The Boy in the Prison of His Heart

Everyone in their circle knows Shen Yubai is a walking contradiction.

Around other people, he's a smooth-talking social butterfly, chatting like an old friend with people he just met at a drinking party. But when one of them gets a little too close, his fingers tighten around his glass as he edges away.

He often says, "Love is just an act," and has plenty to say when mocking people who lose their heads over romance. But whenever he sees Jiang Xubai, he can't help moving closer. "That noodle shop you mentioned, want to go together?"

One night, after drinking too much, he rested his head on Jiang Xubai's shoulder and murmured, "It's not socializing I'm afraid of. I'm afraid someone will see... see the person locked away in my heart."

That summer, when he was seventeen, the boy who weighed 180 pounds curled up in a stairwell and cried as people yanked his hair and called him a "fat pig." Later, he lost weight until he was down to 116 pounds in just three months, locking his cowardice and insecurity away deep inside.

When he said he wanted to take care of his past self, all he really wanted was to hug the boy nobody liked.

But as soon as he finished speaking, Jiang Xubai gently took his hand, his thumb brushing over the old scar on his wrist, so faint it was almost invisible.

"You don't have to take care of him. I'll love him."

"From the boy you were to the person you are now."

You said you had to wait for the other person to reach out first before starting a relationship. But I've wanted to cross the crowd and take the hand you've been hiding behind your back for a long time.

Theme: Some love is buried deep among the stars.