[Slow-to-warm-up, avoidant sweetheart x arrogant but soft-hearted, loyal puppy]
[School life / Reunited after years apart / Mutual unrequited love + healing]
The moment Cheng Ji saw Duan Shuo again in their first-year high school classroom, she knew there was no getting away from him.
She dodged him again and again, retreating time after time, but after evening study he still cornered her in the cramped space between the wall and a chair.
His lips twitched. "Aren't you going to explain what happened back then?"
His voice was as cool and distant as the mint scent about him.
Cheng Ji knew she couldn't give him the explanation he wanted. Before she could speak, tears fell first.
In the end, he stepped aside in shock, confusion and concern filling his eyes.
Just like the year they fell out.
The person who had angrily interrogated her the night before was now slumped over his desk the next day, all his temper gone. He offered her a peach-flavored drink as a peace offering.
Cheng Ji took it, but thought to herself:
I was wrong to call you weird back then.
I regret not saying a proper goodbye to you.
Once, a message set the freshman group chat ablaze: Duan Shuo, the aloof math and science genius, had lost his mind and voluntarily transferred to a parallel class.
People flooded the chat with all kinds of guesses: Did he want to lie flat, show off, or fall in love...?
After graduation, Duan Shuo leisurely dug up the first message mentioning the matter and replied with a raised eyebrow: "Quit guessing. It was revenge."
The chat erupted in a sea of question marks.
He smiled, leaning against Cheng Ji's shoulder with his eyes narrowed, and showed it to her, looking as pleased as a victorious soldier returning home.
Cheng Ji pushed him away, her mind fixed on the red mark on her neck, flushed with embarrassment and irritation.
"So revenge means biting me and leaving a hickey?"
A smile spread across Duan Shuo's lips, his wandering gaze settling on her lips.
He remembered yesterday in the alley, her breath hot, her cheeks flushed, her lips soft.
She had half-heartedly resisted, her grip on his hand tightening little by little.
Duan Shuo had to stop, looking down at her as his Adam's apple bobbed. His voice was half-hoarse:
"It's been three years. If you won't let me get revenge, can't I at least kiss you?"
Only after that night did Cheng Ji realize that revenge was just an excuse. Reuniting with her had been his real purpose.
As for their long-standing mutual unrequited love...
He was the one who fell first.
Theme: Someone will always be there to help you through life's hardships
