Rose Snow Falls in Silence
One-line pitch:
“They are the sharpest and gentlest love in each other’s snowy nights. Love is a double-edged sword that wounds both the one who wields it and the one it strikes.”
Blurb:
Shi Huaiyang is student council president at Yuncheng No. 1 High School. He ranks first in his class and is so unfailingly gentle that no one suspects the frozen wasteland beneath his smile.
Ji Yanqing is a transfer student who arrives late, carrying an easel and wearing bold studs, like a ball of fire crashing into the snow.
The first time they meet, Ji Yanqing is made to stand as punishment while Shi Huaiyang smiles and docks him points. The second time, Shi Huaiyang smiles as he shields him from a drinking game. The third time, the fourth… He keeps smiling, but gradually his smile begins to hold a heart, one whose pain is turned against himself.
Later, Ji Yanqing finally learns:
The person who wrote “I’m sorry” on the back of every sticky note,
The person who had a rose tattooed on his lower back but wouldn’t let him see it,
The person who drew a rose on a car window on a snowy night, then wiped it away himself,
Even had to pretend love meant nothing before daring to give it in secret.
And Ji Yanqing himself
Wrote “I love you” in an off-topic essay,
Threw unfinished sketches into a brazier,
Colored Wednesday on the calendar as the end,
And finally learned to listen as the other said, “I’ve learned how to love,”
Only to have six months left.
They were both learning to love, but neither learned how to speak up.
All that remains is regret!
