Hirose Kaede first met Cheng Jiming at a wild party.
He'd had too much to drink, and while barely conscious, a man dragged him into a dim private room and kissed him by force.
Only afterward did he realize the man was Cheng Jiming, an alliance legislator and a candidate to become commander in chief.
Hirose Kaede had a bad feeling. It seemed Cheng Jiming had taken an interest in him.
Cheng Jiming didn't force him to do anything. He simply gave him his contact information.
--
Two years later.
Hirose Pharmaceuticals went bankrupt.
With the Hirose Group on the brink of collapse, Hirose Kaede, its primary heir, fought desperately to save it.
He remembered what had happened two years earlier. By now, he had nothing left to lose. Sleeping with the man was a small price to pay if it could save the company.
But things took a turn Hirose Kaede never expected.
Hirose Kaede was invited to Cheng Jiming's spacious penthouse apartment, where he found dozens of young men who looked almost exactly like him. Every one of them was more beautiful and younger than he was.
He was already thirty. He'd had a girlfriend and had even almost gotten married. He knew his chances were slim.
But, against all expectations, Hirose Kaede was the last one kept.
Only then did Cheng Jiming meet with him alone. He had the butler hand Hirose Kaede a metal sphere smaller than his palm, perforated all around, with a ring attached below and a lock about the size of a knuckle clasped around it.
Hirose Kaede asked, bewildered, "What is this?"
The man sat in a towering chair, shrouded in gloom.
The butler replied, "It's a chastity lock."
"A chastity lock?" Hirose Kaede's eyes widened in shock. He was straight, after all.
"The master doesn't like used things. The chastity lock makes sure his pet doesn't go playing around outside. Mr. Hirose, if you agree, put it on."
Hirose Kaede's fingers trembled around the chastity lock. Once he put it on, he would become Cheng Jiming's slave, Cheng Jiming's plaything.
Cheng Jiming's voice was low and sinister. "Hesitating? You don't want to?"
Hirose Kaede said shakily, "One year. I'll... only do it for one year."
Cheng Jiming smiled. "Do you have a choice?"
--
Cheng Jiming had a beloved who died in a car accident fifteen years ago.
Now he had another man who looked very much like his lost love. Even if he was past his prime and not as young or pretty, he could still make do and have some fun.
Cheng Jiming didn't just want his body. He also wanted to clone Hirose Kaede into the image of his beloved and make him fall in love with him.
[Powerful, gloomy, obsessive gong x Down-on-his-luck, noble-born straight beta shou (the cover features the shou)]
[Beloved's substitute, with a baby on the run]
[Very angsty, very angsty, very old-school. First the shou suffers, then the gong. If you can't handle old-school angst that hits hard, please leave now.]
[The author promises the angst will stay within the bounds of logical plausibility. The shou isn't pathetic, and everyone can think for themselves.]
[There will be plenty of groveling to win the shou back.]
[A straight man becomes a bottom and gets thoroughly toyed with in all kinds of ways.]
[The shou is tight and untouched. After they get together, he only sleeps with the gong.]
[Extremely melodramatic. The author is writing this novel for the melodrama, and everyone in it gets hurt equally.]
[The main characters from No Coveting the Abstinent Beta will make cameo appearances here.]
Theme: Don't lose your head over love. Focus on your career
