The Fish in the Pond and the Flying Bird

(The new novel about Sang Ning and Doctor Lu next door, Her Prescription, is now underway. Please add it to your collection!)

[Sour and bittersweet + unrequited love + entanglement + a long road to winning her back + realistic tragic ending]

Sensitive designer x charming flower shop owner (short story)

On that snowy night, nineteen-year-old Sang Ning met Shen Zhiwen for the first time.

He crouched on an empty street corner to feed a few stray cats, but her image lingered in his mind.

Five years was such a long time, long enough that his figure no longer appeared in her dreams. When she thought of him from time to time, all that remained was a vague silhouette. Sang Ning almost thought she had made Shen Zhiwen up.

Until she pushed open the door of a flower shop and saw him behind the counter. Her long-dormant heart leapt again. His features were unchanged, though he seemed a little colder than he had back then.

"Shen Zhiwen, it's nice to meet you."

.

Shen Zhiwen agreed to be with Sang Ning only because he thought she liked him too much.

She liked him enough to put up with his indifference, enough to indulge his selfishness, enough to come running back whenever he beckoned, even after he pushed her away.

He was certain Sang Ning loved him more than life itself.

Even when she asked to break up, he assumed she was just saying it in anger.

Until Shen Zhiwen casually opened their chat and saw the glaring red exclamation mark.

In disbelief, he sent the message again. The red exclamation mark and the conspicuous notice that the message had been rejected were still there.

He lost all interest in having fun. He couldn't hear a word his friends said, only staring fixedly at Sang Ning's profile picture as the trace of drunkenness in his eyes slowly gave way to panic.

Sang Ning, who had never been able to let him go, seemed to mean it this time...

.

"I'm sorry, Sang Ning."

The only thing Shen Zhiwen could do for her was offer the apology he should have given long ago. But he knew the woman who had loved him so deeply would never turn back for him again.

"The fish return to the depths, the birds fly far away. From now on, there will be no birds, and there will be no us."

[Content warnings] (leans realistic)

1. The male lead is not chaste and has an ex-girlfriend who was his first love for four years.

2. The male lead is the female lead's idealized first love.

3. The male lead is fond of the female lead and gets entangled with her, but he never loves her.

4. The leads are together briefly. They share no intimate contact beyond hugging.

5. The female lead and her boyfriend only hug. They have no other intimate contact.

Theme: There is no right or wrong in love, only the wrong people