Story Information
Cover Between Winter and Summer

Between Winter and Summer

New school, new seat — right between the boy who has managed my life since we were children and the one who burns to touch. This classroom only holds one temperature.

#YoungAdult #ContemporaryRomance #SchoolLife #LoveTriangle #SlowBurn #ComingofAge

Story Description

Two empty seats. Two boys. Exactly one temperature this classroom can survive. Junfeng Academy runs on rules, rumor, and family names, and you have survived it the same way since day one: stay close to Fu Lingdong, the boy you grew up beside, the heir who arranges your schedule, your rides, your friendships with flawless courtesy — and never once asks whether you wanted him to. It cost you. The whispers, the nicknames, the eraser gouged with a warning. But winter is survivable. Winter is what you know. Then Yue Xia transfers in. Swim-team star, sun-bleached and loud, allergic to everything Fu Lingdong is. He takes the desk on your other side and starts pulling you toward open air, and for the first time the ice around you shows a crack. Fire burns. Frost suffocates. Both of them are real, both of them want you — and choosing one means losing the other. What to expect: a slow-burn, second-person academy romance; a cold-versus-warm love triangle; cafeteria politics, hallway rumors, rooftops and pool lanes; and bullying that leaves marks. No instant devotion, no easy answers, no third season where you get to keep both. Intimacy fades to black. Winter has kept you safe for years. Summer keeps asking what safety ever got you. Which one do you turn toward?

Characters

YouThe old acquaintance / new classmate caught between winter and summer

A student at Junfeng Academy who has history with Fu Lingdong and has caught Yue Xia's eye. Gender identity, family background, and starting point are set by the player at the opening.

Fu LingdongWinter / heir to the Frostbloom Group

Second-year at Junfeng Academy and heir to the Fu family of the Frostbloom Group. Composed, courteous, quietly controlling — the player's childhood acquaintance, who arranges everything for the people he keeps and locks them inside his order.

Yue XiaSummer / star of the swim team

A transfer student and the star of the swim team, blunt, loud, and burning — he cannot stand Fu Lingdong's control, and he is the first to notice the player.

Yu PeilanHomeroom teacher

Homeroom teacher of Class 2-3 at Junfeng Academy: diplomatic and exhausted, stretched thin by two students she cannot afford to offend and a class full of spectators.

He WenbinRingleader of the bullies

A class-level ringleader who trades on family money and decent grades, treats the player's closeness to Fu Lingdong as an insult, and leads the rumors and the ostracism.

Su NianDeskmate and friend

One of the few people still willing to stand on the player's side: quiet, observant, and aware of the truth behind most of the rumors.

Uncle GuThe Fu family's old steward

The steward who has served the Fu household for most of his life and watched Fu Lingdong grow up: silent, watchful, and occasionally the source of one loaded sentence.

Story starts

Starting setup

Opening Preview

Spring

First period of the new term, and Room 2-3 of Junfeng Academy is fizzing with the particular unease of a class that has just been reseated. Your name has been written in the gap between the two desks by the window — Fu Lingdong on your left, Yue Xia on your right. You have not even settled in when He Wenbin turns around in the front row and slides an open notebook onto your desk. It is not the seating chart. Someone has circled a line in marker: “New kid — winter or summer?” A few boys behind him laugh. Not loud. Loud enough for half the room. “Ignore them,” Su Nian murmurs beside you. Too late. You have already seen the old eraser on the corner of your desk, gouged with four characters: STAY AWAY FROM FU LINGDONG. At the front, Ms. Yu clears her throat and studies the blackboard as though it were fascinating. Your two neighbors could not be less alike. Fu Lingdong's textbooks are squared to the millimeter, every pen cap facing the same way; he does not look at the boys laughing — he simply reaches over and slides your chair back into alignment on his side, as if closing the vote for you. On the other side, Yue Xia tips his chair onto two legs, plants one foot on the desk edge, snorts at them, then turns his head and looks straight at you, waiting. “Go on,” he says, light enough to sound like he is talking to himself. “One winter. One summer. Which side are you sitting on?” The whole room leans in. Fu Lingdong's fingertips are still resting on the back of your chair.

You are a second-year in Class 2-3 at Junfeng Academy, seated between Fu Lingdong and Yue Xia after the new term's reshuffle. You and Fu Lingdong have history; Yue Xia is a stranger. Since you enrolled, staying close to Fu Lingdong has made you a target. You may decide your own gender, family background, and the exact shape of your history with Fu Lingdong — but note that both love interests' affection, your ostracism pressure, and the Season Balance all move for real based on what you say and do. Do not rush to pick a side. First work out how you want to carry yourself between these two desks.