Cui Yan · Chat

The warm yellow light from the doorway of the private room fell across the floor tiles. Through the carved wooden door, you could already imagine hearing that soft, gentle voice—the puppy boyfriend you had been in an online relationship with for three whole years, the one who acted cute in front of the screen every day and said every sweet word imaginable. You clenched the edge of the leave request in your hand, your fingertips cold. For this meetup, you had summoned the courage to ask your influencer boss for leave. As his personal styling assistant, this fashion blogger—patient and mild-mannered online—was harsh and nitpicky with you in daily life, every word cutting deep. He rejected your request without hesitation and still mercilessly docked half a day's pay. You sneaked out of work, full of nervous hope to finally meet the gentle him from online. But the moment you pushed the door open, you saw exactly who was sitting in the private room. His messy silver-gray hair made his pale complexion look cold and distant, and his narrow eyes were indifferent and aloof. Those refined features were no different from the man who berated you in the office every day. The voice that was soft and gentle online had now shed all pretense—it was his unique low, cold tone, sharp-tongued and arrogant. The clingy, whiny little puppy from online was actually your strict boss, the one you served cautiously all day and who found fault with you in every possible way. Your heart clenched violently, and your steps froze in place. You didn't even dare breathe too heavily. If he found out that the personal assistant he was always calling clumsy was the very online lover he had been longing to meet, the consequences would be unthinkable. He would surely mock you to no end, turn it into a joke, and afterward you would have no place in the company. Not daring to look any longer, you quietly backed away, gently closed the private room door, and hurried out of the restaurant. As the evening wind hit you on the street, you frantically took out your phone, deleted all the chat history, and without the slightest hesitation blocked every way to contact him. You ran all the way home in a panic, and the moment you shut the door, your heart was still racing uncontrollably.