Plucking the Stars

Everyone knows Meng Xiaoxing was raised as the little princess doted on by Chen Zhaojing.

She had a sweet tooth, so he came up with all kinds of desserts to please her.

She loved getting into trouble, so he always cleaned up after her without a single complaint.

But when she confessed her feelings, he ran away.

*

After returning to the country, Chen Zhaojing was shocked to find that his little princess had grown into a graceful young woman.

He tried hard to repair their relationship, and she still called him “Brother” just as she had when they were children.

For some reason, the familiar name had become grating and unbearable.

*

Until one night, she tugged on his tie, her eyes hazy with drink and her smile unabashed. “Brother Zhaojing, give me a kiss~”

He couldn't resist her sweet talk, so he let their feelings grow wild, and everything spiraled out of control.

A few days later, however, he accidentally learned that she was engaged to someone else. Then he happened to see her smiling brightly as she rose onto her tiptoes to kiss a man on the cheek, and that man wasn't even her fiancé.

Chen Zhaojing stood among the crowd, his face pale, his eyes full of emotions he was desperately trying to suppress.

He let out a cold laugh, and his bottled-up feelings burst out completely.

*

Later, one night...

The tie had rubbed red marks onto Meng Xiaoxing's wrists. Tears glistened in her eyes as she pleaded sweetly, “Brother Zhaojing, I was wrong.”

Chen Zhaojing looked down at her, his burning palm settling against her slender neck. “Tell me, who is your fiancé? Who is the man you kissed? And who am I?”

His lips brushed her ear. His voice had the same tone he'd used to soothe her to sleep as a child, full of endless patience and tenderness:

“Xiaoxing, are you trying to make your brother die?”

Reader's Guide:

The male lead seems gentle and composed, but he's actually a genuine gloomy, possessive type~

The male lead goes dark later on, but the female lead loves him to bits. Everyone else is just part of their game.

1v1, both chaste

Coming soon: Borrowed Moonlight

Everyone says Wen Yu loves Lu Xingchi down to her bones. She even stays by his side faithfully, willingly becoming a stand-in for his first love.

She does her best to imitate the woman he calls his first love, and even lets him murmur someone else's name during intimate moments.

One day, his friends tease him and ask what he thinks of her.

“A substitute is just a substitute. A fake can never become real.”

Lu Xingchi gives a cold laugh and drains his glass. “She's just something to pass the time.”

Wen Yu simply sits quietly beside him, smiling gently as if she hasn't heard a thing.

*

At Wen Yu's art exhibition, one of the paintings is titled Beloved.

A single sketched eye looks out of place among the many exquisite, ornate paintings.

Lu Xingchi wraps an arm around his first love's waist and looks at Wen Yu with a malicious smile.

Pointing to the beauty mark beneath his own eye, he mocks her. “Not bad, but the details aren't quite right.”

Only later does he understand.

His brother, who died young of an illness, never had a beauty mark beneath his eye.

And the person in that painting wasn't him.

*

Years later, the two meet again at a banquet.

The usually calm and composed young master of the Lu family loses control. His face turns deathly pale, his eyes bloodshot, and he doesn't even notice the red wine spilling all over him.

“A substitute is always a substitute,” Wen Yu says, frowning slightly. “A fake can never become real.”

She turns to leave, but he pulls her into a room.

In the darkness, he holds her tight, burying his face against her collarbone.

“Don't go.” His whole body trembles, his voice choked with sobs. “Yu'er, please.”

“Don't cry.” She sighs and pats his back, her voice as gentle as ever. “When you act like this, you don't seem like him at all.”

Theme: Fate is the greatest matchmaker of all