Thread by @alljiangzongzhu

She never would have thought she would get this far, honestly. The notion of finding love, Hua Cheng had considered it too far gone. Her emotions had been frayed, destroyed by the only woman she had given her all to. A distant memory that burned the sensation of touch if her mind

as a negative thing, a long since passed few years that had made her wish she had never felt in her life for a while. It was so long ago before now, before university, before meeting her roommate, He Xuan.

Hua Cheng never wanted to feel that long lost pang in her chest again. One that reminded her of brown hair and golden eyes and a smile that she worshipped as if it held the moon and the stars. A pain that clenched her heart like an iron fist and shook her so violently.

University had been an escape, her best friend Yin Yu had pulled some strings to get Hua Cheng in sooner, so that she could be further from her pain. It had worked for a few months after meeting He Xuan, a quiet goth with a penchant for cooking and wearing chains.

Hua Cheng was sure she would have worn them in her sleep if it wasn't so dangerous. She would learn a year later what they meant, and that was around the time Hua Cheng really started to think she understood what love was supposed to be.

They had met with Yin Yu as a buffer between the two, a mutual friend who understood the intricacies of their lives and somehow surmised that they would be okay with each other. For a while it was just sort of quiet. Hua Cheng wasn’t much of a talker anyway,

but the way He Xuan never spoke to her, avoiding her most times, studying or cooking and pretending Hua Cheng wasn’t there while she did. It bothered Hua Cheng only a little, she liked her privacy, but she also liked to talk if they were going to be living together for a year.

A year of silence… She would probably go insane. So Hua Cheng tried to strike up conversation one day, a month into their silent arrangement. She was met with a sideways glance and a nod in acknowledgment, which she supposed was better than silence.

Hua Cheng made it her goal to at least be friends with He Xuan. A month in with only a nod wasn’t very encouraging, but she was nothing if not determined or bullheaded. And she felt as though there was a reason or two as to why He Xuan was so quiet.