Lost Cherry

[Complete] [Unrequited Love Becomes Mutual] [Both Are Inexperienced]

Zhong Ling first met Tan Zhou in a noisy, restless place where the lights and shadows fell in a lazy haze.

He was sitting at the table her best friend had reserved for her, relaxed and composed, with a pair of long legs that seemed to have nowhere to go.

She sat down and asked his name.

Tan Zhou turned to meet her gaze and answered, "Tan Zhou."

Zhong Ling thought, This guy looks good, and he's got a great body too. Her friend hadn't wasted that eight thousand yuan.

-

Tan Zhou (Ryan Tan) was the most famous rich heir in their circle. The basketball club he owned had just won the league championship last season.

Rumor had it he was handsome, refined, and dignified, but cold and difficult to approach. Since returning to the country, he had never shown his face at a social event.

Young, rich, successful, and low-key, he had become the most sought-after marriage prospect among wealthy young women, even though he existed only in rumors.

Countless people tried to find out more about him, but the man at the center of all the gossip was now cornering Zhong Ling outside her bedroom and asking, "I didn't say anything weird last night, did I?"

Wanting to tease him, Zhong Ling replied, "Does saying you wanted me to take care of you count as weird?"

Eleven years earlier, amid the cicadas' cries in midsummer.

Wearing a white dress, she stood on a bench beside the basketball court, a blue bank card pinched between her pale pink fingertips. With a haughty look, she said to him, "I'll take care of you from now on!"

He held a basketball and looked at the charming girl on the bench, a clear, bright smile at the corner of his lips.

He remembered perfectly well what he had answered then...

"All right. I'll be counting on you to take care of me from now on."

She might have forgotten, but he never would.

So he had come to her door and demanded that she take responsibility.

-

Blurb written on 2023.05.07. Archived. Revised on 2023.07.14.

Theme: Finding yourself amid loss