Their Story
Noticing a cute girl at the bus stop one day, the Tomboy Sun Jing tries to strike up a conversation with her—and fails miserably. Thus begins Their Story (also known as SQ: Begin W/Your Name!), a Slice of Life Yuri manhua by Tan Jiu about Sun Jing and her accidental crush, Qiu Tong. It is the Distaff Counterpart to 19 Days.
The story can best be described as switching between coherent, continuous plotlines and random, day-in-the-life vignettes that help to build up the characters and the world around them.
The English translation can be read here
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Their Story contains examples of following tropes:
- Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Sun Jing loves giving these to Qiu Tong.
- All Love Is Unrequited: No crush presented in the story has been confirmed to be mutual. Sun Jing at one point inquires Qin Xiong's upperclassman what he'd do if someone he liked that was of the same gender ended up liking someone else. This causes a minor Heroic BSoD for him. As of chapter 145, Sun Jing's affections for Qiu Tong are not quite so unrequited anymore.
- Armor-Piercing Question: At one point, Qiu Tong performs an embarrassing childhood rhyme to "remove the pain" in Sun Jing's injured arm. When Sun Jing cracks up and asks her why she did it in spite of how juvenile it was, Qiu Tong blushes and quickly starts to leave without answering.
- Berserk Button: Don't remind Tattletale that his grade ranks one spot below Qi Fang.
- Bifauxnen: Sun Jing is an attractive young woman who prefers masculine clothing and behaves in a mostly boyish fashion.
- Brutal Honesty: When asked by Qiu Tong if her personality is odd, Sun Jing doesn't hesitate to answer with an affirmative.
- Butch Lesbian: Sun Jing eventually grows into this.
- Butt-Monkey: Qi Fang usually has something bad happen to him, and usually it's Sun Jing's fault.
- Can't Spit It Out: Most of the early strips of the comic are about Sun Jing not being able to say she likes Qiu Tong. Even after she talks to her, she merely says she wants to be friends.
- Chick Magnet: Sun Jing, Qi Fang, and apparently basketball players.Girl from South High: So it is true that boys who are good at basketball are very popular.
- Closet Key: Qiu Tong to Sun Jing, who takes her sweet time to realize that she fell in love with another girl.
- Crash-Into Hello: As it's revealed later on, Sun Jing's first met Qiu Tong when they collided by accident at the entrance of a convenience store. She almost instantly falls in love after hearing Qiu Tong laugh at their situation.
- Delinquents: Two of them show up at Sun Jing's school to harass a few students about debt. Qin Xiong's upperclassman ends up confronting them.
- Didn't Think This Through: Sun Jing gives Qiu Tong a surprise hug to tease her. She doesn't expect Qiu Tong to hug her back with the same intent. No one wins, as they both end up hugging awkwardly in public for several seconds and a passerby stares, before finally, with great embarrassment, agreeing that Sun Jing should let go first.
- Duels Decide Everything: The upperclassman chooses to settle the score with the delinquents who accidentally injure Sun Jing with a game of basketball.
- Epic Fail: Sun Jing's initial attempts to talk to Qiu Tong all end with her too flustered to say anything other than "hello" before rushing away beet red. This results in the unfortunate side-effect of Qiu Tong being scared of her, thinking that she wants to beat her up.
- Everyone Can See It: Even a convenience store clerk can tell.
- Feminine Women Can Cook: Qiu Tong, the resident girly girl, is shown to possess exceptional cooking skills.
- First Kiss: Chapter 145, where Qiu Tong kisses Sun Jing after the latter asked Qiu Tong to tell her first if she ever liked somebody.
- Flash Forward: Several pages are "Stories from when they're older" when tend to take the form of quick scenes of Qiu Tong and Sun Jing living together.
- The Gadfly: Sun Jing never misses an opportunity to prank Qi Fang, often leading to his public humiliation.
- Genki Girl: Qiu Tong is always energetic and seemingly always happy. Sun Jing has also shown bits of this when she thinks no one is looking.
- Gibberish of Love: Sun Jing is prone to becoming a flustered mess when in the vicinity of Qiu Tong. The latter is not immune to bouts of this either.
- Good Parents:
- Despite not being around often and actually being divorced, Qiu Tong's parents do seem to be this. Her mother compliments her cooking in the Mother's Day strip, and Qiu Tong has fond memories of her father teaching her how to play basketball as a child.
- Sun Jing's parents also seem to have a good relationship with her, and appear to be casual and easygoing.
- The Glomp: Qiu Tong regularly hugs Sun Jing with great vigour and tends to follow it up with snuggling, often while wholly oblivious to the latter's flustered reaction.
- Godiva Hair: How Sun Jing is censored when Qiu Tong accidentally walks in on her naked in the bathroom.
- Happy Dance: Sun Jing does these on at least two occasions, each time causing passing strangers to stare. The first time, it was after finally holding a proper conversation with Qiu Tong. The second was after she received Qiu Tong's phone number and got invited to her house.
- Heroic BSoD: Sun Jing briefly loses her liveliness upon learning that Qiu Tong already has a crush that she will not tell her about. This being Sun Jing, it affects her for all of half a day before she decides to do something about it. Qin Xiong's upperclassman also ends up experiencing one for similar reasons. However, in chapter 145, we later see that Qiu Tong actually liked Sun Jing all along by kissing her, sealing the two's Official Kiss.
- Hidden Depths: Despite having the appearance and behaviour of a typical slacker, Qi Fang is actually revealed to have the 6th highest academic scores in the school.
- Hopeless Suitor: One of Sun Jing's female classmates clearly has a crush on her, but unfortunately for her, Sun Jing very evidently has eyes for no one but Qiu Tong.
- Hunk: The upper classmate Xuezhang. He has a crush on Qin Xiong.
- Intertwined Fingers: Sun Jing fantasizes about holding hands with Qiu Tong like this.
- Implausible Hair Color: Qiu Tong's blonde hair stands out amongst the mostly black haired and occasionally brunette characters.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: After Qiu Tong turns down Sun Jing's confession, Sun Jing falls into this mindset. She feels disproportionately guilty after acting aggressively towards a guy flirting with Qiu Tong, which causes her to remind Qiu Tong that she's free to pursue anyone she wants, and that she should tell Sun Jing if she ever finds anyone she likes. Qiu Tong kisses her on the spot.
- The Lad-ette: Sun Jing carries herself in a decidedly unfeminine fashion (despite being a naturally attractive young woman).
- Like Brother and Sister: Sun Jing and Qi Fang are best friends and never show any indication that they might have romantic interest in each other. She unhesitatingly told him of her crush on a girl, and on several occasions he's aided her in her pursuit of Qiu Tong.
- Long Hair Is Feminine: Qiu Tong has long hair and is the resident Girly Girl. Judging from official art it's probable that the tomboyish Sun Jing will cut her hair short eventually.
- Love at First Sight: Sun Jing becomes smitten with Qiu Tong a mere few seconds into their first encounter after hearing her laugh. As their relationship deepens, she notices that she's only more in love with her by the day. Played tragically for Mo Xiao Nan, who experiences the same thing towards Sun Jing, who is obviously already taken with Qiu Tong.
- Love Hurts: Sun Jing and Qin Xiong's upperclassman both end up with a brief case of Heroic BSoD as a result of this trope.
- Love Confession: A few examples thus far:
- Qin Xiong's upperclassman wrote "I like you" on the inside of an umbrella he gave to Qin Xiong as a birthday gift. Unfortunately, he never opened the umbrella until lending it to Sun Jing on a rainy day.
- After eighty or so chapters of Sun Jing struggling with how to approach the topic, she finally manages to confess her feelings to Qiu Tong in chapter 81.
- Luminescent Blush: At the beginning, Sun Jing is afflicted with these whenever she so much as attempts to talk to Qiu Tong. She's still not immune to it later on whenever Qiu Tong is particularly affectionate to her. Qiu Tong herself starts to sport these with growing frequency around Sun Jing, especially after the latter's confession.
- Also seen in chapter 146 after Qiu Tong and Sun King's first kiss.
- Manly Gay: Qin Xiong's upperclassman is an enormous and muscular man who looks far older than the typical high school student.
- Masculine–Feminine Gay Couple: Qiu Tong is always seen in feminine clothes, while Sun Jing is always seen in masculine clothes, even going so far as modifying the school uniform to include a tie.
- Master of the Mixed Message: Qiu Tong thought that Sun Jing was going to beat her up during their first encounter. Even after they cleared that up, it's not quite clear if Qiu Tong realizes that Sun Jing likes her in a romantic way. After Sung Jing's confession, it's fairly apparent that Qiu Tong had absolutely no idea.
- Nice Girl: Qiu Tong. One of the reasons why Sun Jing fell for her.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Sun Jing accidentally gives Qin Xiong expired yogurt. The result is Qin Xiong gets a major case of stomachache and cannot attend the basketball showdown. Fortunately, Class President steps up to be his substitute.
- No Social Skills: Qiu Tong confesses to Sun Jing that she's been isolated among her peers for much of her life due to not knowing how to interact very well with other people. This is why she's grateful to Sun Jing for actively seeking her out to be friends (though at this point, she had no idea it was because Sun Jing had a crush on her), and why she's still sensitive to being called "weird".
- Older Than They Look: Qiu Tong is older than Sun Jing but looks younger, her youthful looks are remarked upon in-universe. The upperclassman also has this trope going for him, looking far more adult than the other characters.
- One Head Taller: Sun Jing, compared to Qiu Tong. Also, Qin Xiong's upperclassman visibly towers over the guy.
- One of the Boys: Sun Jing has female friends, but is best know for being bros with Qi Fang.
- Parental Neglect: Qiu Tong's father began spending less time with her as she grew up. In retrospect, she regrets not appreciating him taking time with her when she was younger more. Her mother is also usually away working. It's later revealed that her parents actually divorced when she was quite young. In the present, she's actually incredibly lonely due to always being alone in her home.
- Pinky Swear: When Qiu Tong admits that the absence of her parents makes her very lonely, Sun Jing promises her that if she's ever feeling alone again to just send her a message, and she'll be on the way immediately. Qiu Tong tentatively asks her to seal the deal with a pinky promise. Sun Jing obliges.
- Precocious Crush: A small boy becomes charmingly enamoured with Qiu Tong on the bus. Then he looks up her skirt. Unfortunately for him, Sun Jing is present and not in the slightest amused.
- Reaction Shot: After a kiss from Qiu Tong, Sun Jing turns speechless, with a few panels showing her processing what just happened to her, before screaming and sinking to the ground in joy.
- Romantic Wingman: Qi Fang plays this role to Sun Jing during the rain arc.
- Stepford Smiler: Despite how relatively cheerful Qiu Tong usually looks, it's revealed that she suffers from crippling loneliness due to her father being divorced and thus away from her usually, and her mother being a workaholic who's never home.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome: When Qui Tong asks Sun Jing to spend the night, Sun Jing runs over as fast as she can. It's cute and romantic, but also means Sun Jing is drenched with sweat by the time she arrives, which causes a disgusted Qui Tong to order her to take a shower.
- Tender Tears: Qiu Tong starts to cry after rejecting Sun Jing's confession. Leads her to a moment of Cry into Chest after Sun Jing calmly accepts her rejection, only asking that she doesn't refuse to see her anymore.
- Umbrella of Togetherness: It is the centerpiece of the rain arc: walking under the same umbrella serves a double purpose of sparking Qiu Tong's romantic interest in Sun Jing and setting up their next not-date.
- Unskilled, but Strong: Essentially what the Class Rep recruited to replace Qin Xiong in the basketball match is. He cannot play to save his life, but he towers over everyone else, rivaling Qin Xiong's gigantic upperclassman. A great advantage to have in the game.
- Vitriolic Best Buds: Sun Jing and Qi Fang.
