[Insecure, Honest Little Sister x Unruly North American International Student]
[Unrequited Love, Long Distance, Age Gap, Class Difference]
Zhou Mo first met Qiao Jiayan during the sweltering summer after her college entrance exams.
It was a meetup for online friends. The boy sat in a corner, legs crossed, holding up a sign as he waited. The half-profile visible beneath his baseball cap was sharply defined.
The sign bore Zhou Mo's online handle.
He waved to her lazily, his smile bold and defiant.
Just one glance was enough to feel the vitality overflowing from him, sweeping through the barren wilderness of Zhou Mo's insecurities like a gale.
The Forbidden City in August was muggy and humid.
She leaned against Qiao Jiayan's back, drowsy from heatstroke on one hand, her heart pounding uncontrollably on the other.
“Tsk, never thought the first time I'd carry a girl in my life would be while giving someone a tour.”
“I've never been carried by a boy before, either.”
“Then call me big brother. I'll take that as payment.”
“...Big Brother Jiayan.”
-
Zhou Mo kept an unromantic secret:
She had fallen for her online chat buddy.
And she kept peeking at his social media accounts, like a stalker.
Qiao Jiayan's posts were full of lab papers, road trips across North America, club parties... His life was exciting.
Zhou Mo looked at her own college life: ordinary and uneventful. She opened her social media feed and spent ages drafting a post, but in the end, she had no pictures to share and nothing to say.
They were separated by the vast Pacific Ocean, a sixteen-hour time difference, and the gulf between worldly success and ordinariness.
Her unromantic crush was destined to stay hidden from the light.
-
Meanwhile, life abroad was rough. His advisor was racist, a junior student stole his ideas, his landlord went back on his word... Trouble always found Qiao Jiayan.
But he was used to it, taking everything in stride. He could even find the leisure to tell the girl all about it as if it were a joke.
One day, Zhou Mo's usually empty social media feed suddenly got an update.
[Looking for a boyfriend for one day! Please come with me to get an impacted wisdom tooth pulled. I'll pay!!!]
The man stood in the lab corridor, with a bitter wind blowing outside the window.
With a cigarette in his mouth, he called his girl.
“Has anyone agreed to go with you to get your tooth pulled? If not, wait two days for me.”
“...I've already found someone. A classmate.”
“Oh, then turn him down. I won't charge you. I'm flying back tomorrow.”
1v1, first love, mutual secret crush
Theme: Love life
