[Both are virgins, the aloof heartthrob pursues his wife after a breakup, and they reunite after years apart]
In their second year of high school, Xu Xinbei slipped a love letter to Shen Nanjing as he walked off the court with his arm around a friend.
Sweat ran along his jaw and disappeared into his collar. He glanced at the pink envelope, scoffed, and tossed it into the trash. “Xu Xinbei, don't flatter yourself.”
But as he turned, he walked straight into the basketball hoop, provoking a burst of laughter. No one knew that night he circled back to the court and spent a full half hour rummaging through the trash.
She remembered how, when they broke up, his jaw had been clenched tight. “Don't act like I ever cared that much about you.”
As she turned away, she didn't see his knuckles clench until they went white.
Later, he cornered her in a parking lot after a celebration banquet.
Alcohol and the night breeze washed over her, but he didn't dare touch her. He only asked hoarsely, “Tonight... could I get a ride with you?” When she turned him down, the famously cold and hardhearted Mr. Shen crouched beneath a streetlamp like a huge abandoned dog.
He finally broke down at the hospital.
She had surgery for acute appendicitis. He stayed by her side for three days and nights, unshaven, peeling an apple for her. The peel broke three times.
When she woke and saw him, she raised an eyebrow. “Mr. Shen, don't you have anything better to do?”
His hand shook, and the apple rolled to the floor. Suddenly, he dropped to his knees, pressing his forehead to the back of her hand, his voice trembling so badly he could barely speak. “Xinbei, sis, I was wrong.
I was stubborn, I was an asshole, I was just asking for it. Without you, even breathing feels exhausting.”
“Do whatever you want to me. Hit me, curse me, make me your servant... Just don't leave again.”
When he looked up, the bloodshot veins in his eyes were even more striking than they had been when he said those cruel words. “I'll be your dog, okay?”
