South of 90 Degrees North

Wen Nanyue and Song Beichen were like two lonely boats on parallel courses, each drifting alone between the world's crossings, until a stray puppy covered in snow became the unexpected point where their paths met.

Back then, Wen Nanyue viewed life with detached eyes, believing that everything in the world was merely a scene to be painted on a canvas, devoid of warmth. Song Beichen was different. He would wrap the puppy in his scarf during a blizzard, and willingly lose a whole month's wages to protect it. That tenderness hidden in his silence was like a faint ray of light, quietly breaking through the frost in her heart. She began to add warmer colors to her paintings, and to linger a little longer when passing the cafe to watch the puppy wag its tail. Even the way she looked at the world grew slower and softer.

As for Song Beichen, his days had once seemed veiled in gray, and silence was his shield. Then Wen Nanyue appeared. She would quietly give the puppy outside the shop some bread, and spread out her paintings of snowy days for him to see. When the light in her eyes fell on him, he felt as if wind and sunlight were finding their way into his closed-off world. He began bringing an extra piece of bread to work, thinking of the girl who painted in the pavilion whenever snow fell. Even his silent lips would sometimes curve into a faint smile.

Just as their feelings slowly blossomed with time, growing into the sweetness of a love that could not be denied, an accident struck like a sudden blizzard, leaving Song Beichen's figure forever in the depths of winter.

In the days after the tragedy, Wen Nanyue did not fall apart. She carried on as before. She wanted to tell Song Beichen that there was someone in this world who would always love him.