Brothers Can’t Be Wives

Seeing the conflicted look on his face, Gojo Satoru lowered his voice a few notches, letting out a soft scoff. “This won’t do, that won’t do…”

He teased lightly, “What are you, a little mermaid? Gotta hide in the ocean when the clock strikes?”

Mermaid Ge: “…”

Strawberry Shortcake could get pretty sassy sometimes, huh.

“It’s just… I’ve got some issues here, so I can’t head back yet. When I do, I’ll treat you guys to dinner…” Lin Ge ducked his head, not daring to catch Gojo Satoru’s expression, mumbling with zero confidence. “Deal?”

—

“Rustle, rustle…”

Pages flipped quickly.

Finishing up the last sortie log, Yamanbakiri Kunihiro stacked them neatly and handed them to the Saniwa, who’d been oddly quiet since coming back from his call.

“These are the records from the last handover to this month. Check them over, and if there’s nothing to edit, just scan and upload them one by one.”

After speaking, he glanced at the Saniwa’s downcast expression, pursed his lips, and hesitated for a few seconds before deciding to ask, “You feeling down?”

Did they fight?

Didn’t seem like it.

He looked pretty happy when he stepped out to take the call.

Yamanbakiri Kunihiro was totally lost.

The Saniwa was a super upfront guy.

Not great at hiding stuff or lying—his feelings were written all over his face.

Like a kid.

Figh-ting.

Lin Ge waved his hands frantically, denying it in a rush. “…No way, why would you think that?”

How could it count as a fight?!

“Because you’ve been zoning out ever since you got off the phone…”

Lin Ge doubled down, refusing to admit it. “You saw wrong.” He grabbed the stack of logs, flipping one open to cover his tracks. “I’m checking now!”

Work, work!

He was gonna be a busy little bee!

But then a pale, slender hand landed on the center of the book, holding it shut.

Lin Ge looked up.

“Wanna talk about it?”

—

“You’re way too curious.”

Lin Ge twitched his lips, trying to nudge that clean hand away.

Come on, was Yamanbakiri seriously planning to raise him like a son?

Just one contract, and their rock-solid colleague bond had gone all mushy like this?

Tapping his head lightly, Yamanbakiri Kunihiro let out a soft hum, his voice dropping. “…Is that not okay?”

Lin Ge: “.”

Handsome guys had it easy—felt like saying no would be a crime!

But it’s not like there was anything he couldn’t share.

And he could use a little advice…

So Lin Ge cleared his throat. “Just a tiny hiccup.”

Yamanbakiri Kunihiro nodded, making a zipping-his-lips gesture to show he’d keep it hush-hush.

“Well… we were chatting fine at first, but then I slipped up and said something wrong. I offered to treat him to dinner, and he shot it down without even thinking, saying he was busy…” Lin Ge’s voice got quieter and quieter.

Sure, Strawberry Shortcake had smiled when he turned him down, but it felt so… fake.

“Not only that, he hung up! Said he had to get back to teaching…”

Total excuse!

Strawberry Shortcake himself said his class was just students reading off PPTs.

But man, his big mouth—things were going so well, why’d he have to poke the sore spot?

Hearing this, Yamanbakiri Kunihiro sighed and made an “can I talk?” gesture. When Lin Ge nodded, he spoke up. “That’s probably pretty normal between friends…”

He chose his words carefully, worried about sounding too harsh. “Maybe you care about him so much that you’re overthinking his every move… or maybe…”

Lin Ge’s eyes sparkled with curiosity. “Maybe what?”

Under that eager stare, Yamanbakiri Kunihiro felt a weird pressure but powered through. “Maybe your friend’s actually busy?”

He paused, then added, “Friends need some space too. Everyone’s got their own…” life…

He couldn’t bring himself to say the last two words.

Because his master’s eyes were red at the corners, and it felt like one more word would have him bawling on the spot.

Shutting his mouth, he cursed himself internally.

Spoke too much.

“…Need a handkerchief?”

Yamanbakiri Kunihiro pulled a clean square cloth from his pocket.

The bottom-right corner had a vivid green bamboo embroidered, with delicate patterns along the edges.

Lin Ge tried to act tough, shaking his head. “No, don’t need it.”

By the end, his voice was already choking up.

Pain! Too much pain!

The golden-haired angel’s words stabbed right into his heart.

Defenses shattered, totally wrecked!

Hesitating for half a second, Yamanbakiri Kunihiro nodded. “…Alright.”

Didn’t look like he didn’t need it.

He started to pull the cloth back, but halfway through, Lin Ge grabbed his hand.

Lin Ge whined, “You’re actually taking it back?”

Yamanbakiri Kunihiro: “…”

On the Saniwa, he truly learned what it meant to not need to be too normal.

—

A crescent moon hung in the sky, the night soft and warm.

Amid the hum of insects, the occasional rustle of leaves stirred by the breeze drifted through the window.

Back pressed against the wall, Lin Ge kicked off his blanket, his big eyes glued to the ceiling. His bare skin prickled in the air, his emotions swirling, tossing and turning, unable to sleep.

He really wanted to scream and go nuts!

Throw a punch at the air, blow up the whole world!

His fist froze mid-swing, his face full of frustration.

He wanted to vent the gloom in his chest, but he wasn’t sure how soundproof the room was—didn’t wanna wake his colleagues.

He opened his mouth a few times, only to close it helplessly.

Curse of nine years of public education—lingering civic duty.

The pent-up breath stuck in his chest, neither swallowed nor released, making him miserable.

Yamanbakiri’s words had mercilessly ripped open the feelings he’d been trying so hard to ignore.

Lin Ge bit the blanket, feeling all tied up inside.

He glanced at the time.

Just past midnight.

Time to emo!

He called out to Siri to open his emo music app, hunting down an EMO playlist and hitting play-all.

Listening to the melodramatic “You love me, I don’t love you, I love him” tunes, his heart felt oddly calm.

Yeah.

People shouldn’t, or at least really shouldn’t.

Why was he so possessive about Strawberry Shortcake?

Lin Ge always thought of himself as a go-with-the-flow guy.

He’d even believed “possessiveness” would never have anything to do with him.

At most, his possessiveness flared up thinking everyone else’s pocket money should be his.

Fingers raking through his hair, Lin Ge scratched his scalp a few times, hoping to cool his jumbled brain.

Right, Strawberry Shortcake must have his reasons.

Even if he hung up, he didn’t block him, did he?

Like Yamanbakiri said, it was just a small thing.

Plus, Lin Ge was the one who bailed first.

Without realizing it, Lin Ge started listing Gojo Satoru’s good points in his head.

Strawberry Shortcake smelled nice, tasted even better.

Kind and driven, with big ideals, serious about work, a pillar of the Jujutsu world.

If Lin Ge had to grind like that 24/7, he’d tap out in a day… no, an hour.

Weird—he used to be totally meh about workaholic overachievers.

In his last life, Lin Ge was used to everyone minding their own business, hands thrown up like “not my problem.”

He was the same way.

All smiles, zero results.

But he just loved hanging out with Strawberry Shortcake.

Lin Ge buried his face in the pillow.

Time ticked forward, second by second.

Suddenly, Lin Ge shot up from the bed with a carp flip.

Whew, couldn’t breathe!

Gulping in air, the brief oxygen shortage somehow cleared his thoughts, his gaze growing steadier.

Right! A brother is a brother, and brothers can’t turn into wives.

If he became a wife, he couldn’t just slap his brother’s shoulder and mess around anymore.

If he became a wife, they’d only huddle under the covers at night, listening to each other’s breathing, sinking into a bed of desire and love.

So a brother can only be a wife.

…No, wait, a wife can only be a brother.

Lin Ge smacked his thigh, hit with a revelation.

That’s it, that’s it!

He’d reached the age to taste the bitterness of love!