Birds

Shen Zheng's new seat was by the window. When she took a break from studying in her final year of high school, she often stared out at the scenery.

She loved watching birds, loved watching them spread their wings.

She thought that was what she was like, too.

Society's definition of women was too narrow. She wanted to be any kind of person she pleased, and no one could stand in the way of her freedom.

Until someone came to sit beside her.

She watched the clouds, and he pointed out the birds along their edges, saying that if she wanted to fly, he would be her wings.

Shen Zheng said that birds had to spread their own wings to fly free.

Yu Xian was silent for a long time.

On graduation day, Shen Zheng received an email from him. It contained only one short line.

Go ahead and fly. Your freedom is my freedom.

-

They met again in Iceland, in June.

Lupines bloomed as far as the eye could see in Reykjavik, while birds flew between the snow-capped mountains and the sea.

Yu Xian held up his camera, capturing the scenery and making the moment last forever.

After taking the photos, he sat in a cafe selecting them. Shen Zheng sat across from him.

By then, she was a famous freelance writer, living the dream she'd had in high school.

The past had become a shadow, a thing of nothingness. When they met again, she had forgotten his name.

Yu Xian bought her a coffee.

He asked if he could take her photo.

Shen Zheng nodded and said yes.

Before Yu Xian left, Shen Zheng asked, "Have we met somewhere before?"

Yu Xian shook his head and left.

After that day, an email from a friend appeared in Shen Zheng's inbox.

Eight years later, following the words, "Go ahead and fly. Your freedom is my freedom," Yu Xian sent her a photograph.

Below the lonely snow-capped mountains beyond the window, birds swept past.

She faced the camera with a gentle smile, and time seemed to stop in that moment.

Only later did she learn that Yu Xian was best known for photographing birds.

The places in his photographs were all places she had traveled over the past eight years.

He had kept his promise about freedom.

/

-BE, unrequited love from the male lead, road trip, 1v1

-Devoted photographer x writer who puts freedom above all

-A fictionalized setting inspired by reality. Any differences from reality are fictional additions.

Theme: We can all live as any kind of person we choose