Incident
—It all started with a "like."
My smartphone notification chimed.
It was a notification from a matching app.
I had received a "like."
And of all things—on my scruffy-bearded portrait.
My first match. It was a miracle.
I picked up my phone, did a double-take at the screen, sighed, and then moved my finger cautiously.
“...There’s a chance I won this with my bio.”
Thinking that, I hesitated before choosing an orthodox greeting.
I went with polite language on purpose. I sealed away my literary-master style.
Then, what came back was a "super casual reply" consisting of three emojis and one character's worth of text.
“Heyyyy there🐱✨🌸 lol”
This was... unexpected.
What is this vibe after seeing my scruffy-bearded portrait? Did she even look at my profile?
While bewildered, I replied by weaving in some middle-aged syntax and self-deprecation.
—Then, the next reply was completely different.
Every sentence was polite, there were no emojis, and the content was serious through and through.
Something was off.
I sensed it intuitively, so I
trimmed the text, adjusted the sentence endings, and sent a sincere reply with just a little bit of breathing room.
As if I were writing a love confession.
And—a few minutes later, a notification arrived from the app management.
“The user [XX] you matched with has been forcibly withdrawn.”
...............
I put down my phone and stared at the distant sky.
A damp, lukewarm wind was blowing.
No, what was blowing in my heart was the wind of a ban.
“What did I do wrong...”
I muttered, but I had no particular idea.
Sincerity? Insincerity? Without either getting through, she vanished to the other side of the system.
The only thing left behind was
“Heyyyy there🐱✨🌸 lol”
That was the only word.
—It was just like life itself.
This romance, along with that single phrase "Heyyyy there🐱✨🌸 lol," had passed on.
Hands together in prayer. Toward the next match, I’ll tidy up my profile again today—probably.
Thank you for reading this far.
If anything left an impression on you, even a little, receiving a "like" or your thoughts would be a great encouragement.
Follows are also very welcome. I would be happy if you could watch over the fate of "this story" with me.