Prologue
Has loving someone ever been your deepest regret? Clouds scatter after long rains, but some love never fades. This is not just a love story. This is the story of two lives — tangled by fate, but destined to doom one.
Can love like this survive? Or will it die before it even begins?
Unrequited love is cruel, isn't it? Living in imagined worlds creates illusions, and illusions always hurt.
Maybe one day I'll know who I'm meant to end up with — if I survive the wait. If only death could cure every feeling that makes you hate yourself, every mask you wear just to keep living...
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Author's Note
Dear Reader,
It means more than you know—that you're here, standing quietly at the threshold of these pages.
This isn't just a story. It's a soft recollection of college corridors that once carried the echo of my footsteps… and the silence of feelings I never had the courage to speak aloud.
If you've ever loved from afar, if your heart has ever ached in secret for someone who never quite saw you—then I believe, in some quiet corner of this tale, you'll find yourself.
You'll find glances that linger too long. Smiles that hide tremors. Words left unsaid.
Moments that bloom, only to wither in the hush.
My writing may sometimes feel too gentle, too dramatic, or dipped a bit too deep in poetry. Please bear with me. Real memories have a way of clinging to ink with emotion. And some truths can only be told in metaphors.
You'll notice the language dances between cultures—names like Senpai, XueDi, and phrases borrowed from tongues not entirely mine. These are not just words. They're pieces of lives, stitched carefully into the seams of this story. You'll come to see why.
To help you along the way, I'll include:
– A vocabulary list for the loanwords and cultural threads.
– A name and pronunciation guide to let the characters sit more closely in your heart.
– And, from time to time, little interludes—reflections, commentaries, even quiet interviews—where you and I can pause, breathe, and feel together.
Thank you for stepping into this memory with me.
I hope this story brings you warmth when the days are cold, courage when silence feels heavy, and maybe—just maybe—a flicker of the kind of love that doesn't need to be returned to matter.
With quiet sincerity,
Mafuyu
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Vocabulary Guide
Jp: Japanese
Ch: Mandarin/Chinese
Senpai:
• 先輩(Jp)
• (Sen-pie, as in send and apple-pie)
• Senior or upperclamenmen
XueDi:
• 学弟 (Ch)
• (Shweh-Dee, as in shoo-eh and deep)
• Junior male schoolmate
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NAME GUIDE
Mafuyu:
• 真冬 / まふゆ (Jp) (common form in Japanese)
• (Mah-foo-yoo, as in "Ma" from mama, "foo" like food, and "you" like you)
• Midwinter
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