[Youthful school crush + extra-sweet, unexpected twist later + happy ending]
Ling Qian's youth held a secret crush wrapped in the scent of mint.
After school, she would always take the long way around to wait for Cheng Ye, then hand him handmade mint candies she'd spent half the night making, her fingers clenched tight. But whenever he accepted them, he was always so casual. After a brief “Thanks,” he'd turn and disappear into the crowd, never even looking back when the wind blew away the candy wrapper. His friends' teasing and the distant look in his eyes made his indifference painfully clear.
Still, she clung to her foolish hopes, until one day she saw the candy box she'd embroidered her name on, crumpled up beside a trash can and buried beneath a pile of wastepaper. Ling Qian clutched her last candy and suddenly came to her senses. She put all her little schemes away. No more taking the long way around, no more giving him candy. Like a gust of wind, she quietly slipped out of his world.
But Cheng Ye panicked. He began unconsciously searching the hallways for the girl with the ponytail, checking his desk for the mint candies that were no longer there, and stealing glances at her seat during class. When he saw Ling Qian laughing as she walked with someone else, her eyes no longer holding a trace of him, the ache finally hit him: the girl he'd ignored had become as essential to him as air.
He stopped in front of her, his face red, a crumpled mint candy clutched in his hand. “Ling Qian, I… could I have another one?”
Some people only realize how badly they want someone after they've lost them.
Secret love tastes sourer than mints Can describe the environment more