"Mom, I...
/"Born Desire"
/A Thermometer
/Exclusive First Release
Volume 1: Heart's Stirring, Feeling's Blossoming
A moment births heart, births thought, births desire, births love. The naive miss meets her gentle sir. Please, gentle sir, stay forever with me — "Born Desire"
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Looking up at the azure sky, the sunlight was at its fullest. Because it was near the seaside, listening to the ebb and flow of the tide, she could also smell the faint salty seawater flavor spreading through the air, but it was mostly covered by the rich fragrance of pink lychee roses lining the streets on both sides.
The sea surface, like emerald gems sprinkled with a layer of gold leaf, shimmered with light.
Under the blue-and-white striped awning, Song Guanyu's petite figure was curled up in a chair. Her small face was tightly scrunched as if bearing a great grudge. A faint brown mole sat on the tip of her small, upturned nose. On her high-bridged nose rested a pair of exaggerated sunglasses that covered most of her face, drawing attention to her rosy lips.
At the moment, they were slightly pouted, with a line pressed between the seam of her lips, like a tender pink peach.
Just above her pale pink lips, a ring of white milk foam lingered, which she quickly licked away with the tip of her tongue, squinting her eyes in satisfaction.
The bangs on her forehead were a bit damp; the climate in France was starting to get hot, and the air felt sultry. She had been waiting at this street-side café for Xu Jiayu for a long time, having already drunk three cups of coffee, and had just ordered a fourth a moment ago.
She was a heavy coffee addict.
A freshly made new product was brought over.
"Dear lady, our shop's new item 'Cupid, the God of Love' — it symbolizes that Cupid will shoot his arrow of love at you, and you will have a happy and blessed life. Please enjoy."
The owner enthusiastically introduced their new product. The symbolism was very good, very romantic. Song Guanyu's previously anxious heart was instantly calmed; she loved all things romantic and fairy-tale-like.
So she nodded and gave the owner a sweet smile: "Okay, okay, I'll enjoy it thoroughly. Thank you." The handsome, blond, blue-eyed owner smiled at her, put down the coffee, and went back inside with the tray.
Song Guanyu happily drank the foam on top. The sweet fragrance slid across her tongue, lingering for a long time, filling her with joy and making her eyes squint into crescent moons.
Her mood improved significantly about her friend being late.
Xu Jiayu finally arrived in a flurry.
She was so hot that as soon as she sat down, she reached for the iced coffee in front of Song Guanyu, who quickly slapped her hand away, protecting it like a chick guarding its food, and said with a fierce, babyish tone: "You're late, you can't drink mine. Order your own."
Then, afraid that Xu Jiayu would disobey, she downed the whole cup in one go and followed it with a sweet-scented burp.
Xu Jiayu sat opposite, stunned for two seconds. Looking at Song Guanyu holding the cup with both hands and milk foam at the corner of her mouth, she quickly snapped out of it, shrugged, and laughed heartily. She took off her sunglasses: "Oh! Are you mad at me?"
A bright, beautiful smiling face was revealed, drawing glances from passersby.
With a "clang," the glass made a sound on the table, showing her dissatisfaction with Xu Jiayu's lateness.
Song Guanyu shot her an angry look, her expression fierce, like a cat with its fur all puffed up. She also took off her sunglasses viciously, revealing a pair of round, big almond-shaped eyes, and glared at Xu Jiayu.
Her face, innocent and without makeup, was plump and pinkish-white. Her drooping baby lashes fluttered as she complained: "Do you know how long I've been waiting! I've already drunk four cups of coffee!" She held up four fingers at Xu Jiayu. "My stomach is full of water! It's sloshing around like a bucket."
Xu Jiayu rested her chin on her hands and let her finish in one breath.
"This is what you call missing me! If you missed me, you should have come to see me right away! Not make me fly all the way from home!"
After finishing in one breath, she panted twice. Her thick lashes fluttered, then suddenly the fire died down. She pursed her lips in a pitiful expression and looked at Xu Jiayu again.
Her eyes drooped at the corners. She stopped talking and rested.
In a soft, cooing voice, she said to her friend: "Yutou, actually, I've been having a problem lately. That's why I came to see you. Sorry, I didn't mean to snap at you."
She blamed the weather.
Her earlier outburst had no real intimidation; her sweet voice was still babyish and fierce. Seeing this, Xu Jiayu felt a pang of guilt and apologized repeatedly.
"Sorry, Zhuzhu. I got rear-ended on the way, that's why I'm late." Hearing "rear-ended," Song Guanyu immediately slammed the table and stood up, anxiously pulling her: "Are you okay? Let's go to the hospital!" Xu Jiayu quickly pulled her back and pressed her firmly into the chair.
Because Song Guanyu would really force her to go to the hospital.
Having run all the way here, she was parched. After ordering a drink, she continued apologizing: "I'm fine, I'm fine. No need for the hospital. I'm sorry, Zhuzhu, it's my fault. It won't happen again."
Who knew how unlucky she was on the way? She got rear-ended by a particularly flashy sports car. The guy who hit her was decent-looking, seemed mixed-race, but whether he understood French or not was unclear. Xu Jiayu tried communicating in both languages and found it impossible to get through.
Conclusion: the guy was a bit off in the head. She said she didn't need any compensation, but he insisted. In the end, Xu Jiayu gave him her contact information, and he finally calmed down.
That's what made her late.
Xu Jiayu looked up at her and asked, "Zhuzhu, what's wrong?"
"Zhuzhu" was Song Guanyu's nickname, meaning the pearl in her parents' palm. However, Song Guanyu had forbidden her close friends from using this nickname because she loved food and felt it sounded like "piggy," implying she could eat a lot. Well, setting aside objective facts, she could really eat, especially all kinds of snacks, little cakes, and the like.
According to Song Guanyu's usual life philosophy, besides writing songs, composing, releasing albums, and enjoying the stage, she must also enjoy good food. All were indispensable.
Missing any one was not allowed.
Song Guanyu was usually good-tempered, but from what Xu Jiayu observed since sitting down, Song Guanyu had been frowning and zoning out at least twenty times, and looking at her with hesitation at least ten times. Xu Jiayu knew her friend's awkward personality.
Fortunately, she took the initiative to ask, and Song Guanyu finally told her about her current problem.
She had encountered a major accident in her creative process: a lyric-writing block.
She had written many types of songs: about time, about life, about death, about friendship, even about family. So this time, she wanted to write about emotions she hadn't touched on before.
About love.