After Getting Dumped, I Met My Dream Guy

Lin Chuan x Su Ciying

An elegant, calculating, possessive top with a dark side x a gorgeous, charming, well-behaved bottom with a surprising edge

1.

At the start-of-term fair for J University's music club, Su Ciying played a rock electric pipa piece and instantly drew the attention of a crowd of underclassmen. Countless new students flocked to the club to hand in their applications.

His flamboyant, shoulder-length golden hair, striking face, smile blooming under the lights, dancing fingers, and pipa music as rousing as a battle cry all stirred the heart.

The moment Lin Chuan saw him, he was rooted to the spot. The beautiful young man was a master of the pipa, and beneath his well-behaved appearance, his playing was like an untamed evening breeze. He was exactly Lin Chuan's type. The only snag was that the flower already belonged to someone else.

After the dorm assignments in their sophomore year, Lin Chuan discovered that the beautiful young man's official boyfriend was none other than his own scumbag new roommate.

Lin Chuan: Ever since I saw your boyfriend, I've decided we're going to be friends.

2.

Two things had recently changed in Su Ciying's life: first, his boyfriend had cheated on him; second, he and his cheating ex's handsome new roommate were going to appear on a dating show and pretend to be a couple.

He nervously played along with the campus heartthrob, never expecting them to become an online sensation, with everyone convinced that their fake relationship was real.

The heartthrob was gentle and had a deep, sultry voice. He had an eight-pack and even generously let Su Ciying touch it. He would pretend to date Su Ciying just to piss off that blind scumbag ex.

Later, when Su Ciying missed a call, the aloof, unruly heartthrob Lin Chuan showed up at his dorm and knocked on the door.

"Still hoping to get back together? Our relationship is fake, and your breakup with him was fake too, right?" Lin Chuan braced one hand against the door and leaned down to demand an explanation. His low voice was full of anger and pressure.

Su Ciying stammered, "Dude, you don't actually like me, do you?"

The other man's dark, fathomless eyes fixed on him. He said ominously, "Are you pretending?"

Lin Chuan knew all of Su Ciying's unspoken preferences. The half-eaten gummy candy Su Ciying had bitten was sealed in a vacuum and tucked inside Lin Chuan's book. Lin Chuan had sent the photos of Su Ciying's ex cheating, and the person the ex had cheated with was Lin Chuan's own junior...

So the love at first sight Su Ciying had believed in was nothing more than Lin Chuan's carefully laid plan, step by step.

Coming soon: Lessons from the Imperial Tutor

[An all-powerful, scheming regent and imperial tutor top x a seemingly harmless, secretly cunning and clever emperor bottom]

In the eighth year of the Jiasheng reign, the emperor died. The imperial tutor Shen Heng enthroned the young crown prince, Song Nanqing, and took the title of regent to assist the child ruler. The emperor honored him as "father of the realm," and for a time, no one at court could rival his power.

Song Nanqing's childhood in the imperial palace was made up of the punishments Shen Heng gave him when he misbehaved, the hand that guided his as he wrote official decisions, and the warmth of being held in his arms during thunderous nights. To Song Nanqing, the regent was both teacher and father. He taught him how to be an emperor, how to read people and put them to good use. In private, he helped him do his hair, dress in his imperial robes, and make pastries, taking care of everything himself.

As the years passed, more and more ministers urged the emperor to take personal control of the government, take concubines, and marry. Rumors spread that the regent was monopolizing power and corrupting the young emperor, and that he deserved to die.

In their private chambers, Song Nanqing reclined on the regent's lap, eating osmanthus cakes fed to him by the man. His gaze wandered among the portraits as his fingers crept over the regent's knee and hooked around his belt. He said to Shen Heng, the notorious villain of a regent the world gossiped about:

"Teacher, I think none of these people would make as good an empress as you."

Shen Heng's eyes darkened. He caught Song Nanqing by the fingers and said, "You need to be taught a lesson."

Outside the window, the crabapple branches swayed, scattering delicate pink blossoms across the ground. Dew dampened the moonlight and soaked their clothes.

At court the next morning, Song Nanqing sat upright on the imperial throne. Faced with floods and plague ravaging a dangerous region in urgent need of capable officials, he tilted his head toward Shen Heng. "Surely, if Father of the Realm goes, he can quell the disaster and restore peace to Great Sheng."

Dressed in black robes, Shen Heng accepted the imperial order with cupped hands. In the letter he sent before leaving, every character was forceful, the ink bleeding through the paper: "You sounded far sweeter last night than when you called me Father of the Realm today. How will Your Majesty repay me when I return?"

Song Nanqing flung the letter to the ground and shouted angrily at Shen Heng's retreating figure, "That's what we'll see, if you even make it back!"

When it came to being emperor, Shen Heng was better at it than he was. But as for love, the winner was still anyone's guess.

Theme: Love openly and honestly.