When Song Jiayuan was sixteen, she met Shen Chiyu in the library.
He explained a math problem to her in a clear, crisp voice, his handwriting beautiful. It took her three minutes to understand the problem, but three whole years to understand her own heart.
She was a girl raised in a loving home, gentle and confident, with everything she needed. He was a quiet, aloof boy, like a lonely island, wanting nothing at all.
She liked watching him bend his head to write, liked the extra words he added when explaining a problem, and liked the notes he sometimes left at the corner of her desk. Every time she got closer to him, it felt like eating an orange candy: sour at first, so sour it made her wince, then sweet once the tartness faded.
She gathered those little moments of sweetness in her heart, one by one, until they filled her whole youth.
He noticed everything, but said nothing. Still, he remembered that she liked orange candy and every word she had ever said. He carefully kept everything she gave him. He never threw anything away, never forgot a thing.
From sixteen to twenty-six, from school uniforms to a wedding dress.
She had gathered up all the sweetness of her youth, only to discover
The sweetest piece was him.
“Orange candy tastes sour at first, then sweet. So does a secret crush.”
#MutualPining #FromSchoolDaysToTheWedding #HappyEnding
Song Jiayuan × Shen Chiyu
“I spent my whole youth loving you. It’s a good thing I get to spend the rest of my life with you.”
