The Tide of Dark Currents

[A proud, stoic, rebellious big shot x a prickly white rose of a rich heiress]

When they first met, she wandered into his territory by mistake.

Neon lights swirled through the dim club, their colors falling across her rumpled school uniform.

Only a small patch of her ankle showed, fragile and snow-white.

"A rich girl running from trouble? You ran straight into the King of Hell's palace," one of his underlings said maliciously.

He took off his bloodstained leather jacket, draped it over her trembling shoulders, and sent her away.

The next day, she waited beside his motorcycle, holding the leather jacket, freshly washed.

He narrowed his eyes, his gaze playful, and tossed her a helmet.

Then her family found her and forced her to go abroad.

He drove her away one last time.

The motorcycle sped off, with police cars hot on their heels, their shrill sirens tearing through the night.

At the end of the road, she snatched the cigarette from his hand.

The cheap tobacco made her cough. Her dazed eyes were faintly red.

Silently, he took the cigarette back, inhaled deeply and greedily, and swallowed the last traces of her breath.

At last, he stubbed it out, grinding the glowing ember beneath his foot until it crumbled and died.

He deliberately flashed a carefree, irreverent smile.

"It was just for fun. Don't take it seriously."

"You should go."

*

They met again three years later, at the welcome-home banquet celebrating her return after completing her studies.

After all these years apart, he had become the eldest young master of the Jiang family, the group's heir, and the darling of heaven.

At the banquet, a nosy reporter asked her about her first love.

Under the camera flashes, she glanced toward a corner.

The man stood immersed in the night, his long legs slightly apart beneath his suit trousers, his gaze deep and unreadable.

The only thing that moved was the glowing cigarette between his fingers, its ember slowly dropping away.

She looked away, brushed back a strand of hair, and answered with a bright, open smile:

"I was young and foolish. It was just for fun."

Before the banquet was over, she was backed into an empty corner. Someone had crumpled her elegant satin gown.

Even in his immaculate suit, the man's seething presence was just as overwhelming as before, surging over her like a tide.

"Young and foolish? Just for fun?" He cupped her face and leaned in until they were inches apart.

But she gently pressed her index finger against his lips.

"Weren't you the one who told me not to take it seriously?"

He lowered his head, pried open her stubborn lips, and finally tasted the fragrance of roses.

"But I did take it seriously."

*

One is a rose on a cliff. The other is the dark tide at its sunless foot.

He spent half his life climbing, and only when he reached the summit did he dare reach out his hand.

Even if her thorns left him covered in blood, he would kiss her until he had no strength left in this life.

The title was inspired by Faye Wong's song Dark Current:

"How could love have no hidden currents?

The more beautiful something is, the less I dare touch it.

What good would it do to cherish you again?

What if holding you tight this time still ends in loss?"

1v1, each other's first and only love.

A rich heiress and a rebellious yet restrained playboy.

Two people from utterly different worlds embrace and kiss on a roaring motorcycle, their breaths mingling in the heat of youth.

[Blurb dated October 5, 2023]

Theme: Never give up