You Were There as the Snow Fell, and in the Meltwater

[One-on-one romance / both leads are inexperienced / secret crush becomes real / rekindled love / sweet romance / pure love]

The breeze in the high school corridor carried the sweetness of orange candy. The piece Su Wei gave Jiang Xu became the secret of his entire youth.

He kept the wrapper of the same candy in a pocket of his schoolbag, while her draft notebook was filled with applications to the same university he planned to attend. But when her family was struck by sudden misfortune, she vanished from his world without even the chance to say goodbye in person.

Three years later, at the Fengchi racetrack, engines roared as Jiang Xu removed his helmet. The youthful edge in his eyes and brows had grown more mature. Before the race, he said to her, “If I win, be my girlfriend.”

But fate had other plans, and they lost touch for six years. When they met again, Su Wei's eyes were red. “Jiang Xu, do you... still want me?” He blurted out, “Why would I want someone nobody else wants?”

On a winter night, fresh snow blanketed the streetlights. She rose onto her toes and touched the tip of his ear, reddened by the cold. “Back then, you said you'd watch the snow with me. From now on, when it snows, stay with me. And when it melts, don't leave either. Okay?” He took her hand and tucked it into his pocket. His palm was as warm as that piece of orange candy that had never melted. “Not just this time. I'll be here, year after year, for the rest of our lives.”