Reunited in the Fading Night

She came through bloodshed. How could she become a white cuckoo in your palace?

-

In court, Shangguan Qian sits at the plaintiff's table while Gong Shangjue sits at the defendant's. The case is complicated and the situation deadlocked, so the court can only adjourn for now.

As Shangguan Qian stands, she instinctively protects her lower abdomen. Then she catches herself and fastens the button on her suit.

But the person at the defendant's table sees it all.

-

On a street in a foreign land, Gong Shangjue stands across the road and watches her stop at a bakery window. She smiles at the cozy scene inside, then pushes open the door and walks in. He seems to catch the buttery fragrance, too.

Just after leaving the bakery and turning into an alley, Shangguan Qian finds her way blocked.

"Mr. Gong, you're too late. I have my bread, and I don't want anything else." She holds a paper bag of bread against her chest.

In the nearby alley, the sun sinks toward the horizon. Gong Shangjue doesn't budge, but a crack appears in his composure.

"The night is still young, and dusk has yet to deepen. It's not too late for us to talk about love."

This is a derivative work based on the Nightly Shallow CP from the TV drama My Journey to You. Some of the settings are adapted from My Journey to You.

My upcoming story, Trapped Right Where I Stand, will be starting soon. Please add it to your collection!

Zhou Hui is the one who waits for Cheng Lai, the migratory bird. He always stays where he is, watching his bird fly back and forth between north and south.

*

Cheng Lai thinks of herself as a bird with no feet. She flies headlong into the wind and beats her wings through the rain. Once she stops, she may never be able to fly again.

Then someone became her gentle resting place and lifted her high, only for her to kick him away.

When the wind and rain had finally stopped, and she no longer even wanted to spread her wings, she saw him standing in front of the camera again, appearing on the big screen. He used to even hide from having his picture taken.

*

Migratory birds often rest in wetlands. When you want to find them, you don't care that the ground beneath your feet is muddy. Zhou Hui, too, wondered why he had stayed in one place for so long, stuck fast in the mud.

Then, that winter, the little migratory bird Cheng Lai came back.

----- Plot blurb below.

A big, dog-like, brainy romantic wolf x a clear-headed, fox-like little white rabbit

*An Unfinished Beginning (School Days)

At the high school opening ceremony, Cheng Lai danced hip-hop as part of the school's hype squad. To wrap up the ceremony, Zhou Hui played a piano piece that brought the event to a grand finale.

When the song ended, the new students below the stage marveled that novels had it right after all: the handsome school heartthrob was a feast for the eyes, and they suddenly couldn't wait to start high school.

Cheng Lai had been holding back from approaching him, but he dropped his solemn demeanor and stopped her from leaving.

He lowered his head, blocking her way with his body, and said, "You danced really well."

Those little feelings finally broke through like bamboo shoots after the rain. She just couldn't hold back anymore.

At the university opening ceremony, he cornered her against the wall behind the auditorium and kissed her passionately. Letting go of his pride, he asked her, his breath uneven, "Do we really have to break up?"

She had worked up the courage to do two daring things: first, she gave up ballet, which she'd studied for six years, to learn hip-hop; second, she pursued Zhou Hui, then dumped him.

Both hip-hop and him came to nothing.

*Forever Falling (City Life)

The day she returned to China, Cheng Lai had barely set foot in Beicheng when she spotted a gigantic poster of Zhou Hui in the airport.

There was no shortage of ways for Cheng Lai to keep up with his news. His films had been released overseas, too. As the youngest actor to win the Grand Slam, he had already begun collecting a second round of awards, while she remained unknown.

When she went to interview at an entertainment company, he sat in the boss's chair and flipped through her resume. Cheng Lai had no qualms about making money alongside her ex. This was one of the country's entertainment giants, so she signed the contract without hesitation.

Her family was pressuring her to get married, and somehow she ended up standing with him outside the civil affairs bureau. Afraid she might be selling him short, she checked with him: "Are you sure?"

The award-winning actor Zhou put on his best performance, looking a little conflicted but resigned. He nodded firmly and led her into the civil affairs bureau.

*

The drama Cheng Lai starred in became a huge hit, and she won Best Actress. Her rivals planted stories claiming she had won only because of the person backing her, hinting that the award had been rigged.

Zhou Hui posted two photos on Weibo. In one, Cheng Lai stood in front, turning to look at him. In the other, he had photographed her dancing onstage from the audience. A trace of the youthful innocence she no longer had softened her eyes.

"Everything she has, she earned through hard work."

"I stayed where I was and waited for her to come back. I'll be falling for her forever."

Blurb written on 2022.10.12

Theme: Be just a little braver. You might end up holding hands.