Moonlight Tides

[Innocent sweetheart x arrogant, scheming young master; his longtime crush finally comes true]

1.

During her senior year, Xi Yue finally gets what she wants: she starts dating the boy she's had a crush on since high school.

She has no experience with relationships, and thinks it's normal that after six months together they've only reached the hugging stage. That is, until one day she sees her boyfriend kissing the dance department's belle, whom he'd met only three months ago, beneath a streetlight.

Xi Yue is heartbroken, but she's not alone.

As she stands there, stunned, holding a pile of things, the belle's boyfriend is beside her with a cigarette in his mouth.

He's a victim too, but Xu Yichao is far more composed. He dusts off the ash as if nothing happened, not forgetting to mock her: "Looks like your boyfriend's fallen in love."

2.

Unlike Xi Yue, who keeps to herself, Xu Yichao is definitely a big name at Bin University.

Born into a wealthy family and blessed with the face of a playboy, he's got all the makings of someone who takes relationships lightly. Yet the game studio he founded on a whim takes the industry by storm in just two years.

By a twist of fate, Xi Yue joins his company. After they've both been cheated on, she is invited to become his current girlfriend.

At first, she thinks Xu Yichao is just as resentful as she is. After all, the list of ex-girlfriends he's rumored to have is so long, and none of them cheated on him before they broke up, unlike the dance department's belle.

Until one time, the young master gets drunk at a bar and calls Xi Yue to pick him up.

Xi Yue rushes over, furious, along a brightly lit street. Then she sees Xu Yichao leaning by the door, haggling with the bar owner, determined to buy the little moon-shaped night-light decorating the counter.

"Do me a favor." Xu Yichao's lips lift slightly, his smile languid and touched with drunkenness. "I need it to coax my girlfriend."

Only much later does Xi Yue realize she may have been fooled.

-

Xu Yichao has a brilliant night sky, and Xi Yue once thought she was just one star among many, ready to burn out at any moment.

Until Xu Yichao tells her that she's the moon he's schemed and struggled to hold in his arms.

-

1. This is not a campus story. The heroine has a past relationship; the hero is inexperienced in every way.

2. The heroine is exceptionally oblivious. This story requires patience.

3. A slow-burn slice of life, with a little career plot. Professional details are based on online searches and research. Please forgive any inaccuracies.

Theme: No pain, no gain