At the start of his third year of college, Chen Xiao asked Tang Shuchen by the roadside, "If I run into the middle of the road right now, will my memories of her end faster?"
His girlfriend had just dumped him, and he was acting like he wanted to die every day.
Tang Shuchen felt awful for him. In a fit of anger, she clenched her right hand and punched him.
The next day, Chen Xiao showed up with half his face bruised.
He asked her, "Does your hand still hurt?"
*
Tang Shuchen had had a crush on Chen Xiao ever since she transferred to No. 6 High School in her first year.
He was tall and handsome, ranked among the top ten in the whole school, and had a dazzlingly sweet smile.
They sat together for three years, and she knew she wasn't his type.
On the day before graduation, Tang Shuchen thought it was time to say goodbye. Then Chen Xiao showed her a college acceptance letter for the same university as hers, and they ended up as classmates for another four years.
During that time, he went through girlfriend after girlfriend. She watched it all from the sidelines until she was numb to it.
But one day, Chen Xiao backed her up against a wall covered in green vines and kissed her.
She was just beginning to lose herself in it.
Then he asked flippantly, "So, how was my acting?"
*
Later, they both entered the entertainment industry.
With his good looks, Chen Xiao became a hugely popular leading man, looking stunning in every frame.
From the other side of the camera, Tang Shuchen continued watching him fall in love with other people.
A kissing scene he filmed aired, spread across the internet, and became a sizzling hot topic.
Yet #ChenXiaoKissingSceneWasA littleAwkward# shot to the top of the trending list.
He messaged her: Was my acting that bad?
Tang Shuchen had just typed out a few pointers on kissing scenes when he replied: Miss, surely you know what my kissing is really like?
Furious, Tang Shuchen chased him to his hotel room in the middle of the night.
Chen Xiao was standing by the door and hadn't even had time to look surprised when she shoved him inside and locked the door behind them.
*
The next day, after filming wrapped, Tang Shuchen returned to the hotel and spotted Chen Xiao standing by the fire exit, watching her approach with a brooding gaze.
In the stairwell, he asked her, "Feeling better?"
Unaccustomed to his gentle voice, Tang Shuchen said, "I'm fine."
"I'm not," he said. "I can't handle any more thrills lately."
"Yesterday... did I scare you?" she asked tentatively.
Chen Xiao gave a wry laugh.
"That's putting it mildly," he said in a low voice. "You almost drove me crazy."
Tang Shuchen's heart was like a meadow of wild grass, and it swayed ever so slightly.
*
A lovesick, stunning fake playboy × a career-focused, laid-back, truly straight woman
One-on-one pairing, both leads sexually inexperienced, happy ending. The male lead is a fake playboy who acts confusingly at first.
Both leads have had crushes on each other for years, but misunderstandings keep them from realizing how the other feels.
Their romance spans seventeen years, from their first year of high school to ten years after college graduation.
In short, they're both people who underestimate their own worth.
P.S. This is a slow-burn novel. The early chapters lay down many clues that all connect, and each is answered later. There is a little angst at first, while the push and pull and sweetness between the leads come in the middle and later parts.
P.P.S. Enjoy reading!
Synopsis revised on 2024-10-04 and backed up with a screenshot.
Theme: For someone with a secret crush, the object of their affection may be their most devoted audience.
