A Star Somewhere, Just for Me

[The print edition is now available, with a new 6,000-word bonus story. Available on all platforms.]

College campus | Childhood friends reunited | He falls first

When they were children, Shen Ke was the son of the housekeeper who worked for Ruan Jixing's family.

He was short and skinny, with a cold, unapproachable look.

Meanwhile, her parents doted on her. Spoiled and willful, she treated him like a study companion and errand boy, ordering him around.

Years later, they met again at A University.

As soon as he started school, Shen Ke became a star of the School of Business and Economics, surrounded by admirers.

He was handsome and tall, said little, and had top student credentials to boot.

He had countless admirers, from the fine arts school's campus beauty to the department chair's daughter, but he turned them all down.

Ruan Jixing thought that even if she and Shen Ke weren't enemies or rivals, they still weren't the sort of people who could casually greet each other on the street.

Until he cornered her in the equipment room, his arm winding around her lower back like a vine as he murmured hoarsely:

"I want to be your boyfriend. Do you agree? Give me a straight answer."

-

Later, Ruan Jixing stumbled upon Shen Ke's secret account. It had only one friend: her.

There was a message he'd sent on the eve of the college entrance exams:

Good luck on your exams.

Later still, she woke up in his arms and saw an unread message on her phone.

It was from that same secret account:

Some star in my eyes is the origin of all the universe's splendor.

-

Quick-witted, mischievous, and unpredictable cat x Pretends to be calm, gets jealous easily, clingy puppy

"I have no other stars, and you replicate the ever-proliferating universe."

Pablo Neruda

* One-on-one romance, both leads are each other's first and only love, and both are virgins.

* The female lead's family will get rich again later.

Theme: Hard work brings prosperity.