My little cousin was using my photos to online date, posting my selfies on his Instagram every single day. I couldn't take it anymore and texted him privately: "Are you ever going to stop?" "Sis, just bear with me a little longer. I'm just one rank away from the top tier. Once I hit it, I'll break up with him." Later, my cousin did break up with his online boyfriend. And the professor from the physics department next door explicitly called me to his office. 1 Lately, my high-school-aged cousin hadn't been acting right. He was constantly posting my selfies on his Instagram story, paired with the weirdest, cringiest captions. For example: "The weather is so nice today, perfect for some boba." Then, not long after, he'd post another story: "Thank you! Got the boba." My eye twitched as I read them. I DM'd him: "?" "...Crap, forgot to block you from seeing that." I hit him with the real question: "Are you using my photos to catfish guys online?" "Sis, he's incredibly good at gaming! I just want him to carry my rank." I didn't pry too much, just warned him: "Play less games, and absolutely do not scam people out of their money. Otherwise, I'm telling your dad." He was quiet for over a week, but then his Instagram updated again. It was one of my selfies, bizarrely juxtaposed with a picture of a massive Lego set. The caption: "My birthday is coming up. I really want this Lego set." ...Good lord, he was actually scamming people for money now. I couldn't hold back and DM'd him again: "Are you ever going to stop?" "Sis, just bear with me a little longer. I'm just one rank away from the top tier. Once I hit it, I'll break up with him." I wanted to march over to his house and punch him in the face. "I don't care if you play games, but stop ruining my reputation! If you want the Lego set, I'll buy it for you." Half an hour later, he finally replied: "No need, sis. I already got it." "?" I immediately Venmo'd him the money. "Send the money back to him, and break up immediately." My cousin accepted the Venmo and reluctantly replied: "Fine." Still worried, I called him and gave him a stern lecture. He apologized profusely and promised he would change. I was in my final year of grad school, and with the holidays approaching, I was swamped with errands and research. I simply didn't have the time to keep an eye on him. He stayed quiet for a while, not posting any new updates. 2 The holidays arrived as scheduled. I was curled up on the sofa devouring mandarin oranges when my best friend, Chloe, sent me a screenshot: "Your cousin is really something else." I clicked it open. My cousin's Instagram story was still exclusively featuring my selfies. He had completely exhausted the small handful of photos I actually posted on my own feed. Refusing to give up, he had somehow dug up my high school graduation photo, posted it, and added a fake, sentimental caption: "I've changed so much." He said he would change... did he mean changing his privacy settings so I couldn't see his posts?! I shot up from the sofa with a whoosh, sprinted into the guest bedroom, grabbed my cousin by the ear, and hauled him up. "Still stealing my photos?! Do you have a death wish?!" "Hiss... ow, ow, ow!" He dramatically covered his ear while begging, "Sis, you're here just in time! He wants to do a voice call with me. Can you please just answer it for me?! I'll give you all my holiday money this year, please?!" "In your dreams. You are going to confess and apologize to him right now." "Sis, it's the holidays! Telling someone they've been catfished by a teenage boy... breaking someone's heart like that during the holidays is so cruel!" I punched him hard in the arm. "Oh, so now you realize you're being cruel?!" "Just let me get through these next few days! I'm so close to my rank! Once I get it, I'll tell him I need to focus on my studies and break up with him." He held up three fingers. "I swear, this is the last time. I promise." Under his relentless pleading, I finally, reluctantly, took the phone. "Summer, Happy Holidays." The voice on the other end was deep, magnetic, and incredibly resonant. It stunned me for a second. This voice, which sounded like it belonged in an audiobook, actually made my long-dormant heart flutter a little. "Hi..." The moment I spoke, I realized I was unconsciously pitching my voice higher to sound cuter. I quickly cleared my throat and tried to sound as emotionless as possible. "Hi. Happy Holidays." "Summer, what do you want for a holiday gift?" Hearing this, my cousin immediately sat up, wildly swiped across his iPad, and pulled up a picture of a Nintendo Switch. He pointed frantically at the screen, winking and gesturing wildly at me. I nodded calmly, signaling that I understood. Then I turned back to the phone and said: "For the new year, I want a complete, comprehensive set of SAT prep books and practice exams." My cousin's eyes bugged out of his head. In his look of sheer disbelief, I saw his heart shatter into a million pieces. Heh. Little brat. That'll teach you to catfish people. "Hmm? Why do you want that?" the voice on the phone asked. "Because I have to take my college entrance exams soon. I want to focus on my studies, so I won't be able to play games with you anymore." "I see. In that case, you really shouldn't be gaming. If you ever have trouble with any of the practice questions, you can still ask me." The voice remained gentle and supportive. "Okay. Thank you." I exchanged a few more polite pleasantries, hung up the phone, and shoved it back into my cousin's dumbfounded hands. "From now on, I will be checking your progress on those practice exams every single month. Also, calculate how much those books cost and Venmo the money back to him. Consider it a self-funded purchase. If you don't send the money, I'm telling your dad. Happy Holidays, little bro." I walked away like a boss, leaving my cousin standing there, looking like he wanted to cry but had no tears left. 3 Back in the living room, I had unread messages from Chloe. "What exactly is going on with your cousin?" I furiously typed away, bragging about my masterful handling of the situation. "How was that? Pretty awesome, right? I put him right in his place." "I bet my cousin is done with online dating forever." Unexpectedly, Chloe completely missed the point. She just replied with: "Wow." "Your cousin can find a boyfriend, but you can't." "..." Fine. I'll shut up. Chloe and I were polar opposites. If we did an annual review, it would definitely look like this: "Beginning of the year: Chloe is dating John. I'm single." "Mid-year: Chloe is dating Mike. I'm single." "End of the year: Chloe gets back together with John. I'm still single." Chloe was a magnet for romance. I, on the other hand, was apparently coated in a heavy layer of male-repellent. At first, watching Chloe post sweet couple photos every day made me feel a little restless. I tried talking to a few guys, but none of them clicked. So, I remained single all the way through grad school. I genuinely felt like the metaphorical deer in my heart had died of old age. It was only today, when I heard that voice on the phone, that it showed slight signs of resuscitation. But honestly, anyone who could be fooled by my cousin's terrible acting was probably just a naive, inexperienced kid himself. Just a minor with a bit of pocket money and a nice voice. Over the next few days, I forced my cousin to break up with him and made him uninstall the game. Once he uninstalled it, I secretly downloaded Honor of Kings. If my cousin could find a guy using my photos, why couldn't the actual owner of the photos? However, for the next few days, I only ended up playing with Chloe. She was barely a mediocre player herself, yet she had to drag my dead weight through ranked matches every day. I had absolutely no idea how to play. She told me to pick Arthur and gave me two golden rules. "One: Click whatever button lights up." "Two: If you see someone, charge." So, there I was, a young woman in her prime, playing as the burly old knight Arthur, wandering aimlessly around the canyon. Whenever I saw an enemy, I charged at them and mashed all the buttons wildly. By the end of the holiday break, forget about an online boyfriend—I hadn't even heard a guy's voice in the game. I had even dragged Chloe all the way down to Gold rank with me. Chloe sent me a screenshot of her rank. "I can't rank up anymore. Can I use your photos to catfish a guy too?" I silently sent back a sticker: "Warning: Will block immediately." 4 The holidays ended. It was the first day back at the university. My advisor suddenly called me: "Summer, Professor Sterling from the Physics department next door says he needs to see you urgently. Go to his office right now." I hung up the phone, completely confused. Julian Sterling. The youngest and most ridiculously handsome professor in the Physics department. A candid photo of him teaching—wearing a crisp white shirt and gold-rimmed glasses—had effortlessly racked up hundreds of thousands of likes on TikTok. Logically speaking, a professor of his caliber wouldn't need me to run errands for him, even if he was busy. Feeling slightly nervous, I knocked on Professor Sterling's office door. I barely tapped it before it swung open. The first thing I saw was his perfectly tailored white dress shirt, faintly revealing the outline of an athletic, muscular physique beneath. My gaze moved up. A few buttons at the collar were casually undone, exposing elegant collarbones and a prominent Adam's apple. I looked up further and crashed straight into his deep, dark eyes. "Professor Sterling, you asked for me." I nodded politely, keeping my voice steady. No one could possibly know that internally, a million prairie dogs were screaming their heads off. "Mm. Come in." He stepped aside. I obediently walked into the office. As I passed him, a faint, elusive scent of sandalwood drifted over me, almost stealing my soul away. Before I even stopped walking, Professor Sterling spoke. "Why did you break up with me?" I froze. I turned around and looked everywhere. No one else was there. I looked at his ears. He wasn't wearing earbuds. "Huh?" I looked at him, completely bewildered. He lowered his eyes, his gaze locked intensely on me. "Didn't you say that if I bought you the gaming console, you wouldn't break up with me?" ...I turned to stone. "G-gaming console?" "Mm." He nodded slightly. "If you wanted something else, I could have gotten it for you. As long as we didn't break up." "Professor Sterling, do you... have the wrong person?" I asked carefully. Even though the "gaming console" clue was glaringly obvious, I still refused to believe that the brilliant, sophisticated Professor Sterling I admired would actually engage in online dating. Julian stared at me for two seconds, then looked down and woke his phone screen, showing it to me. "I don't have the wrong person." The lock screen on his phone was glaringly obvious. It was my photo. I was holding a strawberry macchiato, curled up on the sofa, looking incredibly happy. ...That was the boba my cousin brought over when he visited my apartment. I remembered that he hadn't started posting my photos on Instagram yet, so when he asked to take a picture of me, I didn't refuse. Thinking back on it now, that boba was highly likely paid for by Professor Sterling. Seeing me standing there dumbfounded, Julian took a step closer. "Are you still going to deny it?" As he stepped closer, that faint scent of sandalwood returned. I struggled to find the words. "Professor, you might not believe this, but I think... you were catfished by my 16-year-old cousin." "?" He frowned slightly. "I mean... the person you were chatting and gaming with was actually my cousin." "You forgot, we spoke on the phone. I recognize your voice." "It really was my cousin." I quickly pulled out my own phone. "Look, this is my actual WeChat account." He glanced at my phone screen. "Regardless of which account you use, add me back first." "Professor..." I tried to explain further, but my phone rang. "Sis, I brought you the documents you asked for. Where are you?" Talk about perfect timing. Excitedly, I told him where I was and ordered him to get here immediately. Julian's expression remained entirely neutral. He pulled out a book and started reading it. I couldn't help but sneak glances at him. He sat in a leather office chair, his long legs crossed, his clean, elegant fingers turning the pages of the book. Sunlight filtered through the blinds, casting shadows across his face. He looked incredibly aloof and aristocratic. I couldn't figure it out. How could someone this ethereal and refined fall for an online romance? More accurately, how could he fall for my 16-year-old cousin, and even get scammed into buying so many toys and snacks? Was his scam-prevention awareness really that terrible? The ringing of my phone broke my deep thoughts. "Sis, which building was it again? I can't find it." Exasperated, I ran downstairs to get him. It took forever before I finally saw him waving a folder in the air. "Sis, I'm over here!" "Mm, great." I grabbed his sleeve and dragged him toward the stairwell. "What are you doing, Sis? Are you taking me out to eat?" he asked cluelessly as we walked. I offered a sweet smile. "No. I'm taking you to meet your online boyfriend." "?" He stopped dead in his tracks and absolutely refused to take another step. "Sis, stop joking around." I opened the office door. My cousin was still glued to the wall, refusing to move. I kicked him squarely in the butt, shoving him inside. "Professor Sterling, my cousin is here. You can hit him or scold him however you want. Don't hold back." The room fell dead silent. Awkwardness rapidly expanded in the air. My pathetic cousin, wearing his high school uniform and backpack, stared silently at Julian, who was wearing a crisp white shirt, black dress pants, and an incredibly cold expression. My cousin took one look at Julian, guiltily averted his eyes, and meekly stared at the floor, picking at his fingernails. "You loved lying so much, didn't you?" I whispered harshly. "Hurry up. Introduce yourself." Unable to withstand my glare, he spoke, his voice trembling on the verge of tears: "Hello, older brother. I am your online girlfriend, 'Sweet Strawberry'." Julian sat in his office chair, his fingers tapping lightly on the desk. His eyes were unreadable, radiating the intense, oppressive aura of an angry teacher. My cousin absolutely did not dare to look up. Standing behind him, I could see his shoulders shaking. He was definitely crying. I felt a little bad for him, but he totally deserved it. After a moment of silence, Julian turned his head to look at me. "Summer, your cousin played with my feelings. As an adult, shouldn't you take responsibility for your cousin's actions?" "Yes." I kept my head down too, honestly admitting fault. "I'm so sorry, Professor Sterling. I will reimburse you for all your financial losses." "I don't need financial reimbursement." He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose. "It's just that... now I don't have anyone to play games with me." "Huh?" I was confused. "My heart was broken by your brother. Shouldn't you take responsibility for that?" I looked at my cousin, who was still standing there wearing his backpack, acting like an ostrich burying its head in the sand. My eye twitched. "My cousin... broke your heart?" Julian said very seriously, "Yes. I bought him boba, sent him gifts, and played games with him. Even though it was online, I took it very seriously." Me: "..." Really? I don't believe it. But I didn't dare say it out loud. He raised an eyebrow. "Being scammed by your cousin hurt me deeply. I need companionship. Since your cousin has to prepare for his exams, I guess you'll just have to fill in for him." I was stunned. A faint smirk appeared on his lips as he added meaningfully, "I'll be relying on you from now on, Summer." 5 Walking out of the office, I was still in a daze. Professor Sterling, who had once been an unattainable dream for me, had somehow, inexplicably, become my online boyfriend. A massive stroke of luck had just dropped right onto my head. During my first year of grad school, I had a massive crush on Julian. I don't know if I should call it a crush or just pure infatuation based on his looks. The first time I saw him, it was raining. I had just woken up from a nap. The dorm room was completely silent, save for the faint, steady sound of rain outside the window. Rubbing my sleepy eyes, I opened the window to let in some fresh air. Julian happened to be walking by. Through the curtain of rain, he held a black umbrella. His pristine white shirt was completely dry, the sleeves rolled up slightly. His ethereal aura made him look like he didn't belong in this world. Suddenly, he stopped by a willow tree and bent down. When he stood back up, he was holding a filthy, muddy white kitten in his arms. It was skin and bones. As he moved, it let out a timid, raspy cry that sounded bizarrely like a duck quacking. Because stray cats often can't find food, when they're desperate enough, they'll eat anything—even rocks and pebbles. That's why their voices get ruined like that. A cat that quacks like a duck is undeniably a bit comical. But Julian didn't laugh. He simply pulled out a tissue, carefully wiped the rainwater off the kitten, and tucked it securely into his coat. His pristine white shirt was instantly stained with water and mud. In that exact moment, my heart started pounding frantically. After that, whenever I walked around campus, my eyes would involuntarily search for him. I started purposely showing up on his usual routes every single day. After doing it enough times, even Chloe noticed that my barren, dead heart was finally blooming. She encouraged me to make a move. But before I could even work up the courage, Julian went viral. A few candid photos of him spread like wildfire across the university, and the number of girls crushing on him skyrocketed. Only then did I realize he was a professor at the university, not a student. The massive gap in status between us made me immediately back down. And just like that, my crush died before it even started. As a memento, I found a way to adopt that little white kitten and named him "Ducky." Ducky slowly grew chubby and fluffy, and Julian slowly faded from my life. I thought our paths would never cross again. I never imagined he would actually start online dating my cousin. And then, through a bizarre twist of fate, become my online boyfriend. "Sis, where are you going?" I snapped out of it and looked at my cousin, who was tugging on my jacket from behind. "I mean, I technically helped you find a boyfriend by accident, right? You're not still mad at me, are you?" Oh, right. Almost forgot. I dialed a number on my phone and put it on speaker. "Hey, Uncle. My cousin used my photos to catfish a guy online and scammed him out of a bunch of gifts. Now the guy has tracked me down and is demanding compensation." The next second, my uncle's furious screaming echoed through the air. The brutal lecture lasted for a solid half hour before finally wrapping up. "Get your ass home right now! Immediately! This second!" My cousin trudged away, crying softly. I stood there, watching him leave. "You really are ruthless, aren't you?" A familiar voice sounded right next to my ear. I instinctively turned my head, and my lips accidentally brushed against something soft. Taking a startled step back, I saw Julian's face mere inches from mine. My brain completely short-circuited, going entirely blank. He must have been standing right behind me, leaning down to whisper in my ear. And then, completely by accident... I had kissed him on the cheek. Julian turned his head. His deep, dark eyes looked at me with an amused glint. He reached out and lightly tapped me on the head. "We agreed you're just my online girlfriend. No taking advantage of me in real life." My face burned bright red. "...I didn't mean to." Even though his cheek was soft and smelled amazing. Even though I really wanted to do it again just to memorize the feeling. It truly was an accident. Seeing my flustered state, he let out a low chuckle. "Alright, I know it was an accident. Don't do it again." "Let's go. I'll walk you home." I followed silently behind him. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the tips of his ears were slightly red, too.
? Continue the story here ?? ? Download the "MotoNovel" app ? search for "391663", and watch the full series ✨! #MotoNovel