[No substitute trope!!! No substitute trope!!!]
A story about unrequited love. The top has been plotting this for a long time.
Scheming, sweet-talking beauty top VS self-important, oblivious bottom
The Chu family is on the verge of bankruptcy. The eldest son, who is engaged to Min Zhou, flees abroad with what remains of the family fortune, leaving a huge mess behind.
Just as Min Zhou is celebrating that this arranged marriage is about to fall through, Chu Zhao Heng, the second son of the Chu family, returns from studying abroad and shows up with the marriage contract.
Chu Zhao Heng is mixed-race, with silver hair and blue eyes. His smile is exceptionally beautiful and captivating.
But Min Zhou isn't interested in him, so he makes up an excuse: “Ours is just a business alliance. I have someone I like.”
Chu Zhao Heng's disappointment is plain to see. “Okay.”
Even so, Chu Zhao Heng still irons Min Zhou's clothes before he goes out, makes sure there's a warm meal waiting when he gets home, and even massages him when he's tired.
Min Zhou feels a little guilty about leaving such a thoughtful, gentle partner alone in bed night after night, so he helps the Chu family get back on its feet in every way he can, giving them money and connecting them with people.
Until one day, Min Zhou sees Chu Zhao Heng drag the Chu family's eldest son into an alley and beat him up.
“I’m warning you. Min Zhou is mine, and always has been.”
“If you dare go after him, I'll break all four of your limbs.”
When Min Zhou gets home and sees the four dishes and soup on the table, he falls silent.
Wearing the pink bunny apron Min Zhou bought him, Chu Zhao Heng peels shrimp for him. “Zhouzhou, I bought these shrimp at the seafood market. They're really fresh, so eat plenty.”
“...Okay.”
Min Zhou gets it: Chu Zhao Heng has had a crush on him for ages, and he went to great lengths to get this marriage.
When Min Zhou tries to accept Chu Zhao Heng and asks him to be together, he gets rejected!
Rejected!!!!!
Chu Zhao Heng says solemnly, “I won't be anyone's substitute.”
Min Zhou: “...”
Once they're together, Min Zhou conscientiously starts fulfilling his duties as a husband.
Until Chu Zhao Heng flips him onto the bed and he realizes: Wait, wasn't I the top?
[Blurb written on 2024.10.31, archived on Weibo and in my photo album]
Reading guide:
1. Inspired by the popular online saying from a while back: “If you look for a substitute, then in the end, you simply don't love them enough.”
2. No substitute trope! No substitute trope! No substitute trope!
3. As always, a sweet 1v1 romance with both leads' first love being each other. The top is a little crazy, just a tiny bit. Sweet from beginning to end, with no groveling arc.
4. I haven't thought of anything else yet. I'll add more when I start posting.
Theme: Be happy, and be free.
