Unlucky office-worker heroine x top-tier publicist hero returning from abroad
Childhood friends | Reunion after years apart | Friends with benefits to lovers | Faux replacement romance
After her family fell on hard times, Xia Chun became a corporate drone at a PR firm, with the heavens seemingly out to get her: nothing went right in her career or love life. Her boyfriend of many years called her a nun and dumped her.
At a bar, she tried to drown her sorrows. A man with broad shoulders and a narrow waist held a glass in his long-fingered hand, tipped it back, and took a sip. A drop of liquor slid down his neck to his collarbone.
She imagined he was her childhood friend Qiu Wu, her unattainable ideal, and went over to him. "Gorgeous, what's your name?"
The man replied in a cold, imperious voice, "Yuan Zhi."
Xia Chun: "Let's sleep together."
When she woke up, she'd broken her vow of chastity.
Not only had this man named Yuan Zhi become her boss, he also went out of his way to make things difficult for her at work.
At night, he held her and said, "Baby, I love you." He was nothing like his abstinent self during the day.
*
Top publicist Yuan Zhi returned home after getting facial surgery, all so he could become his childhood friend Xia Chun's boss and have a legitimate reason to reunite with her. But before they could reunite, they began an improper relationship.
She didn't even remember him, and the woman she was now was nothing like the passionate, flamboyant girl he remembered. He kept trying to win her over, telling himself, No matter what she's become, I love her.
Yuan Zhi accidentally overheard Xia Chun tell a friend, "Yuan Zhi is a little like Qiu Wu, so I've grown fond of him too."
When Yuan Zhi suggested they end things, Xia Chun didn't try to stop him. She even looked a little apologetic. "I don't love you. You're just a substitute."
"I don't love you either! You're a substitute too!" Yuan Zhi was jealous of himself. She loved the person he used to be, and he longed for the person she used to be. So they were even.
*
At a gathering, Yuan Zhi showed up and looked at Xia Chun with an amused smile as he introduced himself. "Hello, everyone. I'm Qiu Wu."
Xia Chun: "You? You're Qiu Wu?"
Yuan Zhi nodded. "I changed my name after going abroad."
Then, in front of everyone, he said, "Xia Chun, long time no see."
But Xia Chun asked him, "Did you get work done on your face?"
Reading guide
1. Both leads have only been with each other.
2. Friends with benefits to lovers.
3. There will be flashbacks to the past, with plenty of angst.
4. The hero has had 40% of his face done.
Blurb: 2026.7.7
Theme: You are enough as you are
