Who Are You to Me?

At the matchmaking table, Chen Mo listed his requirements without changing expression: a house, a car, savings, no debt, but a sexless marriage, and he'd be bringing his family, including a kid.

His match was shocked. "How can all those things happen at the same time?"

The kid was young, but not that young. Xin Wutong was five years younger than Chen Mo. Orphaned as a child, he'd been raised in Chen Mo's home and was practically his little brother.

Xin Wutong realized early on that he liked Chen Mo.

But Chen Mo was his older brother and family. He didn't dare hope for anything more, so he could only hide the bitterness of his unrequited love in his heart.

So he watched Chen Mo call him a brother every day, eat and live with him... and then bring someone home and say, "This is your sister-in-law."

The thread holding Xin Wutong together snapped completely. Fine, let's be brothers for the rest of our lives. Did I really need you that badly?! I'll find myself a boyfriend too!

That was when things started to go off course.

That day, he'd just started dating his "little boyfriend" and hadn't come home all night. The next morning, as he opened the front door, Chen Mo raised his bloodshot eyes. Clearly, he hadn't slept a wink.

Chen Mo: Where were you?

Xin Wutong: ...I stayed up all night at an internet cafe with classmates.

Chen Mo: I called every classmate you could've gone with. None of them had seen you.

Xin Wutong: Well, uh...

Chen Mo: Keep making things up. I've been sitting here for twelve hours, from last night until now. Xin Wutong, I'm giving you one last chance. Where were you?

Later, Xin Wutong learned that this wasn't Chen Mo being controlling. It was a fierce fear of losing him.

Chen Mo also learned that he wasn't really asexual. He'd just never faced the right person before.

[Reading Guide]

1. Both are virgins. Five-year age gap: Chen Mo is 26, Xin Wutong is 21.

2. Chen Mo has a match from a matchmaking date, and Xin Wutong has had a boyfriend, but neither had any intimate contact with them.

3. A short story written for practice, focused entirely on romance.

4. The top and bottom aren't related by blood. Their parents were close, so they grew up together.

5. I'll add more later once I've figured it out. For now, I'm just leaving this idea here.

Theme: Love and love