Something's Off About the Boy Next Door

[I really want to write this novel. The whole thing is drafted, so please add it to your favorites! Q①Q]

--Synopsis below:

Childhood friends | A reunion planned in advance | Obsessive, clingy husband | Roommates living together

1

In her third year of university, Ye Shiqing rents a place and happens to run into Jiang Yunan, the boy next door.

When he was little, Jiang Yunan was a pitiful kid. After his parents divorced, his deaf-mute grandmother was all he had.

Ye Shiqing used to help look after him, cooking for him and helping him with his studies. She watched him grow up, and after only a few years apart, she is sure he's someone she can trust.

Little does she know.

Jiang Yunan has been waiting a long time for this reunion.

2

Gentle and graceful Ye Shiqing has never lacked admirers, but she gets fed up with people who just won't take no for an answer.

Jiang Yunan seizes the opportunity to say, "I don't have a girlfriend anyway, and I'm not looking to date right now. Why don't I pretend to be your boyfriend, Big Sis? Then they'll give up."

As he says this, his hands on his knees tremble slightly.

Ye Shiqing thinks it's a good idea.

Jiang Yunan grips his knees tightly beneath the table, afraid he'll give himself away.

3

But--

Ye Shiqing wonders if her little brother is taking his role a bit too seriously. He's six-foot-three, yet he still puts on an apron to cook for her and do the housework.

"You took care of me like this when I was little, too. What's wrong with me doing the same?" Jiang Yunan blinks innocently.

Ye Shiqing hesitates. "I guess nothing..."

Later, Ye Shiqing accidentally opens the collection room in his house.

It's crammed with sculptures, photos, standees, and cushions of her, as well as the half-used tube of lip balm she left behind...

Even a portrait of her, made from strands of hair she's shed.

She staggers backward and shuts the door, but when she turns around, she crashes into a burning embrace.

The man who said he was going downstairs to buy groceries speaks above her head, his voice low and slightly hoarse--

"Big Sis, what were you doing just now?"

*

[Warm, gentle older woman with poor people skills VS emotionally stunted, touch-starved, obsessive younger man]

Theme: Gentleness itself is a kind of strength.