Taillight

Complete. Updates are for revisions.

Please bookmark the upcoming story, Everyone Knows She's an Undercover Agent →→

◎ Marriage first, love later / A long-con plan / Mutual pining comes true / Light comedy

Ning Hao × Wen Siheng

Warm, clear-headed sweetheart × Dark, devoted puppy

1.

The day Ning Hao met her arranged-marriage partner, she got married on a whim.

Everyone in the know in high society was astonished: Wasn't Ning Hao engaged to his older brother? Why did she marry someone else?

At the suggestion that he'd been a substitute groom, a cold glint flashed across Wen Siheng's glasses.

"She chose me. Got a problem with that?"

2.

Later, Wen Siheng's true identity came to light. Ning Hao finally realized he was the scumbag who had tricked her into falling for him back in school, then disappeared without a word.

She turned on him and kicked him out of the house.

At a loss, he brought her a goldfish and begged for forgiveness, saying he'd found their little fish a husband.

Ning Hao sneered. "It doesn't need a husband. Throw it out."

Wen Siheng fell silent. There was no way to clear his name.

He hadn't disappeared without a word. Her best friend remembered him, her dog remembered him, the lamp by her window, the tree outside her door, and even the goldfish with its seven-second memory remembered him. She was the only exception.

They had met again and again, but she had never recognized him.

3.

When they were young, Ning Hao was the girl every boy at school dreamed of: beautiful, talented, gentle, and sweet. But one thing she said made everyone back off, realizing that the person they loved was beyond their reach.

Wen Siheng knew they were worlds apart. He could only gaze at her from afar, content to be the taillight behind her, watching over her and keeping her safe.

Until marriage turned his dream into reality.

This time, he wouldn't retreat. He would wait, even through ice and snow, until she could finally see him and he could tell her:

"Haohao, I'll happily say yes to anything you ask. Let's go home."

[Bonus Scene]

Ning Hao: "Let's get divorced, okay?"

Wen Siheng: "No."

*

Reader's Guide:

◎ Happy ending / Same-sex pairings / Both leads are strong / No real-life inspirations

◎ Workplace and business intrigue, but nobody steals the company seal

◎ Realistic setting with an industry consultant, but some artistic license

◎ The blurb has been timestamped as evidence. Infringement will be prosecuted.

Next story

Please bookmark Everyone Knows She's an Undercover Agent

#Precious records of early humans taming beagles#

Investigative reporter Jiang Jin goes undercover at a famous automaker in Jiangcheng, taking a job as head of public relations.

Before she'd even been undercover for a month, her background check was already on the desk of the company's big boss, Song Yunkai.

"No need."

Song Yunkai didn't even glance at the file.

"No one knows Jiang Jin better than I do."

"The people doing the background check haven't even interviewed me. What could they find out?"

Song Yunkai: "You can say her motives aren't pure, but she hasn't hurt anyone."

Subordinate: ...

*

In the second month of her undercover assignment, major company secrets were leaked.

A subordinate discovered that Jiang Jin had attended an advanced manufacturing course under an alias at the KLLY Group. Her expertise was already at the level required of an engineer, and it was suspicious that she seemed to have come prepared.

They thought their boss would surely have no comeback this time.

"So she studied advanced manufacturing just so we'd have something to talk about..."

Song Yunkai sighed.

"At least she was willing to make an effort for me."

Subordinate: ?

*

By the third month, the subordinate couldn't take it anymore.

"Boss! She can say 'Open Sesame' and knows alchemy, yet she spends all day pretending to be a layperson and slacking off in our PR department. What else could she possibly be doing this for?"

Song Yunkai rubbed his chin. What else could it be for?

Of course it's because she loves me.

But he waited three whole months and Jiang Jin still didn't throw herself into his arms. She was elusive, she played hard to get, and she forced him to be the one to make the first move.

"Let's have a serious relationship. With me. How about it?"

"No."

Jiang Jin put his shirt, which she'd just torn, back together and moved her hand away from his abs. "We're incompatible."

Song Yunkai sneered. "I've always been popular. If we're incompatible, then the problem must be yours. You can change."

Jiang Jin: ...

*

Bonus Scene:

*

Jiang Jin ran off, leaving behind divorce papers and company shares that had plunged below rock bottom. Song Yunkai gritted his teeth, but still couldn't help searching the world over for his wife.

Less than a week after she fled, he knocked on a door holding up a photo. The man who answered squinted at it. "I know her. That's my wife."

Song Yunkai: ?????

In the second week, he knocked on another door, showing off his biceps. The woman who answered squinted at him, then came back thirty seconds later carrying an axe and swung it at him. "You're the scumbag who abused her!"

Song Yunkai: ???????

Jiang Jin: When you're out in the world, you get to choose your own identity ^-^

*

Theme: Hard work brings prosperity