A Frozen Smile

Also known as The Feelings We Never Dared to Confess When Yun Shiqin was eleven, she fell for the boy Jiang Tianhao. Her first love was an ordinary-looking guy who was obnoxious, pretentious, conceited, and flirtatious. But she knew that, deep down, he was a gentleman with a sense of humor. Love in your youth is destined to stay hidden from the world. But even when you know it’s impossible, you still throw yourself into the flames, chasing the light in your heart. Everyone who has ever encountered the light becomes a seeker of it. She was just an ordinary person with an ordinary secret crush. Though she shone brightly, she too had felt the sun’s searing, blinding light. A person can’t love many people in a lifetime, so whenever she fell for someone, she loved with all her heart. Even when her love went unreturned, she never regretted falling for him. So that was how their last meeting had gone: just a fleeting glimpse. Even after she stopped loving him, he would always hold a special place in her heart. One day, she would be able to laugh and admit that her feelings back then had been worth nothing. If a crush is one-sided, what difference does confessing make? But might the feelings we never dared to confess become something to look back on years later? Even after she confessed, and even after they graduated, people kept asking her, “What did you ever see in him?” She always laughed and replied, “Because I’m pathetic.” Later, she couldn’t understand: was Jiang Tianhao really as awful as everyone said? If he was really as bad as they claimed, why had she fallen for him in the first place? He had plenty of flaws, but he was a “good person.” He wasn’t perfect, but he was enough to make a few girls’ youth unforgettable. Jiang Tianhao, may all your dreams come true, and may you be safe and well every year.