When Nan Xian was eight, she moved into the Jiang family home and gained an older brother.
Her brother always wore a white shirt and called her Nan Nan in a gentle voice.
He tutored her, went to parent-teacher meetings for her, and took her to amusement parks.
He also kept her company in the rain, skipped class with her, and got tattoos with her.
Whatever Nan Xian wanted, he gave her. Whatever she wanted to do, he did with her.
Nan Xian said her brother was the best brother in the world.
Jiang Yuran's eyes held a faint smile. In a soft voice, he promised to grant Nan Nan every wish.
The siblings were so close that their friends joked their future spouses would be jealous.
Jiang Yuran just smiled, while Nan Xian tightly held her brother's little finger, her heart so heavy she could hardly breathe.
Everyone envied them. No one knew Nan Xian wanted to be more than just Jiang Yuran's sister.
Until Zhou Guozhen came along.
In public, Nan Xian would blink her clear eyes and sweetly call him Brother Guozhen.
In private, she wouldn't even spare him a glance, afraid he'd get in the way of her life with Jiang Yuran.
The young man discovers the secret buried deep in her heart. He grips Nan Xian's slender wrist and stares at the star pendant around her fair, slender neck. Leaning close to her ear, he says each word slowly, each one cutting deep: "Disgusting."
Under his fixed gaze, the girl suddenly smiles. Her gaze turns cool, though her voice remains soft. "You find a sister who likes you disgusting, but you don't find yourself disgusting?"
Zhou Guozhen suddenly curls his lips in a careless smile, but there is no humor in his eyes.
No one sees the fist clenched at his side, tight enough to draw blood.
-
Just as no one knows that Nan Xian loves Jiang Yuran,
no one knows that when Zhou Guozhen was a child, he met a girl on a long bridge on a rainy day.
Nan Xian has forgotten the past, and forgotten that someone once gave her a star.
He told her, "From now on, whenever you see a star, it'll be like seeing me. Nan Nan, don't be afraid."
**
A rebellious, antisocial guy who's great at putting on an act x a gentle, well-mannered guy with a scheming side x a carefree playboy who's deeply devoted
Nan Xian x Jiang Yuran x Zhou Guozhen
* The heroine is not adopted by the Jiang family. The Jiang and Zhou families are blended families, though the blending didn't work out. None of the three are blood-related, and they won't be registered on the same household record.
* Probably a melodramatic love triangle.
Blurb written on April 29, 2022.
Theme: If no one will save me, I'll save myself
