A story about a longtime crush coming true
A size difference romance, volleyball player x illustrator
Shimizu Maya is known as the good kid in his parents' eyes. Obedience is what he does best. The two most rebellious things he's ever done were changing his high school preference to Shiratorizawa, far from home, and, after starting work, joining a dating show and quitting the journalism job everyone had high hopes for so he could pursue drawing.
His parents couldn't understand the stress of spending so long in a job he didn't like, or the pain of being constantly bullied by his boss. All they ever told him was to put up with it, since jobs were hard to find...
Then he was forced to join a dating show, where he met Ushijima, who had been tricked into coming by his mother. Maya thought Ushijima had long since forgotten who he was, but then Ushijima looked at him and asked:
[Shimizu, are you still drawing?]
No one knew that, in that moment, the flower that had long since withered took root and bloomed again because of those words.
*
Shimizu Maya is famous in the art world for being immune to love. His greatest talent isn't drawing, but knowing how to turn down confessions with grace.
Every day, he's either turning down a confession or on his way to turn one down.
Then one day, this love-immune artist posted a series of photos on Twitter. His sharp-eyed fans spotted a few clues in them, and finally concluded that the man immune to love had finally fallen in love!
After learning that Shimizu Maya was dating someone, fans who had long worried about their idol's love life began wildly speculating about who his partner was. At last, they found a likely candidate:
Ushijima, the ace spiker of the AD team.
Shimizu Maya attends every one of Ushijima's matches. Whenever Ushijima has haters, Maya is sure to be on the front lines fighting them. Most importantly, the two of them always show up at the same restaurant one after the other...
A huge wave of shippers emerged out of nowhere and spread into every corner of the internet. Neither of the two men involved denied or responded to the rumors, until one day Shimizu Maya was targeted by a hater:
[Teacher Qingye, you're really shamelessly clout-chasing. Do you think Ushijima even cares about you?]
Then one person's comment set the entire internet ablaze: [Is there a problem with my boyfriend posting a photo of us together?]
Seconds later, the trending topic #IllustratorQingyeAndVolleyballPlayerUshijimaAreDating reached the top.
*
Shimizu Maya has a secret: he's been in love with Ushijima for years. He once had a diary filled with portraits of Ushijima, but it went missing the year he graduated from high school. All the fluttering feelings of his youth disappeared that spring.
Ushijima has a secret too. The year he graduated from high school, he found a diary filled with portraits of himself. It belonged to the gentle class representative in his class. On an impulse, he didn't return it to Shimizu Maya. Instead, he took it home and put it on the top shelf of his bookcase.
They both thought their story was over, but the wheels of fate turned once more and brought them together again.
[This time, he didn't want to miss his chance again.]
[This time, he wanted to try to understand him, the real person beneath that gentle exterior.]
A few things to know:
1. The characters might be a little out of character, so please go easy on me.
2. There won't be much about matches, since the main character isn't an athlete this time.
3. I hope you enjoy this story~
(Posted 2023.11.28, revised 2025.04.19)
Theme: What is missed will return in time
