Embroidered Peonies

Zhong Xiu and Cheng Mu lived completely different lives.

Zhong Xiu was quiet, withdrawn, and easy to overlook. Her classmates called her a "weirdo."

Cheng Mu was a beloved prodigy, with trophies enough to cover an entire wall.

He was a carefree, spirited boy, and his wind-filled school uniform was the brightest light in a girl's youth.

On the bus, Zhong Xiu finished drawing the boy's uninhibited figure on the basketball court. But when she reached her stop, she saw that it was raining.

Just as she was about to dash into the rain, an umbrella appeared over her head.

Cheng Mu held it in one hand, his eyes heavy with lazy amusement. "I'll walk you home. The drawing can be my thank-you."

For a long time afterward, Zhong Xiu kept running into Cheng Mu on the same bus.

They would look at each other from across the crowd, but rarely spoke.

Zhong Xiu buried all her affection deep in her heart, leaving countless drawings of him on her sketch paper.

The year of the college entrance exams, Zhong Xiu shot to fame with her comic Hydrangea, topping the charts of major comic platforms, then vanished after a signing event.

Cheng Mu searched all over North City but never saw her again.

Years later, Zhong Xiu was invited to a high school reunion.

When Cheng Mu came up in conversation, someone casually remarked, "Cheng Mu lives in the north of the city, in a famous wealthy neighborhood. Now he even has his own company. He's beyond reach."

Zhong Xiu remembered that during high school, she had lived in the south of the city, in the opposite direction from the north.

Later, while sorting through Cheng Mu's old things, Zhong Xiu found a line of elegant writing on the back of a sheet of paper:

"Hydrangeas go with peonies."

The man behind her gently stroked the paper. His eyes held a sea of tenderness, and his voice was low and husky. "Made for each other."

#NoSuchThingAsAMismatchOnlyAMatchMadeInHeaven#

★2023.04★

Theme: A mutual, unspoken crush