Fragile Heart

Gap moe puppy-like younger gong & steady, reliable older shou Jin Rong picked up a child on a whim. The child was pretty, cute, and clever, but he had a heart of glass. One wrong word and he'd sulk. The moment he tried to act tough, he'd start crying pitifully. He'd stage a hunger strike eight times in three days, demanding to be comforted and kept company. And then make Jin Rong swear he'd never leave him. People said Jin Rong had picked up a little tyrant. Well, a tyrant he was. Jin Rong lovingly raised Pei Zheng from a timid fledgling into Kyoto's most dazzling young master. He built him a high platform with his own hands, lifted him up into the clouds, and aimed his longbow at the sharp arrows, saying, “Your freedom is my freedom.” “Zhengzheng, if the sky falls, I'll hold it up.” Their bond took root when Pei Zheng was thirteen. A sprout called love grew from his dependence. He liked Jin Rong with fearful trepidation, testing the waters carefully. Hidden behind a door, he watched as the man stared at the ring for a long while, then casually threw it into the trash, his expression indifferent. Pei Zheng refused to give up and confronted him directly. What followed was the fiercest argument and harshest reprimand. A fierce fever burned away all of Pei Zheng's fanciful hopes and sent him across the ocean. Surrounded by admirers, he became a block of ice that no one could warm. Three years later, they were still sitting together, close as ever, understanding each other without a word. Pei Zheng seemed to be wearing a mask. Jin Rong lowered his head, admitted defeat, and reached out to make peace. He showed Pei Zheng the ordinary silver ring he'd gone to so much trouble to find again. “Zhengzheng, you can't throw away the things that matter most.” Pei Zheng lowered his eyes to the clear liquor in his cup and said nothing. “Our little Pei doesn't cry anymore.” The boy was now a tempered blade, an arrow loosed from its bow. “No,” Jin Rong replied softly to his friend's words, looking at the silent, cold-faced Pei Zheng with a heavy heart. “He still has a heart of glass.” Once it breaks, it can't be put back together. It takes a tremendous amount of effort to soothe him. [Reader's Guide] 1. Younger gong, raised by the older lead. They are eight years apart, and the younger one takes the lead. 2. Extremely melodramatic, with a bittersweet reunion after a breakup and the gong pursuing the shou. 3. Both leads are each other's first and devoted to one another in a one-on-one relationship. 4. A medium-length novella, with the romance as the main focus and events told out of order. Basically, “They both had their reasons back then.” Yeah. 5. There is a secondary couple, but they won't get much page time: a playboy gong who turns over a new leaf and a selfish, awful shou with a sincere heart. The gong isn't the non-virgin one. 6. Feel free to drop the novel without telling me. Enjoy reading! Theme: True growth means learning to accept, understand, and bravely love.