[No piracy in the comments]
Two obsessive leads / push and pull / reunion / deliberate pursuit
Moss grows in the dark, unable to endure the light.
At the edge of the rooftop, she stood and he sat, only a short distance between them.
The stone wall was high enough that she could look him in the eye, see the sunset reflected in his clear, pale eyes, and take in even the faintest trace of distaste in them.
“Get down. You’ll fall,” he warned.
They were alone, and all around them was silent. She glanced around coldly, then curled her lips in mockery and fixed her gaze on him. “I won’t, unless you push me.”
“Xie Chengli, would you dare?”
The girl’s malicious behavior concealed a hard-to-fathom cruelty. Like a spell, she seemed intent on dragging him into the abyss.
-
In March, the rainy season brought endless drizzle and muddy streets. Winter had just passed, but the chill remained.
Thick night fog blurred the neon lights, and ripples of water shimmered indistinctly in their glow.
Liang Wan never imagined she would reunite with Xie Chengli that day.
At the time, her advisor had misunderstood her and turned her away, leaving her in a humiliating predicament.
She had imagined their reunion countless times. The best she could picture was herself fleeing in disgrace, utterly diminished. She never thought that just hearing his familiar voice would make her walls crumble, leaving her without even the courage to run.
When they met again, she waited alone.
The corridor was empty. They were clearly not far apart, yet it felt as if an uncrossable chasm lay between them.
After hesitating again and again, she ventured to ask, “How have you been... all these years?”
The man’s indifferent gaze settled on the hand she had placed on his sleeve, impatience flickering in his eyes.
“What does it have to do with you?”
-
Rain poured down. Its roar was crystal clear in the dusty world, while smoke gathered and dispersed beneath the brilliant lights.
The man’s refined features looked a little gentler in the warm orange glow. He wrapped one arm around Liang Wan’s shoulders from behind, playing with the silver-glinting necklace at her throat.
His tone was dark and inscrutable. “It suits you.”
The sharp pendant pricked the tender skin of her neck.
She hadn’t yet managed to answer when he grew suspicious. His brows lifted slightly, then he gripped her chin between two fingers and tilted it upward, his tone stubborn and unyielding.
“Is it beautiful?”
Forced to look at herself in the mirror, she answered,
“Beautiful.”
*
1: Both leads are a little messed up, with a broad ensemble cast
2: A reunion after years apart
3: Push and pull, slow burn
Theme: Become a better version of yourself
