My Colleague Introduced Me to a Blind Date – Chapter 1

I heard from my colleague that this forum can be used to talk about matters dealing with love, so I want to talk about my blind date.

Recently, something very interesting happened.

My colleague introduced me to a blind date. 

What happened is, one day I was chatting with a coworker from my department on the balcony, when she suddenly said she wanted to introduce someone to me. I was quite surprised as everyone knew I hadn’t dated since my last breakup, and I’d turned down many invitations. I really didn’t want to go. She continued to say that this person was very suitable for me, with a confident expression, as if it would be a huge loss if I didn’t go. So, I jokingly asked if the other person was pretty, and she very firmly nodded her head. Although I was just joking, I began to look forward to it.

After getting off work in the evening, she sent me the other party’s WeChat. The profile picture was a very happy, smiling dog that would make anyone feel good looking at it. As I believed men should always take the initiative, I said “Hello!” The other party responded with an emoji of a dog shaking its head. They¹ really seemed to be quite lively. Then they went on to say, “xx² said you’re my soulmate and told me I have to meet you!!” Not knowing whether to laugh or cry, I replied, “Alright, then we really should meet.” The other party was surnamed Shen, which was a very heroic sounding name.

After chatting like this, we arranged to meet on Sunday.

Every day after work this week, we would more or less chat for a while. I increasingly found that xx seemed to be right. We liked many of the same things, and we both liked detective novels, our favorite genre being Bengue reasoning³. We both played single-player indie games, and we would compete with each other playing The Gardens Between⁴, seeing who used up less time. We talked a lot, and everyday we would talk until we went to bed. I thought this was the lover I had hoped for, one that I was able to become friends with first. When I thought of Sunday during work, a smile would appear on my face. 

For Sunday, we decided we would meet at a cafe first, then see a movie together. That day, I hesitated for quite a while deciding what I should wear. I have two sisters, and while I was growing up, I was the doll used for their dress-up games, and most of my clothes had been picked out by them. Regarding clothes, I don’t have any high demands, as long as it’s comfortable it’s fine. Although my clothes are all a bit bright, I know I’m good looking so I can pull it off :). But today, I felt I should place more importance on it, so I tried my best to choose the best looking clothes, and left.

The cafe wasn’t far from where I work, and it was even closer to where I live, so I showed up a bit early.

I’ll continue.

After getting there, I found a quiet place to sit. There were many people in the cafe, and the people in front of me were talking quietly with each other, a pile of strange toys on their table.

I looked around and subconsciously searched for a girl who had come come alone. I suddenly sensed a gaze directed attentively at me. I looked back, and it was a man staring at me, a smile on his face. He was very good looking, even more good looking than me. I don’t know how I should describe it, but he was like a tall and flourishing tree. 

Just describing his facial features wouldn’t fully express how good looking he was, so I will use some analogies. For example, if everyone was a star in the vast galaxy, he would be the brightest one. If he were to wink at you, you would want to take it and pin it onto your chest. Nevertheless, I don’t seem to be very good at making analogies. Forget it, he was really good looking!

It seemed like I had smiled at him because his smile widened a bit. My god, what’s a straight man like me doing staring at another guy. I turned my face away in embarrassment. 

He suddenly came over to me, and my first reaction was he’s so tall! He stopped in front of me and looked at me with a smile. “You came quite early.”

???

Did we know each other? But I wouldn’t forget such a good looking person! Alright! Stop, stop saying another man is good looking. I silently criticized myself inside. 

He looked at my astonished expression and waved his phone. “We planned to see a movie together.”

Him???

He is Shen?

I blurted out, “How are you a man?”

This time, it was his turn to give me a dumbfounded expression.

He was still quite good looking even when he frowned.

“What did xx say to you?”

“She asked if I had a partner, that she would introduce someone to me, and that you’re very suitable for me. It’s also been a long time since I broke up with my girlfriend, so I agreed.”

“You’re not gay,” he sighed.

“What? Of course not! Did she think I was gay?” I raised my voice a bit, causing many people to look over. I didn’t know who squeezed a rubber chicken⁵, but there was the sound of people’s laughter followed by the rustle of voices. 

The whole scene was a bit awkward.

He wasn’t smiling anymore. He pursed his lips and said, “I’m sorry, this must’ve been a misunderstanding. I’ve caused you trouble. Goodbye.” He turned around and made to leave, but I subconsciously stood up and said, “But I already bought the movie tickets.”

He turned his head, smiling helplessly. “Then I’ll transfer the money to you.”

I said, “Don’t you want to see it?”

He was still good looking even as he raised his eyebrows in surprise. I don’t know if I would be able to learn to do that. 

He silently looked at me for a moment. “Then let’s go.” In the center of everyone’s gaze, I exited the cafe with him. The movie theater was nearby, and we were going to see The Crimes of Grindelwald because we both really liked Harry Potter. Today was the day after the premiere, and I knew he was looking forward to it. We silently walked shoulder to shoulder for a while, and I didn’t know why but after leaving the cafe, the silence as we walked together wasn’t awkward at all. I raised my head and stared at the side of his face. He seemed to feel my gaze as he turned and looked into my eyes, saying, “I’m sorry. You don’t have to force yourself.” I didn’t understand why he said this. Was it because of what I said in the cafe? I wanted to clear things up, so I lowered my head and organized what I wanted to say.

We walked to the intersection, and the pedestrian signal just happened to turn green. As I walked forward with him, I thought of how I should explain things. He suddenly pulled me back, and an electric bike veered and brushed past me. I blankly stared at his hand that was grabbing my elbow, and he immediately let go, preparing to continue walking. I subconsciously pulled him back. “No matter what you’re thinking, I didn’t mean it that way. I’m not disgusted by you, and I’m not forcing myself. You just like men, is all. What’s wrong with that? It’s very normal.” He froze for a moment, grabbed my arm again, and led me across the street. As he walked, he said “Can we not out me in the middle of the road?” I immediately felt embarrassed and followed him across the street. 

He finally smiled again (very good looking). “I know you aren’t disgusted by gay people. Otherwise, why would you be friends with xx.”

“She’s gay too?” I was very astonished. 

I had to face too many truths about my life this day.

He seemed to be amused by me and smiled happily. “Alright, xx stirred up such a big misunderstanding between us, and now I accidentally outed her to you, so I guess we’re even.”

“But is this alright with xx?” I looked blankly at him.

He said, “It’s alright. xx doesn’t mind this kind of thing. She just doesn’t think it’s necessary to come out to every person at work, is all. You’re her friend, so it matters even less. Unless you start spreading it around. Will you?” I quickly shook my head.

We soon reached the movie theater. Just as I finished getting the tickets, he came over with a large tub of popcorn. I took a cup of cola from him, and we went to the ticket check-in counter. Even though it was still early after we left the cafe, the incidents that occurred while walking here allowed us to get to the movie right on time. After entering the venue, we went to sit in the fourth row, and I suddenly laughed. He gave me a baffled look. I explained that it was because there were very few other people like me who liked to sit so close to the screen. Everyone complains they can’t see the whole thing and it makes their neck hurt. He laughed as well and said that he only likes to go to the movies with friends, so he can only sit in the back and can’t feel fully immersed in the film. Hearing the word “friend,” I was suddenly worried this would be the last time we would see each other. But I also thought, this was only the first time we’d met, and he didn’t seem that interested in me. Maybe we could still be friends? I told him what I thought, and he quietly looked at me, then said okay. 

While watching the movie, I reached for the popcorn, but it wasn’t like in the TV dramas where they accidentally grab each other’s hands then stare at each other. I froze as if bewitched, what dangerous thinking is this, then quickly drew my hand away. I couldn’t bear it any longer, so I turned and looked at his profile. He was quietly watching the movie, bits of light illuminating his face. As the Zouwu⁶ entered the screen, he smiled when he saw Newt⁶, resembling a large cat. I stared at him for a while, then turned my gaze away. I think I had definitely blushed, and my face felt hot.

After watching the movie in a trance, the film was over. We walked out and he said, “This time, the whole movie was totally fanfiction. Only JKR would dare to do that. I felt that this part was shot as a large trailer for the next one.” After he finished speaking, he looked toward me. I stammered out a response, saying Grindelwald⁶ and Dumbledore⁶ had unexpectedly good chemistry. He asked me if I knew that Dumbledore was gay. I froze, stood motionlessly in the entrance, and said, “Could it be that today is some kind of day for the world to come out?” He laughed heartily, his eyes curving, showing his teeth. His teeth were really white. I then said, “But this way it explains their chemistry.” He said, “Right.” 

Translator’s Notes

I know the formatting of the paragraphs may be a bit weird because I kept it in the same format as the original.

1. The narrator at the moment thinks he’s talking to a girl but whenever I use “they,” it means a pronoun is not used in the original sentence, so I just translated it to “they” because the narrator refers to them as “the other party” in other sentences. Back

2. “xx” is referring to the coworker that introduced them. Back

3. Bengue reasoning is a genre of detective novels. The main characteristic is using rational logic to solve the mystery. The genre appeals to readers that enjoy solving puzzles, and novels within the genre generally allow the reader and detective to have the same clues and stand on the same level. Back

4. The Gardens Between is a single-player adventure-puzzle game about time, memory and friendship where you manipulate time to solve puzzles. Back

5. By rubber chicken, it means one of these (it makes a loud squeaking noise when squeezed): Back

6. These are all characters/creatures in the movie they’re watching.