Husband, I Hate You

[The main story is complete. Revisions may be made from time to time. Thank you for supporting the official release.]

*Size and skin-tone contrast / older man / everyday life*

"Long-haired, short-tempered beauty shou x lovesick, older husband-material gong"

At the night market, the busiest stall is a street-side malatang stand. The owner is a broad-shouldered, slim-waisted man with a buzz cut. He always wears a tight apron, and the sound of payments coming in rings nonstop every night.

Yu Chengshui has been watching him for a long time.

His own fried chicken strip stall is right next door, but business is dead in the water.

He's annoyed, though he insists that his annoyance has nothing to do with jealousy. It's because:

The line next door is too long and blocks his stall. The smell of extra-numbing, extra-spicy food is pungent and pollutes the air. The payment notifications are too loud and make a racket.

Oh, and most importantly, that man's breathing is too heavy.

Yu Chengshui glares at the man a few meters away and catches sight of his perfect muscles. Damn it, now he hates him even more.

-

Zhou Cheng'an has worked on this street for years. The stalls around him have changed again and again, and he's always paid them no mind.

This time, a young man sets up next door.

He has long flaxen hair, pale, clear skin, and a delicate look. He seems like a young master who snuck out of his house.

Every night before setting up his stall, the young master holds a hair tie between his lips. His hat is crooked... the brim covers his eyes... and a strand of hair falls loose.

So clumsy.

Ah, the young master is angry again.

Zhou Cheng'an looks at that tall chef's hat and suddenly wants to ask him something.

What's hidden in the hat? Remy from Ratatouille?

He unexpectedly meets Yu Chengshui's eyes. Before he can turn away, the other man's mouth curls downward and his brows furrow in a fierce glare.

Zhou Cheng'an rolls his throat.

He hasn't even said anything, and he's already been hated.

-

When Yu Chengshui's stall is overturned by a troublemaker, a soup ladle flies past his ear.

Zhou Cheng'an looks impatient, rolls up his sleeves, grabs a stool, and charges in.

When he comes back, there's a cigarette between his lips. He's lazy and carefree, and the only thing wrong is that the stool has lost a leg.

Yu Chengshui is still standing there, dazed, his eyes damp, as if he's been startled.

Zhou Cheng'an pauses, then grabs his arm. "Don't be scared. Come stay at my place tonight."

Yu Chengshui isn't scared at all, but that night, he doesn't refuse.

Still, the promised single night turns into two nights, a week, a month...

Later, Yu Chengshui presses against Zhou Cheng'an's chest and looks up at him, crying as he curses.

"Get off me! You're completely unreasonable. I hate you!"

Zhou Cheng'an doesn't stop. He strokes his ear. "I'm being reasonable, I'm being reasonable. Baby, just kiss me first."

---- Reader's Guide ----

1. Both leads are sexually inexperienced, one-on-one, happy ending.

2. Everyday life, everyday life, everyday life, with a touch of ensemble cast.

Screenshot taken on 2025.3.24

---- Blurb for the upcoming novel Don't Ask Your Childhood Friend to Break Up below ----

*Childhood friends to lovers / second chance romance / younger man / size difference*

*Outwardly reserved but secretly flirtatious and scheming gong x outwardly cold but unknowingly alluring, naturally tempting beauty shou*

Jiang Youyu never imagined that after breaking up with his lover, he'd still have to be friends with him.

He and Duan Huaisheng were childhood friends for twenty years and lovers for two. If he could do it all over again, he wouldn't have agreed to let Duan Huaisheng break through the barrier between them.

They silently swallow their shared secret.

At family gatherings and dinners with friends, Duan Huaisheng continues to play the role of his quiet but considerate childhood friend.

Duan Huaisheng takes the drinks for Jiang Youyu, tastes his food, and even ties his shoelaces and warms his hands just like before.

Their childhood friends joke around just as they did when they were young.

"Hey, how old are you two? Still being this lovey-dovey. Don't tell me you're secretly dating behind our backs."

"Honestly, I suspect they really did date. Either way, there's no difference from dating."

A little drunk, Jiang Youyu just smiles. "Couples always break up eventually. Isn't it better to be friends for life?"

Duan Huaisheng's face is expressionless. After a long silence, he takes the glass from Jiang Youyu's hand. "Ge, you're drunk. I'll take you home."

The room remains noisy, but only Jiang Youyu hears the difference in the way he's addressed.

Their relationship, out of place and unresolved, spills from the dinner table into bed.

Duan Huaisheng strokes the back of Jiang Youyu's neck and murmurs, eyes lowered.

"It's better to be friends? Ge, then what are we doing right now?"

*

Duan Huaisheng removes Jiang Youyu's last wisdom tooth. Before he can say anything, he receives a slurred breakup.

It's the first time Duan Huaisheng has lost focus in front of a patient, and the first time he has lost his composure in front of Jiang Youyu.

With a chime, the tooth falls into the curved tray, impacted, stubborn, and hard to pull out.

Just like his feelings for Jiang Youyu all these years: twisted, misshapen, almost pathological.

He is more than just an older brother or a childhood friend, and he could never be just a friend.

If he could do it all over again, Duan Huaisheng would still break through that barrier between them.

*

It isn't until later that Jiang Youyu realizes even his shadow bears traces of another person. And to Duan Huaisheng, breaking up is just another chance to pursue him.

Theme: Live in the present and embrace every feeling.