Come Pick Me Up!

Mutual pining / bittersweet romance

A delicate darling and someone with sensitive skin

After the college entrance exams, Mu Mian takes her score, which falls short of the cutoff for a top-tier university, to Xu Qing, the top scorer. “You have to wait for me! I’ll go abroad, get a fancy degree, and come right back!”

“Distance won’t be a problem! If you want me to, I can come back anytime!” Mu Mian promises Xu Qing.

Xu Qing, who had thought she and Mu Mian could attend college in the same city, smiles faintly. “Really?”

“I’ve never been more serious!” Mu Mian says confidently.

It’s only a little over ten thousand kilometers. She can fly there and back over a two-day weekend and still find time to see her.

But after going abroad, Mu Mian discovers there are problems everywhere.

The endless jet lag, flights she can’t get tickets for, and their frequent loss of contact all become obstacles to their friendship.

Whenever that happens, Mu Mian thinks sadly but happily, At least they’re only friends. They might give each other the silent treatment, but they’ll never fall out for good.

*

When Xu Qing was in her second year of high school, her parents moved abroad to care for her elderly grandparents. They wanted to take her with them, but, having just discovered the stirrings of love, she only wanted to stay with Mu Mian, so she refused.

She had thought she could stay by Mu Mian’s side through high school and college, be her best friend, witness her falling in love and getting married, and offer her heartfelt congratulations in the end. She never expected their friendship to unravel in just two short years.

Because she didn’t want Mu Mian to worry, she didn’t tell her she was sick.

Because she didn’t want Mu Mian to worry, she didn’t tell her she was hurt.

Because she didn’t want Mu Mian to worry, the two of them, who once told each other everything, began to speak with careful hesitation.

The facts are laid out before Xu Qing again and again. Look at you. You’re a joke. You can’t become the lover of the person you secretly love, and you can’t even be a good friend.

Countless times, she wants to tell the other girl, “Let’s just end this. What’s the point of keeping up a friendship like this?”

But the other girl always looks at her so pitifully, always braves the time difference to come see her. “You’re my best friend, really! I only pretend to have fun with them. You’re the one I really have fun with.”

But the other girl never understands what she’s truly upset about.

Until, at last, Mu Mian really does come back as promised. At the airport, laden with bags, she calls Xu Qing, beaming. “Come pick me up!”

[Reading Guide]

1. Mutual pining, bittersweet romance, first love for both, both are virgins, happy ending.

2. The story begins when she returns from abroad and includes lots of flashbacks.

3. They both think the other is straight, so they’re acting masters who don’t dare make their relationship clear.

4. Includes gaming scenes.

5. More to come if I think of anything.

Revised on 2024.12.29

Theme: Distance is not a problem.