Expired Apples

(Print edition signed; see @-Guiwuli for publication updates)

[Coming soon: Entering the Sacred Mountain, chocolate milk / second-chance romance

Making Pure Love Work in a TL Manga Is Impossible, light fantasy]

Cold-faced but warm-hearted, oblivious girl × scheming, brooding husband material

(1)

The day Liang Chuying got together with her crush, her younger brother, Liang Yu, killed himself.

She shed a few tears at Liang Yu's bedside, even though she didn't think she and this fake little brother were particularly close.

Liang Yu survived the attempt, and after he was brought home from the hospital, Liang Chuying noticed that he always looked at her strangely.

There was a strange, suggestive air to it, and a strange, intense possessiveness.

(2)

The year Liang Yu and Liang Chuying both went away to college, their father told them to share an apartment.

Liang Chuying couldn't stand him and said she absolutely refused to live with him.

Liang Yu kept his composure. The corners of his lips, which he'd forced into a smile, slowly drooped. When Liang Chuying frowned and turned to look at him, he put on a good-natured smile again.

“Sis, did you forget? I washed your clothes every week in middle and high school, and I made your lunch for you.”

Resting his elbows on the table, his eyes half-lidded, he smiled warmly, with a hint of deceit, and murmured, “Without me around, I doubt you could even survive.”

On the day she moved in with Liang Yu.

Before she'd even brought in her luggage, she heard the front door click shut in the darkness. It had been locked from the inside. Liang Yu leaned lazily against the door and walked toward her, one step at a time.

Liang Chuying clenched her teeth, a deep sense of dread growing inside her.

His eyes were full of amusement. He draped himself over her shoulder like he had no bones, and, just as he'd done when they were children sharing a bed, he twirled her hair around his finger as he chuckled softly:

“After hating me for so long, you still have to depend on me.”

Liang Yu lowered his lashes and gazed at her, his eyes intent and infatuated. “No one else can do what I do, putting you first in everything. I can't live without you.”

#Wait... wasn't my little brother a sweet angel? How did he turn into a gloomy pervert?#

#If he can do it, then why can't I...? Liang Yu, have you lost your mind?!#

* Blurb drafted on January 16, 2024 (updated June 19, 2024; screenshot saved)

* They are not related, and there was no adoption! No crossing the line or intimate behavior before adulthood; the story begins directly in adulthood. (For the moderators, I beg you.)

* About a one-year age gap. Please don't apply the fictional setup to real life.

* One-on-one, both sexually inexperienced, happy ending.

Theme: Study hard and keep improving.