The day she broke up with her boyfriend, fog rolled over Nan City. Meng Shuning was standing outside a convenience store when she happened to run into Chen Chiyan, who had come out to buy cigarettes.
The streetlights glowed hazily that night. He wore a thin black hoodie, its oversized hood covering him almost entirely. The crooked neckline revealed a pale, sharply defined collarbone.
He looked down as he unwrapped a cigarette. Flames danced at his fingertips, illuminating his angular face.
Fog clouded the shop window, and the air was damp. He held out a packet of tissues between his fingers, his voice cool and insolent. "Wipe yourself off. Your hair's wet."
Back then, he was a complete jerk.
-
They met again later at her roommate's birthday party, where he was arguing in the hallway with the girl rumored to be his girlfriend.
The girl was the beauty of their department, fair and gorgeous, with no shortage of admirers. But now her eyes were red as she tugged at his sleeve and demanded,
"What's the point of keeping things so ambiguous between us, Chen Chiyan? Is this because of her?"
She pointed casually, and they both looked in that direction, only to see Meng Shuning at the end of the hallway. She had accidentally been listening in for quite a while.
His face darkened at once. His voice was cold and harsh. "Stop making a scene."
-
One day after they got together, Meng Shuning noticed a black tattoo around his waist.
It was a French phrase. She asked when he'd gotten it, and Chen Chiyan twirled a lock of her hair around his finger, answering casually, "A long time ago. Five or six years back."
Then he added the exact date.
Meng Shuning couldn't help recalling a Chinese class in her second year of high school, when she'd introduced herself:
Meng Shuning, with the shu meaning forgiveness.
Reunion after a long separation | Unconventional male unrequited love | White moonlight | College romance
Reader's guide: The male lead's rumored girlfriend in the blurb is based on a misunderstanding. The male lead is sexually abstinent before they start dating.
Theme: A long-held wish comes true
