Deliberately True

Childhood sweethearts / Reunited after years apart / One-sided love / Long-planned pursuit

A wildcat who excels at hide-and-seek x the only loyal dog in the world who can find her

🐱🐶

Wu Fanmo and Ji Jinyao had known each other since birth.

In other people's eyes, they were childhood sweethearts who made everyone envious.

The proud kitty was fed up with the dog who stuck to her, and became an expert at hiding from him.

The clingy dog refused to be outdone and could always find her in a crowd.

She had thought this game of cat-and-dog would go on for a lifetime.

But when Wu Fanmo was seventeen, Ji Jinyao, a living, breathing person, vanished as if he had disappeared from the face of the earth. From then on, there was no news of him.

After the college entrance exams.

Wu Fanmo didn't contact anyone. She boarded a flight abroad alone.

At the same time, on a giant screen in the plaza,

Ji Jinyao performed on a stage in front of a huge crowd.

This time, he didn't go looking for her while she hid.

Their lives would be like parallel lines, never crossing again.

Four years after they parted, Wu Fanmo returned to her homeland.

But Ji Jinyao, with a dazzling head of blond hair and a bouquet of her favorite jasmine, was standing brazenly at the arrivals gate.

He ignored the people around him taking photos and videos and grabbed her wrist.

"Stop hiding from me."

"Please?"

His pitiful tone made it sound as though Wu Fanmo was the one who had broken their promise.

She pulled free of his hand, her voice calm. "You've got the wrong person, superstar."

Just as Ji Jinyao was about to chase after her, fans who had rushed over after hearing the news swarmed him, bringing the entire airport to a standstill.

His outstretched hand remained suspended in midair as he watched her figure grow more distant in the crowd, just like all those years ago.

That same rainy night, Wu Fanmo secretly took a taxi back to the airport.

Holding the bouquet of jasmine he hadn't managed to give her, all alone, she sniffled and muttered to herself, "You stupid dog."

The dog himself happened to be coming back from a convenience store with an umbrella, and witnessed the whole thing as the silly cat stole his flowers.

Later, the members of the commercial band that had debuted through a talent competition all tacitly chose not to renew their contracts.

Ji Jinyao, the member fans thought most likely to succeed as a solo artist, announced he was leaving the entertainment industry at his very first solo concert.

At the end of the concert, the host asked on behalf of the audience:

"We hear that Mr. Ji has been linked to someone romantically. What would you like to say about that?"

"It's not a rumor."

"This was my own long-planned scheme."

As soon as he spoke, the previously noisy venue fell completely silent.

Ji Jinyao removed his in-ear monitor and looked firmly toward Wu Fanmo's seat.

"I only did it so she would look at me."

In front of everyone, he told the world of the bittersweet love he'd kept secret for over a decade.

"Every bit of it was deliberately done for real."

* One-on-one romance, both leads sexually inexperienced, happy ending

* Fictional setting

* The leads' careers were invented to serve the story and have no connection to reality. Please don't overanalyze them.

* The blurb has been screenshotted, and the full novel is complete. Starts on October 28.

Theme: Always love life.