Boy on the Island

School life / secret crush / mutual healing / sweet romance. A gentle, softhearted young artist with dyslexia X a top student *Blurb* Xia Qi met Yin Hanchen at a bookstore on the sea in Xidao. At the time, the young man was quietly drawing at the front desk while she did her homework by the window. They were content to leave each other alone, without a word between them. Her friend said, "That guy is famously aloof. He has over a hundred thousand followers on Weibo, but he's never posted anything except his artwork, and he's never replied to any comments." Her best friend added, "I watched his livestream! Seriously, he didn't interact with anyone the whole time. Everyone was swooning over his face, and people sent him gifts like crazy, but no one got a response." But on a cloudy afternoon, she received a little desk lamp from him. He said, "It's too dark. It'll hurt your eyes if you keep reading." Xia Qi: "Huh... What?" Isn't he supposed to be really aloof? Her friend said, "He must be into you." Her best friend was just as certain: "Exactly." Xia Qi innocently believed them... - But on the day she left, she messaged him: Yin Hanchen, let's write letters to each other. He turned her down. He said, "...I'm sorry. I might not be very good at writing letters..." That's when she found out he wasn't aloof at all. He had dyslexia... Xia Qi: "So you didn't respond to everyone because you couldn't make sense of the comments during your livestream?" Yin Hanchen: "...Yeah." Xia Qi: "But people sent you gifts, and you still didn't respond..." He said, "If I only responded to people who sent gifts... it'd make me look greedy..." Xia Qi: "..." Okay, fine... - Xia Qi realized belatedly: "Did I just get dumped...?" Her friend: "Were you ever dating?" Her best friend: "When a girl pursues a guy, there's only a thin veil between them." Xia Qi stared back blankly: "Hmph." That night, a message chimed in on WeChat: The young man's pleasant voice came through the receiver. "Are you home yet? I messaged you on WeChat earlier. Why didn't you answer? Are you mad because I can't write letters?" - Content warning: The portrayal of dyslexia in this story is somewhat exaggerated for the sake of the plot, so please don't get hung up on it. Cover by Ah Hui of SIU Studio, heartfelt thanks (////v////) Another story in the Foam Fairy Tale series: *Snail Soft Candy* (completed) Theme: Grow toward the sun