Bluntly outspoken, pretends-to-be-cool top student x independent, resilient academic prodigy
Wei Tingwei x Yin Huaiyuan
When Yin Huaiyuan was seven, she framed an entire spring in her camera.
But photo paper fades with time, and the spring of her youth gradually withered, too.
When she started at No. 1 High School, she thought that was fine.
Then, during the midterm exams of her first semester in tenth grade, she officially met the top student in her grade for the first time, someone her homeroom teacher often mentioned.
He answered her and her classmates' questions in a calm, even voice.
At the time, Yin Huaiyuan was so embarrassed she wished she could crawl into a hole.
When they met again, Wei Tingwei had become her group leader, sitting diagonally in front of her.
Whenever he asked a question during group discussions and she met his calm gaze, Yin Huaiyuan felt not only awkward, but a little annoyed.
She resolved to keep her distance and make it through the remaining two years of high school in peace. Then, because she had to meet her mother's new boyfriend, Yin Huaiyuan went with her to watch him box.
As she opened the door to the club, she saw a familiar figure in the small ring directly opposite the entrance.
The moment Yin Huaiyuan's eyes met Wei Tingwei's, she heard the faint whistle of a fist cutting through the air.
After several years, she found herself wanting to take photographs again.
Watching Wei Tingwei hold on tightly to the thing she had thrown away, Yin Huaiyuan felt as if a dead tree had bloomed again.
Sadly, even on graduation day, Yin Huaiyuan still hadn't managed to frame Wei Tingwei in her camera.
Wei Tingwei wasn't Yin Huaiyuan's spring.
But the world is vast, and spring comes year after year. Yin Huaiyuan only needs to keep walking toward it.
Content warning: unrequited love, open ending. They don't end up together in the main story, but there's an alternate-universe bonus story where the leads get together. The female lead doesn't fall in love at first sight.
Theme: Spring hasn't gone away.
