After My Unrequited Love Failed

The first time they met, Xia Mian was being picked on by a blond-haired punk outside a tattoo shop. The boy grabbed his skateboard and stepped in to defend her. Mistaking her for a middle schooler, he even bought her a lollipop.

The next time they met, she became his new deskmate.

Xia Mian, with Xia as her surname and Mian as her given name, was the "transfer student" Aunt Lan, a friend of Shao Wangbai's mother, had repeatedly asked him to look after.

The girl's cheeks flushed as she gathered her courage and held out a hand, stammering, "X-Xia Mian, your new deskmate."

The boy woke from his nap. When he saw her face, he froze for several seconds, then swore without thinking.

"Wrong grade, aren't you, little girl?"

-

Xia Mian transferred to a school in City A midway through her second year of high school. She had no family or friends there, and the only person she knew was Shao Wangbai.

Shao Wangbai was a rich family's young master, a star at school who was surrounded by people wherever he went. He never listened in class, yet somehow ranked near the top every year. Arrogant and fearless, the boy acted like he owned the world.

Xia Mian was grateful to him and wanted to repay him. Instead, he took to ordering her around as if she were his little shadow.

Buy him water and snacks, carry his basketball and school jacket, cover for him while he played games, even help him skip class.

She didn't dare. She mumbled, her eyes reddening as she looked at him. The boy swung his backpack over his shoulder and sneered. "Chicken."

Shao Wangbai was proud and mean-spirited.

He'd always thought Xia Mian was fun. She didn't dare turn down his unreasonable demands. She was timid and skittish, disliked him but wouldn't say so to his face, and secretly cursed him in her exercise book.

It made him love picking on her, just to see where her breaking point was.

Until the final exams, when Xia Mian tugged at his sleeve and confessed her feelings.

The girl's eyes were round, dark, and glistening, as soft and sweet as a little lamb.

But he didn't like her.

[Bonus Scene]

Xia Mian was a sweet, timid girl. It was rare for her to fall for someone. After having a crush on him for ages, she finally worked up the courage to confess, only to be rejected without a hint of mercy.

After her crush came to nothing, she spent a long time feeling sad, then decided to make her feelings known openly.

Unfortunately, the boy she loved kept playing hard to get and wouldn't accept her.

Xia Mian was quite troubled. She only dared to daydream in secret, not to get close to him.

Then, during a university summer training camp, a twist of fate made them neighbors.

An admirer brought her a bouquet, and Xia Mian tried to use the flowers to win Shao Wangbai over. But he darkened his expression on the spot and told her to take them and get away from him.

Xia Mian quietly searched on her phone. A top-rated answer read: "Your crush keeps rejecting you? Men just act tough and say the opposite of what they mean!"

A man's heart is as hard to fathom as the ocean floor, after all! She understood, she understood! She pried his hand open and, holding back her pain, shoved the bouquet at him.

Shao Wangbai caught Xia Mian secretly keeping his ID photo. He crooked a finger casually and gestured. "Here."

Xia Mian froze. He was so close to her. Was he hinting that...? She fluttered her lashes and mumbled softly, "M-Men and women shouldn't touch!"

An admirer stopped Xia Mian to confess his feelings, then took her hand without asking. With no other choice, Xia Mian went to Shao Wangbai for help.

The boy's face was cold, jealousy churning inside him. He grabbed the hood of her sweatshirt. "Can't you keep a proper distance from guys?"

Xia Mian's head drooped. She didn't understand why he was so harsh and felt a little hurt. "I didn't even touch you!"

Shao Wangbai stared at her dark, pitiful, round almond eyes, clutching the love letter another boy had written her. He was so angry he could have strangled her.

*

1. Sweet romance | older-brother-and-younger-sister pairing

2. Sweet, gentle, soft girl x bad-tempered jerk (oblivious girl vs. a guy who acts tough)

Blurb screenshot archived: 2026/02/07

Final revision: 2026/04/15

Theme: Stay steadfast in your ideals.