A Simple Romance

- Complete manuscript finished. Updates daily at 7 p.m. Anti-piracy measures are in place. If you're reading a stolen copy, get lost.

- The premise has changed. See the pinned post for details. Character descriptions are for reference only; the actual story takes precedence.

- CP: Flirty younger seme × cool-faced but warm-hearted, straightforward uke

The first time they meet, Lin Kong has been kicked out of his home and gets lost in a small county town with his suitcase. Mistaking Chen Qi, whose hair is tied into little tufts, for a street performer or a delinquent student, he rummages through his pockets and finds only two coins. He sets them beside the other boy and asks, "How do I get to No. 17 Middle School?"

Chen Qi laughs twice, his expression unreadable. "Teacher, two coins won't get you a song."

Lin Kong gives him a cold look, deciding the guy doesn't know how to appreciate kindness.

Chen Qi thinks Lin Kong must have his eyes where the sun doesn't shine.

The second time they meet, it's pouring rain.

A storm has knocked out the power and water in Lin Kong's dorm, so the former young master has to carry a bucket to the internet cafe next door to get water.

Chen Qi, sitting behind the counter, glances at Lin Kong. His long hair falls loose as he lights a cigarette and asks with half-lidded eyes, "Teacher, want one?"

Lin Kong thinks he's picking a fight.

The third time they meet, Lin Kong stares coldly at the person in front of him and asks, "Where is he?"

Chen Qi leans against the shop entrance and smiles. "Teacher, my place only welcomes people who don't study. Your student won't be here."

Lin Kong turns and leaves, swearing he'll pack his bags and go home tomorrow to take over the family business.

He absolutely will not have anything to do with anyone around here ever again.

But he doesn't manage to leave.

That night, Chen Qi climbs onto his balcony. Leaning against the railing, moonlight spilling over his shoulders, he says, "Teacher, tell me what the outside world is like."

-

The first time Chen Qi sees Lin Kong, he thinks anyone who walks in the rain without an umbrella probably has something wrong with his head.

The second time he sees Lin Kong, the guy is carrying a bucket around in the rain to find water and has left his ID card at the cafe. Chen Qi figures the diagnosis of brain damage is probably confirmed.

By the third time, though, Chen Qi sighs and thinks that this brain-damaged teacher is pretty dedicated. So that night, he climbs onto Lin Kong's balcony. He only means to do a good deed, but gets caught in the act.

Chen Qi has no choice but to stay and chat with him.

As they talk, he decides Lin Kong must be a good teacher with a few screws loose.

Later, the not-so-bright Teacher Lin asks him, "Want to come with me?"

Chen Qi is shamefully moved.

-

"So what if we're weeds? Weeds are the ones that keep growing, generation after generation."

"We have to grow up."

PS:

1. Mutual devotion, both leads are virgins, 1v1. The seme owns an internet cafe. His education level is low, but his manners aren't.

2. No breaking up the CP, reversing roles, replacing characters, or dream pairings. No starting fights, preaching, or giving unsolicited advice. Violators will be dealt with.

3. Set around 2018, a small-town story with a slow build and slice-of-life pacing. A writing exercise.

4. Entirely fictional. Don't scrutinize any of the worldbuilding. It's very idealized.

- A similar upcoming story: Small-Town Charm

- CP: Popular guy seme × corporate drone uke

After twenty-eight years of working himself to the bone to become somebody, He Qingyou receives both a layoff notice from a major tech company and a medical report full of red flags in a single day.

Having earned no money and collected a whole host of health problems, He Qingyou faces reality and decisively takes a suitcase back to his hometown, a tiny fifth- or sixth-tier city.

On his first day home, an old classmate invites him out for drinks, where he runs into the person he had a crush on in high school.

His old crush smiles warmly and says it's been a long time.

He Qingyou feels his long-dormant heart start pounding again.

I'm going to pursue him, He Qingyou thinks.

Having never pursued anyone in his twenty-eight years, He Qingyou has no idea how to do it. So he keeps making excuses to drop by the other man's bar every few days.

But their relationship goes nowhere. At his wit's end, He Qingyou tells a friend about it. The friend says, "You have to play it cool! Do you know how to keep him guessing, act hot and cold?"

He Qingyou gets it.

So he starts acting nonchalant, pretending he only wants to keep in touch with an old classmate.

At last, one day, they accidentally kiss.

After sobering up, He Qingyou wants to set off a couple of strings of firecrackers to celebrate. His romance is finally about to bear fruit, but then his old crush texts him: We accidentally kissed yesterday, I think. You don't mind, do you?

Trying to hold back the despair of his love dying before it can even begin, He Qingyou angrily sends back three words.

-

Lin Zhiyue has had a crush on He Qingyou for years, but He Qingyou was too good at school and had grand ambitions, while Lin Zhiyue was a lazy underachiever who was content to enjoy himself. So he never made a move.

He thought his crush would go nowhere, but years later, the man shows up at his bar and is still single.

Lin Zhiyue thinks his chance has come.

To make sure he seizes it, he starts carefully recalling why he and He Qingyou became close friends in the first place.

After days of agonizing thought, he reaches a conclusion:

He Qingyou must like how emotionally steady he is.

So, to get closer to He Qingyou, Lin Zhiyue has to pretend he's the ultimate laid-back guy who lets everything roll off his back.

He keeps up the act until one night, drunk, he can't help kissing He Qingyou.

After waking up, he wants to keep from giving himself away, so he gets ahead of things and asks He Qingyou if he minds. When He Qingyou replies, "I don't mind," Lin Zhiyue is relieved, but also a little disappointed.

Looks like there's still a long way to go before he gets his sweet romance!

#About two guys playing it cool, pining for each other, and never asking if the other one likes them#

- Next up, an ancient-style BL: When the Author Falls in Love with the Protagonist

- CP: Obsessive, wooden, taciturn uke × fastidious, black-hearted seme

Su Yin never imagined he would fall in love with his own protagonist. Otherwise, he never would have given him such a terrible ending.

But by the time he learns this world is a book he wrote, the world is already on the brink of destruction.

And his protagonist is disintegrating right before his eyes. Only a drop of blood remains, falling onto the corner of his eye.

Su Yin coolly wipes it away. Amid the snow filling the sky, he thinks: If I'm the one who created all this, then I can make him die, and I can make him live.

So he spends a hundred years trying every method in the world, even resorting to forbidden magic, to resurrect his protagonist.

-

In his previous life, Weisheng Ling was a gentleman praised and respected by all, the "chosen one sent down to save the world" in the eyes of ordinary people.

He had a loving family, a smooth path to immortality, a group of like-minded friends, and an adorable little disciple.

His little disciple was a bit quiet and had a tragic background, but that was all right. If he wanted something, Weisheng Ling could give him anything.

For a long time, Weisheng Ling's heart and mind were filled with his little disciple.

When he sees his disciple gazing longingly at someone else's candied hawthorn, he goes down the mountain that very day and buys out an entire stall of them.

When his disciple is injured after being chased by enemies, Weisheng Ling puts on black clothes the next night and wipes out the whole enemy family.

One day, a friend drags his disciple to a brothel. Weisheng Ling sneaks along behind them, claiming he is only keeping an eye on his disciple in case he gets hurt. But when he sees other people pawing at the boy, he can't hold back. He shows himself on the spot and forcibly carries him away.

Afterward, his friend says, "Your disciple isn't that fragile. Stop acting like his father just because you're his master."

Weisheng Ling is shocked. "Am I really that old? Besides, what if some bad person deceives him?"

His disciple Su Yin, a two-hundred-year-old demon feared by mortals and notorious for his cruelty: ...

Later, Su Yin sternly corrects Weisheng Ling. "Master, I'm all better now. You don't have to keep treating me like a patient."

Weisheng Ling says yes, but doesn't change his behavior at all. Secretly, he blossoms with joy at his disciple's concern, shamelessly deciding that his disciple might like him a little too.

He plans to confess once everything is over. He wants to give his disciple everything.

Until the heavenly fire descends.

Only on the brink of death does Weisheng Ling learn that everything was his own wishful thinking.

This world is a book. The disciple he thought was as frail as a willow is the creator of this world, while Weisheng Ling is merely a character in his story, a protagonist the author sends to die for the greater good without a moment's pity.

After being reborn, Weisheng Ling looks at Su Yin, who risked everything to bring him back, and feels a little desperate.

He's sure Su Yin really does like "Weisheng Ling," but he can't tell whether Su Yin likes the foolish "Weisheng Ling" who, as an author's puppet, went to his death without question, or the "Weisheng Ling" whose personality changed after he was brought back.

Finally, one day, when Su Yin once again treats Weisheng Ling like the master who used to dote on him unconditionally, Weisheng Ling completely breaks down.

"Su Yin, who is it you really love?" He grips Su Yin by the collar, the knife in his hand pressed firmly to his own heart. Word by word, he says, "If you think I'm no longer the person you loved, you can kill me. Don't stand here pretending with me."

- Thank you for reading -

Theme: Give lonely, helpless souls a place to rest.