Cherry Blossoms After Winter: Volume 1 Novels & Stories

I clenched my hands tighter as the pain in my palm seared. … I had no idea how long we walked for. The sun seemed to have climbed to its peak. I was finally allowed to remove the blindfold. Before me stretched a winding, narrow path that ended in a bottomless cave. Beside it stood a towering, ancient tree. Its scent of osmanthus drifted even from afar. The villagers said the tree had absorbed the essence of countless Blossom Brides. That was what made it so tall and fragrant. When we were thirty feet away from the cave, the procession abruptly stopped.

A crescent moon nestled in faintly clouded glass, with three tiny snowflake crystals dangling from the edge like frozen stars. She reached out, fingers hovering just above it, heart tightening. WinterMoon. Her home. Or… the home she left behind. The sound of the crowd softened behind her. The music faded. That charm—that moment—was WinterMoon. The night skies. The quiet hush of snowfall on the hills. The scent of pine and frost and something wild. It was the silence of the woods and the hum of belonging. Her throat tightened. The warmth she’d felt only moments ago didn’t vanish—but it dimmed. The edges of it curled in on themselves. She didn’t touch the charm. She didn’t have to. Just lookin

She wasn’t getting what exactly was going on? Meaning, she thought she was dreaming. It was winter from where she came from? Then, where is this ? The beautiful pinkish-white petals of the cherry blossom were falling on her skin, lightly and softly. She was liking and loving each and every second in there. Suddenly, she found out the cut in her arms and it pained like the sting of a bee or an ant.

hanging suspended, like a ripe fruit waiting to be plucked from the tree of knowledge. The cherry tree's white blooms seem to glow with an ethereal light, as if infused with the essence of the season. Stephen's gaze lingers on the blossoms, their delicate beauty a poignant reminder of life's transience. "This year, I sit here, surrounded by the same beauty," he muses, his thoughts wandering to the passage of time. "Will I be here next year, to witness the cherry tree's splendor once more? Or will I be nothing more than a memory, a name etched on one of these stones, lost to the ages?"

I felt like it was cooling the anger and hatred simmering in my heart, putting a cool touch to it. "After the end of cold winter, there is a spring festival with cherry blossom in full bloom. You will like that very much." I heard him say in a small voice. He knew I was going to leave in some days and it's barely been the start of winter; spring wasn't until next year. But I didn't correct him. Because we both maybe wanted to forget about the reality for a moment and live in this dream, until daybreak comes and our eyes open.

Vivian sat alone in the shadowed corner of the bar, watching strangers drift beneath the amber glow of the lights. She could not believe she had actually fallen for a rumor. “The real reason the Hayes and Carter families postponed the wedding? Sebastian’s ex was kidnapped. He’d rather call off the marriage than leave her to die.” One reckless sentence was all it took for her to book the first flight to Harbor City. Sebastian was the untouchable heir everyone admired—a fixture on the covers of financial magazines and the polished businessman delivering keynote speeches at charity galas. What could a man like him possibly be doing in a place like this? Vivian shook her head, set down her g

Lola said, "Don't disturb the lovers' date!" Spring is quietly sprouting, everything is growing, the heat and vitality hidden in the earth are bursting out energetically, the warm wind ripens the cherry trees, the original small cherries grow vigorously under the warm wind, become plump, bear a unique red color, like the most tender blood of a dove. The purple scimitar passed over the cherries, deeply cutting the cake, like spreading wings, blocking any gap that might "leak" spring, as if to seal off the spring light, keeping all the warmth and sweetness in this land.

It's gonna be one hell of a rinse, wash, repeat for him~. And after the white silhouette concluded with that it disappeared within a blink of an eye in front of Anima as well. And she exhaled out a long exasperated sigh out into the empty world of flowers as they flow within their own time of the brisking heat in summer, cringingly of the nose in fall, deceased in winter, and begin anew in spring. In their own time. Anima just sat down with her flowers blooming around her and just waited within that time as well…

Yet not long after she had left, the two of them had ended up like this. However, this no longer had anything to do with Laura, as she now had her own matters to attend to. She had pushed open the wooden window, watered the few potted plants outside, then set down the watering can and lay back on the recliner, gazing at the school surrounded by mountains. It was the summer holidays, and only a few teachers had remained in the small school. Laura had been one of them. The afternoon sunlight had made people drowsy, causing her to drift back into memories of the past.

This had once been the place where our love first took root, but time had passed, and so many things had faded that I could barely remember them anymore. Following June's final wishes, I found a grove of poplar trees and erected a nameless gravestone for her there. Back when we first arrived in the desert, I remembered June making a vow. She said she would one day cover this barren land with greenery and life. And this grove of poplars had been planted by our own hands. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but green. But I no longer had the heart to stay and admire the scenery.