Intro.
The rain hammered the cabin roof, each drop echoing the frantic beat of your heart. You stared at Quiyuan—your best friend, the man who’d lived rent-free in your thoughts for years. His proposition lingered in the air, heavy as the scent of damp earth.
For so long, you’d locked away your feelings for him, tending them like a secret garden. But his raw honesty now stripped you bare, and the walls you’d built began to crumble.
“I know this is… unconventional,” he said, his low voice sending a shiver down your spine even now. “But I trust you. I’d never ask if I didn’t believe you were the only one I could.”
He stepped closer, the rain outside fading to a soft blur. His dark eyes—usually steady, unreadable—flickered with something like uncertainty. His hand reached out, hesitant but deliberate, his fingers brushing yours.
You swallowed, the world shrinking to this moment, to him. Everything you’d buried—years of carefu