On the day of my wedding to my adopted brother, I woke up five years in the past—right back to the day I first confessed my love to him. Standing before me, the younger version of my brother politely rejected me, his voice cool and detached. "I only see you as a sister." I smiled faintly. "Alright then. But remember, whoever regrets this first has to bark like a dog for the rest of their life." He looked calm. "I won't regret it." If I hadn't seen you five years later, kneeling on the ground, weeping and begging me to come back, I might have actually believed you. Keep pretending. Let’s see who breaks first, you dramatic hypocrite. 1 [Delete this message. I’ll pretend I never saw it.] I stared at the text from Liam on my screen. I scrolled up to the message I had sent three minutes ago: [Liam, I like you. I don’t want to be just your sister.] I lowered my eyes, typing back nonchalantly. [Are you sure you don’t want to reconsider?] Sure enough, a moment later, Liam’s reply came through. It was the exact same polite rejection line from my past life. [I only see you as a sister.] Looking at those words, I couldn't help but chuckle. How did I respond last time? Oh right, I didn’t. I was too busy crying my eyes out in a corner. Back then, I felt ashamed of my "forbidden" feelings. I felt angry and guilty for crossing a line. But what I didn't know back then was that I wasn't the only one harboring these feelings. Liam was just better at hiding them. He was calm, restrained, and obsessed with maintaining the boundaries of a "good brother." He chose to suppress and ignore the love that shouldn't exist. My enthusiastic attempts were met with his cold shoulder, time and time again. I was the only one left suffering, whipping myself with moral guilt. Later, when he finally turned around to face his feelings, he realized he shouldn't have run. So, we ended up getting married. Today was supposed to be that wedding. But instead of walking down the aisle, I woke up five years in the past. It took me exactly ten minutes to accept that I had time-traveled. The current Liam has no idea that I know his secret. He’s still using every trick in the book to push me away, acting cold to make me give up. I figured this must be fate. The pain I once suffered? Liam deserves to feel it too. The text bubble on the screen showed he was typing. I beat him to it. [Fine. Just don’t regret it.] [Whoever regrets this has to be the other person’s puppy for life.] It took a long time before Liam replied. [Never.] I scoffed and tossed my phone onto the pillow. Keep acting tough. No one puts on a show quite like you. 2 When I went downstairs the next morning, Liam was already busy in the kitchen. After his parents died in a car accident, my parents took him in. He’s been with us for over ten years. We share no blood, but our lives are inextricably tied. Like right now. Despite the awkwardness of the rejected confession, he was still up early making me breakfast. I couldn’t help it. I’ve been eating his cooking for a decade; it’s a habit. "I won't be home for lunch or dinner," I said, taking a bite of a sandwich while leaning against the doorframe. "I'm hanging out with friends this afternoon." He kept his head down, frying an egg. I couldn’t tell if he heard me. All morning, he seemed to be avoiding me. He stayed in the kitchen, busy with god knows what. It wasn't until I was changing my shoes in the entryway that he walked out of the living room holding an umbrella. "The forecast says rain. Take this." He looked like the perfect, responsible older brother again. As if yesterday’s cold rejection was just my hallucination. I smiled at him. "Okay." I pushed the door open, then turned back. "By the way, Brother." Meeting his gaze, I kept my tone breezy. "I thought about it last night before bed. You're right." "I've never dated anyone, so I probably confused familial love with romance." "Sorry for making things awkward, Bro." Liam’s grip on the umbrella handle tightened visibly. After a long pause, he said flatly, "I'm glad you understand." I pretended not to notice his tension. I patted his shoulder, leaning in close. My warm breath brushed against his neck. "I need to clear out my desk at school since we graduated. There are still a few boxes of books. I'll need your help later, okay?" The Karaoke room was deafening. Maya sat next to me, handing me a boba tea. "Why did you come today? You usually hate these loud gatherings." I chewed on the straw, shaking my head with a smile. "Just felt like it." Liam was strict with me. Curfews. Reporting my location. If I didn't reply for a few hours, he’d call. If I was late, his car would be waiting down the street. In my past life, I was afraid of making him angry, so I was obedient. Now that I think about it... that wasn't brotherly concern. That was possessiveness. And he had the nerve to play the "sibling card." You don't know pain until the knife cuts you. "Won't your brother be mad?" Maya worried. "Last time we stayed out past midnight, his face was terrifying when he picked you up." I swirled my drink casually. "Why would he be mad?" I put on a faint smile. "He's not my real brother anyway." Liam is three years older than me. By the time I turned eighteen, he was already in college. When we were kids, our parents were always traveling for business. The job of raising me basically fell to him and the nanny. In a way, Liam raised me. My feelings for him were obvious to everyone. Yet he insisted on being the untouchable saint. Seems a bit unfair, doesn't it? 3 When Liam arrived at the high school, it was already evening. The hallways were crowded with parents helping their kids move out. Standing at 6'1", he stood out in the crowd. Even my homeroom teacher recognized him. "Here to help your sister move?" Liam smiled politely. "Yes." He had graduated from this same school. Same teacher, too. The teacher led him to my desk. "She's moved most of her stuff. Just a few boxes of books left." Liam nodded thanks and crouched down to organize them. The boxes were filled with old test papers and reference books. And my notebook. He flipped it open casually, seeing my handwriting. He could almost picture me sitting in class, taking notes seriously. He flipped a few more pages. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something tucked between the pages. He pulled it out. It was a stack of sticky notes, covered in handwriting. Obviously notes passed during class. Liam frowned slightly. Beside him, the teacher chuckled. "By the way, now that your sister has graduated, dating is allowed, right?" Liam froze. "She's dating?" The teacher waved a hand, teasing. "You know how kids are during puberty, hiding their crushes. We teachers see it, but we don't burst their bubble since they need to focus on exams." "But exams are over. Let them be." Liam smiled but said nothing. Once the teacher left, he looked down at the notes again. Intuition told him the handwriting wasn't from a girl. Liam narrowed his eyes. He looked up at the wall where the model essays were posted. He compared the handwriting one by one until his gaze landed on the last sheet. Signed: Josh. He turned to look at the back wall where the class photos from Sports Day were hanging. Second row, first on the left: Josh. He scanned the faces until he found the boy. And standing right next to him, smiling brilliantly, was me—Chloe. After singing a song, my phone vibrated. A text from Liam: [Moved your stuff home.] I replied: [Okay, thanks Bro~ Don't touch my stuff, or I won't be able to find anything later~] He replied instantly: [Left it exactly as it was on your desk.] [What time are you coming back?] I sent a voice message: "Dunno. Maybe eleven?" Immediately, Liam called. His voice sounded a bit raspy over the phone. "Send me your location later. I'll pick you up tonight." I refused quickly. "No need, that's too much trouble." Silence on the other end. Then, a cool voice: "Not trouble. I'm on the way." On the way? We were twenty miles apart. I didn't expose his lie. Just then, Josh, our class monitor who organized the party, asked me, "Chloe, what do you want to eat tonight?" I laughed. "Anything works. You pick." Liam's voice on the phone suddenly turned strange. "You're at a party... with boys?" I laughed. "Yeah, it's a class reunion." Liam asked casually, "What's his name?" "You wouldn't know him, Brother." "How do you know I won't know him if you don't say it?" I waved Josh over and handed him the phone. "Tell my brother your name." Josh, bless his clueless heart, grinned. He took the phone and announced loudly: "Hello, Big Bro! I'm Josh!" 4 Liam stood downstairs at his dorm, staring at his phone. Why hadn't Chloe posted on her Instagram Story yet? She usually documented everything when she went out. His roommate, Zack, couldn't stand it anymore. "Liam, I'm talking to you. Did you hear a word I said?" Liam looked up, frowning. "What?" Zack sighed. "So I was talking to a wall. I said, if you're sleeping in the dorm tonight, remember to top up the electricity card." Liam was distracted. "I'm not staying. Just grabbing something." Seeing him glued to his phone, Zack leaned over and saw the chat with me. "Oh, going home today?" Liam lowered his eyes. "Yeah. My sister is out late. I'm picking her up." Zack patted his shoulder sympathetically. "You act like her dad and her mom combined." "If you ask me, you should let her get a boyfriend. Take the load off your shoulders..." Before he could finish, the temperature around them dropped. Zack looked up into Liam's cold eyes. "I introduce one?" Liam smiled, but his eyes didn't. "Who? You?" Zack, blind without his glasses, rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I mean, it's not a bad idea. I've seen your sister..." Liam scoffed. "You? You're shorter than me, not as fit as me, failed a class last semester, and probably won't get into grad school." "Why would I introduce my sister to you?" Zack almost cried. "Dude! If you don't want to, just say so. No need for personal attacks!" Liam walked away, his temples throbbing. He felt irritable. Ever since he rejected Chloe, it felt like the whole world was against him. After dinner, we went to a Murder Mystery game. It didn't end until midnight. Josh, being the class monitor, had been forced to drink a lot. He was wasted. Helping him out of the elevator, someone asked the crucial question. "Does anyone know where he lives?" Silence. Maya sighed. "No choice. Let's book him a hotel room for the night. Make him reimburse us tomorrow." Everyone pulled out their phones to check prices. "Book a King Room here. It's showing $60 for me." "Damn, mine says $75. Where did you get that coupon?" I checked my app and paused. "Why is it showing $45 for me?" "Use your phone then!" everyone urged. "Stupid dynamic pricing algorithms!" Liam's car was parked across the street. He watched Chloe and her friends come downstairs. She was standing next to a drunk boy who was being supported by others. Liam frowned. A taxi stopped in front of them. The group stuffed the drunk boy inside. He thought that was it. But then, Chloe opened the door and got in too. Liam: "?" Just as he was about to get out and stop her, his phone vibrated. A system notification text. Reading the words, the blood rushed to his head. [Dear Ms. Li, you have successfully booked 1 Honeymoon Suite.]
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