A Secret Crush Kept Out of the Light

What is love like for a timid, insecure girl with a strong sense of pride? She hides it in her heart, afraid to say it aloud. Not because she does not love, but because she is afraid to love. Pei Youyou met Xu Yanhui by chance, a boy who seemed to stand beneath a spotlight, and from then on, she could not get him out of her mind. He was always surrounded by friends, while she was all alone. She was so insecure she did not dare look up at him, never knowing that he liked her too and always stood up for her. Before she transferred schools, they exchanged gifts. She gave him a book he could never borrow, and he gave her a pen. When they met again in high school, he had become the school heartthrob, a shining presence. She could only watch silently from the corner, savoring the times his gaze swept over her by chance. Just one glance was enough. After graduating from high school, she changed her college choices to honor her parents’ wishes. He applied to the same schools she had chosen, but they ended up at different universities, far apart. In college, she received a call from him, and they began keeping in touch... After graduation, while moving again, she dropped the pen. When she unscrewed the cap, she found a note wrapped around the ink refill: Pei Youyou, I like you. Time cannot be turned back, and there is no going back. After graduation, he visited the places she had always wanted to go, took photos, and made one his WeChat profile picture.