"Interesting."
Nina shifted slightly as she continued reading.
Even though she had only read a few hundred words so far, the writing style of Blue Spring Ride felt noticeably different from most popular romance novels on the market.
At its core, shoujo romance naturally focused on the heroine's inner world.
However, most stories did not dive this deeply or describe those emotions with such frequency. If handled poorly, that kind of writing easily became tedious, bloated, and exhausting to read.
Yet Blue Spring Ride was almost entirely composed of Futaba's inner monologue.
In contrast, the male lead, Kou, remained hazy and indistinct, never fully described, yet still forming a surprisingly clear presence in the reader's mind.
Nina had to admit that the immersion was powerful.
A simple line like, "At seven in the evening, I waited at our promised place until night fell. He never came," was enough to make her chest ache.
That impulsive shout of "I hate all boys!" aimed at the boring guys in class had protected Futaba in the moment, yet it had also wounded the person she truly liked.
Futaba planned to apologize the next day at school.
What she did not know was that the reason Kou had asked to meet her that night was to say his final goodbye before transferring schools.
That night, when Kou never showed up, the chance to apologize vanished forever.
Nina kept reading.
"I really loved him. Even now, he still occupies a corner of my heart. I want to go back to that time so badly."
The perspective shifted from middle school to Futaba's high school years. Having learned from her middle school experience, where being too gentle and cute had led to other girls disliking and isolating her, Futaba hid her true self in high school.
She deliberately acted loud and careless, spoke bluntly, and ate without restraint. As long as boys did not like her, the girls in class would accept her.
"This is painfully realistic," Nina sighed softly.
Her own workplace was the same. Women who were pretty, lively, and carefully dressed, who attracted attention from male coworkers, were often mocked and gossiped about behind their backs by other women.
The heroine was written in a way that made her genuinely pitiful. This was high school, after all.
Nina continued reading.
The chance encounter with Kou at her new school, the jolt of emotion as they passed each other, the reunion at the place where they once sheltered from the rain, and the meeting after three years beneath the setting sun.
From a plot standpoint, it was not complicated. In fact, if one thought about it carefully, it was almost ordinary. But that was precisely the appeal of shoujo romance. There were not that many dramatic, earth-shattering love stories in real life.
Most romances were simple and sincere. The true draw of this genre lay in its characters.
By the time Nina reached this point, she was fully immersed. The long stretches of inner monologue did not irritate her the way similar novels often did. Instead of feeling like filler, they pulled her deeper and deeper into Futaba's emotions.
When Kou and Futaba finally reunited after three years at the place where they once hid from the rain, Nina felt her heart lift.
"Is it finally happening? An apology after three years, and a new beginning after three years."
She read carefully, afraid to miss a single line.
"After all this time, how about a hug?" Kou said, smiling gently as the girl across from him finally recognized who he was.
"No. I will not," Futaba replied. "Who says something like that?"
"I guess that makes sense," Kou said calmly, still smiling. "After all, you have always hated boys."
Nina's chest tightened.
How could that be calm? How could it be detached?
He remembered her saying she hated boys even after three whole years.
She kept reading.
"Yes. I have always hated boys," Futaba said after a moment of silence, looking straight at him. "But you were the exception."
"Yeah," Kou replied softly. "I was the same. I used to like you."
Nina's gaze sharpened. Even though it felt fast, even though it felt sudden, the story was overwhelmingly compelling.
The male and female leads confessed in the very first chapter. The novel was called Blue Spring Ride, yet it moved straight to mutual feelings. The author's pen name was Shiori Takahashi, right? Whoever she was, she clearly understood what readers wanted.
What was the appeal of stories where the protagonists spent months holding hands but never progressed?
But the story immediately took a sharp turn.
Just when it seemed like everything would be resolved after they confessed and cleared up the misunderstanding from three years ago, Kou drew a line between them.
"We cannot go back anymore. Everything has already changed. What we had is nothing more than a memory now."
After saying that, the boy turned and walked away without looking back.
Nina felt a pain she could not quite put into words.
"Just like how I changed, the Kou from back then is gone too. We can never return to that time."
The first chapter ended with Futaba watching Kou's retreating back as her inner monologue echoed in her mind.
Now, a quiet melancholy settled in her chest.
Futaba. Kou.
"Why is this story so immersive? Is it just because it suits my taste so perfectly?"
After finishing the first chapter of Blue Spring Ride, Nina felt strangely empty.
Even though she had bought two magazines, she had no desire to read the other stories in Fleeting Blossoms right now. The same went for Crimson Maple.
She wanted to read the second chapter immediately, but…
"I have to wait until Sunday? This is torture," Nina groaned, flopping backward onto her bed.
Then she suddenly remembered something.
She sat up quickly and pulled out the promotional poster for Blue Spring Ride that had been tucked inside the magazine.
The illustration showed a boy and a girl facing each other beneath the evening sun.
Futaba looked delicate and gentle, while Kou stood tall and handsome. Yet in both of their gazes lingered an emotion that could not be named.
After reading the novel, the poster felt completely different.
"It is drawn so well," Nina murmured. "This really is Kou and Futaba."
Unlike before, she genuinely liked the poster now.
After flipping through the first chapter again, Nina picked up her phone.
She logged onto Crimson Maple Literature's official website and followed the prompts step by step. Soon, a confirmation window popped up on her screen.
After entering the unique serial code included with each legitimate magazine copy, another window appeared.
"Are you sure you want to cast your vote for 'Blue Spring Ride'? Note: Each magazine contains only one unique serial code, and once verified, it can be used to vote for only one novel."
Nina did not hesitate. She tapped confirm.
When the rating screen appeared afterward, she once again did not hesitate and gave Blue Spring Ride's first chapter a perfect score of ten.
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