The Golden Forest

Slow-burn novella / healing story / love given and returned / steadfast devotion / mutual pining in full force / "ordinary girl" x "aloof heartthrob"

Blurb:

Yan Jinjin looks ordinary, has an ordinary figure, ordinary grades, and an ordinary family background. As a person... she's probably ordinary too. In short, throughout her long student years, and even after she entered the workforce as an adult, she never stood out anywhere.

After she got together with someone who was her complete opposite, whose looks, figure, grades, and family background were all exceptional, even prominent, the thing she heard most often was people criticizing them for being so poorly matched.

After college, they began a long-distance relationship. Yan Jinjin and He Yu often went a month or two without seeing each other. When they were busy, their longest stretch without contacting each other was a whole week.

One day, after working late, Yan Jinjin returned to the little apartment she shared with a roommate. Her roommate said, "I've realized you two are even more fun to ship after breaking up! He Yu actually took the time to carefully pack up your things and mail them back! Come on, you really did love each other, right?"

"..."

Yan Jinjin was a little slow on the uptake and didn't know how to explain. Actually, those were gifts He Yu had sent her.

-

After seven years of long distance, Yan Jinjin had accumulated enough tickets to stack up to her calves, yet people still gaped at her in disbelief. "Seven years, and you two still haven't broken up?!"

She knew what they really meant: Even so, it can't last much longer. You'll break up eventually.

But every time she desperately made room in her schedule and gathered her strength to go to He Yu, and every time she made the round trip to see him,

Yan Jinjin gazed out the train window at the scenery flashing past in blurred streaks.

It was all a lush forest, shining like gold.

-

Time will tell.

We are not suffering.

-

2025.11.16

Please add this to your reading list~

Theme: Choosing each other, steadfastly