A Guide to Raising Your Lover

[I’m dropping the original business-warfare plot and switching to this story. Feel free to remove it from your collection if it’s not your thing.]

[Bittersweet, slightly mysterious short story]

My roommate, who’d been missing for a week, came back.

He went from a carefree rich kid to a hot nerd devoted to his studies.

How does the protagonist know his roommate is hot?

-- The school club organized a ski trip, and the protagonist signed up for the credits. On the slopes, he collided head-on with his roommate.

Their chests pressed together, their bodies touching, and the space between them felt like a vacuum...

The protagonist broke an arm trying to brace himself.

Feeling terribly guilty, his roommate invited him to rent a place off campus, promising to look after the injured guy together with the housekeeper.

And so their life together began.

Before long, the protagonist noticed something strange about his roommate.

Yes, his roommate had become polite, kind, and hot (x). He brought the protagonist breakfast during the day, waited up so they could turn in together at night, and often invited him to study at the library.

But.

His roommate’s breakfasts were always steamed buns, plain rice, and water.

In the middle of the night, the protagonist would groggily open his eyes and spot a dark figure by the bed.

When they studied, his roommate was so focused he forgot to blink.

He also spoke strangely, stumbling over his words as if he wasn’t quite familiar with his own throat.

One day, the protagonist came across an anonymous post:

[Beware the “impostors” around you! They replace the original person, learn to imitate humans, and eventually assimilate everything around them.]

The protagonist silently looked at his roommate.

His roommate was wrestling with the electric toothbrush the protagonist had given him. His mouth was full of foam as he gargled, water soaking his chest.

Broad and firm, with perfectly defined, flowing muscles.

He really didn’t look... human.

*

Reading guide:

1. Written in third person, with some horror and mystery elements. It’s actually a sweet little romance.

2. Both leads are pure and each other’s first love. They’re devoted exclusively to each other.

Theme: A deep bond between brothers