Note-Bound Romance
This was an office that had been unused for a long time. Besides a few desks, it was filled with old newspapers and magazines, indicating it was a reading room.
But somehow, nowadays people can fall asleep with the TV or computer on, play cards or mahjong all night, yet show no interest in books. The reading room was often covered in cobwebs and rarely visited.
He was an exception. He had been working for over three years and never developed any interest in drinking or playing cards. In his spare time, he would hide in this forgotten room, reading old magazines and sometimes writing, having little dates with his inspiration.
She was his colleague, two years older than him. One day, she also wandered into this room. She was surprised to see him there.
“I thought I was the only one here with a fondness for literature,” she said. This immediately brought them closer.
Actually, she had come here to quietly think about some things. But with his presence, she found a confidant.
She told him about her ex-boyfriend. They were young and good-looking, naturally brought together by others. But her ex-boyfriend couldn’t resist various temptations and often cheated. She tried to persuade, argue, and tolerate him, but eventually had to break up. The love that brewed for three years had turned sour and yellow…
He listened intently to her story, thinking how foolish her ex was to not cherish such a beautiful and gentle woman.
But he said nothing. Instead, before leaving, he quickly wrote a few words on a piece of paper and placed it under the glass on her desk. The note contained comforting words, an old poem: “Deep love, like a clove knot, hard to untangle a single inch of a banana leaf heart.”
The next day, when he returned to the room, he found a note under the glass. It was her response to his comfort: “The saddest thing is, the garden is full of butterflies, but no one catches them.”
Reading this, he felt a strange excitement. He wrote a note expressing his affection for her and hid it under the glass: “Do not let your tears fall on the flowers, lest the flowers wither like a thin person.”
He had a feeling she would return. Subconsciously, he hoped she would respond.
On the third day, he eagerly entered the reading room and found another note from her: “The heart is like a double-threaded net, with a thousand knots inside.”
Holding her note, his admiration and affection for her grew. He wrote another note: “I shall keep my eyes open all night, to repay the unfulfilled dreams of a lifetime.”
They continued to exchange notes, frequently conveying their feelings and thoughts. Over time, their notes became more numerous, and their affection grew more subtle and passionate.
Despite this, they remained indifferent and even cold to each other in public. His inherent inferiority complex strongly constrained him. He had grown up without parents, living in the basement of a distant relative’s house during his childhood.
He lacked communication skills and only felt comfortable expressing his love through notes. In reality, he didn’t even dare to look at her directly, let alone exchange glances filled with emotion.
Her tender and lingering looks turned into disappointment and melancholy because she couldn’t engage with his dodging eyes. He realized he had to confess his feelings; otherwise, this unspoken love would only hurt both of them.
On the morning of February 13th, the day before Valentine’s Day, he quietly placed a note under the glass on her usual spot: “In the heavens, we wish to be birds flying side by side; on earth, we wish to be branches entwined.”
The next morning, he was eager for the reveal. He wore a new suit and secretly placed a rose in his pocket.
Entering the reading room, he found her already there. But she wasn’t alone; another man was with her. They looked perfect together, she with her flowing hair and he with his handsome and confident demeanor. He tried not to assume the worst.
She held the note he had written for her, raising her hand as if to return it. The man, however, stepped forward arrogantly, extending his hand for a handshake.
When he realized that this man was her ex-boyfriend, his heart shattered.
Out of ignorant fear, he hastily found an excuse, handed her the flower, and said the stupidest thing ever: “I wish you both happiness!” Then he fled.
He ran away without even glancing back at her, missing the anger, disappointment, and dissatisfaction in her eyes…
Six months later, he received her wedding invitation. Inside the invitation was a bundle of the notes they had exchanged. The last one tore his heart apart.
It was a note she had written to him: “I wish to be a red lotus, growing by the river every year; I wish you to be the waves under the flowers, no barriers between us, coming and going with the wind and rain.”
The date on the note was the day she brought her ex-boyfriend to the reading room—February 14th.
To get rid of her ex-boyfriend’s boring and endless attempts to rekindle their relationship, she had planned to publicly reveal their note-bound romance. But he had fled.
Thank you for reading! ” Sitestorys “
