In Between: a Diyue fanfic collection

Of waiting

She had waited from dusk to dawn, before he finally replied her message. She wondered why she had waited all night instead of going to sleep. It's not like they were anything. But yet, somehow, they were more. More than something. Not just friends, but not yet lovers. In between.

She read his reply, and he realised she was still awake.

Did you stay up all night? Were you waiting for me? Did... something happen? Or is there something you wanted to tell me? His questions came fast and furious, as if to compensate for the earlier radio silence.

She hesitated for a while, before replying.

I'm scared.

A thousand kilometres away, still dressed as Ning Que, he took a deep breath, and exhaled. It must have taken a lot out of her to admit any form of weakness. Normally she would just deflect it, or hide behind her limitless trove of funny memes.

Don't be scared, I'm here, he reassured her, even if you can't see me, even if I don't reply.

She stared at the words he had written. What was the point of someone who was never there, and who couldn't reply? Maybe this is why they never took their relationship a step further. Despite the tension between them, he never asked. And she never pushed.

Frankly, the idea of being Wang He Di's woman was frightening. The overwhelming backlash, the hate, the constant scrutiny. She felt tired just thinking.

The path leading towards him terrified her, and the way back was worse.

How long more? she asked.

Ten more years, he replied, then we'll get married.

She smiled despite herself, despite everything. Actually, she had been referring to his filming schedule.

I'm getting married before I turn 30, she reminded him. No matter how she calculated it, it didn't add up. His company probably wouldn't let him go until he was 40 or something. And she was older than him. Their timelines didn't match.

Sorry I've got to go now, he said, I'll message you again later. Go sleep.

She browsed through her photo library for a suitable meme, to dispel the pensive mood. He typed her name again when she took too long to reply.

Shen Yue.

Too tired to continue searching, she sent him a question mark instead.

Wait for me.

__________

Author's Note:

This randomly popped into my head when I was listening to the song "Dusk till Dawn". 🤷🏽‍♀️ Throughout the day, random scenes or conversations suddenly occur to me and I usually shelve them aside/ archive them in my head, and they distract me from writing my other stories.

Then, someone I respect told me I should just write out these one-shots concurrently and come up with a schedule to write the longer story, since this shouldn't take two weeks to write.

I decided to listen to her because I don't want to be haunted by DiYue.