Return to the Nest

The story is complete. The completed-volume version went live on July 5, 2024. Thank you for reading. *Bows.*

Blurb:

If he could choose his own fate, or choose the form in which he lived in this world, Ji Wusheng feels he shouldn't have become a top idol. He might not even have chosen to be human.

Perhaps he should have been a tree, planted in the Fang family's home in Victoria Harbour.

When Fang Po was still unsteady on his feet, he would circle the tree, holding onto its trunk with his chubby little hands as he learned to walk.

Later, when Fang Po became a mischievous kid, he would hang a swing from the tree.

Later still, when Fang Po went away to school, perhaps he would call home from overseas and ask, "Did the osmanthus tree bloom this year?"

Then one autumn, Fang Po would follow his mother's wishes and marry a young woman from a prestigious family. Beneath that osmanthus tree, he would slip a ring onto his fiancée's finger.

And then, one day, a rare snowfall would blanket Victoria Harbour, where snow was almost unheard of. At dawn, someone would look out in surprise and find that one of the trees in the back garden had been crushed beneath the snow.

A future that comes to nothing is still a future.

An entertainment-industry novel that isn't really about the entertainment industry.

Fang Po (top) x Ji Wusheng (bottom)

Content warnings:

1. The bottom is submissive and puts himself down. The one who falls first is the one who gets ground into the dirt. Extremely bottom-protective readers, do not read. I'll say it again: submissive bottom, submissive bottom. Extremely bottom-protective readers, do not read.

2. Happy ending, but with plenty of old-school melodramatic scumbag-top vibes. If even the slightest whiff of that bothers you, don't read.

3. The bottom suffers a brain hemorrhage that leaves him paralyzed. The story contains many scenes of illness and emotional and physical suffering. He won't recover, and there are no miraculous medical breakthroughs of the sort you see on Jinjiang. Don't read if you can't handle that.

4. I've always been a despairing, stubborn illiterate who pecks at the keyboard with my feet. I've tried to improve, with little success. My writing, style, and logic have all been buried and given tombstones, and this is the best I can do. By clicking in, I assume you already know all this. Don't force yourself: read if you can, and leave if you can't. Don't try to carve this rotten piece of wood into something else, and don't force yourself. Be civil when reading. Insults are wrong, and insulting me isn't okay.

5. Thank you for reading my story.

[Coming soon]

Find it in my profile: A Younger-Man Romance

A younger wolf-dog top and his kindhearted bottom, a heart-failure patient who talks nonsense and isn't very serious but knows how to keep his dog on a leash.

Blurb:

In the photo studio, the makeup artist lifts Shen Zui's chin and adds a touch of lip color to his grayish-white lips. She leans back to admire her handiwork and says sincerely, "Mr. Shen, you're so handsome..."

Thinking of herself, the makeup artist sighs. "Sure enough, people stay young forever as long as they don't get married or have kids."

Shen Zui isn't used to wearing makeup. The eyeliner on his waterline keeps making him want to blink, so he simply closes his eyes. "I've raised a child before."

Across the room, Bian Du suddenly turns around and bangs into a table leg with a loud thud. He freezes in place, halfway through turning.

His colleagues turn around and burst into laughter, jokingly telling him to stop messing around.

Everyone in the studio knows Shen Zui has never married because of his poor health. How could an unmarried man have raised a child?

But Shen Zui is serious. He isn't just agreeing that he'll get old too. It's more like he's desperately trying to prove that he really did have that part of his life.

He sighs, wishing there were still colleagues from those days to back him up and prove that he'd really raised a troublesome child. People in this line of work come and go too quickly.

"I really did raise a child, for many years."

Shen Zui raises a hand to show how tall the child was, his expression unusually serious. "I raised him from when he was this little."

"He was a handful. He'd get into trouble if you took your eyes off him for a second. I had to hold his hand everywhere we went."

Everyone knows Shen Zui never lies. If he's being this serious, then it must be true.

Nobody is laughing now. Their curious eyes shine like searchlights, leaving Shen Zui nowhere to hide. They ask, "Where is the child now?"

Shen Zui lowers his eyes and sneaks a glance toward Bian Du, far, far away. He notices that at some point Bian Du has turned around and is now staring straight at him.

His heart pounds, and the ache is already beginning.

His colleagues are still waiting for an answer. After a deep breath, the dull pain eases, and Shen Zui smiles. "There wasn't anything after that. The child grew up, so he didn't need me to hold his hand anymore."

*

Late at night, Shen Zui finds a dog he once abandoned waiting outside his home.

The dog goes from a quiet, silent pup to a quiet, silent wolf. He bites Shen Zui's lips again and again, stubbornly lacing their fingers together.

The little wolf's eyes are black. His stubborn voice sounds just like it did back then. "I need you."

"Shen Zui, if you don't hold my hand, I'll die."

Theme: Cherish the person in front of you