At 3 a.m., the landmines in front of the station

"Buzz, buzz—"

Just as I was about to run upstairs, my phone vibrated.

Su Che took out his smartphone and looked at the messages his best friend had sent him.

"Che, what are you doing? No shifts today, want to come out for a drink?"

"..."

Su Che stood still, listened to the voice message, and reluctantly refused:

"You have to drink at work, and you still have to drink when you're not working. Aren't you afraid of developing gout and kidney stones from all that drinking?"

"Hey! Forget about this and that, even though I smoke, drink, and stay up all night, I still work out! As long as I work out, I won't die suddenly, don't worry."

"?"

Su Che twitched his lips, intending to remain silent and stop.

As his only male friend with whom he had a fairly close relationship, Su Che sincerely hoped that he would postpone his self-destructive behavior.

The other person's name is Qin Nan, he is 1.88 meters tall, a muscular man, and purely three-dimensional.

This man is generous and loves to drink heavily. If you agree to go drinking with him, he will always insist on treating you. He is very generous.

Professionally speaking... it's bar marketing.

The reason we had such a good relationship was because he had introduced me to a part-time job.

Although he claimed he was not an early employee of the shop, Su Che remained skeptical.

Due to the nature of her work, Qin Nan's alcohol tolerance is exceptional.

Whether it's beer, baijiu, red wine, or foreign liquor, he can handle it all with ease, and he especially enjoys playing a game called "self-destructing trucks" with himself, never going back until one of them has fallen.

Over time, Su Che realized that drinking with him was pure self-torture, so he stopped going out with him.

This led to him frequently calling to harass and complain, and the phrase he said most often was—

"Drinking with women is not as fun as drinking with my buddies."

...

...

"Hey, we haven't seen each other for three weeks. If you really don't want to drink, how about we go out for a meal? What's wrong, are you hiding someone at home?"

Faced with his good friend's firm refusal, Qin Nan's voice message revealed a sense of doubt.

"Don't talk nonsense. Do you know that I've always been single..."

The word "居" was not yet uttered.

Su Che frowned as if he had just remembered something.

But upon further reflection...

At this time, once the girl gets up, it's almost time for her to leave.

rounding,

No one is home.

Therefore, my friend's assumption is incorrect.

Ok.

"Okay, okay, whatever you say goes. But don't suddenly tell me you're no longer single next time we meet, okay? I've been keeping myself pure so I can chat with you more often, otherwise, hehehehe..."

"..."

With a grin, Qin Nan made a statement that raised questions about his sexual orientation.

But Su Che knew that one thing was indeed true.

Given my best friend's personal qualities, if he really wanted to be a playboy, it would be as easy as a fish entering water.

Unfortunately, every time I saw him, he had this "women are poisonous" look on his face. No matter how I asked, he would just shake his head and say that there is no real relationship in the world, and that I should just face it with a smile.

Su Che remained silent and respectful in response.

"It's getting late."

This is his usual way of ending a conversation.

My best friend wisely read my message but didn't reply.

After standing outside in the cold wind for a while, I took a deep breath and stepped into the residential area.

-

Actually, Su Che couldn't say for sure whether he was in a good or bad mood today.

The class went quite smoothly.

The clients didn't bother us on Saturday, our day off.

The school's midterm assignments were finished by Friday.

Neither the timing nor the location can be considered a Mercury retrograde.

But I still felt a little uneasy.

He knew perfectly well the reason.

"Dr. Yan reminded me that when I feel down, it's very likely that I'm having an anxiety attack. To get out of this state, I have to shift my attention. Otherwise, I should just take my medication."

Su Che felt that the medication was the first thing he had to rule out. After all, only those who had tried it could understand that the anxiety caused by the side effects of psychiatric drugs far outweighed the anxiety faced in daily life.

If you don't change your lifestyle, it's all just self-deception and burying your head in the sand.

Now, someone I've met seems to be affecting my mood.

Although unwilling to admit it, Su Che knew that

My inattentiveness and slips of the tongue during class were entirely due to something on my mind.

This caused even the usually cautious me to inadvertently say something that might hurt others.

It is very detrimental to self-control.

"Sigh. I knew it."

[Not at home.]

Su Che turned the doorknob.

I found my house empty, everything as before.

Only the lingering fragrance at the entrance seemed to be reminding me again and again that someone had been here.

"alright."

He took off his coat, changed his shoes, and went to the sink to wash his hands before checking the room.

But when your gaze falls on the edge of the sink,

He suddenly realized,

How come my own bathroom...

like……

It's become a bit cleaner?

Is it just my imagination?

Ok?

Su Che hissed.

Frowning,

I immediately looked in the mirror.

There are two mirrors in the house.

One side is a full-length standing mirror for changing clothes, and the other side is a round bathroom mirror for washing up.

At this moment, I am absolutely certain that the round mirror was covered in dust and I couldn't see my face at all.

It miraculously became quite translucent, clearly having been smoothed over, and the process seemed very delicate.

Judging from the results, it was no less effective than the methods used by a housekeeper.

"?"

He immediately left the bathroom and turned his gaze to the large bed.

The blankets on the bed were neatly folded. Usually, I don't have time to fold them when I'm rushing to work or school in the morning.

Now, besides the bed and blankets, even my clothes seem to have been ironed.

I forgot to take the two pairs of pants out of the washing machine yesterday, and they were soaking wet and smelling amazing. They were washed again and even hung on the hanger, looking brand new.

"...So the emptiness I felt at first glance wasn't simply because the person had left, but because the house was so cleaned up..."

Su Che sat down in his ergonomic chair, leaned back, and spun around, looking around his room.

Suddenly, I felt even more emotional.

Yes.

The garbage bag was taken away and thrown away.

The dust under the bed was vacuumed up.

The scattered notebooks with landmine themes in the closet were also gathered up and stacked neatly.

But the more this is the case,

The more uncomfortable Su Che felt, the more uneasy he became.

Is cleaning my room to repay the kindness of letting me stay last night?

He murmured to himself, looking up at the ceiling.

"But I don't want anything from you, and I don't need any reward."