[The next novel in my column is "Song of the Whale, Kissed by Flames." If you like it, please add it to your favorites! It starts November 1. The blurb is below this one.]
"Police Captain x Foley Artist"
[Synopsis]
After graduating from college, Yin Mian became a moderately famous underwater dancer, thanks to her lovely face and outstanding dance talent.
During a shoot, the photographer she was working with behaved inappropriately, leaving Yin Mian no choice but to seek out Jiacuo, a renowned underwater photographer who had retired from the industry two years earlier, to save the production.
But when she finally found Jiacuo, her heart sank halfway. The handsome, mature man ran a guesthouse, but his businesslike eyes seemed iced over. He kept her at arm's length, too: "I won't help you."
Yin Mian refused to give up and kept trying to persuade him, but he remained cold and indifferent.
Two months later, Yin Mian gave up on working with him.
But in the dressing room at the studio, the man suddenly grabbed her wrist and pinned her behind the door. "Why do you always give up on me so easily?"
Yin Mian pushed him away and said wearily, "You're always the one who gives up on me first."
When he learned she wanted to work with an experienced photographer, he pressed her against the wall, his gaze dark. "Your photographer will be either Sheng Yan or Jiacuo."
*
Yin Mian danced in the rippling pool, fighting the crushing water pressure and the suffocation of oxygen deprivation. Her vision blurred, and a sharp pain stabbed through her chest.
The safety officer on set didn't notice anything was wrong.
In a daze, a nimble figure leaped into the water from above, swam to her, and carried her back to shore.
The man's eyes were bloodshot as he gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, his cold lips kissing her again and again. "Yin Mian, don't die."
Everyone in the industry knew Jiacuo was immensely talented. While still young, he had made a name for himself in photography with several deep-sea documentaries.
But he never photographed people, not even beautiful women.
It wasn't until the underwater dance "Moon over the Mountain Pass" became a sensation at galas everywhere that people learned Jiacuo had photographed a woman. Doubts poured in like snowflakes.
In an interview, the man lounged with a detached expression. "It's not that I don't photograph women. I only photograph women I like."
[Reading Guide]
1. A cool on the outside, flirtatious top photographer x a spoiled, flirtatious little troublemaker
2. A slow-burn story with plenty of everyday moments. It's not a sweet romance or a wish-fulfillment story, and there are no golden fingers~
3. One-on-one romance, both are each other's first, happy ending
---- Blurb for the next novel, "Song of the Whale, Kissed by Flames" ----
Ni Yang is slow to warm up, graceful, and spirited. With her excellent hearing and creativity, she becomes an outstanding foley artist. In everyone else's eyes, she's a gentle, beautiful girl from a well-off family.
It is as if the darkest secret of her past has disappeared completely: fifteen years ago, she was kidnapped and taken to an unfamiliar village.
But the arrival of Chen Yun'an sends those unbearable memories flooding back.
The man's long limbs are clad in a crisp police uniform. He gazes at her without a trace of emotion, his eyes as deep as an eagle's. "We meet again."
Back then, in the mountain village, she was mistaken for the adopted daughter of a human trafficker, while he was the police officer investigating the trafficker.
In the chaos of a fight, Chen Yun'an's mentor died in that village.
Clearly, neither of them was a happy memory for the other.
*
Later, an unseen hand draws them into a series of cases. The more they try to get away, the more entangled they become. They become companions in pursuit of the truth, until it slowly comes to light...
In the blazing fire, Chen Yun'an ignores all opposition and rescues Ni Yang. His eyes shine like stars. "You're a foley artist, aren't you? Tell me, what does my name sound like?"
She looks up at him and creates three heartbeats: "Thump, thump. Thump, thump. Thump, thump."
His gaze burns as he looks at her, unable to turn away.
*
Deep inside a run-down, abandoned house, Ni Yang is bound with her hands behind her back and a strip of cloth tape over her mouth, held hostage by criminals.
The moment the criminals leave, she secretly turns on the phone hidden behind her and switches on the speaker. Then she pounds the floor as hard as she can: thump, thump, thump...
Ten minutes later, Chen Yun'an, in his police uniform, bursts through the door.
His eyes are bloodshot as he looks at the disheveled girl raising her head inside, his gaze full of concern.
At the instant their eyes meet, two voices sound without a word.
"Your name is the sound of my heartbeat. When I knock three times in a row, it means the character Nan."
"No matter how far away you are, call my name, and I'll appear."
[A proud, tsundere police captain x a cool, spirited foley artist]
Theme: I yearn for the wild, untamed sea, not a lake rippling in the sunlight.
