A Handbook for Raising Your Thumb-Sized Ex

When Ye Ya woke up, he had become a tiny person only 10 cm tall.

For three months, he lived through an urban wilderness survival adventure: fighting ants for food, hiding from wild cats while rummaging through trash cans, and sneaking into a beehive to steal honey.

While being chased away one day, he leaped from a big tree and landed in a luxurious mansion.

Ye Ya: C-could I stay here for a while?

At the time, he had no idea it belonged to his ex.

They hadn't parted on good terms.

*

Three months after their breakup, Zhou Xubai still couldn't forget what his ex had said the day they split.

"I can't stand you anymore. You're cold and selfish. You never say anything romantic, you don't even smile! When you're working, you disappear completely. What's the difference between dating you and dating thin air?"

Zhou Xubai took it to heart. He worked even more overtime, became even colder and more heartless, and deliberately posted pictures of his overtime on social media.

But his ex seemed to have vanished without a trace, with no updates at all.

He realized that something might be wrong with his mental state.

The dog at home sometimes barked furiously at empty air, and sometimes ran around in a panic.

Then one day, Zhou Xubai found a tiny person in the fridge, struggling to carry food. The little figure was more detailed than a figurine, no bigger than his thumb.

The tiny person hadn't noticed him and was laboriously moving a piece of whole-wheat toast many times bigger than his body.

As he carried it, he kept muttering, "Just a little more. One, two, three, heave-ho!"

The little man met his eyes, looked utterly horrified, then stumbled backward and fell.

Zhou Xubai: ...

Was he still dreaming?

Wasn't that his ex?

*

Ye Ya thought he was done for. His ex would surely chop him into tiny pieces.

He'd fallen for Zhou Xubai's looks and stubbornly pursued him until they started dating. Then, once he'd lost interest, he dumped him with some flimsy excuse. Now Zhou Xubai could crush him as easily as an ant.

Yet the day after he was discovered, Zhou Xubai didn't give him any trouble. Instead, he invited a psychologist over and solemnly asked, "What should I do if I keep seeing things?"

On the third day, he invited a Taoist priest to perform an exorcism at home. The peachwood sword whirled through the air so forcefully it nearly struck Ye Ya, who was hiding in a gap in the sofa.

On the fourth day, Ye Ya watched as Zhou Xubai stood in the empty living room and softly said, "Maybe I just miss him too much."

Ye Ya: ?

This wasn't going the way he'd expected.

*

Ye Ya had a new problem lately.

At some point, the dog stopped chasing him and barking. The fridge suddenly filled with little cakes, snacks, and fresh fruit.

There was no way he could carry it all. No way at all.

Worse yet,

his ex seemed to be secretly keeping him as a pet while mistaking him for a hallucination.

He also often said strange things to him...

"So cute."

"I want to swallow the baby whole."

Then he would force a stiff, practiced smile at Ye Ya.

#What do I do if my ex seems to have gone crazy after I dumped him?#

A bratty, unlucky bottom x a rational, overbearing top at first (fake overbearing), then a dark top

Theme: Keep striving through life and grow toward the sun