A Romance That Lasted Zero Days

[Rekindled romance / childhood friends / groveling ex / salvation / switch couple]

[One thinks he can't have the other, while the other thinks he's not good enough.

You are the hopeless love I hide behind our great friendship.]

Li Lanyi is a famous playboy in Beijing's elite circles. His family never liked him, so they sent him to live with his maternal grandfather in the distant port city. He spends his days idling around, dressing flamboyantly and seducing pretty boys, then dumping them once he's got what he wants. He's a complete scumbag.

Years later, at twenty-five, Li Lanyi returns to Beijing.

He's planning to have some fun in the big, glamorous city. But the moment he tries to flirt with someone at a bar, he stupidly ends up hitting on his childhood friend and unrequited love.

After his attempt backfires, Li Lanyi puts on a calm front and makes conversation. "You don't remember me, bro? When we were kids, you even pulled my pants down."

Chi Ran recalls the little boy in a skirt who used to follow him around. "You've got some nerve bringing that up. Your 'pants' only had one 'leg,' didn't they?"

After their long-awaited reunion, they grow closer and closer, and their friendship gradually takes on a different flavor. Unfortunately, Chi Ran is a completely straight guy.

A music lover, he's opened a bar. He spends every day with a guitar in his arms, and all he has to do is sing a song onstage to attract a crowd of girls. People call him the "backstreet Casanova."

At first, one of them messes around with pretty boys and the other wreaks havoc among beautiful women. They don't get in each other's way. But who knew a scumbag could even go after his childhood friend? In the end, he pulls down the Casanova's pants.

Li Lanyi is smug after getting what he wants. "Bro, don't tell me I've turned you gay. My bad, my bad."

Chi Ran: "I'm so straight I could stab you with it!"

The two spend a long time tangled up in chaotic squabbles. For the Casanova, the scumbag even gives his heart for the first time in his life. But it's not easy to change someone's orientation, and the Casanova still likes to sing "Girl" while holding his guitar. It just feels wrong to sing it to another man.

So the scumbag gets thoroughly scumbagged in return, and all he wants is to leave this city of heartbreak.

Later, the Casanova holds his guitar onstage and sings a song called "Bastard Scumbag."

I know a bastard

He skips class and starts fights, and his grades are bad

My mom won't let me hang out with him

I know a scumbag

He's never short on bedmates

Yet always pretends he's the loneliest person alive

He says he likes boys like the moon

So high, impossible to pluck

It makes you want to drag it down from the clouds

So bright and pure

It makes you want to mess it up and make it dirty

I fell in love with a bastard

We skip class and start fights, and my grades are even worse than his

His dad won't let him hang out with me

I fell in love with a scumbag

But he's the one who's like the moon

Shining bright on the surface

Yet cold enough to chill you to the touch

It makes you want to tuck him in your arms and warm him up

Come on, bastard

Get into my arms

Come on, moon

Live in my heart

When the song ends, the "straight guy" Chi Ran says tenderly to the crowd: "Today is my best friend's thirtieth birthday. This song is for him."

## The plot is even more dramatic than the blurb. There will be angst and a rekindled romance, so don't read if you can't handle it.

## Negative behavior by the characters is necessary for the plot. In real life, firmly reject it, and never imitate it.

Theme: Love leads people out of darkness.