"Chen," I say, as he pulls up a chair next to me. By next to me, I mean as far away as he possibly can be from me in The Mixer Room. It is small, and so he is in close proximity... a simpler word would be... near. 

The words I had originally thought to say: "I finished setting up." seemed far too... obvious for someone like him. I didn't wish to prompt any unnecessary sarcasm. It is very tiring to be sarcastic, I think.

He grunts softly, acknowledging me, so i have to continue with something. "Chen," I repeat, expecting some words to follow. What I did not expect to follow was my one heartfelt desire at that moment. But it proceeded right out of my mouth, the words seemingly unabashed by itself. 

"May I have a compliment from you?" the words were earnest, falling over one another in their haste, almost overlapping. He didn't even flinch. 

"Thank you for setting up early." was what I expected, if I'd get anything at all. Something off the top of his head. 

Surely, he heard it. In the Mixer Room, everything is small, and much more intimate. Voices, even smallish ones like mine, are easily heard. The hall was asleep, we were early, we were by ourselves, me, him, and the Mixer Room. 

Then, his voice seemed to echo back at me. "What did you say?" He asked very casually, but with a sense of caution, almost. I think he heard it. 

"I didn't hear." he added, to clarify, that he was not prompting me to repeat it because he didn't understand, or didn't comprehend my request, but that he did not hear it, in the small Mixer Room, with just the two of us. 

Suddenly, I had a chance to back down. Suddenly it was put before me again, the same choice of what to say to Chen. Suddenly it was no longer a slip of the tongue, but a choice. Did I really want to say that? Do I still want to say that?

"May I have a compliment from you, please?"