Night Talk

He lifted his head, meeting Pangzi’s slightly annoyed eyes in the darkness, and asked seriously:

“Pangzi.”

“Do you think a person can suddenly fall for a friend?”

It was the dead of night, pitch black.

Hearing his roommate throw out a question so drenched in philosophy, Pangzi’s butthole tightened in alarm as he fixed Lin Yu with a wary stare:

“What are you up to?”

“I’m telling you.”

“I’m a straight-up man!”

“Oh, come on.”

“Where did that come from?”

Lin Yu waved a hand and explained:

“That friend is a girl.”

The philosophical question instantly turned into a relationship drama.

Pangzi perked up.

You see.

In a dorm room where guys lie awake late at night,

three topics always make the rounds:

Politics!

History!

Romance!

Sure, Pangzi had lived to the ripe age of twenty-two—

In all those wasted years, he’d never even held a girl his age’s hand, let alone been in a relationship.

But he still had the nerve to dish out advice on love.

He prided himself on never having eaten pork, but having seen a pig run.

Lin Yu was equally bold.

He actually asked.

“Give me the specifics. What happened?”

Pangzi’s eyes widened as he stared at Lin Yu, like a mouse catching the scent of cooking oil—wide awake all of a sudden.

Lin Yu paused for a moment, organized his thoughts, and then spoke:

“Well…”

“I have a friend.”

“He met this girl in high school.”

“They got along pretty well.”

“Kind of like a boss-and-sidekick dynamic.”

“They hung out for over a year.”

“During that whole time, my friend never felt anything for her.”

“He just treated her like a buddy.”

“They were good friends.”

“And then…”

“Not too long ago.”

“He suddenly saw her differently.”

“You know that feeling?”

“Like…”

Lin Yu paused, then said:

“Like a lightbulb suddenly getting plugged in.”

“My friend felt like she was glowing—like the whole person was shining!”

“Are you talking about you and Gu Yue?”

Pangzi just had to drop the truth bomb.

Lin Yu shot up from his bed in shock.

“No, no.”

“It’s not her.”

“It’s a friend of mine.”

Lin Yu’s voice wavered. He subconsciously sniffled as he defended himself.

Pangzi ignored Lin Yu’s weak excuses and laid down the verdict:

“What you’ve got here is definitely a crush.”

“No doubt about it.”

“It’s not me…”

“It’s a friend of mine…”

Lin Yu’s defense came out half-hearted, but curiosity got the better of him as he pressed on:

“So you’re saying my friend has fallen for that girl?”

“That doesn’t sound right.”

“Shouldn’t falling for someone be love at first sight?”

“Like, the first time you see them, you’re totally floored—mind blown, soul shaken, spirit scattered?”

“But my friend never felt anything for that girl before.”

“He treated her like a brother for over a year.”

“Then suddenly, she just seemed different.”

“Is that really love?”

Pangzi nodded firmly:

“That is love.”

“What you’re talking about is love at first sight.”

“You could also call it lust at first glance.”

“But there’s another kind of love in this world.”

“It’s called growing fond over time.”

“You’re definitely into her.”

Listening to Pangzi, Lin Yu sat stewing in the silent dark. After a moment’s thought, he shook his head vigorously:

“No, no, no.”

“Shouldn’t growing fond mean liking someone little by little?”

“Discovering their good qualities and character through time spent together.”

“And then falling for them?”

“But my friend suddenly felt she was different.”

“That’s not growing fond over time, is it?”

Lin Yu was so focused on pondering that he forgot to argue—this “friend” wasn’t him but some phantom third person.

“That’s yet another kind of love,” Pangzi declared, sounding like some legendary love guru despite never having had a girlfriend. With a flip of his glib tongue, he spun on:

“I like to call it a hybrid of love at first sight and growing fond over time.”

“A jolt of love!”

“Is that ‘jolt’ the legit kind?” Lin Yu couldn’t help but tease.

“Don’t worry about it.”

Pangzi continued:

“Here’s the thing about love.”

“Sometimes it’s love at first sight.”

“Sometimes it’s growing fond over time.”

“But when it comes down to it.”

“It’s all about a single moment—get it?”

Lin Yu listened to Pangzi’s lofty romantic wisdom, furrowed his brow, feeling like he almost got it but not quite.

Pangzi didn’t bother checking if he understood and went on:

“Take love at first sight.”

“You fall for her the instant you see her.”

“Take growing fond over time.”

“It’s during some long stretch of getting to know each other.”

“Suddenly, in one particular moment, you think this person isn’t so bad.”

“And only then do you get the idea of wanting to be with her.”

“At the end of the day.”

“It all comes down to that one single moment.”

“In that moment.”

“You suddenly get it.”

“It’s like pushing open a door to a whole new world.”

“You step inside.”

“And from then on, mountains aren’t just mountains, water isn’t just water.”

“There’s no going back.”

“Like how you used to treat that girl as a buddy.”

“You could joke around freely and hang out without a care.”

“But then, in a single moment—”

“Maybe it’s some trivial thing, maybe a touch, maybe a look, or maybe just one more glance on a sunny day—”

“And you’ve somehow barged through that door called love.”

“From then on.”

“You can never treat your buddy as just a buddy again.”

“Because you’ve entered another world.”

“In that world.”

“That buddy of yours radiates brilliance!”

Lin Yu rubbed his chin as he listened to Pangzi’s grand speech. After a long pause, he finally muttered:

“Love is this bizarre?”

Pangzi nodded.

“Absolutely.”

“That’s exactly how bizarre it is.”

“They say love is wonderfully strange.”

“That strangeness is right here!”

Pangzi seemed to get himself hyped up.

His voice rose without him noticing.

Lin Yu sat on his bed, silent for a long time.

He looked like he was thinking about something, but in reality, he was thinking about nothing.

His mind was blank.

But before his eyes, all he saw was Gu Yue’s bright, cute, sheepishly playful expression from today in the taxi, replaying in flashback.

In that memory.

Her little face was so radiant it really did seem to glow.