It was the tail end of autumn in 2021, and in a quiet apartment in Penang, Malaysia, Claire Su sat cross-legged on her bed, her headphones snug over her ears.
The world outside was still humid from the late rains, but inside, everything was quiet—except for the voice in her ears.
A male voice, low and warm, was singing her favorite song on SingWave, the duet feature live.
"The sky fades soft like your eyes... gentle, slow, and warm."
Claire froze. She had heard hundreds of duets on this app, but this one—this voice—hit differently. It was calm, steady, and strangely comforting. It carried the weight of someone who had felt too much and said too little.
She glanced at the screen. The singer's username was "NightFall". And right there, just as the chorus ended, the screen lit up:
You've been super-liked. NightFall has spotlighted you.
Claire smiled, the kind that starts slow at the corners of your lips before you realize it. She clicked to join the room.
The app connected them.
"Your voice is... sweet," the boy said first, through voice chat. "Like springtime."
She laughed, soft and shy. "Yours is... steady. Like the sea after midnight."
They talked more than they sang that night. He was sixteen, living in Fujian, China. His name was Evan Lin, and he loved painting. Claire, seventeen, was in her final year of high school, dreaming of studying media and film.
Even though they'd just met, their conversation flowed effortlessly—from music, to school, to favorite snacks. It was easy. It was warm. It was... kind of dangerous.
That night, they added each other on LynkChat, exchanged a few playlists from Melofy, and stayed up too late.
"Do you want to sing it again next time?" she typed, a little nervous.
"Definitely. It's our song now," he replied.
Claire stared at her phone long after the call ended. She replayed his voice in her head like a favorite verse. The way he said our made her heart stutter.
Maybe it was silly. Maybe nothing would come of it.
But at that moment, in that quiet room with her heart beating louder than the rain outside, Claire allowed herself to wonder.
Would he still be there tomorrow?