[The love interest is sweet on the outside but pitch-black inside. He's young and good at pretending, so the blurb includes his lies. He's basically acting throughout Chapter 1, and his true nature only comes out in Chapter 2. Please proceed with caution if that's not for you.] Ji Jing, the love interest x Wen Buyi, the protagonist
From the first time Ji Jing met Wen Buyi, the friend his older brother had brought home, he felt an intense aversion to him.
That dislike grew wildly, like creeping vines. When his brother decided to apply to the police academy, Ji Jing tried everything to talk him out of it. Unable to change his mind, he swallowed his pride and went to Wen Buyi, whom he despised, begging him to talk to his brother.
If Wen Buyi asked, his brother would surely agree.
But Wen Buyi said, "That's your brother's choice. Don't try to control him."
He asked, "What if my brother dies in the line of duty?"
Wen Buyi paused before replying, "I would understand his choice."
That year, only twelve years old, Ji Jing cried all night, terrified that the only family he had left might leave him too.
He hated Wen Buyi even more.
-
Ji Jing never saw Wen Buyi again after his second year of middle school. On his eighteenth birthday, he waited alone in his room for Ji Tian, but what arrived was news of his death in the line of duty.
Wen Buyi, whom he hadn't seen in four years, brought him a birthday cake. He didn't touch a bite.
"Do you regret it?"
Regret not talking my brother out of it. Back then, he only listened to you.
Wen Buyi's lashes trembled slightly. After a long silence, he spoke.
"Come live with me."
-
He thought he must be crazy to fall for Wen Buyi, who was seven years older than him.
Then he saw his brother's photograph in Wen Buyi's precious pocket watch.
His voice hoarse, he cornered him against the wall.
"Look at me. Can you tell Ji Jing from Ji Tian?"
Before leaving his hometown at twenty-eight, Wen Buyi lit a cigarette. Through the wisps of smoke, he saw the boy from his memories standing before him, eyes red-rimmed, his grief-stricken gaze making Wen Buyi tremble all over.
A laugh escaped the man's throat.
"Ji Jing, you've already had your revenge. You don't have to pretend to look like that anymore. It's embarrassing."
There was so much more he wanted to say, but when someone is overcome with sorrow, they can't seem to get a word out. He wanted to speak, but couldn't bring himself to.
This might be the last time they saw each other.
So he couldn't afford to look too pathetic. Even though he felt sick, wanted to throw up, and had a hoarse voice, he still had to put on an act and say something high-minded. But the words that passed through his protesting, complaining throat came out as...
"Thank you, President Ji, for personally weaving me a three-year-long paradise. The price was pretty steep, though. You left me broke and took everything from me so quickly."
"At least now we're even, right?"
Ji Jing's lips moved as if he wanted to explain something.
Wen Buyi stubbed out his cigarette, let his smile fade, and walked away from his homeland without looking back.
He thought they would never see each other again.
He just never imagined that this mad dog had never planned to let him go.
And Ji Tian, who should have been resting in his grave, had come back too.
A protagonist who seems emotionally stable but is actually out of options x a dark, younger love interest who acts sweet on the outside
[P.S.]
1. Hate turns to love, a classic "can't help falling for you" romance [the author's preference from beginning to end (TAT)].
2. They are both adults when they confirm their feelings.
3. Both each other's first. No substitutes. Readers with strong preferences, proceed with caution. Later, the love interest goes through a groveling pursuit arc.
4. Set in the same series as "The Canary Keeps Silent" (Chen Zhi x Zhou Jinyu).
That's all I can think of for now.
Theme: Think about it
