The Years of Innocence

[Rekindled Romance / Reunion After Years Apart / Former Active Athletes, Now Retired / Slow Burn]

[Friendly reminder: This is a parallel world and a fictional setting! Please distinguish reality from the novel. The characters are based on real people, so please do not conflate them with the actual individuals.

Some table tennis details may not be professionally accurate, so please don't scrutinize them too closely. I'll do my best to keep things logical, and I appreciate your understanding.]

Ten years ago, Qin Baijin and Lin Qinghan were a mixed doubles pair destined for each other. They clicked from their very first match and won the title at the Olympics, the first Games to include mixed doubles.

After that match, everyone in the world knew their names.

Ten years later, after the women's singles table tennis competition at the British Olympics came to an end, the world knew Qin Baijin only as a newly crowned women's table tennis Grand Slam champion. But as she stood on the highest podium and looked toward the national flag, all she could think about was the mixed doubles partnership that she and he had been forced to give up years ago.

From then on, the fabled “Qingbai” mixed doubles pair slowly faded from the table tennis world.

Lin Qinghan had always instinctively looked after Qin Baijin, the mixed doubles partner assigned to him by the national team, fierce on the court but sweet and adorable off it. Everyone knew that Qin Baijin was the only person Lin Qinghan ever favored.

That day, the rain came down hard. The sight of Lin Qinghan passionately kissing the badminton goddess cut Qin Baijin to the heart.

When they met again, Lin Qinghan had become a rising star in the sports industry. Qin Baijin linked her arm through the man beside her and introduced him: “This is my boyfriend.”

Lin Qinghan looked at the boy, who reminded him so much of his younger self. He yanked apart their linked arms, pinned Qin Baijin against a dimly lit wall, and pleaded with pain in his eyes:

“Please break up with him. I'll give you my life.”

But he had forgotten that mixed doubles partners were meant to share one life between them.