*Ensemble cast [Childhood Friend vs. The One Who Appears Later] [Doraemon vs. Time Machine]
Part One, Song of the Wilds, complete. Part Two, Dance of Falling Blossoms, is in my profile and currently updating.
The legendary end of the world was supposed to be Bai Yufei's eighteenth birthday.
But Bai Yufei thought that life was full of moments that felt like the end of the world. They just hadn't been given a name yet.
Before the end of the world arrived, in her heart,
Xu Jingteng was a rain-soaked eave she could take shelter under, and a warm streetlight at the crossroads of a confused memory.
Lin Liran was the developer hidden in the darkroom where film was processed, and the blazing sun that shone through every vein when she raised her hand.
When playing games on the Famicom, Bai Yufei often imagined that the alley outside her old home was a respawn point.
Back then, Xu Jingteng, a middle schooler, would always appear at the end of the alley right on time, cloaked in night, and show her, waiting there, all sorts of things he'd brought home in his schoolbag.
"Brother Xiao Jing is Doraemon!" elementary schooler Bai Yufei called him.
Xu Jingteng even brought home a red dress from his tutoring teacher's house, one that the teacher's daughter had outgrown.
The red dress was like a flame hidden in his schoolbag, scorching his back.
He thought that one day he would buy Bai Yufei a brand-new red dress.
"A camera is like a time machine. Every seemingly insignificant moment it captures now can help you rediscover its value in the future and bring back the memories of that time."
Many years later, Bai Yufei could no longer remember the grain of rice Lin Liran had photographed on her face, or the devout profile he'd photographed when she made a wish in a church, or the tearful eyes he'd photographed on the day the world ended.
But she remembered his words clearly.
"Adventure awaits. Our next stop is a land where the nebula of doomsday drifts away without a trace of longing."
Lin Liran, take me on an adventure.
Thanks for the gifts of nutritional supplements~ I rarely open the app to check when saving a new draft, so I'm thanking everyone all at once ^ ^
I've finished revising the story, fixing typos and awkward phrasing without changing the content.
Cover background image credited to: Zhoudu Heying
Theme: The power of love
