In 2016, a band burst onto the scene and swept up awards of every kind.
Their lyrics went viral on social media, and many people took an interest in both the lead singer and the lyricist.
One sang with feeling, the other wrote with vivid flair. They both seemed to have suffered through heartbreak. But no one ever connected the two of them.
At the band's studio, people often sighed, "Man Sui, who do you think hurt our Shao Xi so badly? His lyrics are a work of genius."
Yang Mansui found it hard to answer. As the lead singer, she had been secretly involved with Shao Xi for six months, without telling anyone else in the band.
Shao Xi leaned against the sofa in a turtleneck, staring at her. His voice was low. "A heartless woman."
·
Six years ago, Yang Mansui had liked Shao Xi.
One rainy night during her first year of high school, the school held its Top Ten Singers competition.
Shao Xi, a senior, held his guitar onstage and sang Eason Chan's "Red Rose," his voice tender and coolly detached in the softer parts.
The crowd shifted, everything hazy and indistinct. It wasn't her turn yet. Yang Mansui sat below the stage and quietly praised him to a classmate, who laughed and teased her, "Your ears are turning red!"
She didn't even notice that she had lost track of which part of the song Shao Xi was singing.
·
The happy ending to that girlish crush came too late, and only the part too difficult to talk about had come true.
So whenever Yang Mansui was intimate with him, she would spitefully play the pampered princess in bed, conveniently ignoring his suggestive remarks.
Shao Xi spoiled her without a word. But whenever he hinted at something, the girl would panic and run away.
On a rainy street, he stopped her as she was leaving work, his brow lifted, looking irresistibly cool.
"Yang Mansui, you weren't this quiet when I was taking care of you. Why are you playing mute now?"
[Friends-to-lovers trope. Happy ending, both are each other's first and only.]
[It's been raining for so long. Do you dare kiss the rain, and kiss me?]
/Blurb posted on September 22, 2025
Theme: After getting drenched, try moving closer to the umbrella he holds out for you.
