I honestly never imagined I’d actually be invited to Shen Qiao’s birthday party. As the only fan in attendance, I was so thrilled I almost changed my phone background from his photo to the invitation itself. Naturally, as soon as the other fans caught wind of it, my DMs blew up:

“Girl, what’s your connection to Qiao?”

“OMG, I am dying of jealousy!”

“Did you buy that spot under the table or something?!”

Before I even had a chance to explain, Shen Qiao pulled me aside to chat. But the longer we talked, the weirder things felt. I came here to meet my idol, but he was acting like an online matchmaker. And somehow, every topic kept looping right back to Fu Yanjun.

At first, Shen Qiao ripped into his older brother without holding back—recounting how, when they were kids, Fu Yanjun used caterpillars to scare him, scammed him out of his allowance, and spun him around like a top.

Shen Qiao said with profound grief, “Back then, I used to think… with a personality that rotten, no one in their right mind could ever tolerate him.”

I thought to myself: Sorry to break it to you, but there’s actually someone tolerating him right now.

Shortly after, though, his tone softened. He talked about the time he nearly drowned while swimming, and how Fu Yanjun had jumped into the water to save him without a second thought. Later, when he insisted on breaking into the entertainment industry, his brother stood as a shield, absorbing all the pressure from their family.

Finally, Shen Qiao sighed. “He’s actually a total pride demon—he’ll never admit to liking something, no matter what. When he was ten, he secretly took in a stray cat and said he’d open a pet shop for it when he grew up. But our parents found out and threw it out. The next day… it was mauled to death by stray dogs. He also hated it whenever I called him ‘Big Brother,’ but every single time I did… his face would flush bright red.”

I blinked in shock. Okay, wow. That’s a lot of insider information.

I got home extremely late that night, and my phone died halfway through the commute. To make matters worse, a massive brawl had broken out between two families in my apartment complex. Rumor had it someone pulled a knife, and a female passerby got caught in the crossfire and injured. Police sirens echoed through the entire neighborhood.

The night grew darker, the wind howling through the trees like something straight out of a B-list horror flick. And right then—a figure came rushing toward me.

Fu Yanjun had just gotten off a business trip. November was freezing cold enough to turn anyone into an ice cube, yet he was wearing nothing but a thin dress shirt. He’d clearly run over in a frantic hurry; his hair was disheveled, and his breathing was still ragged.

I’d just finished brushing my teeth, my hair falling wildly over my shoulders. Dazed, I asked, “…You?”

Seeing me standing there completely unharmed, he let out a subtle, quiet sigh of relief. But the moment he opened his mouth, he tried his absolute hardest to play it cool. “I was just… dropping off a client nearby.”

I was speechless. Since when did a corporate VP double as a ride-share driver? Anyone with half a brain could tell he was lying through his teeth.

Recalling what Shen Qiao had told me earlier that morning, a laugh slipped out of me. The man really was ridiculously stubborn and proud. Throughout all the years we’d been together, he had always quietly indulged my every preference—buying the things I liked, taking me everywhere I wanted to go—and every single time, he’d put on that same indifferent facade: “I just happened to buy an extra,” “A client gave it to me,” “I was just passing by.”

With that in mind, I deliberately slammed the door shut with a loud bang, then hid behind the curtains to peek outside.

Five minutes passed… and he was still standing out there.

In the end, I had no choice but to open the door again.

Fu Yanjun was leaning against the wall, his eyes cast downward. After a long silence, he rasped out in a low voice, “Standing closer to you… makes me feel safer.”

My heart quivered. Stepping toward him, I caught him off guard and pressed my hand against his chest. His heart, which had been beating steadily moments ago, instantly went wild under my palm.

Smothering a smile, I teased, “I heard that every time someone calls you ‘Big Brother’… your face turns red?”

His brows instantly furrowed. “Who’s feeding you such nonsense? That’s impossible.”

I rose onto my tiptoes, leaning close to his ear, and whispered softly, “Big brother~”

Within seconds—from his ears straight down to his neck—a deep crimson flush spread at a speed visible to the naked eye.

I gasped in genuine astonishment. “It’s actually real? I get why you’d blush if a girl calls you that… but why do you blush when your own brother calls you that, too?”

Fu Yanjun’s face turned even redder—this time, flushed with sheer embarrassment and annoyance. “Stop overthinking things. It’s not like I blush for just anyone.”

Grit his teeth, he added a stern warning: “What happened today… you are forbidden from telling a soul.”

Between Fu Yanjun and me, there had always been a thin layer of paper. We both knew exactly what the other was thinking, yet neither of us dared to poke through it.

The next day, he suddenly asked me out of nowhere, “You mentioned before that you’d help me pursue the person I like… does that offer still stand?”

My heart skipped a beat. I didn’t dare ask who she was. All I could do was bite my lip and nod. “It stands.”

He pressed on, “Then do you know what she wants to eat tonight?”

Just then, my boss walked past behind me. Nervous as hell, I sat upright like a student caught in a pop quiz. After a long beat, I managed a dry, stiff response: “I… I don’t know.”

God knows what was going through his head, but he murmured, “Then help me ask her.”

Silence stretched for nearly a full minute. In the end, I surrendered. “Beef. She wants to eat beef.” I let out a heavy sigh in my head. Whatever, it’s just beef. It’s not like she’s eating my man.

Then I asked, “Is Shen Qiao coming too?”

A guilty flicker flashed across his eyes. “…Yeah. He’s coming too.”

I snapped back to alertness instantly. “Alright then. Let me grab my coat!”

Right at that moment, Xu Qingqing rolled her swivel chair over to my desk, her voice so sickeningly sweet it gave me goosebumps. “Yinyin~ I knew Su Yan was toxic news all along. Getting exposed by the entire internet serves her right! Remember when we went out to eat before and she forced everyone to split the bill down to the cent?”

She babbled on endlessly before tugging at my sleeve. “Hey, do you think you could introduce me to Mr. Fu? Since you two are friends, that makes us friends too, right?”

She talked until her lips were dry. Only then did I finally slide off my headphones. “Sorry, what did you just say?”

Xu Qingqing: “…” Choking on her own words, she sheepishly rolled her chair back to her desk in humiliation.

At exactly six in the evening, Fu Yanjun’s familiar car was already parked downstairs. His company wasn’t actually far from mine, but picking me up during peak rush hour easily took him over twenty minutes.

I clutched my bag and rushed downstairs.

“What’s the rush?” The corner of his lips curved up as he reached out to pull me close.

I glanced inside the car. “Is there nobody else here?”

The smile on his lips faltered for a second. Then, his voice dropped low: “You know I’ve never lied to you.”

I froze for a moment. He really had never lied to me.

Which was why, over dinner at the restaurant, he pulled out a photo album. In the pictures, Fu Yanjun had every hair in place, looking as breathtakingly handsome as a wealthy heir stepped straight out of a romance drama. Shen Qiao, on the other hand… was covered in mud and dirt, his pages filled with one embarrassing childhood photo after another.

Resting his chin on his hand, Fu Yanjun asked me, “Pretty ugly, right?”

I clutched my chest and squealed, “He’s so freaking adorable!”

He froze, a look of utter confusion washing over his eyes. “You actually think that is adorable?”

I nodded vigorously. With my fan goggles on, my idol could roll around in a mud ditch and I’d still find him adorable!

Fu Yanjun fell silent for a few seconds before speaking slowly, “Actually… I have a few photos like that of myself, too. Want me to show you sometime?”

Me: “?” For some reason, I got the distinct feeling he was competing with his own little brother for my favor.

By the end of the year, the movie starring Shen Qiao won a major award. At the ceremony, clad in an elegant black suit under the dazzling stage lights, he exuded a glowing, magnetic confidence that made it impossible to look away.

Who could have guessed that when I first found out about him, he was just a small-time actor eating cheap boxed meals on set? His family hadn’t supported his entry into showbiz, so he had fought tooth and nail for every single resource. During one dangerous scene, a stunt cable snapped, sending him plunging from a high altitude and landing him in the hospital with broken bones. Even lying in his hospital bed, he still had enough energy to go live on social media and blast the crew for their lack of professionalism.

Back then, I was going through the lowest point of my life too. After the college entrance exams, I had a massive fallout with my parents over wanting to pursue my dream major, to the point where they threatened to cut off my allowance. A distant idol and an ordinary fan—against all odds—became the two people who understood each other best.

Back then, I told him, “You’re definitely going to become a huge star.”

And he told me, “And you’re going to become an incredible designer.”

Now… we had both made it.

The stage lights flickered, casting shifting shadows. Fu Yanjun sat beside me, his face partially concealed under the brim of his cap.

I leaned over and asked in a low voice, “Is it a lot of pressure, having a mega-superstar for a brother?”

His brows instantly knitted together. “In my eyes, he’s still the brat who refused to wear pants as a kid.”

I nearly choked on my own laughter. These two brothers really held a goldmine of dirt on each other. To protect my idol’s image in my heart, I immediately switched topics:

“Aren’t you angry? If it weren’t for Shen Qiao, you and I wouldn’t have…”

His Adam’s apple bobbed slightly, his gaze lingering on my face for a heartbeat. “I was angry at first.” He lowered his head, a soft laugh escaping his lips. “But thinking about it now… raising him wasn’t an entire waste of effort.”

My ears burned hot. Avoiding his gaze, I whispered under my breath:

“Still, I want to make things clear. I can tell the difference. Admiring someone… and genuinely liking someone are two completely different things.”

On New Year’s Eve, we stayed at a hotel in the heart of downtown. Outside the floor-to-ceiling glass windows, clusters of balloons drifted slowly up into the brilliant night sky. The atmosphere inside was so quiet you could hear the beating of our hearts.

I thought back to my best friend, who had rushed over to comfort me back then and casually incinerated every single photo of Fu Yanjun in my room. Honestly, from the moment I agreed to come here with him, I had anticipated a million different possibilities. I gently closed my eyes.

What happened next, however, completely subverted my expectations. Fu Yanjun simply pulled me gently into his arms. After a long silence, he rasped in a low voice:

“Yinyin… I never actually wanted to break up with you.”

I froze. What a coincidence—I had realized that long ago, too, yet I could never figure out where that lingering sense of loss had come from back then. Forcing myself to sound calm, I asked, “Then why did you do it?”

My shoulders felt heavy as his head sank further against me, his warm breath brushing against my ear and tickling me so much I instinctively burrowed deeper into his chest.

His voice was deep, laced with utter helplessness. “Because that bastard Shen Yi said… fighting builds character and makes couples closer.”

Me: “…”

Shen Yi was Fu Yanjun’s childhood friend—a smooth-talking player since day one, who had girls fighting over who’d marry him when he was barely ten. Fu Yanjun had never lost a battle of wits to him, except this once. He’d gone to ask him how to deepen our intimacy, only to be given that completely brainless advice.

Thinking about it now, Fu Yanjun’s expression darkened even further. “How was I supposed to know you wouldn’t even bother fighting back?”

Outside, fireworks burst across the night sky in a brilliant symphony of color. A brand-new year had officially begun.

I tightened my grip on his hand and smiled softly.

“Then… shall we start over from the beginning?”