𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞. duan jiaxu au !SLOW UPDATES

one. that's what friends are for

— one. that's what friends are for

[ 07.07.23 ]

SUMMER CAME BY PRETTY FAST that I hadn't realized how hot it was until I finished the last episode of Hidden Love. By the time the outro theme song started, I placed my phone down on the coffee table in front of me and blinked a few times while I stared up at the ceiling. As I fought back the tears that were trying to escape, I heard footsteps walking over and my best friend's voice.

"Are you trying not to cry? The drama isn't even sad and-" he asked but I cut him off before he could finish his second sentence.

"I'm trying NOT to cry because I just FINISHED watching it," I told him as I blinked a few more times before looking over at him.

Then he entered the kitchen while asking, "Oh... Did you cry when you finished my drama with Zhao Lusi?"

I raised an eyebrow at him. "What do you think?"

Ding Yuxi, or Ryan as I prefer to call him by his English name, popped his head out from inside the kitchen while saying, "I don't think you did- You texted me saying you didn't like how it ended. That it felt like the writers robbed you because Han Shuo and Xiaoqian's time in the modern world felt too short."

I stared at him and was quiet for a few seconds. "I texted you because I was sobbing," I finally told him, making Ryan raise a brow at me, "I couldn't speak if I called you."

"You sobbed?" he asked, totally not believing me.

Then I rolled my eyes. "Of course, I did! TROTAR was- No, it STILL IS a masterpiece! Why wouldn't I cry over one of my favorite C-Dramas?"

At the mention of 'favorite,' the ends of Ryan's lips had gone up into a smile before he went back into the kitchen. It became quiet again and I was on the verge of crying for the nth time this afternoon. I sighed and laid flat down onto the couch while exclaiming, "Ryaaaan! Indulge me. Bother me. Erase my memories of Hidden Love so that I can rewatch it as if it was my first tiiiime!"

I could hear Ryan chuckling in the kitchen while making some noises. Then he came back out with a frying pan in his hand and asked while looking at me with a funny expression, "Want to be hit in the head? There's a 50-50 chance you might not remember any of your memories."

I glared at my best friend before sitting up and throwing one of the couch's pillows at him, but instead, it hit his legs and landed on the floor.

"Funny, Ryan," I said out of sarcasm, "Really funny."

He smiled at me as he went back inside the kitchen. I heard him placing the frying pan down and then him turning the stove on. Ryan then showed up and picked the pillow up before walking over to hand it back. I sat up properly and grabbed the pillow before hugging it.

Then he asked as he went back to the kitchen, "Also, didn't you say you were going to watch my other dramas?"

I looked away from him with a fake innocent expression. "I was AND will," I answered, making him glance at me with a suspicious side-eye.

"So... Why did I see you looking up the first episode of Mr. Bad yesterday?" he added slowly as he started to walk back to the kitchen.

I blushed in embarrassment. "Huh? What? Mr. Bad? Pfft! I didn't look it up."

"Mhm, sure you didn't," Ryan said as he lifted the bamboo mat cover that opened up a rectangular space in the wall between the kitchen and living room, "So if I open your laptop and check your search history, it won't show the website link to Mr. Bad. Hm?"