The other day, after meeting a man for the first time, he said, “I had a great time today! When can we meet again?” He suggested dates like the <DATE>, but I didn’t know my schedule until I went to work, so we parted after I told him I’d contact him later. Once I found out my days off, I messaged him saying that I was off on the <DATE>, but he only replied with a sticker. And it wasn’t even a sticker saying something like “Got it!”—it was more of a “Hmm, I see!” kind of sticker.

I’m Hikōki, a male member. Men often put quite a lot of thought into even one or two stickers. Since women usually put more feeling into their messages by typing them out, they may find it a little cold when a man mainly replies with stickers. But when men choose a sticker, they’re often thinking, “Should I use this one? Or that one? Maybe this? Which would leave the best impression?” They spend quite a bit of time and thought on it… Still, women may end up thinking that’s all the effort he’s willing to make. Women may use stickers more often once they become close to someone, but taking the time to write an actual message generally leaves a better impression. Men are the opposite: as they grow closer, their messages tend to get longer, while at the beginning they put more thought into choosing different stickers. Also, men aren’t used to typing messages every day, so they tend to rely on stickers. They may be thinking about making it easier for the woman to reply or ensuring that replying with a message doesn’t feel like a burden. Some men may even feel that stickers express them better than their own words. So it seems that men and women often have completely opposite impressions of stickers versus written messages. I think “Hmm, I see” means something like “Yay, I’m happy!”—going beyond a simple “Okay,” which might sound a little cold, and conveying more enthusiasm and emotion. I think it would be good to reply with something like “Yay!” or “Let’s go out for dinner!” (or “How about going again?” if it’s your second time).

I’m Kazu, a male member. She may be someone whose mood fluctuates, she may not be comfortable with LINE, or perhaps she was in a situation where it was difficult to reply at the time. There could be many reasons, so I think it’s too soon to assume from that alone that she doesn’t want to meet.

Maezawa from the CEO’s office here, answering your question as well. I wonder what that’s about. Maybe since nothing was decided on the spot, they’re trying to signal that they can’t make a decision right away either. If you wait a little and they still don’t bring up making plans, you could try sending something like: “May I assume we’ll be able to meet on the ○th? I’m looking forward to it.”

I’m Tetsu, a male member. That’s a pretty ambiguous response(^^ゞ Since it could mean either way, your only option is to ask her directly. If she still hasn’t given you a definite answer two or three days before your day off, it would probably be natural to ask, “What would you like to do?”