The Long Chase For The President's Spouse

Chp.63

Chapter 63: It's the Manga's Fault

Gu Zhun was not sure how he could repay Zhang Heng for his favour, but Zhang Heng told him not to worry about it. They could save the discussion for another day, he said. Since it was impossible to guess what Zhang Heng had in mind, Gu Zhun decided to let it go and went home happily with the books.

Although his enthusiasm made it seem as if Gu Zhun had a great passion for manga, the truth was quite different. In reality, he was only interested in this series. It was not the art style that attracted him; what really appealed to him was the delicate sensitivity with which the artist explored the characters' psychology, and the careful details with which she created the world in the story.

He liked the process through which the protagonists' relationship developed. They met as boys and fell for each other. Then, they drifted apart and lost contact for years. After reuniting unexpectedly, they worked through their misgivings and traumatic pasts before finally getting together.

The books were now covered in a layer of dust because he didn't have time to read them. Troubled by complications in his own relationship, Gu Zhun decided to spend the night reading the series. After cleaning off the dust, he delved into the pages of the first volume.

The series began with the younger protagonist's chance encounter with his charismatic senior in the library. Smitten at first sight, he began visiting the library every day to borrow the books that his senior had read. His senior finally noticed him one day. Unable to hold in his feelings any longer, he confessed to his senior in public.

After such a confession, there was no way the senior was going to let his adorable junior go — not when he was so endearingly straight forward, and so charmingly prone to blushing. He responded in the form of a kiss, stolen behind curtains in the empty library after school, leaving the younger boy breathless and giddy.

Ever since then, they would always walk home from school together. Whenever the older boy went to the library, the younger boy would sit by his side and quietly observe his senior's face as he waited for the last bell of the day. Then, they would leave the school together, their long shadows entwined in the warm glow of the setting sun.

"They used to like each other..."

One day, the senior invited his junior to his home. The younger boy was overwhelmed with excitement at such an invitation – He would be completely surrounded by his presence! They would be all alone in a private space!

The younger boy agreed to the invitation with trepidation.

Naturally, as they settled down in bed together, they were both ready to take their relationship to the next level. But the junior's heart was completely crushed when his senior broke into an unexpected chuckle. Thinking that he was being mocked for his ignorance and unquestioning devotion, he gave his senior a hard shove and ran away.

The senior was left in bewilderment.

They broke off all contact after that. The senior tried looking for his junior by his name, only to realise that it was an alias; the younger boy seemed to have disappeared off the face of the Earth.

This was a huge blow to the senior. Sinking into the depths of despair, he even gave up on his university entrance examinations. With the help of his friends, he eventually managed to pull himself together over time and become a renowned manga editor.

A few years later, they reunited as adults. The junior left his job to join the company that his senior was working for and unwittingly became an editor-in-training under his senior's charge.