Life is like a horse glimpsed through a crack, a spark struck from stone, a body in a dream.
--"What do you mean Samsara and Tyranny are getting married?"
Lin Zi, deputy head of Tyranny's development department, never imagined that after the Season 9 finals, Samsara's captain would run off with her childhood friend of over ten years, a veteran of the Tyranny guild.
"What did you say? Who are you dating?" Lin Zi said with a cold laugh. "Zhou Zekai?"
"..."
"When did this happen?"
"...Don't ask." Things had been a little complicated that day. Li Yifei hadn't actually planned to tell her about it.
"We've been friends for years, and now you have secrets from me?" Her phone calls these past few days had sounded off. She knew something was up!
"..." In the end, Li Yifei gave in to the friend she'd grown up with. "The day before yesterday."
The day before yesterday. Lin Zi quickly counted back and realized that was...
"The day of the finals, then?" Lin Zi was nearly laughing with anger. "What the hell is Zhou Zekai thinking?!"
What is it that you see? The real "Zhou Zekai" who exists right beside you, or the aesthetic ideal that's haunted you since you were young?
Li Yifei couldn't answer the question in her heart. So she wandered in confusion and turned restlessly in bed.
But this blazing passion burned so hot because of the person beside her. The embers that had long since gone cold could burn again.
After all these years, she looked at her reflection in his eyes and finally found the answer.
"Zhou Zekai, sometimes I really hate you."
If hate comes from destroying what one loves, then when time has passed and an old friend's wish comes true, with everything finally complete, what is it she hates?
Does she hate that he destroyed the order she'd grown used to, or that he shattered her composure, her belief that everything was under control? Or that he made the rules called "Zhou Zekai" fill the rest of her life?
Zhou Zekai should have been sad and heartbroken. He was sad and heartbroken. How could she hate him? She loved him so deeply, and he loved her too. But why, at this very moment, did something in his heart feel so hot?
All the passionate, vivid love and hate in her future would belong to him.
An elegant, refined artist with a fanatical, obsessive core, and the embodiment of her ultimate aesthetic ideal (crossed out), her perfect lover and muse.
The pairings in this story are:
Zhou Zekai x Li Yifei, a copywriter for the Glory game company and a publicity consultant, and a veteran of the Tyranny guild.
Huang Shaotian/Zhang Jiale x Lin Zi, deputy head of Tyranny's development department, former Tyranny pro player, and Lin Jingyan's cousin.
Both pairings feature a younger man and an older woman.
Canon-compliant secondary pairings may include Yu Wenzhou/Chu Yunxiu, Ye Xiu/Su Mucheng, Xiao Shiqin/Dai Yanqi, and others.
[[[This story is best suited to readers without many dealbreakers. The following notes are just a disclaimer.]]]
Notes:
① A work of romantic idealism and intense emotional projection. HE. An adult love story, with a slow-burn buildup early on and a less innocent story later. I'm going for a healthy yet twisted relationship, in my own way... with a touch of tragic, star-crossed love, but love is always the most sincere and passionate feeling of all.
② Canon-compliant, realistic, focused on the relationships, and heavily researched. No established canon events will be changed. I'll do my best to stay faithful to the original world and incorporate some real-world timelines, but there will be post-canon content. Includes plenty of my own interpretations of the characters. The focus is on life outside of the canon matches. I'm a Tyranny fan of ten years, so there'll be plenty of Tyranny everyday life, as well as lots of workplace and dark humor, and real-life drama. Also, Tyranny wins the S11 championship.
③ Li Yifei is five years older than Zhou Zekai. She isn't a virgin, and she smokes early on but quits later. Lin Zi's main pairing in the main story is with Huang Shaotian at first, then Zhang Jiale. The possible extras may include some strange what-if storylines, so avoid them if that's not your thing.
④ The title is a central image and a double entendre.
⑤ A revised version of an old 2021 short story. I mainly want to tell a story, and the story matters more than any character traits. I'm an old-school fanfiction writer and a one-stop shop. Read however you like and trust your own interpretation.
Theme: Embers and hidden flames: "Love" is built from within.
Shining Nikki Fanfic Collection: Where to Go
Yesterday's Stars
[The King's Avatar] Years on the Road Ahead
[JX3] The Hairdresser Master at the Cultivation Sect's Gate
[Dream of the Mirror] A Song for Autumn Rain and Painting
[The King's Avatar] [Yu-Chu/Ye-Cheng] Hanshan Temple Outside Gusu City
[Dark Fairy Tale: Snow White] Rose and Briar
[The Nine Songs of the Heavens + The Legend of Qin] A Dream Fades, Yet the Night Is Warm
Record of Sparse Lamps on a Rainy Night
Laughing out loud Xiao Zhou:? She's obviously my girlfriend. Penguin grievancejpg
Last year, my working-class girlfriend tried to find a way to consume some of her young boyfriend's energy, but apparently with little success. Are you kidding me? This guy has KPIs for body management! 🐶 Not bad, not bad. This time I felt "cute" and I didn't think it was over in despair, nor did I resort to abstract descriptions. I took a deep breath to calm down and accepted the signature paper. There was progress. And you, Zhou Zekai, come and explain to me what "does it count" mean? Of course "does it count"! He obviously didn't believe in fate, lottery, or illusory things, but he wanted to use his good luck to get a lottery for her. He believed that he was lucky and wanted to share this good luck with her. It was a simple, straightforward and lovely logic. (Lin Zi: I'm annoyed when I see their stubbornness. Guo Zhou Zekai, who wants to sit on the ropeway and be a light bulb? Bye bye to the inactive house^ ^ But what the hell is the arrangement? I'll check it out when I go back) After being troubled by insomnia, nightmares, and heart palpitations for many years, Li Yifei got a good night's sleep in Zhou Zekai's arms. This is not brought about by fire or fusion, it is just the simplest, "being held by a warm lover and then falling asleep", a physical and mental sense of security. Although it was still unclear whether Li Yifei would start to be confused and insomnia again if Zhou Zekai was not by her side, but at least at this moment, under the sunshine of Taiqing Palace and in the warm bed, she was indeed "lucky".
At 8:30 in the evening, I changed out of my team uniform, picked up the reserved items, and came to Li Yifei's room. This morning she said, "If you want to stay with me, come back in the evening." So, here I am. There are many things in her world that I don't understand. Aesthetics, projection, theory... I don't quite understand. But this afternoon, I saw her taking short-acting contraceptive pills, although she insisted that it had nothing to do with me. How could it be irrelevant? You are my girlfriend and I don't want you to take risks. So, I bought three different models of condoms. She turned off the screen and looked up at me. I handed the bag in my hand and she saw the contents. She hugged me and leaned very close, her breath spreading on the side of my neck, itching a little. She was testing me. Uh... This... Doesn't work, it really doesn't work. She smiled again, kissed me, and opened her lips as if she was planning to say something. I caught up with her and kissed her deeply. Very good, such a feeling. I put my arm around her waist, held her hand, and gently brought her to the bed. She didn't refuse. I was certainly glad she gave herself to me last night. But... It's not enough. She is clearly in my arms, but she seems to be somewhere far away from me. Li Yifei, not enough. I want more, more of you. Different from the first night, this night I was observing, I was learning, and I also wanted to give her what she wanted. The knot that cannot be untied in my brow, the disaster that cannot be untied in my life, is you. The endless circle I can draw with my pen and the unbreakable bond in my heart are you. I won't fight back. I won't let go either. * * "Mo" - Na Ying In fact, it is quite reasonable to use it to describe Li Yifei's state, but I chose to give this paragraph to Zhou Zekai. There is no other reason. Li Yifei's perspective is already full, but there is another person here. And "swimming alone against the ocean current to the end" is also very consistent with the current feelings he brings to me.
Where will the eternity imagined in the cocoon burst into bloom. She once lived in a fortress she built. She walked in the rules and order she built, which made her feel stable. She was comfortable in those safe but shallow relationships, and as long as she didn't hand over her soul, there was no risk of falling. Until the dawn of dawn brought back the darkness of the night and took away her remaining sight. She said, "... Zhou Zekai, do you want to go to bed with me?" "Give it to me and blend in with me, okay?" — Devour me, set me on fire, destroy me. Forget those aesthetic images, forget those unspeakable guilt and love. Let me see beauty, heat, and the source of life in the splendor of incomparable perfection, and then die contented. Under the moonlight, they groped and intertwined repeatedly. Burn it, burn it down, I can't peel off your palm prints. So she broke off her wings, tore them apart and wept with blood. When I can't hear your call, please destroy me with your own hands. While I can still be called "I", I will turn into eternal dust in your arms. Since all reason and theory collapsed at this moment, let's use his hot body temperature to dismantle her before the unsolvable abyss swallowed her completely. Let the fireworks burn everything in this moment. She was falling and he was celebrating. One person's hell and another person's heaven, in the same bed. Quietly, look up at the sky. Please find me fluttering my wings in the light all over the sky. Please, you must penetrate my perfect disguise and find the real, broken "me" beneath the layers of armor. *"Butterfly"-Amano Yue
Xiao Zhou made the bracelets by himself, it's so cute [Spreading Flowers]
It felt like Li Yifei had fallen in love with Zhou Zekai for a long time, but earlier she subjectively refused to admit it or didn't understand what the feelings were.
It feels like Zhou Zekai also projects part of Li Yifei's self
[Orange Candy] Got it It's great. I feel that Xiao Li is gradually adapting and accepting the current relationship. I don't know what will happen in the future, but from the first thought I had, I felt that the ending should be very good. Probably for Xiao Zhou, falling in love with his sister will be more or less difficult, because the other party has already experienced many things before him. But I'm also curious, how did Xiao Zhou understand some of Sister Li's thoughts? Is it telepathy?
The authorities are obsessed with it, and Li Yifei also needs to adapt 🐰
The atmosphere of Tyranny is really good, and I felt that there was a subtle feeling in the final confrontation between Tyranny and Samsara. It felt like both Li Yifei and Lin Zi needed to relax a bit, both of them felt so tense.