I Asked a Stranger to Be My Boyfriend, Only to Find He'd Had a Crush on Me for Six Years

In her second year of high school, Shen Sihuan casually grabbed a passerby, Lu Lianchuan, to use as a human shield, then slipped him a few bills afterward.

When the seats were assigned, he turned out to be her deskmate: the school's top student and the unattainable dream boy of every girl on campus.

She was only embarrassed and didn't think much of it.

Lu Lianchuan had noticed her back in their first year: her white dress and the scent of gardenias.

He brought her breakfast, helped her organize her mistakes, and knelt to tie her shoelaces at the sports meet, all because he liked her.

But he didn't dare tell her, afraid he was no different from anyone else in her world.

What he didn't know was that Shen Sihuan had already fallen for him too, starting the moment he knelt to tie her shoelaces.

But she was just as afraid to speak up. She had seen too many stories of people going from close to distant, and feared her deskmate would become the person farthest from her.

So two people who liked each other both held back. He was afraid he wasn't special enough, and she was afraid of losing what they already had. Neither of them took that first step.

Years later, when they meet again after a long separation, he confesses through tearful eyes that he regrets it. Only then does she open that blue diary and see the words on the first page:

“Shen Sihuan, I like you. I've liked you since our first year, but I won't tell you now.”

The missed chances of a mutual secret crush are even more heartbreaking than unrequited love.

Shen Sihuan is carefree and easygoing, but slow to realize her feelings. She seems nonchalant on the outside, but is sensitive and perceptive within;

Lu Lianchuan is devoted and restrained, stubborn to the point of awkwardness. He hides all his tenderness in the little things, yet writes his love on every page of his diary.

This youth began with a borrowed place by someone's side and ended with two people missing each other. In the best years of their lives, neither dared to say what they felt.

[Mutual secret crush|Reunion after years apart|Husband-chasing crematorium|Rekindled romance|Happy ending]