Wagging My Tail

[Unrequited love from him] [Healing] [Reunion after years apart]

A carton of milk raised an abandoned puppy who wagged his tail.

-

At seventeen, Duan Yuanyue wore a school uniform washed so many times it had faded. The musty smell of discarded things clung to him and never went away.

At twenty-four, Duan Yuanyue sat in the audience at her violin recital, dressed in a suit. He was the only person listening below the stage.

Fan Zi had seen him at his most wretched and down on his luck.

Back then, he was absurdly easy to fool. A carton of milk or a piece of bread was enough to make the cold, lonely boy obediently listen to her and become her most loyal puppy.

"Duan Yuanyue, bring me lunch."

"Duan Yuanyue, help me with my homework."

"Duan Yuanyue, pass this letter to the most popular boy at school."

"Duan Yuanyue, you’re so obedient."

The boy lay with his head on the desk, quietly watching her ruffle his hair.

That was why he was so hard to shake off when she abandoned him.

At eighteen, Fan Zi fell in love with someone and followed him to a distant place without hesitation.

It was the only time she ever saw Duan Yuanyue cry.

"Duan Yuanyue, what gives you the right to control me?"

The boy clenched his teeth. He buried the answer they both knew deep in his heart.

He tugged at the hem of her skirt and pleaded, "Fan Zi, don’t be so cruel only to me."

Fan Zi was hard-hearted. She left, and stayed gone for seven years.

Years later, when they met again, Fan Zi smiled brightly as she worked the room at business gatherings, exchanging toasts and glances, yet never looking at him.

When everyone had left, he cornered her against the wall, eyes red. "Fan Zi, I hate you so much."

He hated her decisiveness, her indifference, and most of all, the fact that she never once stopped for him.

The person in front of him embraced him, her voice choked with tears:

"Duan Yuanyue, have you been well?"

"No. It’s been awful."

Every day without you has been so, so awful.

*Proud and dazzling heroine x gloomy, taciturn hero

*One-on-one, both leads sexually inexperienced, happy ending

*Dual perspectives in high school, heroine’s perspective at the reunion

*Mutual unrequited love

Theme: Stay true to your original aspirations, and you’ll reach the end