After Mistaking My Brother for an AI Boyfriend

When Yun Qi was ten, he moved into the Xie family home with his mother.

He knew that the tall, handsome boy was his new older brother, Xie Yihuai.

So he nodded, still innocent and unsure, but the boy's cold glare forced the word "Brother" back down his throat.

Yun Qi, who had been left in the care of others by his parents for years, longed desperately to be loved.

From then on, the hopeful, yearning "Brother" he wanted to say was buried beneath years of polite distance.

They barely spoke, living like strangers.

.

When he was seventeen, a new AI model was integrated into chat apps around the world.

After accidentally learning that an AI boyfriend could be customized to his liking, Yun Qi tentatively opened a chat and typed in a prompt:

"Hello. You are my older brother, though we aren't related by blood. Your name is Xie Yihuai. You seem cold and indifferent, but in truth, you're an older brother who cares deeply about his younger brother..."

A few seconds passed, but the AI didn't reply.

Thinking his instructions weren't clear enough, Yun Qi cautiously sent another message:

"Can I call you Brother from now on?"

.

Yun Qi liked this older brother. He was a little cold, but he fit the description well enough.

But as time passed, Yun Qi noticed more and more strange things.

The moment he mentioned having a fever, a pile of cold medicine deliveries would suddenly arrive.

A cake he happened to mention would be brought home the very next day by Xie Yihuai, who had been away on a business trip.

And after he mentioned being bullied at school, the bullies were expelled the following Monday.

...And in the real world, Xie Yihuai's attitude toward him gradually softened.

.

One day, after being hurt, Yun Qi opened the chat.

"If only you weren't an AI. I wish someone cared about me this much in the real world too..."

A minute after he sent the message, the chat remained silent. But outside his bedroom, hurried footsteps approached.

When Yun Qi opened the door, Xie Yihuai was standing there.

He was holding Yun Qi's favorite strawberry cake.

...Huh?

.

Xie Yihuai had always thought his relationship with Yun Qi would remain distant until the end of their lives.

Then, in the year he graduated from university, while working overtime until the early hours of the morning, Xie Yihuai suddenly received several messages on his phone.

An account with no name broke the blank chat history with a single "Brother."

From then on, every little part of Yun Qi seeped into his life, all at once.

Xie Yihuai suddenly wanted to hear Yun Qi call him "Brother" in person.

*

They're not related by blood, and they aren't registered in the same household.

Synopsis captured on 2025.4.14

Theme: Loving you is a lifelong dampness