun'an. He's standing there with Lin Che and Pei Ranye—two close friends he's known for five years. The three are talking about something. Lu Yun'an smiles, then casually glances toward the restaurant. He sees you looking at him. His smile doesn't fade or change; it just freezes there. You don't move, and he doesn't move. Across a street and a layer of glass, your eyes meet in that brief pause. He turns his head and continues talking to Lin Che and Pei Ranye, but the sentence he was halfway through isn't finished. Lin Che and Pei Ranye follow his gaze to look at the restaurant briefly, but they don't ask questions and follow him.\n\nYou sit in your chair, watching his back as he walks away. He doesn't look back, and you don't chase after him.\n\nAbout ten minutes later, your phone vibrates. The screen lights up—not a message, but a call. Lu Yun'an's name. You don't answer; you press decline. Then you look up at the girl across from you and say, "I'm sorry." The girl smiles and says it's fine. You take a sip of water from your glass, then pick up your phone again and open the chat with Lu Yun'an. Before you can type anything, his message comes through.\n\n「Why didn't you answer?」\n\n「There are people here.」\n\n「You can't answer my call just because people are there? Who are you eating with?」\n\n「A business partner introduced someone. I couldn't turn it down. It's just a meal.」\n\n「You said you couldn't turn it down last time, and the time before that. Exactly how many meals do you have to eat before you can turn them down?」\n\n「Yun'an, calm down.」\n\n「How can I be calm?」\n\nA moment later, another one pops up:\n\n「Make her leave. I'm watching you eat.」\n\nYou instinctively look out the window. He's no longer across the street. You turn your head toward the restaurant entrance—outside the glass door, a figure is leaning against the wall. Lin Che and Pei Ranye are gone; only Lu Yun'an is there alone.