The Fabrication of Long Summer

Small-town fiction | Bittersweet comedy | Childhood friends to lovers, with a twist | 1v1, bad ending Two families on Old Changyuan Street have been close for generations, and their sons grew up together. As a boy, Ji Yu followed Han Zanyan everywhere. But after Ji Yu came of age in eighth grade, his personality changed completely. The boy who had once been cared for grew distant and aloof, leaving Han Zanyan, half a year older, to spend all day chasing after him instead. The room was stiflingly hot. They lay on a bamboo mat beneath an old ceiling fan that creaked as it spun. Hot air curled around them, cicadas sang outside, and the oppressive warmth made them drowsy. Han Zanyan: Move over. You're pinning my arm. Ji Yu: You're the one who moved over here. Can you stop blaming me for everything? Han Zanyan: You used to stick to me like a shadow, and now you're complaining about sharing a mat with me. Ji Yu: That was ages ago. You're the one who comes over every day now. Han Zanyan: Fine. I guess I've fallen for you. Ji Yu: Quit talking nonsense. You're keeping the cat awake. Kitten: ... Maybe we've reached the age when we have to grow up. Maybe we should start thinking about certain things... The parents of the two families were arguing loudly. "Your son is the one who corrupted mine! After decades of friendship, why does your son have to corrupt my boy?!" We didn't lose because we couldn't give each other love. We lost to misunderstandings. Maybe some kinds of love are considered a sin by society. "Let's run away, okay?" "But that would hurt our parents. They just don't understand. Anyone would struggle to accept that the child they raised with such care for almost twenty years wants to take a path nobody thinks is right." That midsummer, only the ordinary days remained. Let that stirring of the heart sleep beside him, lost in the summer's illusions...