The Bystander's Love Triangle

At five years old, Pei Qiuchi already knew that people in this world were not all the same.

His neighbors, his classmates, and his stepbrother were all what people called geniuses.

They weren't just smart, they were exceptionally good-looking, too. Talent scouts would hand them business cards as they walked down the street.

Pei Qiuchi was just an ordinary kid who had to study the same characters over and over before he could remember them.

Maybe there really were protagonists and supporting characters in this world.

The protagonists would have supreme intelligence, astonishing beauty, status and fame to match, and countless admirers rushing after them.

They would stand high above everyone else, casually picking and choosing, deciding who was worth a word.

Pei Qiuchi, at best, was an extra who brought water to the sidelines of the sports field, saved seats in the cafeteria, and followed people around, chiming in now and then.

Pei Qiuchi passed his eighteenth year at an elite academy in perfect mediocrity. Then, on a warm spring day, he finally had his own moment in the spotlight.

Someone confessed their love to him and gave him a bouquet.

Pei Qiuchi held the flowers beneath his nose, turned them gently, and breathed in their scent with a smile.

It was a very tender smile.

Tenderness is an ordinary word, but in that moment, it brought forth thorns and poison in the hearts of others.

“Liar! You said you liked me!”

“I was waiting for you to grow up, but you didn't wait for me?”

“You promised you'd always hold my hand. What about now? Are you going to hold someone else's?”

Pei Qiuchi stared at the protagonists, who seemed to have gone mad, completely at a loss.

2023.4.29

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