The Blue Summer Paradox

Lin Jibai was heartbroken.

After years of breaking up and getting back together with his boyfriend, this time it seemed to be truly over. They'd fallen in love as teenagers, and now it was gone just like that. Frustrated and restless, he decided to take a solo road trip to clear his head.

On the third day of his trip, a boy in a school uniform flagged down his car by the roadside.

The kid was cold and cocky. He only said he needed a ride, not where he was going. Wherever, he said, when asked.

A moody teenager who'd run away from home.

Lin Jibai figured, and immediately felt a sense of responsibility.

Who hadn't been young? Who hadn't rebelled?

Who didn't need a kind soul to offer a few words of guidance when they were lost?

You sure are lucky, kid.

His solo trip turned into a journey for two, and Lin Jibai let him into the car.

-

The kid was called Xia Ling. He was seventeen, at just the right age. He'd had a fight with his family right before the college entrance exams and, the moment he left home, he ran into Lin Jibai.

It was spring turning to summer, the loveliest time to travel. The ocean, the grasslands, the mountains and wilderness... Along the way, they encountered all kinds of people and things, and these two complete strangers gradually opened up to each other.

When the trip ended, Lin Jibai dropped Xia Ling off where they'd first met.

Their time together hadn't been a complete waste. Lin Jibai had learned a thing or two about life.

So Xia Ling went back to repeat his final year of school, and Lin Jibai went back to get back together with his boyfriend.

-

When Lin Jibai met Xia Ling again, it was summer, four years later.

The kid was a little taller and a little more mature. He wore an intern's ID badge, and his bad temper had improved. At least he now obediently called Lin Jibai "brother."

They got together for a reunion, and Lin Jibai learned that Xia Ling had gotten into a great university and that things with his family had improved, too.

As for himself...

"Still seeing him?"

After a few drinks, Xia Ling glanced at the ring on Lin Jibai's hand, his expression unreadable.

"Yeah. After all these years, we can't make it work, but neither of us can let go. I figure we might as well muddle through."

Lin Jibai laughed at himself, but Xia Ling said:

"End it."

Lin Jibai laughed. "People say you should encourage couples to stay together, not break up. What's with you, kid?"

Maybe the alcohol was too strong, but in a daze, he saw Xia Ling raise an eyebrow.

"Stop settling. Give me a try."

-

Younger man + road trip + stealing someone's boyfriend

A free-spirited bottom who talks a mile a minute and goes wherever the wind takes him

x

A proud, devoted top with a little cunning, as deep as the sea

[Reading Guide]

- Younger man, younger man, younger man.

- Flashbacks and present-day scenes interwoven across two storylines. The flashbacks are a road-trip story; the present is about stealing someone's boyfriend.

- The bottom has a long-term first love, his ex-boyfriend, who gets plenty of page time. They've done everything a couple can do. [Please mind the tags.]

- Puppy-like younger man steals someone's boyfriend [highlighted again]. The bottom and his ex-boyfriend spend little time together, and their relationship is as fragile as paper and as thin as water, but they are still officially together. The top will give off a bit of a homewrecker vibe, mainly because he quietly tries to steal the bottom away. Nothing physical happens, and the bottom won't actually let him be the other man. Still, if this bothers you, please proceed with caution!!!!!

- That's all for now. I'll add more if I think of anything.

2025.11.22

Theme: Self-reliance and strength