The Thirst for Skin

Scheming and sinister × gentle yet headstrong

Fake siblings | Foster-care trope | The heroine has skin hunger syndrome

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The Yu family of Nancheng is wealthy and has a son and a daughter. Unfortunately, their only son was kidnapped through the schemes of a business rival, leaving only Yu Xinci to escape that fate.

After searching for him without a trace for ten whole years, her parents finally began thinking of finding a replacement.

The day Bo Shen first arrived at the Yu home as their adopted son, he saw a beautiful figure on the second floor of the villa. Her lowered eyes, however, were full of indifference.

Yu Xinci bossed him around like a little beast fiercely guarding against an outside threat. “Get lost. Don’t even think about becoming my brother.”

Fake cruelty met the real thing, and her bravado was exposed for all to see.

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For the first fifteen years of his life, Bo Shen grew up in dark alleys, wicked and arrogant. No matter how vile the world was, he never even furrowed his brow.

He was a genius, and also a ferocious beast crawling out of a gutter.

Yu Xinci kept tripping him up, but he was “gentle and kind” and never held it against her.

Not long afterward, news arrived of the Yu family’s missing heir.

The day Yu Shang came home, Yu Xinci no longer even spared Bo Shen a hostile glance.

Yu Shang had a violent temper and often behaved outrageously, yet Yu Xinci treasured him above all else.

After dinner, the princess, who had never lifted a finger around the house, personally washed some fruit and brought it to his room, only for her brother, triggered by the invasion of his territory, to shove her hard.

At the instant she was thrown out of the room, the despair of being about to fall was put on hold. Yu Xinci stared at her brother’s Adam’s apple as he swallowed.

In that brief moment, the skin hunger syndrome she had kept hidden surged wildly at the touch of skin.

The pain she expected never came. A thick oakmoss scent enveloped her from behind, the embrace covering more of her than before. Yu Xinci abruptly pulled away, the corners of her eyes unnaturally red and wet. Her soft voice, tinged with a strange note, rebuked him: “Didn’t I tell you not to touch me?”

“Then what? Watch you fall, then get back up and devour your own brother?” Bo Shen’s eyes darkened.

With just one sentence, the secret she had hidden for years was brought into the light.

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That night, in the bedroom.

Yu Xinci’s self-loathing tears slid down her cheeks, salty on their entwined lips. The one who had offered the kiss wept as she wrapped herself around his leg, refusing to let go, yet still threatened him fiercely. “Don’t get smug.”

Her voice was soft, but her words were fierce. “I can resist.”

“Fine.” Bo Shen’s eyes flickered with mockery. “Let’s see how you resist.”

He might know that she had skin hunger syndrome, but he definitely didn’t know this:

Her desire for kisses and cuddles wouldn’t simply disappear, but it could shift to a new person through contact.

Back at school, Yu Xinci secretly tried to redirect her desire by holding hands with girls, only to break down when she realized that no matter what she tried, it never worked.

But Yu Xinci didn’t know that every night, in the silence, there was always an unwelcome visitor in her room.

Taking advantage of her sound sleep to entwine himself with her and do as he pleased, he had quietly become her new target.

*What he wanted was never to become her brother.

*2025.03.09

Theme: The courage to move forward without hesitation