After Moving in with a French Playboy

[Gentle, career-focused girl with a deer-like vibe × aloof French aristocrat | Living-under-one-roof romance]

Xu Mi crossed oceans to study in France. Before arriving, she’d had a few expectations.

Nothing too extravagant. At the very least, people in the City of Romance should be polite.

That was before she met the blue-eyed young man sent to pick her up: Maxim.

Noble and distant, with an innate pride shining in his blue eyes.

Unfortunately, this handsome gentleman was not exactly easy to get along with.

He started right off by criticizing her, as if deigning to pick her up was already a huge favor.

Only belatedly did she realize that perhaps not all French people were as eloquent as the rumors claimed.

Either way, she wasn’t impressed by Maxim.

"..."

Maxim abruptly turned the steering wheel and glanced coldly at the woman in the passenger seat.

He’d gone to the airport at his parents’ request, and hadn’t expected much from a young woman from another country. After spending time with her, he found her far too petty.

She was a Chinese junior staying at his family’s home. Naturally, they wouldn’t let her want for anything:

a comfortable bedroom, sumptuous meals, rides with a driver. Someone even took care of her weekend outings and holiday plans.

To him, this was all perfectly ordinary life at home.

*

To be honest, Xu Mi didn’t want a close relationship with this so-called older brother she was living with, either.

But when she missed the last bus in the pouring rain and ended up soaked to the skin, a black car cut through the downpour, its headlights falling on her.

Maxim rolled down the window from the driver’s seat and looked up at her...

Well, then.

A castle estate, a luxury car, and a handsome Frenchman who’d come whenever she called. However you looked at it, that wasn’t a bad deal.

*

Maxim didn’t think of himself as the type to fall for someone through his own efforts, but the mark on his neck told him otherwise beneath his fingertips:

Xu Mi’s attitude toward him had improved by eight degrees, and she’d even kissed him, whether she was sober or not...

Wasn’t this kind of relationship, long past the point of friendship, just dating?

Xu Mi, how could you decide to go back to China without even discussing it with me?

A little extra:

After making Xu Mi angry once, Maxim was unusually willing to set aside his proud, never-say-die attitude.

He leaned down of his own accord, planning to win her over with the cheek-kissing greeting familiar to French people.

But the instant their cheeks touched,

Xu Mi froze with her hand raised to stop him. Her face and the tips of her ears quickly turned red, it seemed she’d misunderstood something.

Only after he pulled away did she hurriedly turn her face aside and pretend to casually fix her hair.

Hmph. So even the most polite and distant little sister has an expressive side!

Here’s a preview for a similar upcoming story: "Daddy, Those Two Aren’t Poor Boys [American School]" in my author profile.

[Temporarily 1v1 | Delicate, pampered damsel × 1 gentle, teasing older brother × 2 energetic puppy-like younger brother × 3 overprotective pseudo-father]

Mu Ying had always been spoiled and willful, but after being sent to America, she unexpectedly reined in all her princessy temper.

She moved into the home of an old American friend of her adoptive father. To Mu Ying, studying was secondary. Enjoying the huge house was the real point of life.

Every day, she’d sleep in until the host couple left for work, and the enormous American-style villa would become her private domain.

She could drift lazily in the pool, sunbathe on the spacious balcony, and even let a puppy lick up the ice cream she spilled on the floor. All she had to do was swing her legs and enjoy each day~

...As for the two brothers who were supposedly attending the same school as her, she’d never even met them.

That changed one day when Mu Ying mistook the younger brother, dressed like a hippie, for a thief and chased him out of the yard with a rake.

Only then did she realize that the brothers seemed to have suddenly remembered they had a home there, and kept showing up at her "private mansion" every few days to bother her.

Especially the younger brother, Ryan. As the energetic captain of the football team, he never ran out of ways to tease Mu Ying until her face turned red with anger.

Again!

She stomped her foot and charged down the hall, but Ryan stayed put, arms folded and grinning as he counted, "Three, two, "

Three seconds later, beneath the shadow at the end of the hall, Mu Ying felt a wave of gloom wash over her and slowly stepped back.

She’d just accidentally run straight into Caleb, the only gentle, normal older brother in the house.

Caleb was holding a plate of fruit he’d peeled for her, but he used his other hand to draw her into his arms.

The closeness between them was unprecedented, and the approaching footsteps behind her were just as dangerous.

A terrible premonition rose in Mu Ying’s heart...

Sure enough, before she could pull away, the person behind her pressed firmly against her back, his fresh, clean scent enveloping her shoulders.

Their temples brushed. One stood before her, the other behind. She heard their voices, both trying to beguile her:

"Caught you."

*

Love grows with time. Mu Ying had gradually gotten used to Caleb and Ryan’s presence. At that moment, the three of them were sitting together on the sofa, picking a movie to watch.

Suddenly, her phone rang.

Before she could answer, Ryan snatched it up and pressed the call button. He leaned eagerly toward the camera and greeted the caller with a grin. "Hello, Uncle, "

His gaze landed on the man’s face, and his voice cut off.

Wait, how could Mu Ying’s father be a young man who was barely older than them?!

Caleb had already let go of Mu Ying. His eyes darkened as he finally recognized the man on the screen, and he whispered a reminder: "Mu Tingjun, sixth on the American rich list."

Across the Pacific,

the man’s deep gaze fell on the two boys pressed close to Mu Ying. His warm smile gradually faded.

"..."

The video call abruptly ended.

The three people on the sofa leaned toward the phone together. A new message immediately appeared on the screen:

"I’ll be in America tonight. Don’t sleep. Wait for me."

Theme: Cross cultures, and learn to love and understand one another.