A clever, well-behaved, beautiful little sweetheart & her childhood friend, a possessive boyfriend who only wants to die for love
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Qiao Mu was good-looking and well-behaved from a young age, and everyone around him adored him.
Sadly, perhaps he was simply fated to have a short life. Just after turning eighteen and starting university, he suddenly died in an accident.
As it happened, he had just accepted a confession from his childhood friend of more than a decade.
..
After Qiao Mu died, all his family and friends were overcome with grief and regret.
But nobody knew that Qiao Mu hadn't been reincarnated after death. Instead, for some inexplicable reason, he had become a little ghost whom no one could see.
Having never died before and not knowing where he was supposed to go, he drifted around the human world in a daze for two years.
Once he got used to being a ghost, Qiao Mu's only pleasure each day was sneaking into an appliance store to watch TV, taking advantage of the fact that no one could see him.
Finally, one day, the poorly informed underworld noticed something was amiss.
When the ghost emissary they sent found Qiao Mu, he happened to see a little ghost in clean clothes, so pretty he didn't look like a dead soul, lounging on a sofa in the store and watching cartoons with an armful of snacks and offerings.
Nearby, a salesperson was examining the TV that had inexplicably switched itself on, looking bewildered.
The ghost emissary: ...
He looked down at the soul-hook in his hand, then silently put it away.
Because he had lingered in the human world for too long, Qiao Mu eventually received two terrible pieces of news.
First, for an unknown reason, he was currently unable to be reincarnated.
Second, if he wasn't reincarnated soon, his soul would dissipate.
Qiao Mu, who had already accepted that he would be a ghost for the rest of his life, stared blankly: Huh? Who? Me?
With the ghost emissary's help, the poor little ghost was forced back to life and had no choice but to struggle onto the path of reincarnation.
But before he could be reincarnated, he was caught.
In a secluded villa, Qiao Mu sat on a man's lap as the man kissed him, with Qiao Mu's memorial tablet and ashes before them.
The corners of his eyes were red, and delicate little sobs escaped him, tugging at the heartstrings.
The man raised a thumb to wipe away the tears at the corners of his eyes. His voice by Qiao Mu's ear was low and soft, yet threaded with an obsession like a bone-deep parasite.
“Qiao Mu, my greatest regret is that I didn't die with you.”
(From the male lead's point of view):
When Jiang Xu was very young, his parents brought the child from next door over to play. They joked, “Xu, this is Qiao Mu. He'll be your little brother from now on, so you have to protect him.”
Though he was still little, Jiang Xu had a terrible temper and hated bratty kids most of all.
But then he saw the little white bundle hiding behind the adults, showing only a tender, pale face as he timidly looked at him.
He thought, He's so timid. He really does need protecting.
From then on, Jiang Xu went to school with him and walked home with him. He looked after Qiao Mu when he was sick, took the blame for him when he got into trouble, and was the first to stand up for him when he was bullied. He protected him in every possible way.
Qiao Mu was always so well-behaved when he called him, “Brother Jiang Xu.”
*
When they grew up, their friends were always teasing them, saying Jiang Xu wore a sour expression around everyone else but cherished Qiao Mu like the apple of his eye.
Jiang Xu merely smiled at that, and anyone could see the indulgence in his eyes.
From childhood to adolescence, the boy's image ran through the first decade and more of Jiang Xu's life.
Later, after Qiao Mu died, Jiang Xu's life stopped forever in the autumn when he was twenty.
What went on living afterward was nothing but a walking corpse.
Notes:
1. Some ghosts and monsters appear, but it's not scary! Overall, it's still mostly sweet and romantic.
2. Both leads are each other's only partners, and it has a happy ending. The beloved receiver is doted on by everyone and has a bit of a harem magnet aura. The seme is a love-struck idiot who's lifeless every day without his sweetheart.
Blurb posted on April 10, 2024
Theme: Life is precious
