The Sickly Fake Young Master and His Childhood Friend, the Real Young Master, Get Their HEA

(Updating slowly. Feel free to let it build up and binge it once it's complete!)

After waking up critically ill, Qu Xiaoqi became self-aware.

It turned out he was living inside a danmei novel about a wealthy family's power struggles.

It turned out he was the frail fake young master who had been switched at birth.

It turned out his childhood friend, poor and down on his luck, was the novel's real young master and protagonist. After turning dark, he planned to make Qu taste the misery of his own childhood, starting by breaking his legs to settle the score...

Qu Xiaoqi, weak, pitiful, and helpless, hugged his still perfectly intact legs and cried his eyes out.

He cried until late into the night, then took a tissue from the childhood friend who had rushed to the hospital overnight and offered it to him. As Qu Xiaoqi blew his nose, he reflected on his mistakes and resolved to change.

If no matter how nice he was to the protagonist, the protagonist would still turn dark and torment him, then he wouldn't be nice to him anymore. He'd cling to the protagonist's love interest instead and charge ahead!

The protagonist's love interest was a top student who had transferred schools. His grades were on par with his childhood friend's, and he also had an overpowering aura, so surely he and the protagonist, his childhood friend, could keep each other in check!

Qu Xiaoqi held the fragrant lunchbox his childhood friend had made by hand, tears spilling from the corners of his mouth.

Xie Yuanhe: "...?"

*

Xie Yuanhe thought his childhood friend had been acting strangely lately.

First, the milk that used to appear on his desk every morning was gone.

Then, Qu stopped having lunch with him,

Stopped inviting him to the library,

And stopped waiting for him after school.

In the end, he couldn't even be bothered to talk to him.

While wondering what he'd done to upset this little tyrant, Xie Yuanhe happened to catch Qu Xiaoqi giving a can of milk to the new boy in class one afternoon, when no one else was on their floor of the school building. And in his hand was something that looked suspiciously like a love letter.

Xie Yuanhe laughed in anger and immediately dragged him back. But he was afraid of hurting this delicate little porcelain doll, so with nowhere to vent his anger, he shot the transfer student a chilling glare.

The transfer student was thoroughly intimidated. He turned to Qu Xiaoqi and said, "I don't like people that scary. You're the one I like."

Qu Xiaoqi's eyes widened in shock: WTF??!!

So the next day, the transfer student switched schools again, sporting a bruised and swollen face.

Qu Xiaoqi's eyes widened in shock once more: What happened to keeping each other in check?!

He was at a loss, clutching the guide he'd written for a potential candidate to become the protagonist's love interest, "One Hundred Things About A-He's Daily Habits and Likes: How to Win Him Over," when someone gently gripped his neck, pinned him against the wall, and kissed him.

His lips were bitten until they bled. Qu Xiaoqi struggled and sobbed, "We can't do this!"

Xie Yuanhe: "Why not?"

"You'll break my pretty legs! QAQ!"

Xie Yuanhe gazed at him for two long seconds, then let out an amused breath through his nose. "I won't."

*

The abuse from his adoptive parents, the rejection of those around him, and the calculated approach of people who meant to use him eventually made Xie Yuanhe, the real young master who had returned, turn dark.

Their positions and circumstances were reversed.

With reddened lips, Qu Xiaoqi accused him through his tears: "Liar! You said you wouldn't touch my legs!"

His childhood friend looked innocent. "I didn't break them."

"But you... you... made them dirty." Qu Xiaoqi covered his face and sobbed. "I'm not pure anymore..."

"One Hundred Ways to Use Qi Baby's Legs [doge]"

*

You are my boundless devotion, the one I can never reach.

You are the star I want to claim as mine and keep by my side, even after stumbling through life and wandering through many lifetimes.

Cultured scoundrel, sly fox seme x emotionally slow, adorable uke

Reader's Guide:

* 1v1, uke's perspective, happy ending! They fall in love and start dating as adults. The seme has been reborn before the story begins. In essence, both are reborn.

* The seme is controlling and possessive, but won't hurt the uke or go against his wishes. The uke is a sweet, naive crybaby, and his background is extraordinary too.

* Lots of emotional development, slow-burn plot.

* Blurb dated 2021/12/18

Theme: Cherish the person in front of you.