His brother was never good at expressing love, but he spent his entire life protecting me.
…
[Greetings, Host! Welcome to the Doki doki! Love Strategy System!
I'm here to congratulate you on becoming my 100th host for this mission!
Follow me for a journey to the path of a lovely, sweet, and gentle relationship, Lu Yu!]
[...Wait! You are not Lu Yu, your name is Lu Ye…???
Am I not supposed to be connected to Lu Yu? Who the hell are you?]
"So you were originally planning to connect Lu Yu? What do you mean by system? What the hell are you?"
Lu Ye's head throbbed with pain, and confusion rose in his mind. He didn't know why the second he woke up, he found himself not lying on the hospital bed but in some random place over here, and before he was able to analyze what was happening, he heard this voice coming out from nowhere, wanting to do something to his little sister.
His heart is pounding, his hands are trembling, and he still remembers the memory of the car crash. Even though Lu Yu never actually sees him as her brother, with endless disputes happening every day, she's still his little sister.
His only sister…
Such that he's not gonna let this unknown thing… this strange system… put its sight on her by any chance.
...
Lu Ye grew up in a traditional Chinese family. His father was stern and authoritative, a man who believed discipline was a form of love and that achievement was paramount. His mother was gentle on the surface but distant at heart, measuring her children not by who they were, but by how well they performed. In this household, love is conditional, and grades were the currency for it.
Arguments happened almost every day— about rankings, futures, expectations, and the ever-present comparison to "other people's children." Lu Ye learned early on that he was not loved for who he was, but for who he was expected to become.
But he once enjoyed a truly happy childhood, when his brother was still alive.
Back in that time, the family's attention was never on him.
Lu Jingxing, his older brother, was the true "hope" and "face" of this traditional family. He's a really outstanding student, able to meet their parents' expectations, actually being the "other people's children", while Lu Ye is the average student whose parents never put their eyes on him.
Or maybe they did, but his brother was silently protecting him like a wall, blocking all that pressure and control away from his siblings.
And so, Lu Ye was able to breathe and hold the chance to chase his dreams.
Every time Lu Ye gets scolded by their father, their older brother would casually ruffle his hair and say, "It's okay, take your time."
He would also interrupt their mother with a smile before she could even begin to nag, "You should learn from your brother."
He would stay up late studying alone, but keeping this routine away from him, and then during the day, he would play soccer with him, tell jokes, and pretend everything was fine.
Lu Ye always thought life was supposed to be like this. He lied to himself that his brother is fine.
Until his brother's senior year of high school, he can no longer pretend that nothing has happened.
That year, Lu Jingxing gave it his all and got into the best university in the country.
The whole family was proud of him, relatives praised him, and their parents smiled genuinely for the first time. They held a celebration banquet for him, inviting every person they thought they could show off to.
But before that joy had even faded, his older brother jumped from the roof of the school building.
It happened the day after the celebration banquet, and Lu Ye witnessed it.
He saw his brother walk out of the house with nothing in hand, stepping on the school roof, and then jump off without a word.
No one expected this to happen, especially their parents. In their eyes, Lu Jingxing had everything they wanted: excellent grades, admission to a top university with a full scholarship, and a bright future—all thanks to their support. But none of them listened to his thoughts; if he wanted all this, all they wanted was "face", to win against their relatives.
When he saw that scene, he felt like time was being torn apart—the howling wind, the sudden crowd gathering below, he can't see any of that. All he remembered was the look in his brother's eyes just before he fell.
There was no anger, no accusation, only an utterly exhausted calm.
Lu Jingxing saw him before he jumped down; Lu Ye was 100% sure about that. His hands reached out and then pulled back, because he knew that he had no intention of living.
He didn't want to go against his brother's last wishes, although he wanted him to survive; he wanted him to be there with him.
Later, everyone said his brother "couldn't think straight", that he had such a "bright future", but did something so stupid.
Only Lu Ye knew that he simply couldn't hold on any longer.
After his brother's death, the family changed completely.
Everything that his older brother had borne was like an invisible net that suddenly tightened, falling entirely on Lu Ye's shoulders. His parents' loss of control, regret, guilt, and fear ultimately transformed into even harsher demands— they could no longer bear the possibility of losing a second child.
"Why can't you be as smart as your brother?!!! Such an idiot!"
For the first time, Lu Ye realized that he was no longer the one being protected. He starts to understand how hard his brother has worked to protect him from all this.
He began to suffer from insomnia.
Whenever he stood at a height, he would tremble uncontrollably; at night, when he closed his eyes, he would repeatedly see the image of his brother falling. In his dreams, he reached out countless times, but could never grasp him.
But he dared not fall.
Because he still had his younger sister.
Lu Yu was too young, too young to fully grasp the meaning of "death." She only knew her older brother was gone; she could no longer see him anymore. The air in the house had become oppressive, and her parents' emotions could spiral out of control at any moment.
Lu Ye taught her to minimize her presence in the house, just like his brother had taught him before. He tried to capture all the attention of their parents so that his little sister could have a more relaxing childhood.
Lu Ye learned to grow up quickly.
He suppressed his pain deep within, hid his fear beneath his reason, and, like his brother had done, stood in front, shielding his sister from everything.
He studied day and night, achieving excellent grades and becoming the "other people's children" that he never dared to dream of in the past. He became more and more like his older brother. Their parents gradually forgot about their brother's death over time, and all the praise that had once belonged to their brother from relatives, friends, and teachers was now given to him, as if only Lu Ye still remembered him, as if he's the only child in this family.
He became his brother, and Lu Yu became him from the past.
Sometimes he wondered if their parents still remembered the punishment given by his brother… as they never seemed to change their behavior, but during the nights when he goes to the bathroom, he saw them sitting on the bed wiping the family photo, and stared blankly at his brother's picture, with the lights still on.
He doesn't know the answer… and maybe he never will.
Years later, he also got the admission letter from the same college. Getting into this university wasn't an honor for him, but an escape.
—He's a person, not a tool. Neither is his sister.
He brought his sister away from that home as soon as he got the offer. He wasn't sure if it was out of hatred or because they would suffer the same fate as his brother if they stayed. He only knew that he had to bring his sister away from that home, away from this cage called "love."
He always remembered the day of the celebration banquet.
Lu Jingxing brought him to the corner of the banquet and told him that he could no longer stay by his side anymore. He could no longer protect him anymore; he had to learn to protect his younger sister. He told him to run away, as far away as possible.
Lu Ye didn't understand his brother's meaning at first, but every day afterward, he regretted not understanding his brother's words. If only he thought more about his attitude that day, maybe he can save him…
...
He doesn't have many memories about the past; he only remembers the warmth of their brother's hand.