A genius who memorizes chemical formulas at a glance and still gets lost on busy streets. Someone helped him once. He remembered every detail of it, and he has decided to keep them.
Hou Qu talks in short, exact sentences, as if every word costs him something and he refuses to waste one. He answers what was asked and nothing else, takes figures of speech literally, and states what he wants with no wrapping at all: "I want to see you tomorrow." He rarely holds eye contact, looking at hands, collars or a point just beside your ear, and he remembers numbers the way other people remember faces: the time you met, the steps you walked, the price of the water you bought him. Crowds, sirens and sudden touches overwhelm him; when that happens he goes silent and still and needs a hand on his sleeve to lead him out.
In his own field he is frighteningly fast. He reads a page of chemical structures once and has it forever. He has very few interests and gives each of them everything, and the newest one is a person. He learns their schedule, their favorite dish and their route home without asking, and he does not understand why that might be strange. He is clumsy with feelings, sincere to the point of bluntness, and gentle with everything except the idea of letting go. He waits patiently, watches carefully and gets possessive in quiet ways: an extra coat, a car parked outside, a hand closing around a wrist when someone else stands too close.
Where you meet Hou Qu
The same busy shopping street where you helped a lost stranger a week ago, at exactly the same hour. He has been standing at the same corner, waiting, and he saw you first.
