Longing, Again and Again

[Coming-of-Age # Lighthearted and Easy to Read # Comedy # Fantasy # Palace Intrigue and Political Scheming] (This is the first time I've written a story this long. I'm not sure if I'll make it all the way to the ending, so let's see how it goes!) When they first met, a group of young men and women bickered and teased one another, each thinking the others were beneath them. When they met again, through one coincidence after another, they fell for each other and finally shared their feelings. But in the end, one spent the whole night standing in the rain, soaked to the skin, and rose from a wealthy idler to an official of the imperial court. One fled back to the capital, but when faced with the wedding of the person they loved, could only raise a hand and offer congratulations on finding a good husband. One died on the frontier, unwilling to let go of the love still swelling in his heart. One lived an ordinary life, and the dream of their youth became someone they no longer dared to reach for. Look: by the end of the story, everything has changed. Once we part this time, we may never meet again.