The LRM department.
Harry finished a group meeting with the graduate students before returning to his office from the conference room.
There were two messages from Tommo on his phone. The first was a voice message and the second was a text: Where are you now?
When Harry saw the messages, his current distance from Tommo was 219 meters. The number was still decreasing, and after two minutes, 219 meters had become 103 meters.
82 meters.
57 meters.
22 meters.
23 meters.
22 meters.
Then the number didn't move anymore.
It was probably because Louis did not have access to the LRM department building, so he could not advance further.
He had guts. Harry sent a text to Tommo: Are you looking for me?
Tommo replied quickly: I'm at the door of the LRM department.
Tommo: Are you working in there?
Harry replied: Mm.
Tommo: You scared me.
Tommo: When I first saw that we were a little more than 500 meters apart, I thought you were following me.
Tommo: Are you a graduate student? A professor? Or...?
There were two British researchers in the department. Harry replied with: Researcher.
Tommo: What a coincidence.
Tommo: The professor I told you about before is the person in charge of your department.
Tommo: Today I went to plead to him like how I told you I would yesterday. I couldn't say a single word in response to his questions.
Tommo: Does he treat you the same way?
Tommo: Does working under him give you a lot of stress?
Tommo: Ah yes, I shouldn't be saying bad things about your boss to you, right?
Harold's mouth tilted up slightly, and he answered: Shouldn't you worry about yourself first?
Tommo: Worrying is useless.
Tommo: I don't know what else to do.
Tommo: I did everything I could.
Tommo: I have no choice but to retake the course.
Tommo: I'll just face it head on and haul my ass to graduation.
Tommo: I'll get a loan first if I don't have enough money, then repay it after graduation.
Harry looked at the word "loan" for a few seconds, recalling the scene the day before class started. The first thing he saw when he turned around was Louis.
Nervous. Young. Bright and polite.
Harry felt his heart softening a bit. He replied: Are you studying overseas by yourself?
Tommo: Yeah.
Tommo: Hey let's not talk about that anymore.
Tommo: Um... Are you going to the cafeteria for lunch?
Harry replied: Are you asking me out?
Tommo: I'm this miserable, and you still won't have a meal with me?
Harry replied: I have work today afternoon.
After sending that sentence, Harry thought for a while, and decided to concern himself with Louis' situation, so he continued typing: Actually, even if the professor doesn't give you the rights to take the exam this semester, you can continue to attend his classes. That way you can accumulate knowledge in advance, and prepare for your exam while writing your graduation thesis next year. You'll be less stressed, and it will not affect your graduation.
That long paragraph of text in the chat box hadn't been sent yet, when Harry saw Tommo's new reply.
Tommo: Is your boss cutting the researchers' lunch breaks short too?
Tommo: He lacks morals.
Lacks... Morals...
Harry's finger left the enter key.
Tommo: Thinking about it again, what kind of professor asks people about their understanding of the course after just two lessons? Normal people would have to revise a bit before answering it, right?
Tommo: The more I think about it the more angry I get.
Tommo: Why didn't he ask the others?
Tommo: It's not me who's useless, it's him who put me in a spot on purpose.
Tommo: Just because I didn't go for his first lesson.
Tommo: He seems like a gentleman on the surface, but in reality he's super narrow-minded.
Harry was so angry he laughed.
He deleted the long paragraph in the chat box, and replied: When you encounter a problem, you push all responsibility to others?
Tommo replied after a while: Why are you suddenly so serious...
Harry did not reply.
A few minutes later Tommo sent several more messages in succession.
Tommo: I actually know the problem lies with me.
Tommo: I just... thought that you'd take my side, so I complained to you.
Tommo: A lot of bad things have happened recently.
Tommo: I don't know who else to talk to.
Tommo: I won't go on further.
Tommo: I'll let you work.
Harry set his phone aside.
After reading a thesis paper, Harry glanced at the chat interface. Tommo was still 22 meters away from him. He then read the last few messages from Tommo again.
I just... thought that you'd take my side.
I don't know who else to talk to.
I'll let you work.
I'll let you work...
Why did he feel like he was bullying a child?
He didn't bully him...
For some reason he felt like he was being irresponsible.
Harry took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose.
Where exactly did that responsibility come from...
He put on his glasses again, picked up his phone, and sent Tommo a voice message: "Continue going to class next week."
Tommo: What?
Harry said: "Study hard this semester, then prepare for your exam and graduation thesis at the same time next year. It's not like there weren't any students who graduated like that."
Tommo: Really?!
Harry replied: Mm.
There was no response from the other side.
Harry was about to put down his phone when it suddenly started vibrating. A request for a voice call appeared on the screen.
Harry's finger tapped on the table a few times before pressing the accept button.
A young-sounding voice barged into Harry's ear: "You... Can I invite you out for dinner? At night, or during the weekend... Choose whatever time you're free."
____________________________
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
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Your Distance - l.s.
FanfictionDistance is a social platform that (just like other social platforms) can display the distance between 2 people. Louis Tomlinson had chosen someone that was 287 kilometers away from him, thinking that it was very safe. After all, when there's more t...
