You Flip the Bird, I Put on a Ring

The blurb for a possible next all-sweet danmei story, *My Role Was Stolen, So I’m Clinging to the Connections King*, is at the very bottom. If you’re interested, feel free to bookmark it~ Meng Huan’er has always disliked Xie Zhuyang, his childhood friend who grew up right alongside him. He’s handsome and gets good grades. To everyone else, he’s the classic “neighbor’s kid.” Only Meng Huan’er knows how unbearably smug he is in private, with his nose in the air and a tongue sharp enough to cut. Meng Huan’er has been on the receiving end of his barbs since they were little. They’ve never gotten along, and every time they meet, they end up fighting like cats and dogs. Unfortunately, their families are longtime friends among the wealthy, so they have no choice but to grit their teeth and keep seeing each other. In Meng Huan’er’s third year of college, just as his cousin was about to marry Xie Zhuyang’s older sister, a cheating scandal involving his cousin suddenly exploded online. The scandal threatened the company’s market value, while the Xie family demanded answers and accountability. After negotiations, the Xie family made a proposal: swap in a different pair of newlyweds to fulfill the marriage alliance between their families. On the day their engagement was announced, Meng Huan’er and Xie Zhuyang put on fake smiles for the cameras for hours. Back at the hastily prepared marital home, Meng Huan’er finally dropped the act and flipped Xie Zhuyang the bird. Before he could say anything, Xie Zhuyang slid the ring from the engagement banquet onto his middle finger. “Right back at you.” “Let’s get along from now on, my ‘almost-wife.’” * Before the wedding, Meng Huan’er and Xie Zhuyang laid down three rules. No taking advantage of their marriage, no obligation to help each other through their heats, and an immediate divorce after three years. The two, who’d been bickering since childhood, were quick to make their positions clear: “If it weren’t for our families, I’d marry anyone but you!” “I wouldn’t fall for an omega like you in this life, the last life, or the next, ” Two months after making that grand declaration, Meng Huan’er went to visit Xie Zhuyang on set and walked right into his heat. Just as he was about to run, the man wrapped him in a tight embrace from behind. “Wifey… don’t go.” * After one of their arguments turned into a cold war, they played a game with their friends where they had to reveal embarrassing secrets about each other. Meng Huan’er sneered. “Xie Zhuyang turns into an idiot during his heat.” Xie Zhuyang refused to back down. “Meng Huan’er kissed me so much last time that it brought on his rut early, then asked to borrow my clothes.” “Xie Zhuyang gets clingy during his heat and hugs me so I can’t leave.” “Meng Huan’er teamed up with my assistant to sneak into my room and make a move on me during my heat.” … Their friends stared, dumbfounded, as the two kept getting more and more carried away. Wait a second, weren’t these two pretending to be married?! Bonus scene: If you asked Xie Zhuyang what he thought of Meng Huan’er, the answer was simple: annoying. Extremely annoying. He’d been a troublemaker since he was little, always causing a fuss the second Xie Zhuyang looked away. Xie Zhuyang had to chase after him and clean up his messes. When they were kids, Xie Zhuyang supervised his homework. When they grew up, he helped him through his differentiation. Even when another alpha had been stringing him along, Xie Zhuyang was the one who stepped in to help him get even. Xie Zhuyang had once secretly sworn that one day he’d get rid of Meng Huan’er for good and live the carefree life he’d enjoyed before they met. But the day he heard the elders say they wanted him to marry someone else in the family, he found himself hesitating. It wasn’t that he couldn’t bear to let Meng Huan’er go. Meng Huan’er had a difficult temper, and if some other alpha married him, there’d be one more person in the world suffering. … Might as well be him, then. * A beautiful firecracker who goes off at the slightest touch, 0 × the fated match who lights his fuse, 1 1v1, both experiencing their first love, with the top three years older. No kk readers, please. Blurb for the upcoming story *My Role Was Stolen, So I’m Clinging to the Connections King*: Ji Xiaoyu, an actor so obscure he’s barely made it to the eighth tier, finally lands a role in a script he loves, only to have it stolen right before filming begins. Afterward, he learns from someone else that the person who replaced him is Song Pingxiao’s ex. In fact, Song Pingxiao was the one who got him removed from the role. Song Pingxiao is a spoiled rich kid chasing his dreams in the entertainment industry, and the young heir to XX Entertainment. Rumor has it he specifically asked for a part in the show so he could get back together with his ex. Ji Xiaoyu: I’m so mad, but I still have to keep smiling ^_^ To avoid offending someone with powerful connections, Ji Xiaoyu goes back to his hotel every night and mentally sticks pins into a little doll, cursing Song Pingxiao. Then in the morning, he gets to the set and greets him like nothing’s wrong: Xiao Song, they’re handing out coffee over there. Want me to grab you one? Can’t get a feel for this scene? No worries, we can run through it together. Want to come to my room for dinner? Oh… okay, then. Ji Xiaoyu thinks they’re just having a normal coworker relationship. Until one day, Song Pingxiao can’t hold back any longer, grabs his wrist, and kisses him. Ji Xiaoyu: o.O…? Wait a minute. * After the kiss, Song Pingxiao looks handsome and bashful as he asks Ji Xiaoyu what it felt like to kiss him. Ji Xiaoyu is stunned. You sacrificed me, a nobody, for your ex, and now you’re trying to seduce me without even batting an eye? You connections kings sure are arrogant. Do you have no boundaries at all?! Then Song Pingxiao says, “I’ve already put in a good word for you with the production team of *XX*. Go audition this week.” But then again, I don’t have particularly high standards myself. (Not like that.) Ji Xiaoyu takes all of two seconds to understand what he’s implying. Song Pingxiao wants to keep him as a sugar baby. A professional role-stealer’s victim, the unluckiest guy alive, Ji Xiaoyu goes home and agonizes over it all night. …Actually, it’s not like he’s completely against it. Song Pingxiao is pretty handsome, after all. Before long, the two are dating. To be fair, Song Pingxiao is a great boyfriend. He’s generous with emotional support, romantic and charming, and they’re very compatible in bed. But everyone says Song Pingxiao joined the entertainment industry to hook up with celebrities. In his last show he was all over his ex, and now he’s tangled up with Ji Xiaoyu. Does that mean things between him and Song Pingxiao will be over once this show wraps? On his birthday, Song Pingxiao asks Ji Xiaoyu what he wants for his birthday. Ji Xiaoyu thinks for a long time. “If we ever break up, could you at least not let anyone steal my roles or expose dirt on me, for the sake of the three months we were together?” Song Pingxiao: ? * One day, Ji Xiaoyu comes across a photo online of Song Pingxiao embracing his ex in the rain. The paparazzi caption it: “After breaking up and getting back together, they’ve finally found their way back to true love.” In that moment, Ji Xiaoyu knows it’s completely over between him and Song Pingxiao. He also realizes, sadly, that he fell for him a long time ago. With icy fingers, he sends Song Pingxiao a breakup message. [Thank you for everything you’ve given me over the past three months. I saw the news, and I wish you happiness. Let’s end things here. It wasn’t a proper relationship anyway.] That night, Song Pingxiao shows up outside his room. At the same time, the gossip headlines on Ji Xiaoyu’s phone refresh. Breaking news! Actor XXX exposed as the secret lover of the current CEO of XX Group. The CEO, who has never appeared in public before, turns out to be the biological brother of Song Pingxiao, and they look almost identical! Ji Xiaoyu: …O.o? Song Pingxiao, standing at the door, holds up his phone. “Maybe you can explain what you mean by ‘not a proper relationship’?” A handsome, dependable-looking, cowardly type who’s sarcastic and dark on the inside, 0 × a sunny, deceptively mischievous, childish prince-type, 1 (?) 1v1, both experiencing their first love. The rumors about 1 are a misunderstanding. 1 didn’t help 0 steal anyone else’s resources; he mainly helped make introductions. Basically, one thinks it’s a sugar-baby arrangement, while the other thinks it’s love. Theme: Love is right by your side