"We're all mayflies, born in the morning and dead by night. Why can't we live a little more bravely?"
*
Chen Zhou's impression of Yang Qi had always been fixed in their high school days:
A girl in a fresh, clean uniform, standing in the corridor outside Class One, Grade Ten.
Morning study was nearly over. She stood by the corridor window with her Chinese textbook rolled up, reciting Su Shi's "Ode to the Red Cliffs": "Like a mayfly in the vast universe, like a grain of rice in the boundless sea. I lament how brief our lives are, and envy the endless Yangtze..."
The late-autumn wind swept across the windowsill, blowing her naturally curly hair against her face. She lowered her head and brushed the troublesome strands over one shoulder. Her expression stayed focused, her recitation never faltering, as her fingers unconsciously twirled a curl.
She followed the rules and kept herself in line, confined to a predetermined path. Her face wore the earnest innocence of a well-behaved student, and her eyes shone with hope for the future.
*
Years passed before they met again by chance. Yang Qi had become a completely different person. Only her hair was unchanged, still the same fluffy curls Chen Zhou remembered.
In the bitter cold of winter, Yang Qi wore a dress. It was a fiery red, falling just to her knees. The tattoo on her back was hidden beneath her curls, with thorns and flames intertwined, appearing and disappearing between the strands.
Her expression was cool, and all hope had vanished from her eyes.
The good girl had grown into a rebellious young woman.
Only later did Chen Zhou learn that the thorns and flames on her back weren't a real tattoo, but a temporary tattoo sticker.
Later still, in the bathroom, Yang Qi asked Chen Zhou to wash the tattoo sticker off her back.
"I've figured it out. Real rebellion isn't putting on some stupid tattoo sticker or pretending to be bad. That's all fake... Taking back the life that belongs to me, that's what matters." Yang Qi said to Chen Zhou.
Chen Zhou said nothing, only kissing her scrubbed-red back again and again.
*
Because he had an exceptionally gifted twin brother, Chen Zhou had always felt like the backup option, the free bonus item, the unnecessary epilogue after the main story.
But in Yang Qi's eyes, he was none of those things. He was the one and only person she had chosen, without hesitation.
*
The man has a secret crush on the woman.
Tragic ending, but in a sense, a happy ending.
November 16, 2024
Theme: Be brave enough to be yourself
