The Superstar Says He and I Are Married

[Currently serializing: I Want You All to Myself, childhood sweethearts / one-sided male crush / two wealthy leads]

[See my column for the completed entertainment-industry novel Which Couple Is About to Break Up but Still Went on a Dating Show?]

Female director x male movie star

Before she turned twenty-two, Xu Si had grown up in privilege. She loved boldly and lived fearlessly, dazzling like the sun. Yet she set her sights on Fu Jingyan, who had grown up struggling to survive in the cracks.

Fu Jingyan always said, "We could never work."

"Miss Xu, you like playing around, so go find someone else. I don't have time to play with you."

"Xu Si, you'll regret loving me."

Xu Si would laugh at him with carefree abandon. "Fu Jingyan, aren't you being a little old-fashioned? What era is this? Who still cares about family status?"

Later, she gave Fu Jingyan a ring and slipped it onto his ring finger herself. "Fu Jingyan, I've chosen you."

*

Then, in a single turn of fate, Xu Si, who had been raised with every luxury and was as radiant and noble as a rose, was struck by a family crisis. She disappeared, and no one knew where she had gone.

Fu Jingyan seemed to become a different person. He stopped avoiding her and went looking for her all the time, but never saw her again.

Only after three years away from the world did Xu Si finally understand what Fu Jingyan had once felt.

And the man who had once been within her reach had now become a hugely popular star.

Xu Si stood among a crowd of thousands, gazing at the dazzling man onstage.

Silently, she wept.

How wonderful... So many years had passed, and he was a star now.

Now she was the one gazing up at him from the shadows.

Onstage, Fu Jingyan raised his left hand. The ring on his ring finger gleamed bright white beneath countless lights.

Only then did Xu Si learn that Fu Jingyan had declared himself married to the public ever since he entered show business.

She was the woman everyone online envied: the star's wife.

It was all because of the promise they had made back then.

She had said, "When we meet again, will you kiss me?"

"Fu Jingyan, I'll wait for you to marry me."

Fu Jingyan had kept every promise she had made back then.

*

When they met again, Fu Jingyan cornered Xu Si and kissed her. After pushing him away again and again, she held out her hand. "Fu Jingyan, give me back my ring. You didn't actually take those promises seriously, did you?"

Fu Jingyan gave her a roguish smile, lifted her chin, and kissed her, just as domineering as she had once been. "Xu Si, the whole world knows this is my ring."

"And you're mine, too."

From then on, Xu Si could never escape Fu Jingyan. Instead, she became the one blushing to the tips of her ears.

How had she never realized before that Fu Jingyan was this crazy?

--Blurb for I Want You All to Myself--

① The Yu and Shang families of the capital have been close for generations.

Yu Qianwan and Shang Kejing were the youngest children in their families and grew up pampered and adored. They had known each other for as long as they could remember, and had been classmates since kindergarten. They were practically inseparable, the childhood sweethearts everyone thought were made for each other.

Shang Kejing had a pair of flirtatious eyes that made him look like he was in love with everyone. Add his somewhat roguish nature, and at first glance he seemed like a carefree, playboy rich kid. But those who knew him well understood that Shang Kejing was devoted, with eyes and a heart only for Yu Qianwan.

Everyone liked to tease Shang Kejing for how obviously he favored Yu Qianwan, treating her well while completely disregarding the rest of them. Shang Kejing never denied it. He would just grin and nudge Yu Qianwan's shoulder, looking rather pleased with himself. "Did you hear that? They all say I'm good to you. You should be even nicer to me."

All he ever got in response was a cold, exasperated glance from Yu Qianwan.

Everyone thought Shang Kejing and Yu Qianwan would fall in love and live happily ever after, then get married. Even the elders in both families thought so.

But at a gathering of the two families, when the elders jokingly tested the waters by suggesting a marriage alliance, Shang Kejing, who had always loved sticking close to Yu Qianwan, sternly rejected the match.

② In her senior year of high school, Yu Qianwan fell for an upperclassman who returned to campus to give a talk. Later, when he entered show business, she became one of his most devoted, big-spending fans. New to love, she gave him all her passion and straightforward affection.

As childhood friends, Yu Qianwan talked to Shang Kejing about the upperclassman more than anyone else. He knew almost every detail of her secret crush.

But one day, Shang Kejing, who usually understood Yu Qianwan's feelings better than anyone, argued with her over the upperclassman, and a subtle awkwardness grew between them.

Not long afterward, Yu Qianwan ran into the upperclassman at a banquet. In a quiet courtyard, she accidentally overheard him talking to someone else and realized she had misjudged him. Reality was far more blunt and hurtful than anything Shang Kejing had said. Every flippant word cut into her heart like a blade.

Guilt-ridden, Yu Qianwan called Shang Kejing.

The two of them had argued and never made up, and now they fell into a long silence on the phone. Then Yu Qianwan's faint sob reached him, and Shang Kejing immediately forgot all their awkwardness. "Where are you?"

That night, Yu Qianwan drank herself into a stupor and finally gave up on the jerk she had been crushing on.

Shang Kejing stayed by her side, watching her sleep. Even drunk, her eyes were red and damp with sadness. He let out a helpless sigh, his voice so soft it seemed ready to drift away on the wind. "...When will you ever notice me?"

Later, just as he had hoped, Yu Qianwan noticed him.

But the circumstances and atmosphere were nothing like what he had imagined.

They were doing something utterly ordinary, without a hint of romance. And then Yu Qianwan suddenly asked him, point-blank, "Shang Kejing, do you like me?"

Shang Kejing answered just as directly: "...Yes."

--Blurb for Heartbeats Off Track--

● Foster care / mutual pining / Hong Kong tycoon follows love to the capital

1. As a child, Li Shuyue was sent by her mother to live with the Huo family in Hong Kong.

When she first arrived, the unfamiliar surroundings left her frightened and uneasy. She thought she was about to begin a life dependent on other people's kindness. But in time, she became the little princess everyone in the Huo family knew, and some even called her Huo Shuyue.

During the more than ten years she grew up with the Huo family, Li Shuyue was grateful again and again to have Huo Yanzhi there as her older brother. He seemed cold and taciturn, but he had a warm heart, was thoughtful and considerate, and, most importantly, was close to her in age. They were practically peers with plenty to talk about, so at least she was never lonely.

Later, Li Shuyue came to hate the word "brother" more than anything.

She and Huo Yanzhi were not related by blood. They were not even relatives.

But after years together and the subtle influence of their daily lives, everyone knew she was part of the Huo family. Even she could not help getting caught up in it, and spent years struggling with her feelings.

She buried this unspeakable crush deep in her heart.

But years of restraint erupted all at once.

The summer before her senior year of college, Li Shuyue drank too much and slept with Huo Yanzhi.

After one night of reckless pleasure, she could no longer face him. Then she fled to the capital under the pretext of going to graduate school.

But on the first day of graduate school, Huo Yanzhi cornered her at the campus gates. He looked down at her timidly lowered face. His cold, imposing presence alone was enough to make her nervous, and then he coolly added, "Getting brave, are we?"

Li Shuyue, who loved him but was afraid of him, lowered her head even further...

--

2. Huo Yanzhi stayed in the capital for work.

After moving from Hong Kong to the capital, the two of them began living together again.

But that night haunted Li Shuyue, returning to her mind again and again. She was so anxious that she could no longer pretend, as she had before, that they were siblings living under the same roof.

Seeing him made her heart race.

When she couldn't see him... longing tormented her even more.

It was maddening. Li Shuyue was practically going insane.

Then one day, after Li Shuyue had been wronged, Huo Yanzhi caught her secretly wiping away tears at home. He asked what was wrong, but she said nothing.

Li Shuyue was easily swept up in her emotions. She couldn't talk to Huo Yanzhi just then. He was never ruled by his feelings; he was guided by reason. She had no way to stay calm and talk things through with him in that state.

To her surprise, the man suddenly scooped her up. His tender, affectionate lips gently wiped away her tears, and he comforted and cherished her in a way that was unlike anything she had known from him.

Li Shuyue stopped crying and stared at Huo Yanzhi in disbelief. Through her tear-filled eyes, she clearly saw years of pent-up restraint in his gaze.

The man who always put reason first had utterly lost to her. In full awareness, he surrendered and kissed her, his deep voice growing hoarse, his low murmur shaking her to the core. "After what you did that night, you still won't let me kiss you?"

Theme: Love goes both ways, and together they grow