Falling into Midsummer

[The complete story is finished. Please add it to your favorites! During serialization, it was called My Crush Said He's My Biggest Fan After My Secret Identity Was Exposed. My new story next door, A Straight-Laced Guy Accidentally Sleeps with His Scheming Neighbor's Best Friend, is now underway. Its blurb is below this one. Please add it to your favorites.]

Pure-hearted, straightforward, sporty college guy x guarded, vulnerable, artistic beauty

Xia Chenxuan x Lin Yu | College campus | Secret identities | Mutual salvation

After failing the college entrance exam, Lin Yu became a heartbroken reject from his dream school.

At the same time, he abandoned his video creator account because of bullying.

With his life in disarray, he ran into Xia Chenxuan again at his new university, the person he'd caught a glimpse of at the summer camp at his dream school and never forgotten.

The first time he got to know Xia Chenxuan, Lin Yu pegged him as a sunny college guy. Handsome, charismatic, outgoing, and athletic, he was everything Lin Yu liked.

The second time, Lin Yu realized Xia Chenxuan wasn't what he seemed. Sunny on the surface but actually aloof, he always gave off an air of distance and wariness. Rumor had it he was even homophobic.

The third time, Lin Yu learned the homophobia rumor was completely false. Xia Chenxuan had a one-sided first love he'd carried for years. That first love was a man, supposedly from Lin Yu's hometown.

Lin Yu has severe emotional fastidiousness, so he couldn't stop wondering whether he should give up. But as he and Xia Chenxuan circled each other, he started to feel something was off.

In high school, Xia Chenxuan's only emotional support was watching videos by a certain creator. But after he was rejected by his dream school in a humiliating fashion, that creator's account was suddenly wiped clean.

At university, he longed to make friends by presenting himself as a sunny, easygoing guy, but he no longer wanted to entrust his heart to anyone. He kept people at a polite distance, and even after scoring in a basketball game, he didn't like hugging his teammates.

But his roommate Lin Yu, who had also been rejected by their dream school, seemed to be an exception. Xia Chenxuan didn't mind Lin Yu getting close. In fact, it made his heart flutter.

As they grew closer, Xia Chenxuan began to think there was something strange about Lin Yu. His habitual catchphrases, the way he instinctively took photos and videos when they went out, and the niche adventure stories he shared during a game of truth all reminded Xia Chenxuan of the video creator who had once meant so much to him.

But when Xia Chenxuan used the conversation as an excuse to lean in and get a closer look, Lin Yu, who was always finding ways to initiate physical contact, quietly moved away.

Could all those similarities really be a coincidence?

The terrible experiences Lin Yu suffered toward the end of high school had turned him into a dark, deranged person who would stop at nothing to seize whatever he wanted. Beneath the turbulent night sky, he pinned Xia Chenxuan against a wall and kissed him fiercely, only to have Xia Chenxuan grab him by the throat before things went any further.

They were like two obsessive wild wolves, huddling together to lick each other's old wounds while longing to tear each other apart and devour one another.

As they clung to each other in a near-mindless, desperate embrace, Xia Chenxuan gazed at the breathtakingly beautiful face of the man before him, lost in passion. A crazed, satisfied smile slowly appeared beside his canine teeth.

Lin Yu wasn't the only one who had wanted to possess his beloved youth-long crush completely, from the very beginning.

After all, Xia Chenxuan had never been the little ray of sunshine everyone thought he was.

1. Both are each other's first and only love. Includes a love triangle involving the two of them. One-on-one romance, happy ending.

2. Handsome top and beautiful bottom save each other. Some emotionally heavy content early on.

3. This story isn't suitable for people with strong character preferences or those who can't accept alternate pairings.

4. There are side couples with other sexual orientations, but they don't get much page time.

5. Part of the Youthful Days series. The author's Weibo is @Gugu Guxingyue.

[Blurb for the upcoming story A Straight-Laced Guy Accidentally Sleeps with His Scheming Neighbor's Best Friend]

A beautiful, brooding, devoted painter from a wealthy family x a sweet, slow-witted, pure-hearted straight STEM guy

Pei Qingchi x Chen Lie | Top has a secret crush | Turns a straight guy gay | Sex first, love later

Chen Lie is a straight guy who's as rigid as steel.

Then one day at university, after a night out drinking, he accidentally slept with his longtime best friend, Pei Qingchi.

And he was the bottom.

Chen Lie: ...

Chen Lie was completely shaken. He felt he couldn't face his straight-guy identity, or his friend. Just as he'd finally gotten his head around it, his best friend, the guy right under his nose, suddenly confessed to him.

Pei Qingchi: Chen Lie, I've actually had a crush on you for a long time.

Chen Lie: ?

Wait, bro, you never told me you were gay!

What do you mean, you told me ages ago and I just didn't get it???

Wait, are you trying to date me? I really had no idea????

Pei Qingchi was the only son of a wealthy family. When he was a child, he fell in love with Chen Lie at first sight during a trip, then spent the next twelve years secretly pining for him.

He moved thousands of miles away for Chen Lie, carefully maneuvered his way into becoming Chen Lie's closest companion, and even used a secret identity to lure him to the university in his hometown.

Then Chen Lie turned around and gave him a nice-guy card, saying he was the most reliable friend in the world and that their bond was stronger than a couple's.

Pei Qingchi: .

Standing in his studio before a wall covered in portraits of Chen Lie, Pei Qingchi smiled. He knew how to use his looks to tempt Chen Lie and how to flirt with him strategically. Even if Chen Lie insisted he was straight, Pei Qingchi had a way to win him over.

After all, he liked Chen Lie far too much.

One day after they got together, Chen Lie found Pei Qingchi's old, angst-filled diary about his teenage crush. Teasing him, he said:

"Weren't you pretty impressive after starting university? How come you were such a coward in high school, writing stuff like this every day?"

Pei Qingchi didn't even blush as he snatched the diary away, then turned and kissed the cheek of the handsome young man in his arms.

"That was adolescence. It's normal for my feelings to be different now. Back in high school, you said that when you got married, I had to be there, and you'd ask me to be your best man. Do you remember?"

Chen Lie's face suddenly flushed, but Pei Qingchi pulled out a diamond ring. Smiling, he looked at the dazed man and said:

"You can't take that back. I have to be there when you get married, Lie. But since we've already slept together, why don't you promote me from best man to groom? How about it?"

1. Both are each other's first and only love. One-on-one romance. Some ups and downs, but mostly sweet. Happy ending.

2. The bottom has never liked a man before. He just thought he was straight.

3. The top has a shy high school crush, then gets incredibly scheming once they reach university.

4. The story opens with a university hookup. The high school scenes are all flashbacks.

5. This story isn't suitable for people with strong character preferences or those who can't accept alternate pairings.

6. Part of the Shanghai Elite series. Its literary title is Crossing Rivers Together.

Theme: Stand against campus bullying, starting with you and me.