Becoming My Crush's Little Sister [Fake Siblings]

'I want to tuck every moment with you into my heart. That's the path of my secret love for you.'

Reserved, resilient girl x dashing, carefree cool guy

1.

At seventeen, Zhuo Luo was caught in a long, heavy rainy season: her father died, and her mother remarried.

She followed her mother into an unfamiliar household, only to find that the boy who opened the door was Chen Zhi, the one she'd secretly loved.

She'd planned to write him a love letter without confessing her feelings before he graduated, but now she couldn't. After all, he was her brother.

Zhuo Luo thought Chen Zhi would treat her with the same courtesy and consideration he showed other girls at school.

Instead, he picked on her every chance he got. "Don't put your cup next to mine."

"If your mom hits you, why don't you just dodge? Are you really that weak?"

"Don't call me your brother anymore. It's annoying. Besides, you're not my sister, and I'm not your brother."

"And at school, don't pretend we're close. Our only connection is that we live under the same roof."

2.

Chen Zhi couldn't understand how a perfectly good family had fallen apart. Why had his mother insisted on getting divorced? Why had his father insisted on marrying another woman?

He didn't like strangers entering his territory, and yet now one had moved in with two kids in tow.

He didn't like his stepsister in name, and everything about her rubbed him the wrong way.

But one night, as torrential rain poured and lightning flashed,

he saw her sitting on the steps in the rain. He held his umbrella over her head, not caring that his own body was soaked through.

Yet his words were harsh: "Zhuo Luo, are you crazy? You have a home to go to, so why are you sitting here getting soaked?"

Zhuo Luo looked up, her eyes so red they seemed ready to bleed, her face streaked with tears and rain. Her voice was full of sorrow:

"Chen Zhi, my grandma died. There's no one left in this world who loves me."

Chen Zhi crouched down. Looking into her bloodshot eyes, he raised a hand and wiped the mingled warm tears and cold rain from her face.

"Zhuo Luo, I'm your brother. At least you'll still have me. I'll love you!"

3.

Zhuo Luo knew that one day Chen Zhi would leave her. He would go to college, while she would have to keep going to high school.

During the days without Chen Zhi, Zhuo Luo filled an entire diary with her secret love, keeping her feelings hidden from him.

August 29, 2017. Cloudy.

Big Brother, this is the first year since you left this home. I miss you so much.

I wish I could go back to being seventeen, when you were by my side every day.

You always say I'm fickle, but you don't know that my love for you won't change. It's the constant in a math equation.

Later, the next news she got about Chen Zhi was that he was dead.

Zhuo Luo clung to his gravestone for seven whole nights, repeating just one sentence over and over:

"Chen Zhi, you broke your promise. You said you'd come back to see me often. You said that at least there'd still be you in this world, someone who loved me."

"But why did you break your promise? Why won't you say anything? Wake up!"

At twenty-three, Zhuo Luo met a man who looked exactly like Chen Zhi.

But he was no longer courteous and considerate. He had tattoos, smoked, wore a chunky chain, and acted like a good-for-nothing.

Zhuo Luo recognized at a glance that he wasn't Chen Zhi.

Until one night, he dragged her into a dark alley, pinned her against the wall, and kissed her passionately.

"After all these years, your brother didn't break his promise. Your brother came back for you!"

Bonus scene:

"Zhuo Luo, have you ever thought about how I can't be your brother forever?"

"Chen Zhi, what else do you want to be?"

"What you want me to be."

"And what do I want you to be?"

"Your lover. The person you marry."

Chen Zhi took out her diary and pulled her into his arms, kissing her long eyelashes.

"Zhuo Luo, I'll be the constant in your math equation, so that every morning when you wake up, I'm the first person you see."

Then he kissed her passionately, just like that long, burning kiss they shared at eighteen, during the damp, sweltering rainy season.

Also known as: Little Obsession

Reader's guide:

1. The leads aren't blood-related and aren't registered in the same household.

2. Both are each other's first and only, HE.

3. She secretly loves him at first, then the love becomes mutual | pseudo-siblings | mutual healing | small-town romance | cohabitation

The original blurb has been screenshotted and saved as proof.

March 2, 2025.

Theme: A young man, bold and honest at eighteen, will forever be your one and only glory