My Adoptive Older Brother

Collection Two: Standing Tall in the Wind (third-person narration)

The Adopted Older Brother (provisional blurb; only the pairing dynamic may change later, and I'm not writing another blurb)

I knew from childhood that my older brother treated me well. The day he took my hand, I thought we would be together forever.

But he told me that could never happen.

Even as my adopted brother, he apparently couldn't love only me.

In one night, I said goodbye to my mother and father, then gave a letter to the adopted brother I couldn't face and fled to a place that would accept me.

Years passed. Just as we were about to meet again, a letter arrived from my adopted brother.

He said he was getting married...

But he would never receive a reply, because the little temple held no one he was looking for.

There was only me in the temple. My name is Kong Jie.

(Additional details: The shou practices Buddhism without shaving his head. His worldly ties remain, so he has not entered the monastic order; he is a lay disciple.

The ending is undecided... I'm afraid I'll go soft, but I'm also afraid Kong Jie really will become an empty precept.)

Blurb written on January 30, 2025, and saved as a screenshot.

I may wait until the whole story is drafted and then post it all at once.

Theme: The Buddha says to save all living beings, and also says I can save myself.