Like a Fish

"Signed for publication. For updates, see @Chenglili."

"Revised several times, with major differences from the first edition. Not responsible for other versions."

Wen Yuyu knows that she and Tan Yuci belong to different worlds.

He's aloof and unruly. Surrounded by admiration, he has girls who like him clutching their clothes and fussing over him. Amid a chorus of laughter from those around him, he only curls his lips.

She's quiet and reserved, sitting beside the podium with her back straight as she writes neat, elegant characters on white paper, like a transparent scarecrow.

*

On the day they visit a temple to pray for blessings, Wen Yuyu rises on tiptoe before a tree covered in red ribbons. Suddenly, someone behind her pulls one free.

She turns around. The boy's slender figure is backlit by incense smoke rising before the Buddha. After hanging the ribbon, Tan Yuci tosses out, "If the Buddha gets the wrong person, remember to come to me for compensation."

After that encounter, Wen Yuyu feels as if she has glimpsed a corner of the light. She knows she shouldn't hope, yet can't help indulging in fantasies.

At last, she works up the courage to confess her feelings to him.

But before she can speak, around the corner, his friend asks, "Tan, do you think I should pursue Wen Yuyu?"

Tan Yuci's wrist, holding a cigarette, stills for a few seconds. As if dragging the memory of her out of his mind, he says with bored indifference, "Wen Yuyu? If you want to chase her, go ahead."

His tone is casual and dismissive, clearly showing no interest in her at all.

Her secret crush is silent, so the Buddha can't hear the wish she once made: for Tan Yuci to look at her one more time.

Her secret crush has a voice, too, and Wen Yuyu hears it all too clearly as the hidden feelings she's kept for years shatter into pieces.

*

When they meet again in college, Wen Yuyu constantly reminds herself to stay rational and doesn't dare to indulge in even the slightest fantasy. She never expects a rumor to come from nowhere, claiming that she's had a crush on Tan Yuci for years.

The night is soft and hazy, the streetlights dim and yellow.

Tan Yuci catches up with her after she's avoided him for days. His opening question is direct, like a sharp bone spur: "Do you like me?"

Her feelings of many years are suddenly laid bare. Wen Yuyu's eyes redden as she denies it. "I don't know what you're talking about. I have something to do, so I'm leaving."

Her nose stings. She wants to leave.

But he easily catches her by the wrist and traps her in his arms.

Wen Yuyu has nowhere to run. His scent envelops her, and at last she lets out a tearful sound. "What... what else do you want?"

Tan Yuci gazes at her, his voice hoarse and breath hot. "I want... you to be with me."

"As my girlfriend."

*

"Maybe she's a fish. Loving him was like being caught in the rain, but now the sky has finally cleared." --A Fish in the Pond's Diary

-

Coming next:

A Fairy Tale Without Hibernation

In high school, Ruan Chusui secretly liked someone. Like most stories about unrequited love, she never got so much as a glimpse of hope before it came to an end.

After all, the person she liked came from a privileged family and was a famous young gentleman, while she was an ordinary girl. They were on parallel lines.

She never expected they would meet again, much less at a matchmaking banquet.

After a long silence, the man finally looks at her and responds to her request for a marriage of convenience: "Have you thought this through? I'm not exactly husband material."

Ruan Chusui's voice trembles, but she still gathers her courage. "I have."

After all, she has never been able to refuse him.

Even knowing it will be like a moth flying into a flame, she's willing to hurl herself into the fire.

·

After their marriage, things are just as Ruan Chusui expected: they're strangers living under the same roof.

Their only interaction is when she occasionally runs into him on his way out and says, "Good morning."

Zhao Mengdi answers, but his eyes never hold her image.

Nobody has faith in their relationship. After all, how could a playboy like Zhao Mengdi ever be won over by gentle, reserved Ruan Chusui?

Ruan Chusui thinks so too. Then one day, things change...

She comes home late. The living room light is on, and the man sits on the sofa, stubbing out a cigarette as he fixes his gaze on her. "Do you know what time it is?"

·

At first, Zhao Mengdi's drinking buddies just can't get him to come out, no matter how often they invite him. Later, when they finally get through to him, a soft, delicate girl's voice comes from the other end of the phone. "Hello, who's this?"

His drunken friend teases her in return. "Who are you? Why do you have Young Master Zhao's phone? Do you get to make decisions for him?"

There's a brief silence on the other end, then Zhao Mengdi's voice comes through. "What are you talking about? She's my wife. If she can't make decisions for me, who can?"

Theme: Be a little braver.