I tried to push Hua Rang off me, but his body was radiating intense heat, and the heavy drag of his breath against my ear sent my heart into a wild, frantic spin. I scrambled to summon whatever piece of logic he might have left.

“Hua Rang… Uncle… Rang… can you let go of me, please?”

Nothing. He stayed glued to me like superglue. Terrified of making a scene that might wake my grandfather, I gritted my teeth and dragged the towering piece of real estate all the way to his bedroom.

He crashed onto the mattress, completely out cold. Massaging my aching shoulders, I stood over him, muttering under my breath, “Can’t drink for shit, but still loves to flex. If it weren’t for me, you’d be sleeping on the front lawn tonight.”

I turned on my heel to leave. But the second my fingers brushed the doorknob, a sudden, powerful grip yanked me straight back.

His arm whipped around my waist, pulling me flush against him as he dragged me into the room.

“Uncle… what are you—”

Before I could finish, his mouth slammed onto mine.

The door behind us clicked locked. My escape route was completely wiped out. Hua Rang pinned me tight against the wall, trapping both of my wrists above my head. There was nothing gentle about this kiss; it reeked of heavy alcohol and the chaotic release of emotions he’d kept bottled up for way too long. It was frantic, overwhelming, and left me completely breathless.

In the hot, pitch-black silence of the room, the only sound was our ragged breathing. But one thing was crystal clear: he wasn’t in his right mind. At the very least, he had no idea it was me in front of him.

I summoned every ounce of strength I had to shove against his chest. “We can’t…”

“Why can’t we?” His voice was raspy, laced with a raw desolation I’d never heard from him before.

He cupped my chin, forcing me to meet his gaze.

“I drank… doesn’t that make me more like him? Why isn’t it allowed now?”

Him? Who was ‘him’? My brain scrambled into a tangled mess. He grabbed my hand and pressed it flat against his chest, his voice dropping into a desperate low. “Look at me… I’m better than I was before… you’ll like it.”

Those words dragged me straight back to three years ago. Back to sleepless nights and the times I took the initiative to tease my temporarily blind uncle. Back then, he never pushed me away—he just flushed red and silently took it.

But that was three years ago. I couldn’t let this go any further off the rails.

The sharp sound shattered the silence. The air froze instantly. The faint glint of clarity finally flickered back into Hua Rang’s eyes. Chest heaving, my voice trembled, but I forced every syllable to be firm:

“Hua Rang, snap out of it! It’s me, Shen Luo. I’m your niece. We can’t do this.” I clenched my fists tighter. “If you keep this up… I will hate you.”

The word hate seemed to drain the life out of him. His hands slackened, dropping to his sides as he let out a exhausted, broken murmur:

“Luo Luo… I’m sorry.”

I bolted from that room, my heart hammering against my ribs like a trapped bird. I didn’t sleep a wink that night, lying awake and straining to catch every tiny sound from next door.

Turns out, I’d been lying to myself for the past three years. What existed between us was never just a simple uncle-niece dynamic.

Hua Rang wasn’t related to me by blood. When he was ten, his parents died in a car crash. My grandfather took pity on him and brought him home, raising him like one of his own grandchildren. He was seven years older than me. For as long as I could remember, he was an immovable constant in my world.

My parents used to tease, “Luo Luo was basically raised by her young uncle.”

Whenever they said that, he’d just stand beside me with a gentle smile, offering no denial and no explanation.

He spoiled me rotten. Growing up, no matter how massive a mess I made, I was never scared. Because I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that there was always one person who would take my side.

Yet now, that very person was the one scaring me the most.

I was dangerously dependent on him. So much so that when he left for college in another city, I cried like the sky was falling. I even demanded, “Why can’t you just take me to college with you?”

The whole family cracked up laughing. Hua Rang knelt down in front of me, ruffling my hair to soothe me. “Be a good girl. When Uncle comes back, I’ll bring you all the best treats. Stop crying, okay?”

The moment I heard “treats,” the waterworks shut off instantly.

“Cross your heart?”

“Cross my heart.”

Even away at school, he called me every three days like clockwork. The conversations were identical to my mom’s lectures: study hard, eat well, don’t stay up late. I’d complain that he sounded just like her, and he’d just chuckle. And me? I secretly loved listening to every word.

I never expected that affection to mutate into something else. I reached a point where I hated calling him “Uncle.” I just wanted to say his name: Hua Rang.

The first time I realized my feelings had crossed the line was during my junior year of high school. He caught me with a pink love letter that had fallen out of my notebook.

Hua Rang picked it up, trailing off with a playful drawl, “‘To my dearest classmate, Shen Luo…’ Our little Luo Luo is all grown up, getting pursued by boys now, huh?”

Flustered, I reached to snatch it back, but he easily held it out of reach. “Confiscated. Focus on your studies—no underage dating.”

“Hua Rang, you’re so overbearing!” I snapped, annoyed.

“I’m your uncle. If I don’t look out for you, who will?”

“I’m grown up! Who I like is my business!”

The second those words left my mouth, his expression darkened. He stared down at the letter, his eyes unreadable and deep, before asking, “Do you actually like this guy?”

It was the first time I’d ever seen him visibly upset. Whatever courage I had completely evaporated. I shook my head frantically. “No. I don’t.”

Not because I was a good kid, but because I couldn’t stand the thought of making him unhappy.

Another time, my roommates asked me what my ideal type was. I rested my chin on my hand and rattled off a list without thinking:

“Must be handsome, gentle, high nose bridge, gorgeous eyes… Ideally fox-like eyes with a tiny tear mole right underneath…”

I froze mid-sentence.

Wait. Wasn’t I just describing Hua Rang?

I shoved the thought away immediately. No way. How could I possibly fall for my own uncle? But the truth hit me square in the face on my eighteenth birthday.

He flew back from another city just to give me a star-pendant necklace. In a room overflowing with gifts and guests, he was the only person I was waiting for. Standing before the flickering candlelight, I closed my eyes and made a wish. For the first time, my wish was no longer “May Uncle stay by my side forever.”

It was: I want Hua Rang to be my boyfriend.

That crush took root and grew completely out of control. I started despising every woman who came anywhere near him. Whenever my grandfather mentioned setting him up on blind dates, I’d come down with a fever for a full day and night.

The night of my high school graduation party, riding a wave of liquid courage, I cornered him in a quiet turn of the garden. Under the moonlight, I gathered every ounce of nerve I possessed:

“I like you. I want you to be my boyfriend.”

“Luo Luo, you’re drunk.”

“I’m not drunk! I like you. I really, really like you.”

Before he could respond, I stood on tiptoes and kissed him. It only lasted a few seconds before he firmly pushed me away. His chest heaved, his eyes filled with a desperate, painful restraint.

“Luo Luo, look at me clearly. I am your uncle.”

He paused, then dropped a line that rendered me completely numb:

“I’m not that person.”