1.
The first time He Guiwan saw Li Kuang was behind the video arcade in a small town.
The long alley was dark and damp.
The boy leaned against the wall. His half-brother lay at his feet, beaten until his head was bleeding, but he didn't spare him a glance. He only watched her at the mouth of the alley, amusement flickering in his eyes with the streetlamp.
2.
Everyone knew Li Kuang was a rebel. He smoked, got into fights, skipped class and exams, and was always with a different pretty girl.
He Guiwan, on the other hand, was a top student who won a scholarship every year.
No one would ever have connected the two of them.
And no one knew that on a hot, muggy summer night when they were eighteen, Li Kuang had pinned He Guiwan against her bedroom door, swallowed her broken sobs amid the adults' laughter in the living room, and kissed her until she could barely breathe.
Even fewer knew that on the day they broke up, Li Kuang sat beneath her apartment building all night. His proud spirit lay shattered across the ground, along with the cigarette butts and liquor bottles at his feet.
3.
Years later, they met again.
At a charity gala packed with the rich and powerful, camera flashes shone like daylight. Even a famous, glamorous celebrity was little more than a glass of champagne, there for the guests' entertainment.
There could only be one star of the evening: the second young master of Jingheng Group, He Guiwan's date.
But halfway through the banquet, an uninvited guest showed up.
The man was dressed casually and walked at an easy pace, as if he'd suddenly remembered the event while out for a stroll and had dropped by on a whim.
Yet the imposing aura he was born with was impossible to suppress, and no one dared look at him for long.
The room gradually fell quiet as everyone sneaked glances at him from the corners of their eyes.
Only He Guiwan looked at him openly.
Over ten years, she'd made her way from a small town to the capital.
The Li Kuang of the past had long since disappeared. Now, he was the man in charge of Jingheng Group, known as "Li Jinyan."
His gaze toward her was level, cool, and indifferent, as if she were a speck of dust that meant nothing to him.
And he showed her no mercy. At the height of the banquet, he trapped her on the terrace in the bitter chill of early spring, violently stealing her breath, overwhelming her senses, and eroding her reason.
At last, he bit down hard on her shoulder, hatred spreading through the pain.
"Didn't you want revenge?"
Through her tear-blurred vision, He Guiwan heard his voice, soft and cold.
"Why not use me?"
He lifted his head. The light and shadows lay over his eyes, hiding every ripple of emotion. Only his disheveled lips gave anything away. It was impossible to tell whether the red there was her lipstick or blood. His mouth curved upward slightly as he drawled, "Make me your dog. I'm better at it than my idiot little brother."
*
In this long, drawn-out war against time,
I can't hold on to my youth, but I want to hold on to you.
Mad dog x cool and detached
High school first, then city life // second-chance romance // reunion after a long separation
Theme: Spread joy, spread love
