Young Master, I Refuse to Fake a Couple with My Nemesis

Young Master, I Refuse to Fake a Couple with My Rival

Shen Zhou x Xie Yang

"What's your name?"

"Xie Yang."

"Which Yang?"

I'm Xie Yang, and that conversation has happened countless times in my life. It wasn't a big deal. Who hasn't been asked how to write the character in their name when introducing themselves?

But.

"I'm Shen Zhou, Zhou as in 'The boat drifts lightly and far away.'"

That's right. He's the source of all my troubles.

Shen Zhou, my sworn enemy, the most annoying person I've ever met.

Our families have been friends for generations. Our parents get along so well they could share a pair of pants, and each is a prominent figure in their own field.

So how did Shen Zhou and I become enemies?

First, as I just said, our names come from the same line of poetry. He's two years older than me. My godmother, who's also his mother, picked the line "The boat drifts lightly and far away" from Tao Yuanming's "Homeward Bound" for him first, and named him Shen Zhou.

Then my mom simply took the leftover character and named me Xie Yang.

One at the beginning, one at the end. Everyone was happy.

Except I was the one who suffered.

He was born two years before me, and started introducing himself with that name two years earlier. Every time I said my name, people brought him up.

It was as if I would always be stuck under his name.

But that wasn't even the worst of it.

What really made us enemies was this.

When I was little, I had a small white dog. It was sweet and clever, and I loved it. I named it "Xiaobai" and often took it out to show off, satisfying a little kid's vanity.

Then Shen Zhou got one too.

Same breed, same coat, practically identical. That alone would've been fine, except his dog was even smarter than mine and obeyed him without question.

...I only found out later that my mom and his mom had ordered puppies from the same litter, and mine had just arrived first. But I didn't know that at the time.

Fine, I put up with that too.

But!

How could those two fall for each other and start dating?!

As a little kid, I simply couldn't accept it. I already disliked him because of the names and the dogs, and this just added fuel to the fire.

I locked Xiaobai in the house and wouldn't let it go out, hoping it would "calm down." It went on a hunger strike for two days.

Fine. I gave in.

But then I heard that Shen Zhou called his dog "Yangyang."

People don't usually ask which character "Yang" is, but because of his long-standing introduction, everyone assumed it was the same "Yang" as mine.

I couldn't confront him. He might turn it around and accuse me instead, and I knew that much.

So not only had he stolen the right to explain my name first and my dog's affection, he was now using my name for his dog too?

A provocation. This was absolutely a provocation.

Even the most patient person has their limits!

So, hey, Xiaobai, how about I call you "Xiaozhou" from now on?

Xiaobai didn't understand, but accepted Xiaozhou.

And it didn't end there.

After that, Shen Zhou started getting all kinds of things that matched mine.

Wasn't he obviously trying to pick a fight with me?!

Also, I'm the youngest in my family, with an older brother and sister, but I don't like being called "Young Master."

Yet he insisted on calling me that, over and over, making me both annoyed and embarrassed.

Fine. If that's how it is, I'll put on a proper display of my young master's temper in front of you. I'll throw my weight around and walk all over you.

And so began our endless "war."

My godmother is a famous director. Shen Zhou grew up hanging around film sets with her, making him half a child star. He went to a regular school, but had a whole fanbase following him around.

How could I put up with that? I wasn't bad-looking either!

So I wanted to act too, but my mom said I was "immature, unlike the level-headed Shen Zhou."

...Huh?

Level-headed?

When he's around me, he's so childish it's enough to make the gods and men furious!

Wow, he really has two faces.

I refused to accept it and insisted on taking the arts entrance exams.

Hmph, I got first place at the Central Academy of Drama. Pretty impressive, right?

What about him? He went off to study materials science or something. Boring as hell.

Eventually, I finally got to act in my godmother's film. For the record, I won the role through a proper audition. No special treatment. I've told you, Young Master here has talent.

As for Shen Zhou, he was in it too, but only as my supporting actor.

Ha. That felt good.

After the movie came out, I became famous, just as expected.

But...

Why was everyone shipping me with him?!

Young Master refuses to fake a couple with his sworn enemy!!!

Theme: True love isn't about possession. It's about letting the other person make a clear-eyed choice