“This is a story about a shou who commits suicide because of an incurable illness but whose spirit refuses to leave, and so he stays beside the gong and watches the gong’s regrets.”Celebrity gong x President shou, HE in the end.[Also features a set of nine extras set in an alternate universe with the same main characters but different story and relationships.]

Note from the translator:Please be aware that this entire series deals heavily with suicide and suicidal ideation. I urge folks to take care of themselves and not read this if that kind of content is triggering.And do remember that crisis hotlines are available in most countries, many of which 24/7, if you are struggling with such thoughts yourself.Additionally, the FALLEN extras are set in an alternate universe where the two main protagonists are adoptive brothers and features a (heavily censored) sexual assault scene.Chapter-specific content warnings are provided both on the web (before the offending chapter, underneath a details cut) and in the EPUB/PDF (in the appendix).

Characters Guide
Main Story

Protagonists

Xiao Heng (肖恆)The first POV character. The illegitimate son of a rich entertainment company owner, and the younger half-brother of Fang Xieyi. He and Luo Yuchen met in middle school, and at eighteen, they enter into a contract where Xiao Heng will promote Xia Mingxiu at the entertainment company in exchange for Luo Yuchen being his lover for ten years.While he characterizes himself as quiet and sullen, it's clear from other POVs that he's well-liked for his kindness.Luo Yuchen (洛予辰)The second POV character. He and Xiao Heng used to be best friends (and soccer buddies) in middle school, but they started growing distant near the end of high school once he and Xia Mingxiu got together. Even while he was together with Xiao Heng, he never ended his relationship with Xia Mingxiu.He's kind of an idiot, and dense about his own feelings to boot.

Secondary Characters

Xia Mingxiu (夏明修)Xiao Heng's love rival. He, Luo Yuchen, and Xiao Heng met in the first year of high school at the hospital, while he was undergoing treatment for his leukemia. Once his bone marrow transplant surgery succeeded, he and Luo Yuchen get together. Xiao Heng describes him as lively and beautiful.Fang Xieyi (方寫憶)Xiao Heng's older half-brother. He and Xiao Heng meet when Xiao Heng is eighteen, once their father passed away, and since then, Fang Xieyi has treated Xiao Heng just as if they have always been brothers. Luo Yuchen is clearly jealous of his relationship with Xiao Heng and refers to him as a devious fox.Lu Weixi (路蔚夕)A close friend of Fang Xieyi and Xiao Heng. He's half-French on his mother's side as well as a famous designer known as Lu de Vici. He's naturally affectionate (well, according to Xiao Heng), and contrary to appearances, he's good in a fight too. Luo Yuchen is also jealous of his closeness to Xiao Heng and treats him like a love rival.

Fallen Side Story

Protagonists

Duan Yi (段翌)Reincarnated Luo Yuchen. Different name, but still the same awkward guy.Xiao Heng (肖恆)Reincarnated Xiao Heng. Duan Yi's adoptive older brother.

Secondary Characters

Song Qing (宋晴)Duan Yi's younger cousin who is eventually adopted into the family after the death of her parents. Duan Yi is jealous of her throughout the story.Ye Wenyu (葉文宇)The son of the Duan family housekeeper who later assumes the role. There is mutual hostility between him and Duan Yi, though he treats both Song Qing and Xiao Heng with respect.

Detailed Breakdown / Review
warning for some minor spoilers

Like Love But Not is an early "scum abuse" story, originally written in 2008, and finally reuploaded on Jinjiang in 2020, after the original book went out of print.This published novel edition is a semi-remake of a previous prototype that had originally been available for free. You can still read this free version on pirate sites, and a translation of it is available from the good folks over at Snowy Codex.The first ten chapters of the prototype roughly correspond to the first twenty-four chapters of this one, before each then branches off into its own thing. (I personally enjoy the published version more than its predecessor as, even with some missteps, it still handles its central themes with a lot more clarity and delicacy than its predecessor.)As for the actual story itself, it has all the typical hallmarks of a "scum abuse" story -- an abusive scumbag of an (ex-)boyfriend, a main character in love with the scumbag despite all odds, and a penultimate melodramatic fallout to set up for maximum remorse from the scumbag.If you are not a fan of scum abuse stories, this story will not make you one. It's trope-defining, based purely on the time it was written (it pre-dates a lot of later scum abuse stories), but it doesn't really transcend beyond its tropes, though it uses them quite well.Mainly, what I think this series really succeeds at is in hammering home the fact that life is worth living no matter what. So many other scum abuse series seem to treat its protagonist's suicidal ideation as a vehicle for maximum angst rather than with the gravity it deserves, and I am continually amazed that Orange Rain wrote this at eighteen yet was able to articulate the actual seriousness of this issue far better than other similar stories.Unfortunately, this story does hew close to genre conventions (especially considering it, you know, most likely started some of those conventions), so it still does prioritize angst and the "repentance" of its scumbag love interest over a completely healthy resolution. It does touch upon some deep-seated relationship issues, but it never quite addresses them to my satisfaction, and it's unfortunately slightly poorer for it, especially in its finale.Nevertheless, even putting aside its publishing date, I still haven't read a traditional scum abuse story that quite matches this one. Orange Rain really perfected the formula back in 2008, and I've yet to see anyone match her using the same elements (and, trust me, plenty of people have tried).

As for the FALLEN set of extras, it's essentially a completely different sort-of alternate-universe-esque story (though a reason is given to slot it into the main continuity), told from Luo Yuchen's perspective, starring him and Xiao Heng in a vaguely sci-fi setting. It's hard to summarize this extra without spoiling anything, but in brief: Luo Yuchen and Xiao Heng are adoptive brothers who end up facing a family tragedy.It's still abusive -- and, in fact, it's probably more abusive than the main story -- but in a much different way than Like Love But Not. (For reference, while I don't think main story!Luo Yuchen suffered enough at the end, I actually think that FALLEN!Luo Yuchen suffered almost too much, even though he also did something terrible.)And while these extras cross more lines for me than the main story, including a (censored) sexual assault scene, it also contains some singularly poignant moments that are just as, if not more, memorable than the best scenes in the main one.Overall, I'd say these extra chapters are definitely worth reading if folks enjoy abusive stories, just be prepared for additional content warnings.

Related Works

So this work has not one, not two, but three (that I can find) related texts on Jinjiang. They're listed under the section labeled Dark History: HE, but with lots of scum, dogblood, and abuse. Proceed with Caution. LOLOL.But if you want to give these some love too (especially since most of them have been completely re-uploaded by the author for free), here they are:蒼月無心 (Cang Yue Wu Xin / "The Heartless, Ashen Moon")Summary: So old it doesn't even have a proper summary anymore LOL. It's... wuxia/xianxia (not quite sure which unless I read it), and the leads are Cang Wuxin (see what the title did there?) and Zhao Jin.Relation: The previous incarnations of Xiao Heng and Luo Yuchen are in here as side characters named Xiao Heng (different characters and pronounciation) and Luo Fan, and they definitely do not have a happy ending here. Apparently the author wrote Like Love But Not precisely because people were so dissatisfied with how tragically those two ended up in this one. A lot of chapters are locked here, but you can probably find the missing chapters on aggregators.虛空錯愛 (Xu Kong Cuo Ai / "Empty Misplaced Love")Summary (translated): Published in Taiwan in 2010. No VIP, just placing it here for everyone to read.With billions of people in the world, there would inevitably be some who have extraordinary gifts, and Xing Wei was one of them.Because he had the power to time travel, Xing Wei, who was depressed from just having broken up with An Jinchen, decided to jump ten years forward to see the two of them's future.He had not expected that the him ten years into the future would already be dead. And he also had not expected that, in those few days, he would fall deeply in love with that An Jinchen of the future.Even though he had the power to time travel, he did not have the power to change the future. When Xing Wei is forced to return to the present, how will he face the fact that he'll die ten years from now, and how will he face that person who continued to wait for him after his death?"I had only wanted to see if the me in the future still loved that person so deeply, that's all. But I actually discovered instead that, in ten years, I will no longer exist in this world."But that person still continued to love me deeply."Relation: This one is centered on Xing Wei, who is mentioned only a few times in the formal text (as the owner of the Xing conglomerate, whose sister Fang Xieyi eventually marries) and appears briefly in the last chapter of the extras. Xiao Heng is listed as a supporting character in this story.苦逼李醫生的悲催戀情 ("The Hard-Up Doctor Li's Tragic Love Life")Summary (translated): Published in Taiwan in 2011. No VIP, just placing it here for everyone to read.
Actually, I myself quite like this one. It's not abusive and is really pretty funny, ahaha. But... it seems that some people do find it abusive?Li Mingxin has liked Lei Nanyu since he was little.It was said that his tragedy was unmatched among those gay people who fell for straight men.Actually, Li Mingxin wasn't technically gay; at most, he'd be considered bi. But he was very familiar with the tragedy of loving a straight man for so many years.A massive tragedy. A tragedy that couldn't be stopped. A fighter jet in the midst of tragedy.A hard-up, loyal dog, doctor gong x dense, straight shou.Previously called Engraved in the Heart, the published edition is called Difficult-to-Handle Young Master (or, alternative translation: This Young Master is Hard to Deal With!)Relation: This is one of those "takes place in the same universe" type deals, as Li Mingxin appears only once in Like Love But Not -- in the very last chapter of the extras, with only like... two lines to his name. Apparently Lei Nanyu plays a supporting role in Xing Wei's story above, though.

Support

Currently, the book edition of this series is unfortunately out of print, which is why the author decided to re-upload it to Jinjiang in the first place.As such, the best way to support the author currently is to buy the VIP chapters on Jinjiang.

Contact

This carrd was made by emiliers, who translated the novel into English over at Shrimp Chips Translations.If you have any comments or questions about this carrd specifically, feel free to shoot me an email via this wordpress form. I am also open to private messages on NovelUpdates, if you prefer that method.If you have any comments or questions about the translation itself, please refer to this FAQ and contact me via the methods listed there.I also have a personal Carrd for my other socials, but beware that it's not fandom focused.