Yuan Xu and I grew up together, and I had a crush on him for six years.
The day I finally worked up the courage to confess, Yuan Xu shoved me away with a look of disgust. "Gross. A man actually liking another man!"
He soon got a girlfriend and flaunted their romance around campus to prove he was normal.
As I hid in the stairwell, crying until I retched, the senior who had always watched quietly handed me a handkerchief. "Want revenge? Marry me."
Later, Yuan Xu came back with red eyes and said he regretted it.
I turned the wedding ring on my finger. "But I don't regret it at all."
-
I thought my marriage to the senior was just a matter of mutual benefit. Then, by chance, I found countless candid photos of myself on his old phone. The earliest one was from the school sports meet ten years ago, catching me in the embarrassing moment when I ran out of a shoe.
He wrapped his arms around me from behind, his voice low and husky. "It wasn't taking advantage of your vulnerability. I'd been planning this for a long time."
P.S. A short story told in first person.
Theme: Love learning and love working
