When dusk falls over Hangzhou, the sky is just beginning to brighten over New York.
He dances beneath the dazzling lights of his livestream. I write my thesis beside the floor-to-ceiling window of my apartment.
My phone always has his livestream open, and my computer always has my research papers open.
His fans call me Paper Kite Sister. That's my username, his top gifter, and the girlfriend he's made public.
The night he lost the monthly competition, I sent the special-effect gift that best captured how we both felt: "Love You Without Regret."
That night, he thanked his top supporters and cried in front of the ten thousand people in his livestream.
We first met at a university debate competition. It was the first time in my life I'd ever lost, and I lost to him.
Later, in the corridor of the library late at night, moonlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows and I came across him practicing his dancing alone.
He went to Korea at fourteen and trained for five years. A week before the debut competition, he fractured his shin and was replaced.
Everyone told him to let it go.
I was the only one who said, if you love it, keep dancing.
My older brother disapproved. He said streamers made their money by flirting with their audience.
But I knew he wouldn't.
Because he'd told me, "You don't have to chase after me. You can stand by my side."
Theme: My top gifter is my beloved, and the only one for me.
