Online Love, Based on the Real Object - Chapter 19

Qi Ning entered the wink interface and saw that User A’s profile picture was pure black. She initially wanted to exit but accidentally tapped the response button.

“…”

The other person seemed to be waiting, quickly sending a private message.

A: hello

Since she was bored anyway, Qi Ning replied with a hello as well.

A: Did you just register this account?

70: Yeah.

A: Your username is interesting. Are you a bottom?

“???” Qi Ning was baffled. Wasn’t this just a play on her name? How did that make her a bottom? You’re the bottom here!

70: No.

A: Are you a T or a P?

On such dating apps, Qi Ning, being cautious, wasn’t comfortable answering such personal questions. Instead, she deflected: “What about you?”

The other person promptly sent a selfie in response.

The photo showed a full-body shot with a hip-hop style. The person looked clean-cut, wild, and quite handsome unfortunately, not Qi Ning’s type.

A: I answered you. Can you tell me now? [Smiley]

Unsure how to categorize herself and treating it as just casual chat, Qi Ning casually replied: I have long hair. Vers.

A: Oh.

Staring at the word “Oh” on the screen, Qi Ning could almost feel the other person’s enthusiasm plummet. Thinking the conversation was over, she was about to exit the chat when another message popped up another question.

A: Was your ex a guy or a girl?

Qi Ning: “…” Is online interaction this direct nowadays? And you’re quite nosy!

70: Guy.

Seeing the next reply, Qi Ning immediately lost all interest in continuing the conversation.

A: Did you two do it?

Her first experience chatting on [Hottest] left her feeling terrible. It wasn’t any different from the straight dating apps she’d tried before, if anything, it was even more blunt, giving off an overly obvious agenda.

Frowning, she closed the app outright.

After that, Qi Ning didn’t log back into [Hottest]. She kept reading novels and shipping her favorite couples as usual.

A few days later, while trying to open a food delivery app, she accidentally tapped [Hottest] instead. Before the splash screen even finished loading, she impatiently exited.

After placing her food order and returning to the home screen, she noticed a few unread notifications marked by red dots on the [Hottest] icon.

Curious was it that User A bombarding her with messages? Qi Ning opened the app. Thankfully, it wasn’t. Over the past few days, several people had winked at her.

She intended to clear the unread notifications, but one profile picture in the wink list unexpectedly caught her attention.

The avatar showed less than half of the upper face  just the eyes. A pair of alluring phoenix eyes, one with a double eyelid, stood out, especially with the tear mole at the outer corner!

As someone who valued looks, Qi Ning was instantly intrigued. Just from the eyes, her intuition screamed that this person was undoubtedly a beauty!

For example, her Jingjing also had a tear mole, and the eye shape looked quite similar. How could she be wrong?

Clicking into the profile, the username was “Yun Yu,” which shared a character with Chu Yunjing’s name. This coincidence made Qi Ning feel even more favorably toward this “Yun Yu.”

Yun Yu didn’t seem fond of posting updates her sparse feed consisted mostly of scenic photos, with no selfies in sight. Though some left comments and likes, none hinted at romantic or sapphic friendships, making her profile appear like a blank slate.

She quickly responded to Yun Yu’s wink, but the other party was offline. She decided to check again in the evening to see if Yun Yu had sent her a private message.

“Qi Ning!”

At 5:20 p.m., Qi Ning grabbed her bag to leave work. Just as she stepped out of her office, she spotted You Man emerging from hers. The latter called her name first.

“Director You.” Qi Ning nodded at her, watching as she approached with measured steps.

The same familiar, teasing smile played on her lips. “Got time this weekend? Let’s go shopping together.”

Qi Ning had a hunch that You Man might lean that way. There had been subtle, ambiguous physical contact before, though You Man always maintained enough restraint to avoid being off-putting. Whenever she looked at Qi Ning, her smile carried an extra hint of something suggestive, tender even.

In the past, Qi Ning might not have picked up on it. But now, after consuming countless sapphic stories, her gaydar had sharpened slightly.

Still, since You Man hadn’t made anything explicit, Qi Ning saw no reason to pry. She intended to keep their relationship purely professional.

“Sorry, Director You. I’ve already made plans with a friend this weekend.”

You Man tilted her head, her tone joking but laced with disappointment. “Not just an excuse to turn me down, is it?”

“No.” Qi Ning waved her hand. “Just tagging along to my bestie’s company outing, I’m shamelessly crashing it.”

“Alright.” You Man sighed dramatically but didn’t press further. The two stepped into the elevator together.

Qi Ning watched the floor numbers descend. They’d left work a bit late, and with everyone else gone, the elevator was empty except for them.

The silence grew thick. Qi Ning debated whether to probe and confirm if You Man really was interested in women. If so, she’d need to keep her distance to avoid complications after all, their work required frequent interaction.

Just as she was about to speak, You Man suddenly called her name.

“Hmm?” Qi Ning turned slightly, meeting You Man’s gaze in the elevator mirror.

She saw the corners of You Man’s lips curl into a smirk as she asked, “Do you know Lily Bar?”

“Huh?” Qi Ning blinked. “Is that a new bar nearby?”

The moment she said it, she caught a flicker of surprise in You Man’s eyes, followed by genuine regret. “Guess you’re not, then.”

Qi Ning felt like she’d somehow given the wrong impression. Her stubborn curiosity kicked in, and she pressed for answers.

Ding—

The elevator reached the underground parking lot. With no one outside, the conversation seemed destined to end there. Qi Ning decided to drop it.

But then You Man suddenly pivoted, leaning in close to whisper something that left Qi Ning frozen in place.

“Lily is a lesbian bar.”

Amused by Qi Ning’s stunned expression, You Man chuckled wryly. “Curiosity killed the cat, you know.”

Snapping back to reality, Qi Ning feigned composure to avoid looking like a wide-eyed novice. “Oh, I’ve heard of that place. Just never been.”

Actually, I had been curious about lesbian bars after reading some yuri novels, so I searched online. To my surprise, there was one nearby. At the time, I just glanced at it and moved on, naturally forgetting about it later.

They had already stepped out of the elevator when You Man suddenly stopped in her tracks upon hearing this, her turn to be surprised now.

She turned to Qi Ning and asked, “Are you?”

Catching the implication, Qi Ning replied, “I’m not.”

You Man gave her a meaningful look. “I think you will be.”

Then, she walked toward her car in her high heels.

Qi Ning watched her retreating figure and muttered under her breath.

“Like hell I will.”

Now, if it were a young, wealthy, beautiful woman who treated her with gentle care, she might consider bending a little.

I wonder what kind of person Yun Yu is.

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