My Online Girlfriend Has a Twin Sister

As she spoke, Jiangg Ruxue unclasped the bracelet and slipped it onto her wrist. She sat down, turning her hand from side to side, quietly admiring it for a long while.

She was well aware.

In every respect, Ningning was an exceptionally astute and considerate child.

You never had to worry about how she handled herself or others. Her personality was gentle but firm, her heart was pure and kind, but she was no pushover. She held fast to her principles and boundaries, and her perspective on life was exceptionally clear-headed.

As far as Jiangg Ruxue could remember, from the time Ningning was a little girl to now, there was never a single task entrusted to her that she didn’t handle perfectly.

She was so outstanding that Jiangg Ruxue felt she had nothing left to teach her.

’I don’t know who she takes after.’

"I don’t even need to guess. ’Picked it out with Yaoyao’? That’s a fib. She thoughtfully bought it herself and just said Yaoyao was with her to avoid any awkwardness."

"She really is that thoughtful. She’s been such a good child since she was little. I’ve never seen a hint of jealousy or willfulness in her."

That was true enough.

If Jiangg Ning hadn’t consciously maintained a sense of decorum and kept the bigger picture in mind since she was a child...

...this family wouldn’t have appeared so peaceful on the surface. It would have likely fallen apart long ago.

"Only she could pick out such a beautiful bracelet,"

Jiangg Ruxue murmured to herself.

The housekeeper, seeing her staring blankly at the jade bracelet, turned and went to the kitchen.

In the eyes of the staff, who had also watched the two sisters grow up, Jiangg Ning was truly impeccable. She never put on airs, threw tantrums, or put them in any difficult situations.

A girl as brilliant as the moon in the sky.

’I wonder what kind of man would be worthy of her, to make her life complete.’

...

「Tokyo at night.」

No matter how much resentment she harbored, Jiangg Ning could never stop worrying about Jiangg Yao in Tokyo. The more she tried to stop herself from caring, the more a thousand worries plagued her mind, leaving her restless and agitated.

So, on the evening she finally finished her work, Jiangg Ning at last called Jiangg Yao.

As it happened, Chen Yuan and Jiangg Yao had just gotten back to their hotel suite after eating the local specialty grilled eel over rice and yakitori when they received her video call.

Jiangg Yao propped her phone up against something, sat on the sofa, and was soon happily chatting with Jiangg Ning on the video call.

"I wanted to try this skincare product yesterday, but it seemed like too much trouble, so I only opened one. It makes my face feel super hydrated and supple! I’m starting to think the stuff we had someone buy for us before was fake. You have to try it when I get back... Sis, look at this."

「In the bedroom.」

Chen Yuan sat in a chair with his laptop in front of him. He looked like he was working, but his mind had already drifted to the living room. The more he tried not to listen, the more his ears seemed to perk up.

Every word of their conversation drifted clearly into his ears.

"The food here is so good! Except for a few really weird dishes I couldn’t get used to, most of it is pretty delicious. Of course, it’s nothing compared to your cooking. I had some ramen for lunch that was awful—so salty I thought my tongue was going to fall off."

Jiangg Yao complained animatedly.

Just then, Chen Yuan heard Jiangg Ning’s voice in response.

"Stop eating all that weird stuff. Isn’t it that time of the month for you soon? Cut back on the iced and cold drinks. Keep an eye on yourself, and don’t give in to cravings only to end up in a world of pain later. You hear me?"

"Okay, fine."

’That time of the month?’

Catching those words, Chen Yuan furrowed his brow in confusion. It took him a long moment before it dawned on him what she meant.

He was stunned.

’Jiangg Ning cared so much about Yaoyao that she even kept track of her... her monthly cycle.’

He immediately felt a pang of shame.

He had never once kept track of something like that, let alone gone out of his way to be more caring when the time came.

Listening to the faint sound of Jiangg Ning’s voice, Chen Yuan was overcome with a wave of complex emotions.

Ningning’s voice was so gentle. Hearing it now, it was actually quite easy to tell apart from Yaoyao’s. The undercurrent of affection in her tone sent ripples through his heart, and Chen Yuan found himself recalling all the time he’d spent with Jiangg Ning in the past.

’He truly missed those days.’

’He didn’t know how long it had been since he’d experienced that gentleness from Jiangg Ning.’

"He’s here. As soon as we got back, he hid in the bedroom, saying he had to work. I’ll let him off the hook for now, though, since he was with me all day. You want me to get him?" Jiangg Yao’s voice piped up again.

Chen Yuan immediately realized the "he" she was talking about was him. He hastily sat up straight and proper, but a moment later, the posture felt hypocritical.

’The truth was, he was a little scared of being called over. Just coming to Tokyo had made Jiangg Ning furious. Now, video-calling her from the same hotel room... he didn’t think he could face her piercing gaze.’

’And yet, a part of him hoped she would call him over, just to exchange a few words with Ningning.’

A thousand conflicting thoughts weighed on his mind. Chen Yuan was utterly torn.

’He had so much he wanted to say to Jiangg Ning.’

’He had never met anyone else in his life like Jiangg Ning—someone who could understand his very soul, respect every part of him, and share his understanding of what love truly was.’

’If one day—if that day ever truly came—he managed to achieve all his goals, and he could build a family with both Jiangg Ning and Jiangg Yao... surely, there would come an evening when he could finally tell her everything he’d been holding back.’

’He hadn’t intentionally tried to make Jiangg Ning angry. He hadn’t meant for her to hate him. He wasn’t the kind of person to love someone and then leave them, nor had he become some stranger she no longer recognized. He wanted to carefully, gently, tell her about all his struggles and pain.’

’He wanted her to understand.’

Still in the bedroom, Chen Yuan scrubbed his hands over his face, trying to sort through his emotions.

But after what felt like an eternity, Jiangg Yao still hadn’t come to get him.

’Chen Yuan was getting antsy. But he couldn’t just walk out there himself.’

...

"It’s so rare that I get to travel. I want to properly relax before heading back, so let’s decide on a return date later... I know he doesn’t have much time. Worst case, I’ll just have Wan come over and keep me company," Jiangg Yao was saying to her sister.

Suddenly, the bedroom door was pushed open.

Chen Yuan walked out, feigning composure. He stood off to the side and reached for a glass of water.

"Who’re you on a video call with?" he asked, feigning ignorance.

’After holding back for so long, he finally couldn’t take it anymore and had to resort to this ploy to come out.’

It took Jiangg Yao only half a second to see through his act. A hint of ridicule surfaced in her beautiful eyes, as if she could see straight through to his very soul.

’Her voice was so loud, how could Chen Yuan possibly not have heard it?’

’And now he was playing dumb.’

"On the phone with my sister," she replied, deciding not to call him out.

"Oh? It’s Ningning."

Chen Yuan plopped down on the sofa, his own acting feeling so cringey that his cheeks started to turn red.

But a blush couldn’t stop him from plopping right down and squeezing Jiangg Yao to the side, shoving his own face into the video frame.

The instant Chen Yuan’s eyes met Jiangg Ning’s through the phone screen, he could clearly see the expression on Ningning’s face freeze. A wave of awkwardness passed between them, and the atmosphere instantly grew strange.

A shared silence fell between them.

’Observing Chen Yuan from the side, Jiangg Yao found the situation secretly hilarious. Her young master’s face was hot enough to fry an egg, yet here he was, still trying to play it cool.’

’For men, saving face was everything.’

"I’ll... I’ll be back in a couple of days. I’ll handle the staffing list then, so you won’t be so busy." Chen Yuan scrambled for a topic, and after racking his brain, all he could come up with was work.

"Whatever," Jiangg Ning replied coldly.

"Didn’t you promise you’d spend a few more days with me? Why are you going back in two days? What am I supposed to do?"

Jiangg Yao, stunned, grabbed Chen Yuan’s arm.

’He hadn’t mentioned this plan before. Was he really going to ditch her in Tokyo all by her lonesome in two days? What a heartless jerk!’

"I’ve been swamped these past few days. You’ve seen it, my phone hasn’t stopped ringing. It was already hard enough for me to carve out these few days to spend with you. I was planning on telling you tonight," Chen Yuan explained.

"What???"

"Whoa, hold on. After I go back and take care of things, I’ll make another trip to bring you home. Or, you can just fly back with me the day after tomorrow. You have two options."

"I don’t want to go back! I was just telling my sister how rare it is for me to get away," Jiangg Yao’s face fell. "A three-day vacation is just depressing. I haven’t even gotten to do anything yet!"