Rekindled romance | Forbidden pseudo-sibling relationship
On the surface: Mu Lier, a cool and reserved lawyer and stepsister, vs. Ying Ding, her stepbrother and an internet cafe owner
In truth: a master at training dogs vs. a hopeless romantic who falls deep
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Years later, they met again, and there was a man by Mu Lier's side.
At the dinner table after she returned home, her stepbrother sat silent.
The man said, "Lili told me that you were the closest person to her when she was growing up."
Ying Ding seemed to think of something. He raised his eyes and glanced calmly at the silent woman across from him, the corners of his lips curling into a smile. At last, he deigned to speak. "I think we only got close after you turned eighteen, didn't we, little sister?"
Those few words brought the past rushing back.
After the dinner party ended, only the two of them remained in the living room.
"Forgotten?" Ying Ding grabbed her slender wrist and dragged her into his arms. His fingers wandered over her lips. "Your body is covered in my marks."
The hidden wound at the corner of the woman's mouth was starkly exposed in the light.
"I even taught you this." Ying Ding ignored her resistance, his tone cruel and teasing. "When you're flirting, you're supposed to call me Big Brother."
With the distance between them, how could she bring herself to come back?
Ying Ding's revenge came hard and fast.
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No one knew how she had entered this family as his stepsister back then.
As her stepbrother, he had been forced to support the family, and his life had been a mess.
He had treated her harshly too. "You annoy me just by being here. Get lost."
But Mu Lier knew that Ying Ding had been protecting her and keeping her safe all along.
She had thought their hidden feelings would never see the light of day.
Until the night he turned twenty, when she worked up the courage to call through the door, "Ying Ding, bring me a bath towel."
He had just handed the towel to her at the door when she pulled him inside with her damp, heated grip.
The steamy bathroom made even the young man's voice burn with heat.
"Mu Lier, don't lie to me."
Their tangled bodies soon drowned out that warning and tentative question.
But not long afterward, she vanished without a trace.
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The two of them were like fire and water.
But later...
"I lied to you."
"I know, but I love you."
Content warnings:
1. The two only developed feelings and got together after their parents' relationship ended.
2. They are each other's first sexual partners, but the male lead will be sexually assaulted by a male supporting character. Do not read if that bothers you!
3. Neither lead is a wholly good person.
4. The school setting accounts for 20%; the urban setting accounts for 80%.
They are two years apart in age and are not registered on the same household record. Their parents had no romantic relationship before getting together, and the leads had no intimacy before adulthood.
Blurb screenshotted on 2024.8.23, revised 2026.5.6
Theme: Independence and self-reliance
