Cicadas Must Not Chirp [Secret Love]

/1/ Yan Sijin had been in love with the same boy for far too many years.

He was a born star, always topping the rankings in competitions and exams. His gaze was usually languid and carefree, and he fit in effortlessly wherever he went, shining brighter than everyone around him.

But no one knew that she and he shared a secret hideout.

After school one day, cicadas screamed in the heat. Halfway along the road, a sudden downpour drenched her.

She hurried to the abandoned railway tracks she considered their secret hideout, only to find the boy standing there with an umbrella. His fingers were long and elegant, his gaze languid, and his presence carried a bitter freshness with a hint of sweetness.

He tilted the umbrella toward her, shutting out the rain.

Their breaths mingled, and her heart fluttered.

After that, they often shared their secrets in silence, separated by a corrugated metal wall.

Yan Sijin had known all along that he didn't belong there.

Just as expected, he was later admitted to a top university and never came back; meanwhile, she heard that he grew ever more dazzling, winning countless admirers and praise.

/2/ Years later, they met again at a gathering for distinguished alumni.

The moment he looked her way, she turned her eyes aside.

He walked up to her, his voice mild, his manner elegant and refined. "Miss Yan, a pleasure to meet you."

When someone nearby asked about their connection, he said, "We met by chance. Miss Yan still owes me a promise."

No one knew that through thousands of days and nights, he had remembered, imagined, and pieced together the date she had never shown up for.

-

One day, Zhu Yu returned to the old place. In a pavilion beside the abandoned railway tracks, he found a huge pile of letters sent to him years ago. Every one was signed...

Yan Sijin.

Suddenly, he remembered joining the literature club back then and earnestly asking for advice on how to write a love letter in the form of an argumentative essay.

As usual, the audience below the stage kept teasing him.

It turned out she had been a member of the literature club, too, quietly watching him from below the stage, never knowing that the fabled argumentative-essay love letter had always been meant for her.

/3/ "I don't know how far apart ordinary people and geniuses are, and I don't think the humanities and sciences are completely opposed to one another.

All I know is that I, an utterly ordinary humanities student, worked hard without faltering and finally made it to your side, you who are hailed as a science prodigy.

At last, the distance between us is no longer 1,700 kilometers."

From Yan Sijin's letter

--

"Waiting for my secret crush to step into the light."

P.S.:

Mutual first loves, one-on-one, happy ending. Half campus romance, half city life, with a bittersweet sweetness.

The first blurb is from the heroine's perspective, but they have actually been secretly in love with each other all along.

Fifth blurb draft archived on 2023/08/06

Theme: I want to write a story about a humanities student whose lifelong effort makes her dreams come true.