Autumn 🎸
Socially awkward mortician x impulsive musician
"In the few seconds of my life flashing before my eyes, I finally saw your face clearly again at the eighth second from the end."
At eighteen, rebellious Yu Shengwei ran away from home to pursue her dream and was forced to share a place with the elusive Tong Li.
Tong Li was emotionally detached, had abysmal social skills, and was as elusive as a ghost. Her job was a mystery. She drifted around in black every day, sometimes working until the middle of the night, sometimes heading out to work in the middle of the night.
Yu Shengwei wanted to get along with her, so she kept trying to get Tong Li's attention, openly and otherwise. But Tong Li wouldn't even look her in the eye, and Yu Shengwei was so furious she slammed the table.
"Tong Li! Don't think you're all that just because you've been here longer. Every time you see me, you run away like I'm some bad-luck charm. If you look down on me, just say so!"
Tong Li remained unusually calm and took another step back.
"No. You're not the bad-luck charm. I am."
Yu Shengwei: "...?"
Later, Yu Shengwei held tight to Tong Li as she tried to run away again, crying even harder than Tong Li as she spoke.
"Sis, even though Little Fish only has a seven-second memory..."
"As long as you stand in front of me, I'll tell you I love you in every one of those countless seven-second intervals."
But when Tong Li said those words again at the very end, they took on a different meaning.
"Little Fish only has a seven-second memory."
"By the eighth second, you can forget me."
"Little Fish only has a seven-second memory, but you kept hiding from me, waiting until the eighth second to see me. You came to keep me company, but you wouldn't take me home."
A few things to know:
Small-town setting, slice of life
Older woman, six-year age gap
❗️Tragic ending, a twist of fate leaves one dead and one alive
One-on-one romance throughout, no third parties at any point, and neither lead gets involved with men
Neither character is perfect or exceptional. Not a sweet romance. They get back together, but can't truly mend things
Short story, expected to be under 120,000 words
Please don't insult the story or the characters. The author will be devastated
Putting this aside for now. I'll start if it gets 200 saves within a year and a half
(Blurb saved on February 26, 2026)
Theme: Do not fear the death that is already ordained
