Thumb-Sized Snakefolk Research Institute

[Blurb posted on 2025-08-19]

Also known as A Long-Distance Romance in Space: The Secret Identity Story Where We Both Unmask Each Other

When Zheng Yiqing was nineteen, he fell in love in a virtual reality game. In short, he had an online relationship.

He and his boyfriend were a perfect match, and he thought they were about to start a happy life together. He never expected an accident to cut off their contact three months later.

He could only blame the heavens for this. Who could have guessed that the very day after he and his boyfriend had a fight, a cosmic storm would knock out the planet's network?

We stopped talking right after a fight. He probably thinks I'm giving him the silent treatment.

Zheng Yiqing thought miserably.

The universe was vast, and their childish little romance hadn't lasted long. They didn't even know each other's real names or which star systems they lived in. It wasn't impossible that the other guy thought he'd been dumped.

Two years later, the lingering effects of the storm finally began to fade. Zheng Yiqing, who had left home to study, driven by an inexplicable obsession, met someone special.

His new roommate at school, Fan Yuen, had almost exactly the same personality as his boyfriend. He liked to say the word "probability," would sit beside Zheng Yiqing and seriously listen to hours of his rambling, and would stay up all night with him when he was upset or confused, patiently helping him sort out his thoughts.

Like his boyfriend, he was stubborn and bad with words. When he lost an argument, he'd stand off to the side sulking, only to somehow figure things out after he'd cooled down.

Could two people really have exactly the same strengths and weaknesses?

The longer Zheng Yiqing spent with Fan Yuen, the less he understood his own heart. He didn't know whether he truly liked Fan Yuen or had transferred his feelings for his boyfriend onto him. He wanted to keep his distance, but couldn't help drawing closer.

And then it turned out they were the same person.

Wait, are you messing with me?

After realizing Zheng Yiqing was the boyfriend who had left without a word, Fan Yuen started looking for a chance to reveal his secret identity and make up with him. In the middle of the night, he wrote several confession plans in his notebook.

But Plan One was interrupted by an unexpected experiment, Plan Two by exams, and Plan Three... by a broken instrument.

"This is so unfair." Zheng Yiqing covered his face, looking on the verge of tears. "Why is it so hard to get a single set of data? ...Maybe we should do what the other groups do and burn incense before bowing to the instrument three times. It might work."

"That's superstition," Fan Yuen said calmly. "It's all in your mind."

The senior student who had come to help them adjust the instrument watched the spectacle with an amused smile. Casually, she mentioned that two people in the lab next door were doing the same experiment, and it had worked after they started dating. Why didn't the two of them give it a try?

"That's superstition," Zheng Yiqing scoffed, folding his arms.

Fan Yuen glanced at him in silence, then guiltily lowered his head and babbled some nonsense that made no sense. "It might not be superstition. There are still lots of things in this world that science can't explain. From a probability standpoint, it could work."

...What probability? What am I even saying?

"Want to give it a try?" Eyes closed, he resigned himself to saying the last thing.

"Sure. Let's date, then."

Zheng Yiqing already knew Fan Yuen's identity and had been looking for a chance to have a proper talk with him. With ulterior motives and in a moment of impulse, he went along with the ridiculous suggestion.

We're both hopeless.

A serious, straight-laced research fanatic gong x a livelier, more outgoing research fanatic shou

A story about two researchers with unusual thought processes falling for each other

The gong and shou dote on each other, with no role reversal or breakup. Readers with strong preferences, please decide for yourselves whether to read.

Theme: Protect animals and care for the environment