Wait… weren't they supposed to have first met in middle school?
In that moment, something clicked.
Shinozaki Ikumi's expression grew serious. The dry text in her hands transformed into vivid scenes inside her mind.
A boy and a girl, meeting under the moonlight.
Within two minutes, her eyes turned red.
What the heck is this?!
Finally, she understood what Su Yan had been building toward across the first six episodes.
And when all the pieces fell into place—
A wave of sorrow surged up from deep within her chest. Her eyes welled with tears.
"'To the Moon'..." Shinozaki Ikumi looked up at Su Yan, who had been watching her reaction the entire time.
"Johnny… he doesn't really want to go to the moon. What he wants to reach is…"
"Su Yan." Her voice faltered, gaze locking onto his.
"Was your childhood… very painful?"
"Eh?" Su Yan looked stunned.
Watching people get emotionally wrecked by his tragic stories was one of Su Yan's personal joys. He'd been enjoying the moment—Shinozaki Ikumi's reaction had even boosted his "emotional energy" count a little. So why had she suddenly asked that?
"No, not really. My childhood was fine!" he replied quickly.
Of course, he was talking about his past life's childhood.
"Then why are all your stories like this?" Shinozaki Ikumi tried to hold back, but couldn't help herself.
"They're always so… sad. It's like the screenwriter had such a miserable childhood, they're now projecting all that pain into their scripts to get revenge on the world."
Haha, same. That's exactly how I used to feel watching these kinds of stories in my last life, Su Yan thought.
But he couldn't say that out loud, so he changed the topic.
"Come on, it's not that dramatic," Su Yan laughed. "And besides, in the end, I do write a scene where Johnny goes to the moon, right? Isn't that a happy ending?"
"Happy, my foot!" Shinozaki Ikumi glared at him, her voice tinged with grief and frustration.
"You and I both know that the moon is fake! Sure, Johnny might fulfill his dream of going to the moon right before he dies… but what about River? She died, never knowing why Johnny couldn't understand what the rabbit symbolized. She probably thought… he had already forgotten her."
As she said this, the memory of episode two's scene came flooding back—
Now combined with the revelations from the script in her hands, and the masterful performances of Qiu Junlin and Takezawa Kayano, Shinozaki Ikumi felt a hollow ache deep in her chest.
"Life is never perfect," Su Yan said softly, a smile playing on his lips.
"The most moving stories… are often like that."
"Even if Johnny's journey to the moon is only a dream—only imaginary—
The emotions it stirs in you, in every viewer across Xia Nation…
Those are real."
"I gave you this script early because I knew you'd understand that. You're not going to ask me to rewrite it now, are you?"
"Rewrite what?"
"I've already been wrecked by it. No way I'm letting the fans off easy."
[Everyone suffers together.]
"Knew it—you and I are the same kind of people." Su Yan blinked, then burst out laughing.
Meanwhile, filming for the elderly Johnny and River's scenes was wrapping up. Qiu Junlin and Takezawa Kayano received their copies of the episode 7 script from Shinozaki Ikumi.
A long silence followed as the two read.
Then, they turned to Su Yan, eyes filled with newfound depth.
Whatever irritation the media had stirred in them these past few days vanished completely.
"So this is what 'To the Moon' really means…" Takezawa Kayano said at last.
"Good thing I listened to Junlin and took this role."
In that moment, all doubts about the script, about Su Yan, vanished from her heart.
"This drama will definitely receive praise. Definitely win awards…"
She didn't say it would have huge ratings.
Because great works don't always get great viewership.
But a great work is great.
You could see its worth just by reading the script.
Even if the show didn't perform well in the ratings later, Takezawa Kayano knew she would never regret taking the role.
Another week passed.
The top four spots still belonged to the A-tier dramas.
The fourth week of the winter season arrived.
Episode 3 of 'To the Moon' aired.
In this episode, Neil and Eva continued exploring Johnny's memories.
This time, they arrived at Johnny and River's middle-aged years.
Here, they uncovered why River always seemed to hold back from saying what she truly felt.
River, it turned out, had been on the autism spectrum since childhood.
She had always wanted to communicate, to connect—but couldn't express her emotions properly.
Most people couldn't imagine what that was like.
She couldn't say what was truly in her heart, only express her intentions through awkward, indirect methods.
It was a rare condition—but very real. Some viewers who were detail-oriented had started picking up on this in episode two.
That explained why River had used the paper rabbit to ask Johnny:
"What did you see in this?"
She couldn't explain herself.
She could only use these clues to try to help Johnny understand what she was really thinking.
But—
Even until the day River died, Johnny never once answered her question correctly.
"What does the paper rabbit mean?"
Johnny… didn't know.
And with that, the memories of the elderly Johnny and River ended.
Neil and Eva moved on, further into Johnny's youth.
There, they finally learned the truth—
"Anya" was the name of the lighthouse next to the wooden house.
It was a name River had given it.
When this was revealed, viewers at home were stunned.
In episode two, when River was dying, she had begged Johnny to use their savings to build a cabin by the lighthouse, so he could accompany "Anya" after she was gone—
And said that taking care of the lighthouse was her biggest wish.
Wait—what kind of logic was that?
A lot of viewers had guessed that Anya might have been their daughter's name.
Now they felt completely misled.
A crumbling lighthouse on the edge of a cliff—what meaning could that possibly have?
Johnny didn't want to accompany the lighthouse—he wanted to be with her, River!
Or… could the lighthouse itself represent something more?
The memories continued, reaching further back in time.
One night, young River—beautiful and delicate—sat beside a handsome young Johnny.
The two were seated on a wooden log in front of the lighthouse.
"So… that's why you approached me back then?"
River's expression was full of quiet pain.
But her condition kept her from expressing more.
"Yes." Johnny looked confused, not understanding why she seemed upset.
River pulled something from her coat pocket—a sandbag.
She stared into Johnny's eyes, hoping to find something there.
But he didn't understand.
"Throw this to Anya."
She handed him the sandbag and pointed to the lighthouse. Her eyes were sad… but hopeful too.
Hopeful that Johnny would understand.
The lighthouse. The sandbag.
She was clearly hinting at something—trying to make him remember.
But Johnny didn't get it.
He casually tossed the sandbag into the air, forming a perfect arc—
And it vanished into the sea below the cliff.
In that moment—
River's face crumpled with heartbreak.
She lunged toward the cliff like someone possessed, desperate to retrieve the sandbag.
But Johnny pulled her back—
And she could only watch helplessly as the bag sank to the bottom of the sea.
Episode 3 ended on River's anguished, devastated expression.
The visuals, combined with the music, pierced the hearts of viewers.
By now, even if the audience still didn't understand what Johnny's dream of going to the moon was really about—
They felt the emotional weight.
That's just the kind of atmosphere this drama created.
Everyone had a sinking feeling that—
When all the mysteries were finally revealed… the truth would be incredibly sad.
That night, comment sections all over the internet were flooded with long-time fans of Su Yan's past works like 'Rurouni Kenshin' and 'An Ancient Love Song'.
["Don't worry, I can still handle this!"]
Based on Su Yan's previous styles, many had already started preparing their emotional defenses in advance.
The next day, the ratings for episode 3 were released.
3.42%.
Nearly identical to the previous week—only a 0.01% difference.
However, the show that had ranked 9th last week saw a small bump—from 3.39% to 3.44%.
That was enough to bump 'To the Moon' down to #9.
Immediately, the show's haters, black fans, and certain industry insiders—who had been bitter ever since 'An Ancient Love Song' kept outperforming their own works—jumped at the chance.
This was the first time a Su Yan project had experienced a drop in rankings.
From 'Rurouni Kenshin' to 'An Ancient Love Song', Su Yan's ratings and rankings had always gone up.
Now, a slip from 8th to 9th?
Finally—a crack in the armor.
And young geniuses are always lightning rods for attention.
People's dark sides often enjoy watching them fall.
Compared to the buzz after episode 2, the chatter after episode 3 was even worse.
But this time, the crew of 'To the Moon'—even the normally anxious Shinozaki Ikumi—no longer paid attention to the online drama.
They all knew:
The story was about to take off.
And besides…
The Xia Flame Awards ceremony was just a few days away.