Just because I wrote "Zhu Xian," the school beauty sent me razor blades.

mid-October.

Lin Yuan bought a high-speed rail ticket to the seaside.

I didn't tell anyone.

In one year, he wrote three online novels, released two songs, filmed two movies, and signed a bunch of IP contracts—every decision was like walking a tightrope, and every step had to be carefully calculated to see where he would land.

too tired.

Sometimes people need to go somewhere without a ceiling.

The beach is fine.

At 4:20 a.m., Lin Yuan sat on the beach.

The sea breeze was strong, and the tide lapped in and out, leaving fine ripples on the sand as it receded. The horizon was still dark gray, with a faint hint of dark red at the far east.

He didn't think about anything, he just sat there.

Look at the sea.

At 5:50, the sun squeezed out from the sea, its golden light spreading across the water, making people squint.

Then he heard arguing.

The sound came from the rocky area thirty or forty meters to the right, broken and intermittent by the sea breeze, but clear enough.

A boy's voice, and a girl's voice.

"You said you'd come back after you graduated."

I meant 'as much as possible'.

"What does 'try your best' mean? Do you think your future is more important than our relationship?"

"Of course I need to consider my future; that's not contradictory—"

"If you don't come back, what are we? We've been in a long-distance relationship for three years, have you ever thought about it? We only see each other three times a year, and we rely entirely on our phones. When I was sick, you were doing an internship, and on my birthday, you were on a business trip. Your 'as much as possible' really means 'you're third in line after me.'"

"Can you please stop? You always make a big deal out of this whenever we talk about it—"

"Exaggerating? I've waited three years, and all I get is 'exaggerating'?"

The arguments grew louder and more frequent, like waves crashing one after another.

Lin Yuan didn't turn his head, but his voice clearly entered his ears.

"Your future plans don't include me at all. Look at what you've said—taking the postgraduate entrance exam, staying in Beijing, getting a job at a big company—where is there a place for me in any of them?"

"We can be together—"

"Together for what? To be a struggling migrant worker in Beijing? To rent an apartment together? To squeeze onto the subway together? Have you ever calculated how much you earn in a month?"

silence.

A long silence followed.

Then came the sound of crying.

It wasn't the kind of loud, wailing crying; it was the kind of sobbing that was muffled in the throat, one sob after another, like bubbles being swept away by the waves.

Lin Yuan tilted his head slightly.

The girl squatted on the beach, hugging her knees with both hands, burying her face in her arms, her shoulders twitching.

The boy stood three meters away, with his back to her and facing the sea.

The sea breeze tousled his hair. He stood there, gazing at the sea for a very long time.

Finally, he turned around.

"never mind."

The sound was very faint, half of it was carried away by the wind.

"We're not a good match."

After saying that, he walked to the left.

The girl was still squatting, not looking up.

About two minutes later, she stood up, wiped her face, and walked to the right.

Two people, heading in completely opposite directions.

No one looked back.

The waves continued to lap at the beach, as if nothing had happened.

Lin Yuan watched the girl's retreating figure, then looked in the direction the boy had disappeared.

Seabirds flew overhead, plunged into the distant waves, snatched a small fish, and flapped their wings to fly away.

Seabirds and fish.

One is in the sky, the other is in the water.

Their worlds never overlapped from the beginning.

But what if a seabird happens to fall in love with a fish?

That love could only be a regret from the very beginning.

Lin Yuan sat on the beach and suddenly picked up his phone.

I called Fei Zhao.

"Sister Fei."

"Xiao Yuan?" Fei Zhao's voice was grumpy from just being woken up. "What time is it that you're calling?"

"6:30."

"...Are you testing my limits?"

Are there any slots available in November?

There was a pause on the other end of the phone, and my morning grumpiness vanished instantly.

You mean a new song?

"Yes. A duet."

"You haven't released a song in two months." Fei Zhao's voice cleared, and his speech quickened. "Okay, I'll arrange it. When are you planning to go to the studio?"

"Next week, I'm on vacation now."

"?"

"Then why did you call me so early in the morning?"

"I was just afraid I'd forget."

"...Okay. Do you have any ideas about female singers?"

"A clean, ethereal voice."

"Tianxing has someone in mind. Rala, we just signed her. She was already somewhat well-known in the independent music scene, and she has a great voice, but she hasn't found the right material yet. I've arranged for her to meet you at the company next week."

"good."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Yuan stood up and patted the sand off his pants.

One last look at the sea.

The sun had fully risen, and the sea was shimmering with gold.

Where the couple had been, only two lines of footprints remained on the beach.

One line faces left.

One line faces right.

The distance between them was slowly smoothed out by the tide.

One week later. Tianxing Entertainment.

When Lin Yuan arrived, Rala was already there.

A tall, slender girl with a low ponytail sat nervously stirring the water in her paper cup in the conference room.

After Fei Zhao finished his introduction, Rala stood up and bowed, saying, "Hello, Teacher Lin."

"Don't call me Teacher Lin, just call me Lin Yuan." Lin Yuan sat down and pushed a handwritten sheet of lyrics towards him. "Take a look at the lyrics first."

Rala looked down.

Song title: Coral Sea.

She quickly scanned the text, then looked up with a somewhat complicated expression.

"Is this a song... about regret?"

"Um."

"A duet?"

"A duet. I'll sing the male part, and you'll sing the female part."

Lin Yuan opened his phone and played a melody he had recorded on his phone in the hotel. There was no arrangement, no accompaniment, just the raw texture of one person's voice mixed with the sea breeze.

After listening, Rala remained silent for a few seconds.

"Can I try?"

"Try it now."

Rala stood in front of the microphone, put on the headphones, and closed her eyes.

The prelude begins—a piano, a few simple chords, like a beach exposed after the tide has receded.

Rala opens.

The first sentence.

Lin Yuan stood behind the mixing console and tapped his finger lightly on the table.

Clean. Ethereal. Like a thin mist rising from the sea.

The voice is exactly right.

He picked up another microphone and went into the recording studio.

The two people stood facing each other, with a microphone between them.

The verses alternate, a question-and-answer format, like a couple's monologue after an argument. Her voice is ethereal yet fragmented, each line like a long-suppressed grievance finally being spoken; his voice is deep and restrained, as if all explanations are stuck in his throat, unspoken and unswallowed. The two voices make the barrier between them tangible—you are on this side, I am on that side, face to face, yet separated by an entire sea.

When the chorus came together, the two voices finally merged. His deep voice enveloped her ethereal voice, like the tide washing over the beach, or like one hand trying to grasp another—almost, always almost.

After recording the last note.

There was a two-second silence in the recording studio.

Lin Yuan took off his headphones: "This one."

Rala paused for a moment, then asked, "Aren't we going to re-record?"

"Need not."

That afternoon.

Tianxing Entertainment's official Weibo account posted a message—

On November 1st, Lin Yuan and Rala released their new duet single "Coral Sea".

Some feelings of love cannot be hidden, just as ocean waves cannot hide the tides.

I hope you have the courage to speak your mind.

The sincerity witnessed by the Coral Sea deserves to be heard.

The comment section broke 1,000 views in three minutes.

[@DidYuanShenReleaseASongToday: A duet? ??? Lin Yuan is actually singing a duet? ??? Isn't he always a loner? ???]

[@MusicBloggerAJie: I know Rala; she has a treasure of a voice in the independent music scene, but I haven't been able to find good material for her. Lin Yuan's eye for talent has never disappointed me.]

[@BrokenheartedAlliance: "Some love cannot be hidden, just as ocean waves cannot hide the tides"—just reading this line makes me sad. Lin Yuan, do you have some kind of obsession with 'making people cry'?]

[@CoralSeaAreWaitingForMe: Male-female duet! The Nebula Chart is about to change again! Last time, "Suspended" debuted at number one, this time it's going straight into the November lineup, who dares to stop it?]

[@Rala's Wild Fan: Waaaah, my Rala has finally waited for this! Lin Yuan wrote the song and sang it, what kind of heavenly treatment is this!]