
long post ahead, sorry!
spent hours working out the timeline and going through the whole story again and i think if i understand correctly, there is a time skip somewhere around 446-452, with 452 definitely occurring in the future and that is where we are now. we can assume through context that he tian left sometime after high school (we know from the christmas chapters that he tian went through high school bc jian yi talks about how the three of them are in uni while jian yi is going through high school bc we know from the early chapters that jian yi gets kidnapped his second day of high school and does not return until zhan zhengxi's uni days) and after leaving he tian did not keep contact with mo. not sure exactly why he tian left but i assume it is related to his brother and/or getting money to provide for mo. we also know from the christmas chapters that he tian returns on christmas day in the future (so during their uni days) so the current chapters are occuring either during or directly after their uni days and after he tian has returned and pretty soon after he returned since mo is still clearly upset. we also know since they are still in uni or maybe just graduated uni (based on zhan zhengxi job searching now) that he tian left for about 2-4years. i hope this helps, it took me so long to piece this together ( ̄∇ ̄")

"i dont want you to like me more and more, these words are lies"
WHAT IF I JUST EXPLODE INTO A MILLION PIECES

it was a note he tian wrote early on! he tian said "i dont want you to like me more and more" to mo when they were just meeting, but this note clarifies that he lied in that moment. mo finds the note ~ch 307 in a jacket he was given much earlier, this here shows that mo kept that note for years because it meant so much that he tian really did want to get closer to mo from early in their friendship/relationship!

music being the metaphor omgggg ╥﹏╥(≧∀≦)
also can confirm that prom is pretty lame tbh, maybe its also bc im disabled and cant dance but i spent most of the night sitting at my table with a balloon animal while my friends danced and occasionally they would come and talk to me when they needed a break. post-prom was much better bc we just had a sleepover at someone's house and chilled which i could still be a part of despite my disabilities :)))

It's definitely not disability-friendly. At least homecoming dances aren't, I skipped prom. Maybe it was because our venue was so small and there was so many people but it was suffocating and there's no way someone in a wheelchair or using crutches would be able to get into the gym where the dancing was

Prom is only fun if you have friends or a date. Otherwise, you might just be standing around, super awkward and lonely. Prom is meant for dancing/partying, so if you’re shy and alone, it’ll be hard to get a good experience.
My school wasn’t super rich, but they rented a venue and provided easy to eat foods and cheap drinks. It’s ok since I had friends that were going. I paid $90 for my ticket and lowkey regretted it at the end of the night. Best part of the night was probably finding somewhere to eat after prom. 90% of the kids that attended had the same idea and basically ate at a nearby Dennys.
he should totally wear a bra for her, maybe even a cute matching lingerie set