[Anonymous Author Xiao Fan x Devoted Reader Tu Che]
Xiao Fan and Tu Che are classmates and desk mates in their second year of high school. Xiao Fan seems carefree and laid-back, but in private, he is the anonymous author of the hit healing novel That Summer. Every character and detail in the book is based on Tu Che, his desk mate. He has secretly been in love with him ever since they first met in their freshman year. Tu Che, the top student in their grade, is cool and reserved, and utterly obsessed with That Summer. He is madly in love with the gentle anonymous author behind the words, while in real life, he is also quietly falling for Xiao Fan, who protects him at every turn. The two secretly agree to be a couple, spending every day together at school. In real life, their feelings are hidden from each other, while online, a secret unrequited love develops between reader and author. Tu Che often feels that the protagonist's habits and little gestures are strikingly like Xiao Fan's, and gradually begins to suspect the truth. Xiao Fan also discovers that his most devoted reader, the one who understands his writing best, is the person he loves. They are caught in a double unrequited love, yet neither realizes that the two people they love are one and the same. On the sports field, Xiao Fan confesses that he is the author of That Summer, and that every one of its million words is a love confession written for Tu Che. The truth of their mutual feelings is finally revealed. They resolve every misunderstanding and quietly begin dating. When Xiao Fan celebrates Tu Che's birthday, they kiss beneath the stars, only to be caught by Xiao Fan's father, who has quietly come home hoping to surprise his son. He breaks them up. Seven years later, they meet again at work and finally get their happy ending. Years later, the novel has become a classic of unrequited love stories. No one knows whether it was based on real people; only they know that the whole book and their entire youth were written in each other's names.
**I wrote of every tenderness in the world, just to describe you; you read all my tenderness and fell in love with all of me.**
Epilogue
Years later, That Summer has become a classic healing novel with millions of readers. No one knows who inspired it. Only Xiao Fan and Tu Che know that the book's title, their entire youth, and every summer were all named for each other.
Theme: Two boys with mutual secret crushes face the pain of their families of origin, hold on to their true feelings through life's hardships, and learn to grow through separation.
