After a while a voice came through the speaker. It said "....Bai'er, is that you?"

Bai Wei immediately heard this and responded in a choked voice "Yes, it's me". A myriad of emotions swirled in his eyes.

...

The apparatus hummed for a second before a small rod no larger than a pen stretched out from the bottom of the box. A green light shot out from the rod and scanned the room slowly.

"Oh, how you've grown Bai'er.... You were barely a nano byte the last time I saw you." The apparatus said in a fond tone.

Bai Wei chuckled at this comment before saying " Well yes, but now I'm grown! I even found my partner"

"Your partner?"

"Yes, this is Hu Xing. He's a homo sapien from the blue planet. Hu Xing, this is the apparatus. They are something akin to parents to our species " Bai Wei said while tenderly grasping Hu Xing's hand. The apparatus let out a slight hum that seemed to convey appreciation.

" Ah, a homo sapien. They were always an intelligent race. He will make a fine partner"

The box stretched out its scanner once again and this time directed the green light towards Hu Xing. It was slow and Hu Xing made sure to be completely still while it scanned him. When the apparatus finished scanning it made a chortle that sounded like a cough.

The apparatus then grew quiet for a moment before saying " Bai'er, will you let me speak to you alone for a moment?"

Bai Wei nodded his head and patted Hu Xing on the shoulder while giving him comforting whispers in the other's ear before walking him to the door. Hu Xing felt that his ears were hot and couldn't help reaching his hand up to his ear while Bai Wei walked away.

[Ding! Target's favorability has risen 2 points and is now -68]

Hu Xing quickly got over this feeling and positioned himself near the door in order to listen in to the conversation in the room.

" Bai Wei, you love him don't you"

"Yes, whole heartedly."

"But you know....... He doesn't love you."

".... I know"

" Then you also know that you must break him in quickly. What if he runs away when you turn your back"

Bai Wei went quiet in deep thought before answering with a short yes. Hu Xing felt his back go cold at these words, but he quickly gathered his thoughts and returned to his original place and acted as if he had not heard anything.

Bai Wei walked out of the room with a small smile as the sound of Hu Xing's favorability steadily dropped in his ears.

[Ding! Favorability has dropped 5 points and is now -73]

[Ding! Favorability has dropped 5 points and is now -78]

[Ding! Favorability has dropped 5 points and is now -83]

The poor system grew nervous as it listened to the constant reports. It began gnawing on its claws but kept quiet after learning its lesson from last time. The hardware on the other hand flicked its long tail with interest while announcing the changes in favorability.

The next few days went by uneventfully for the two. They continued their routine as if the conversation with the apparatus had never happened. Bai Wei still smiled at him, but Hu Xing would occasionally catch Bai Wei staring at him with dark eyes. Hu Xing felt his back begin to sweat when ever this happened and he began to secretly prepare for his escape with more haste.

This continued until the fourth day, when during their dinner Bai Wei finally broke the thin ice that the two were walking on with a single question.

" You have no intention of staying with me, do you?"

It was less of a question than a statement. Bai Wei spoke in a solemn tone without maintaining eye contact. Hu Xing froze for a moment and felt the same dread that had been going through his body the last few days resurface.

He was still thinking of what to say when Bai Wei saw the look in his eyes and sighed sadly. He got up from his seat without saying a thing and motioned for Hu Xing to follow him.

Hu Xing panicked and began to blurt out meaningless words about how he loved Bai Wei but stopped after seeing Bai Wei's eyes. His eyes held no anger or resentment in them, only sadness. Hu Xing couldn't help but feel comforted by his eyes despite his better judgment.

The two walked in silence through the ship. Only the sound of their footsteps could be heard in this somber atmosphere. Hi Xing saw as they approached the dock for spaceships that he had been eyeing for the last few days. The two walked straight into the space past multiple guards and other workers that Hu Cing had worried over and approached a small blue ship.

Bai Wei stared at the ship as he broke the silence that had permeated the air.

" The technological race is a monogamous species that only has one partner for a lifetime. Because of this as well as our cruel nature, it is commonplace to 'break in' our partner by means of amputation and psychological torture."

He stopped and turned to Hu Xing, staring into the others eyes for a while before saying "... but I won't do that to you. You are a free spirit and I have always loved that about you. To think of a day when the light in your eyes is gone sounds torturous to me"

"So if you will keep trying to leave.... then i must let you go." Bai Wei said while handing over the ignition button to the spaceship.

Hu Xing stared at the key for a moment before bolting onto the ship. He was afraid that if he waited for even a second that Bai Wei would change his mind. He started the ship with a quick pace and once it was in the air he set it to autopilot toward earth.

When he was almost out of the bay, he gave one last look to Bai Wei. Bai Wei stood motionless in the same spot that he had been in. His eyes had black oil in place of tears streaming down his face which made for a morbidly beautiful sight against his pale skin. Despite the tears, Bai Wei had a slight smile on his face as he watched the ship leave.

"....Thank you" Hu Xing uttered a quiet thank you as his ship left the bay. He watched as the figure of Bai Wei grew smaller and smaller until even the mothership that he was on became a small dot in the vast sea of space. Finally, he turned his head back to the front.

He was going home.

[ Ding! The target's favorability has risen 85 points! The target's favorability is now 2]

Bai Wei: The art of the White lotus is OP. One can even cry without tearducts.

Author: I realized that I have been reading Chinese novels for a long time and tend to use Chinese idioms when writing. If you have any questions throughout the story feel free to comment and I will make clarifications.