The Sinking Hunt [Broken Mirror, Mended]

Scheming, aloof, smoldering boss x proud, striking designer

First loves for both | Second chance romance | Tense push and pull | Age gap | Strangers in public, lovers in private

[01]

"Five years apart. Have you slept with anyone else?"

"Of course. All college students, just like you robbing the cradle back then. Every one of them was young and fresh."

This was the first exchange between Yu Songwen and Xia Li after they met again.

Five years ago, their seventy days of passionate love ended abruptly. Their futures won out over love, and they went their separate ways.

Five years later, she's a talented and promising young designer.

He's the newly appointed CTO with absolute authority, aloof and inscrutable, the top executive no one in the company dares to cross.

They snipe at each other in meetings and don't even greet each other when they run into one another in the hall.

The whole company is buzzing: Director Yu from R&D has it in for someone in Design.

"There's a sensor issue. Designer Xia, come to my office."

"The proposal needs revisions. Engineer Xia, come by for a minute."

Everyone thinks Yu Songwen is deliberately targeting her.

Only Xia Li knows how steamy his late-night work emails are:

"Baby, read this and go to bed early 🥺"

"You reply to everyone else so quickly. Why are you so slow when it comes to my emails? 😠"

"What were you and Xiao Wang laughing about today? Tell me too. 🤯"

"Brother Yu is your boss by day, but a lovesick ghost by night 👻"

[02]

The project enters its final sprint, and rumors spread that Xia Li has a new boyfriend.

A junior from her alma mater in the neighboring department brings her coffee every day.

Young, talkative, and with a grin like an enthusiastic husky.

One night, Xia Li is alone in the office, revising a design.

Yu Songwen walks in and locks the door behind him.

He corners Xia Li at her workstation. "What year is that new guy of yours?"

Xia Li grabs his tie and pulls him closer. "Director Yu, do you have so much free time that you have to manage my current boyfriend too?"

Yu Songwen looks down at her. "I'm just getting the details ahead of time. If I run into him, I can figure out how to make him disappear."

Xia Li smiles. "And what makes you think you can?"

Yu Songwen slowly lowers his gaze. His aloof, dignified mask falls away, his eyes reddening as his voice trembles.

"At least I seriously told you to wait for me to come back."

"You didn't reply to my messages, you didn't answer my calls, and you didn't even say goodbye."

"Xia Li, you threw me away for five years, and now you ask what gives me the right?"

Xia Li turns her face away. "...What do you want, then?"

Yu Songwen stares at her profile and gives a self-mocking smile.

"I want to kiss you."

"I want to leave my marks all over you."

"I want your boyfriend to know he's the outsider."

[03]

The project celebration banquet.

Everyone at the table is lively, but the two people in the seats of honor don't exchange a word. The atmosphere is strange.

Xia Li leisurely orders an extra-large serving of sauerkraut fish from the menu.

A colleague teases her: "Group Leader Xia, you like sauerkraut fish?"

Xia Li glances sideways at the cold face beside her and smiles.

"Yeah. It tastes sour, lousy, and completely superfluous."

She turns to him. "What do you think, Director Yu?"

The entire room falls silent.

Yu Songwen sets down his glass and smiles. "Add a plate of lotus root."

A mischievous glint hides in his eyes. "I like it. Especially the kind that looks clean and innocent, but stretches when you take a bite. Want to try some, Group Leader Xia?"

Xia Li: "...No thanks. Eat too much lotus root and you'll lose your mind."

Everyone: ???

A sly fox x an adorably stoic one

Workplace setting: the new-energy vehicle industry

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Please add my next story, Raising the Neighbor's Mad Dog, to your favorites!

[Older woman-younger man romance + a scheming, two-faced second male lead who steals the heroine]

Shen Mianmian always thought Xie Linchuan, the younger boy next door who'd just started college, was a sweet, pure, aloof kid.

Lately, he kept wearing freshly pressed white shirts as he tended the flowers on her balcony.

Shen Mianmian's parents liked him too. Every time they came to visit her, they invited Xie Linchuan over for dinner.

Everyone praised him for being considerate, and Shen Mianmian felt the same.

That is, until she got a boyfriend.

Her boyfriend's phone started receiving frequent anonymous messages:

[She never wears her favorite perfume when she goes on dates with you.]

[She doesn't turn off the lights until two in the morning. Guess who she's talking to.]

When Shen Mianmian's fever wouldn't break, Xie Linchuan watched over her all night and used her phone to send her boyfriend a breakup message.

Afterward, he knelt beside her bed, eyes red, and pressed her hand to his face. "If you're angry, Sister, you can hit me."

When her boyfriend demanded to know why Shen Mianmian was avoiding him, Xie Linchuan wrapped his arms around her waist from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder as he gave the other man an innocent smile. "Sorry. Last night... I think I hurt Sister."

By chance, Shen Mianmian discovered the notes he'd kept on his computer:

June 16, cloudy

I put three sleeping pills in Sister's coffee.

Her lashes trembled while she slept, as if she were giving me permission to kiss her.

She scrolled back to the earliest entry. It was from seven years ago!

March 14, sunny

Sister held my hand as she cut the birthday cake. Cream covered her trembling fingers. I thought, one day, every strand of Sister's hair would belong to me.

His computer held every photo from her social media accounts over the last seven years. He had even secretly collected the jasmine hair tie she threw away, a convenience-store receipt, and half a fever pill she'd bitten into...

He did the vilest things with the most innocent face. When he demanded, "Choose him or me," he cried harder than she did.

Shen Mianmian broke down. "Are you crazy?"

She raised her hand to hit him, but he caught her wrist and pinned her against the wall.

Xie Linchuan licked the cold sweat from her palm and suddenly smiled, dimples appearing. "Sister, your heart is beating so fast. Are you scared, or excited?"

"Sister, your boyfriend isn't good enough for you."

"The unloved one is the one who should be kicked out."

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Theme: What a grand dream! But a dream means nothing without you.