Coordinates of a Secret Crush

Cocky bad-boy heartthrob x conflicted girl

A secret crush comes true | Healing | Bittersweet feelings

In high school, Lu Ke was the school's golden boy, a young man who could make anything happen. He strutted around with beautiful girls at his side, while Jiang Ning was an invisible girl from a poor family, so insecure and conflicted she didn't dare look him in the eye.

All Jiang Ning's love for Lu Ke amounted to was secretly following behind him, getting on the bus that went in the opposite direction from home, and hiding among the crowd to travel partway along the route of the car that took him home.

But that was as far as it went.

On graduation day, all the girls at school who had crushes on Lu Ke grouped up to give him love letters. Jiang Ning waited until everyone had left, then hid in the classroom by herself and slipped the old envelope she'd kept for so long into his desk drawer.

Her youth was too short, just three lines long. Before she could say them aloud, it was over.

-

Later, they met again in college. Torrential rain poured outside the teaching building. Jiang Ning was in a hurry to get to her part-time job, and she gritted her teeth and prepared to run straight into the downpour, but Lu Ke called out to her from the stairs nearby.

He held a black umbrella. Beneath its edge, his face was still sharply handsome. His long-fingered hand reached out toward her, gradually growing damp with the misting rain. He raised his eyes and called her by name, perfectly clearly.

“Jiang Ning.”

“Take the umbrella. Don't get wet.”

Years later, in the desk in the bedroom where the boy had grown up, Jiang Ning found an old sheet of paper, perfectly preserved. Written on it were the words:

“Lu Ke, I like you.”

“But having a secret crush is too painful. My feelings can only go this far.”

“I wish you a bright future.”

The person behind her pulled her into his arms, his chin gently brushing the top of her head. His voice was tender and earnest.

“It's enough that you liked me for part of the way.”

“From now on, I'll be the one who comes to you.”

*Primarily set in school, a slow-burn with sweet-and-sour feelings

*The secret crush comes true from the heroine's perspective; the hero has been plotting for a long time

*Both leads are sexually inexperienced, one-on-one romance, and the hero has impeccable conduct

Theme: Love can heal old wounds