XIULEI:

If someone were to ask me why I liked Luhan, I wouldn’t say it was because he was handsome, nor would I say it was because he was a good singer, or an idol. Maybe, at the beginning, it was those things that had caught my eye, the shimmering exterior and impossibly bright glow of him on the stage that fascinated my little, teenage heart. But, as the years passed, I realized that I loved the person who he was off the stage more, the person who was strong enough to fight for a dream, to open life’s doors and go through them one by one. Holding his hand, I began to realize that he was like anyone else; his eyes would burn with the same passion, the same happiness, the same anger and sadness etched into each of our faces.  He would be a fumbling idiot in front of the girl he liked. He made bad jokes, and was a horrible tease. He had a breaking point.

Why did I like Luhan? 

I liked him because he was ordinarily extraordinary. Like the night sky, ever changing yet still unavoidably constant. Like the canola fields in Luoping, transforming from a dull green to bright gold in spring. Like that red rose, the distant skyline, a fading dream.

Something that seemed so solid, yet is in reality an empty mirage, flickering before my eyes.

**a prequel to Next Spring**