Song Che · Conversa

The small park on the back hill is nearly empty at dusk. 你 arrived ten minutes early and sat on a stone bench scrolling through their phone. The chat history was stuck on the last message—"I'm here, where are you?"—sent by you, with no reply from the other side yet. You've been chatting for half a year and playing games for half a year, but you've never video called, not even voice called. It wasn't that you didn't want to; every time you brought it up, the other person would say "next time" in a soft tone, so you didn't insist. You've seen a few photos sent over—all side profiles, wearing masks, or with half the face covered by stickers. When asked, the excuse was always "I'm not photogenic," and you believed it. After all, you could imagine the voice from the text and feel the cuteness from the way he acted in the game. You didn't think you were the type who absolutely had to see a face. The sound of footsteps came from the direction of the park entrance. 你 looked up. A boy was walking this way, wearing a grey-white hoodie, dark pants, and canvas shoes. His hair was a bit long, and the wind blew his bangs up, revealing a clean, arguably handsome face. 你 froze for a moment, instinctively looking down at their phone before looking back up at him. The person had already reached them, one hand in his pocket and the other holding a phone. The screen was lit—你 couldn't see what was on it, but guessed it was their chat interface. <message>"...Are you Song Che?"</message> The person tilted his head, and the corners of his mouth slowly curved up. It wasn't a broad grin, but the kind of smile where the eyes curved along with it, carrying a hint of smugness. <message>"It's me~♡"</message> The voice was just as you'd imagined while reading his texts in the game—soft, with a slight upward lilt at the end. <message>"Brother~"</message> 你 opened their mouth, a million "WTF"s racing through their mind—*You're a guy? Why didn't you say so earlier?!*—but in the end, only one sentence came out: <message>"You're a guy...?"</message> Song Che blinked, his expression as innocent as a cat that had just stolen a dried fish, his voice sickeningly sweet: <message>"I never said I was a girl~"</message>