One Beat Behind

[White Moonlight/After Years Apart/Reunion/Dual □□/A Man's Unrequited Love in Stasis]

When Song Cun was fourteen, a handsome boy moved into the compound with his father, who had been transferred there for work.

Their first meeting went badly. She was chasing the neighbor's ungrateful little brat in circles, and he stood in front of the other boy, squaring off against her.

That scene seemed like a kind of omen, one that would follow them throughout their youth.

They lost touch completely after Song Cun went abroad to continue her studies and Yan Lie moved out of the compound.

They met again ten years later. Song Cun had fulfilled her childhood dream and become a concert pianist, while Yan Lie had become the new generation's most sought-after figure in their circle.

They kept to their own separate lives, but when Song Cun returned to China to give a concert, she was dragged into a storm of public opinion after the "canary" kept by the young master of the Yan family wrote a book alluding to her.

The male lead in the book seemed oddly familiar, except he had been twisted into someone pining for a love he could never have.

Song Cun scoffed at the whole thing. She never expected that man would actually dare come find her. She looked at the handsome features in the mirror, just as clear-cut as she remembered, quickly hid the weariness in her eyes, and sent him away without a trace of courtesy. "Satisfied? Then get out."

**

If someone asked Yan Lie what the most humiliating thing he'd ever done was, the answer would probably be: letting Song Cun go.

Unrequited love is an extravagant voyeurism.

He had once been confident he could step out from behind the scenes and into the spotlight, but had no choice but to accept the ending: "In her eyes, he's nothing special."

Later, when she asked why he liked her, he rattled off a dozen reasons.

After a long silence with no follow-up, Song Cun asked him again, "Why don't you ask me?"

"Ask what?"

"When I fell for you."

Yan Lie answered with absolute confidence, "It was definitely after I fell for you, but I don't mind."

"Oh, so you're amazing!"

His smile was tender and indulgent. "I never let you suffer for love. I think that's pretty amazing."

[I'm always a beat behind you, but I'll keep recalibrating, thousands upon thousands of times]

My next book, The Eleventh Comet, is now available for pre-save. Please add it to your favorites!

Blurb:

[Probably a story of an agonizing push and pull, and a love that can't be fulfilled]

Studies show that, if they're lucky enough, people can see a comet with the naked eye about ten times in their lives.

But Cheng Jiaxi wanted to be Ning Yi's eleventh comet.

On the day they first met, Cheng Jiaxi was a complete mess as she called her best friend, bragging about how grand her eighteenth birthday celebration was.

Ning Yi, listening in from a secluded corner, unintentionally became part of what she called "awesome," and had no choice but to take a look at the story's heroine.

A drafty pavilion became an outdoor party.

A torrential downpour became a musical fountain.

A sneeze from the cold could even be blamed on a pollen allergy.

As he left, he smiled carelessly and let his coat fall right over her head.

"You have a lovely voice, but there's a hint of bitterness in it. There's a candy in the coat."

Blindfolded, Cheng Jiaxi really did find the star-shaped candy.

Only later did she learn that candy was a brief dose of arsenic, that rainy days were when mold grew most easily, and that a tail exposed to reveal a flaw could also be a trap.

Only he remained effortlessly in control through every turn of his orbit.

Theme: Love is the surrender of free will.