An atypical marriage-first, love-later story between an idol and her fan, after she dies in the public eye.
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Everyone close to Lu Jin knew how obsessed she was with Luo Xing. Her room was piled high with albums and posters, she bought magazines featuring Luo Xing by the hundreds, and she almost never missed a concert or fan meeting. At live events, she always managed to claim a seat in the front row.
Until one day, she fell asleep hugging a newly acquired Luo Xing photo card. She slept until noon, and when she woke up and opened her phone, the top trending topic read:
#Top-tier star Luo Xing dies in an accident at age 23#
I only slept for a bit. My big sister is gone???
In a bar in a foreign land, drunk and heartbroken, Lu Jin lay face-down on the table, crying. Suddenly, a woman came to stand beside her.
She looked up at her. The person she loved most smiled at her, her gaze melancholy and gentle.
Knowing she wasn't her didn't stop Lu Jin from crying for her.
Lu Jin quickly took a card from her wallet and pressed it into the woman's hand, eyes red as she begged:
"Don't say a word. I'll pay you. Please pretend to be her and fool me just once, just for tonight."
Luo Xing frowned and pushed the card away. Her eyes seemed reluctant, though her gesture made it clear she disapproved.
She looked so much like her. If Big Sister were still alive, she would surely do the same.
Lu Jin threw her arms around her waist, heedless of everything. Her tears soaked into the soft fabric of the woman's clothes.
"Just keep pretending, Sis. I'll pay you extra."
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The next morning, Lu Jin jolted upright in bed, still dazed. First she looked at the red marks all over her body, then at the world-class beauty sleeping peacefully beside her.
Lu Jin recognized her at a glance: it was Luo Xing, her big sister, who had "already been cremated."
The funeral livestream replay was still available if she opened the trending topics.
But there was a marriage certificate on the bedside table, bearing the names Lu Jin and Luo Xing. A metal ring encircled the pale finger of the woman beside her.
Oh, it was on her ring finger, too.
What did I do to my idol?!
Wait, what did my idol do to me?!
What they did:
They ran into a church at night to escape the rain. An elderly woman pastor, working overtime through the night, made an offer to the two bedraggled young women:
Ladies, this is a city where you don't have to wait to get married.
Lu Jin's hand trembled as she slipped a metal ring, pried from a bottle cap, onto her idol's ring finger.
They stumbled through their vows in broken English.
A red seal was stamped. Their marriage was official.
The former idol stroked her little fan, who was crying her eyes out, and gently comforted her:
"See? The law recognizes our marriage.
"I'm alive because of you."
Theme: Hard work pays off
