* Childhood friends to lovers | second chances | younger man | height difference
* Cool on the outside, devoted and patient husband-type top × beautiful, naturally flirtatious bottom who doesn’t realize he’s in love
Jiang Youyu never thought he’d have to stay friends with his ex after they broke up.
He and Duan Huaisheng had been childhood friends for twenty years and lovers for two. If he had the choice again, he wouldn’t have agreed to let Duan Huaisheng confess what was between them.
They both swallowed the secret they shared.
At family gatherings and dinners with friends, Duan Huaisheng played his usual role: the taciturn but thoughtful childhood friend.
He took Jiang Youyu’s drinks for him, tested the temperature of his food, and even tied his shoelaces and warmed his hands, just like before.
Their childhood friends joked around as they always had.
“Hey, aren’t you a little old to be this lovey-dovey? Don’t tell me you two are secretly dating.”
“Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if they really had dated. There’s hardly any difference anyway.”
A little drunk, Jiang Youyu just smiled. “People always break up eventually. Wouldn’t it be better to stay friends for life?”
Duan Huaisheng’s expression stayed blank. After a long silence, he took the glass from Jiang Youyu’s hand. “You’re drunk, ge. I’ll take you home.”
The room remained noisy, but only Jiang Youyu heard the difference in that form of address.
Their misaligned relationship burned its way from the dinner table to the bed.
Duan Huaisheng stroked the nape of Jiang Youyu’s neck and murmured, eyes lowered.
“Being friends is better? Ge, then what are we doing right now?”
*
Duan Huaisheng extracted Jiang Youyu’s last wisdom tooth. Before he could say a word, he got a slurred breakup instead.
It was the first time Duan Huaisheng had ever been distracted in front of a patient, and the first time he’d lost his composure in front of Jiang Youyu.
With a little clink,
the tooth landed in the kidney dish, impacted, stubborn, and hard to pull.
Just like his feelings for Jiang Youyu over all these years: twisted, malformed, almost pathological.
He couldn’t be merely his older brother, nor merely his childhood friend, and he could never be just a friend.
If given the choice again, Duan Huaisheng would make the same decision.
*
It wasn’t until later that Jiang Youyu discovered traces of another person even in his own shadow. And for Duan Huaisheng, a breakup was simply a chance to pursue him all over again.
Reader’s Guide
1. Happy ending, both characters’ first love, one-on-one, younger man
2. A story about two lovers who don’t know how to love, stumbling through it together and growing along the way
3. Dentist × toy designer; the top and bottom are unrelated by blood
4. Everyday life, with plenty of sweet-and-sour romance
Theme: Life isn’t over. Be brave and face what’s in your heart.
