[Super chill, haughty heiress x sensitive, overthinking idol who works and studies part-time]
(A dog-training romance, haha, though...)
Huangfu Jiayu, an utterly ordinary university student at a non-elite school, has plenty of interests, though they're all pretty niche. Even the celebrity she follows is practically unknown. She muddles through one day after another, until one day her father, who hasn't paid her any attention for ages, suddenly hauls her back home. There, on the family sofa, she sees the person she's always adored and thought was impossibly out of reach: Duan Jingran.
Her father, Huangfu Shengping, introduces him with utmost seriousness: "Jiayu, starting today, Jingran is your little brother."
Huangfu Jiayu's brain freezes for who knows how many milliseconds. Then, forcing herself to stay calm, she rushes back to her room.
What the heck? A melodramatic situation straight out of a novel has actually happened to me!
The first thing she does in her room is tear down every poster of Duan Jingran that's visible. She shoves all the merchandise that had been piled haphazardly in a drawer to the very bottom, then pulls a few textbooks off the shelf and puts them on top as cover. Next, she hides all his fan goods deep in her closet. Only once everything looks normal does she finally relax.
She always locks her room, and her family disapproves of celebrity fandom, so the only person who knows she likes Duan Jingran is her best friend, Li Wei.
Who could've imagined that one day her father would get together with Duan's mother, making Duan Jingran her "little brother" by default?
As for Duan's mother, she has only just arrived and doesn't say much. She assumes the heiress is simply struggling to accept her new stepmother and throwing a little tantrum. But now she's married into the Huangfu family, and surely the family can't let one young girl have the final say. She just has to put on a few teary-eyed displays of vulnerability like usual, and Huangfu Shengping will fall for it every time.
*
"Jiajia-jie, I, "
"Wait, what did you call me?"
"Dad told me that's your nickname. Since we're family now, I thought it would help us get closer~"
"Don't call me sis. I'm not your sister! And that's my dad, not yours!"
And so, on his very first day at the Huangfu home, Duan Jingran is left awkwardly standing there.
*
Midnight after a concert
Duan Jingran pins her against the door, one hand braced by her waist and the other stroking her soft earlobe. He watches her lips part slightly with each breath and coaxes her in a low, hazy voice that makes her swoon: "Call me big brother."
"I'm warning you, don't push your luck!"
"Oh? Someone used to call me Duan-ge."
"Th-that was... your bandmates and the other fans call you that, too! It was, it was just to fit the occasion! Yeah, that's it!"
"That's different."
"How is it different?"
"I'm not theirs. I'm yours."
Theme: We are born naked, and only our souls embrace.
