[Flamboyant playboy x gentle yet resolute]
After a turn of events in Song Zhen's family, she moves from an affluent neighborhood to an old residential complex. She often sees a man on the rooftop.
The man has a devilishly handsome face and a cool, indifferent expression, with a cigarette on the verge of burning out between his fingers.
On the dusty rooftop, its red ember flickers in the dusk.
He looks like a hedonist who lives for pleasure, yet Song Zhen senses a hint of loneliness in him.
As she hangs up the laundry, she sneaks a few glances at him. The man seems to notice. He stubs out his cigarette, turns around, and laughs softly. "What are you looking at, little sis? I'm not a good man."
Later, on a stormy night, Song Zhen goes out in a miserable state and happens upon the man arguing with his ex across the hall.
On a whim, she helps him out of the mess. The man lets her stay the night, and that's when she learns his name is Pei Yi.
*
At first, Pei Yi sees Song Zhen only as a girl with a pitiful past.
He looks after her, but only because he feels sorry for her.
A friend teases him: "Young Master Pei, I think that little girl likes you. She's so pretty. Why not give it a try?"
Pei Yi idly flicks his lighter and says casually, "She's young and doesn't know how the world works. Do you think I don't? She's only eighteen. Would you want to be a beast?"
"She's an adult, isn't she? I even saw you taking her to university last time..."
*
Song Zhen knows she's never been Pei Yi's type.
He's surrounded by admirers, with countless women at his side, none of whom ever stay longer than six months.
People say Pei Yi never falls for any woman. They put on an act for each other and get what they want.
A man like him doesn't need love, just someone who knows when to back off.
But Song Zhen doesn't understand what it means to know when to back off, and she's never planned to learn.
She likes Pei Yi, but that's as far as it goes.
She just never expected it.
Later, Pei Yi really does become that "beast."
On a rooftop in the depths of winter, snow falls all around. Song Zhen's back presses against the icy wall, her body tightly pinned inside his coat.
His possessive embrace is followed by a storm of kisses.
Pei Yi's throat tightens, his voice hoarse. "Zhenzhen, can I take back what I said?"
| Both are each other's first and only, seven-year age gap
| The male lead only pretends to be a playboy. He has exes, but nothing physical happened.
| The female lead falls first
Theme: I don't want my life, I want romance
