The Threads of Life

Top: A member of a volunteer mountain rescue team x bottom: Owner of a Chinese-style bar

Rugged top x sickly beauty bottom

The first time Kuang Ye saw Shi Ran, he was dancing in a newly opened tavern.

A handsome man with refined features sat on his lap, covering Kuang Ye's eyes with an elegant, pale robe. Through its sheer, hazy fabric, he offered Kuang Ye the rose held between his lips.

The next time they met, Shi Ran stood barefoot on an unguarded stone bridge at the head of the village, gazing down. The rushing river crashed against the rocks, letting out a fierce, mournful howl.

His slender silhouette, bathed in the moonlight alone, became an obstacle on Kuang Ye's way home.

Kuang Ye called his name, but Shi Ran seemed not to hear.

Later, Kuang Ye lost contact with the outside world during a mountain rescue. No one knew that, as he lay dying, the thought of returning home was what kept him going.

On the morning he carried the bodies down the mountain, he parted the swirling mist and saw, at its foot, the face he had longed for in his dying dreams.

The man who had just escaped death spoke in a hoarse, exhausted voice, half teasing and half serious. "What? Starting to fear death?"

Shi Ran shook his head.

Kuang Ye asked again, "Then are you afraid I'll die?"

Shi Ran shook his head again, but his reddened eyes betrayed him.

After they got together, Kuang Ye helped tidy the house and accidentally found a farewell letter from Shi Ran wedged between the floorboards.

"On the day we climbed the snowy mountain to watch the sunrise, did you think about never coming back?"

Shi Ran nodded and answered honestly, "I did."

Kuang Ye: "Why did you give up?"

Shi Ran smiled as he smoothed out the creases in the farewell letter. Emotion welled in his drifting gaze.

"Because the sunrise on the day we reached the summit was beautiful, and in you, I saw the threads of my own life."

#Blurb finalized on 2025/6/2, all versions recorded#

A few reading tips:

1. A short-to-medium-length story. Trying a different style to practice my writing.

2. I'm not good at writing two stories at once. Updates for this one will only come while keeping the other story's schedule on track.

3. A story told from the top's perspective, in which he saves the bottom. A happy, everyday story about mutual love. Please don't switch their roles.

Theme: When the splendid leaves have fallen, the threads of life can finally be seen clearly