Fifteen Years After the Crematorium Ends

[Novella. All the content warnings are in the blurb. The author came up with this on a whim. Read it if it suits you. It won't affect the schedule for other works. A portion is written in advance, and the full story will be posted once it's complete. The cover was commissioned. The pursuing partner's character design.]

Around 100,000 words, bittersweet.

[Brooding young master pursuing partner x former puppy, now domineering CEO receiving partner]

Wen Bai discovers that he's in a melodramatic novel with a tragic plot but a happy ending.

Except the story ended fifteen years ago, and he's the only son adopted by the main couple.

He only appears in the bonus chapters, where his sole purpose is to show how much the main couple adores each other.

His father, the pursuing partner, chased after love, clutching his waist and self-harming in a fit of red-eyed desperation, nearly turning the crematorium trope into an actual cremation.

His other father ran from the pursuing partner while the pursuing partner chased him. In the end, neither could escape. They'd been married for over ten years and still bickered constantly, unable to live without each other.

And the uncle who often visited their home, Jian Yuanning, who had never married, turned out to be the devoted second male lead who loved Wen Bai's other father without hope and silently protected him.

Wen Bai looked at Jian Yuanning. The man was dressed in a suit and had long since outgrown his former arrogant ways.

Jian Yuanning looked back at him, returning a refined smile that still held a hint of youthful spirit.

When Wen Bai was little, Jian Yuanning had held his hand. He'd picked Wen Bai up from school when the main couple argued, and on their anniversaries, he'd gone to the riverside late at night to find the despondent boy.

He told Wen Bai that he was his own person, not an accessory to the main couple.

Wen Bai's heart skipped a beat, but he still hid his desire and answered with restraint.

"Uncle Jian."

"I'm thirteen years older than you."

In a rainy alley, Jian Yuanning held an umbrella and looked at Wen Bai with a complicated expression.

He tilted the umbrella toward the young man. A pair of cool hands clasped his.

"I know." Half the boy's body was soaked by the rain, but his gaze remained blazing. "So what?"

Jian Yuanning was silent for a long while. "You'll see more of the world and meet someone better."

The young man was stubborn. "No. I won't."

No one else would ever take part in his life so completely.

Like a mentor and a father, and like the one he loved most.

In fairy tales, there's always a knight willing to sacrifice everything, watching the prince marry the one he loves and ascend the throne.

The knight never leaves. He protects the forgotten little prince and begins a new story.

[Please read before starting]

This story contains many potential triggers. I've done my best to list them. If you can't accept any of them, please move along. Don't argue in the comments about triggers that have already been clearly flagged.

1. From the start, the characters are 18 and 31. They are each other's first relationship, and neither has sexual experience.

2. The receiving partner is very different from how he was fifteen years ago. The fact that he once had a crush on the pursuing partner's father is objectively true (highlighted). He woke up to reality and moved on many years ago (highlighted). There are no lingering emotional issues.

This is not a melodrama about four people entangled in a sea of hatred and passion, but simply a sweet-and-sour one-on-one romance about healing and mutual redemption.

3. This is a short writing exercise I've worked on intermittently for a long time. Its style is vastly different from my previous and future stories. I very, very, very strongly advise longtime readers not to go in expecting more of the same.

4. The pursuing partner falls for the receiving partner first, and the receiving partner also dotes on him. The receiving partner heals the pursuing partner, then the pursuing partner heals him in return. The overall style is extremely angsty and complicated. Readers who strongly favor either partner, or have a clear preference between the two, should proceed with caution.

Theme: Promote peace and build a beautiful home