In May of last year, before crossing over, Nan Zhou had finally worked up the courage to invite the friend he had chatted with on WeChat for nearly three years to meet in person.
One reason was that his new song was coming out, and he needed the lyricist to sign the copyright agreement.
The other was that he wanted to confess his feelings to him.
If the other man liked him too, they would be together.
So Nan Zhou chose the special date of May 21 and told his friend, whose profile picture was a mosaic:
"Let's meet at MOSAK Cafe on Linyin Road in M City at two in the afternoon on May 21. I have something very important to tell you."
May 21 was a very special date. Nan Zhou felt that, with how clever the other man was, he should be able to guess what he wanted to say.
When May 21 arrived, Nan Zhou got up especially early. He even put considerable thought into his outfit and had his hair styled before heading out.
Before the meeting, he went to a flower shop and bought an enormous bouquet of 999 roses. Driving his sports car, he arrived at one in the afternoon, an hour before the agreed time, to wait for this very important friend.
But that day, he waited from the bright, sunlit afternoon until stars hung high in the night sky, and the other man never came.
Several times, when someone pushed open the cafe door, he would wonder hopefully whether it was him, but every time, his hopes came to nothing.
At last, the cafe was closing, and the staff came to hurry him along. Only then did Nan Zhou fully accept that the other man was not coming.
Before leaving, he