having finished watching love game in eastern fantasy it is my official opinion that the best way to do a modern au is as follows:
-mu yao and liu fuyi (coworkers) are in an on-again-off-again fwb/situationship. mu yao keeps it no strings attached bc she is too busy studying the blade working her demanding job that I have not decided the details of, and liu fuyi is of course silently waiting for her to open up to him even the slightest bit after that one time she drunkenly word-vomited to him after a company party (and then actual-vomited). has he said a word about his feelings? of course not
-during one of their on-agains they decide to spice it up and find a third. who's to say how this comes about (probably miscommunication. by which I mean no communication, as is their wont) but neither of them have grounds to object on the basis of exclusivity so unicorn hunting they go
-whos their unicorn? it's miaomiao of course. shes mostly in it for mu yao tbh
-enough that the idea of opening up the situationship is just. never brought up again. do they actually talk about commitment or exclusivity of course they dont. silently monogamous fwb. but the IMPORTANT bit
-is that the next morning mu yao's little brother comes over completely unannounced and runs into miaomiao in the kitchen (they weren't gonna make miaomiao call an uber at this hour! they set up the pullout couch for her and made sure she had water and a phone charger and also that she knew she could grab anything she liked from the fridge and then had to fight back the urge to tuck her in because who does that)
-mu sheng is of course instantly jealous of her. A-jie is acting very affectionate towards someone who is (1) not him and (2) suspiciously younger-sibling shaped 🤨
-and also he has longstanding beef with liu fuyi for impugning!! his sister's honor!!! and not even DATING her about it does he think his precious sister is some kind of, of toy he can toss around til he's bored of her?! (mu yao voice: a-sheng it's fine I'm actually the one who - mu sheng: you CAD. you RAKE. TAKE RESPONSIBILITY)
-miaomiao starts hanging around them of course (of course). actually it turns out miaomiao's a new hire at the place they all work, what a funny coincidence that definitely will not result in insane office drama! theres a betting pool in the background. the breakroom is restocked with popcorn daily
-as the group dynamic progresses we get the mortifying ordeal of little-sister-zoning your one night stand. and the mortifying ordeal of watching her and your kid brother dance around each other while your kid brother is totally convinced that said one night stand is angling to steal your bf situationship and/or angling to steal his spot as the favorite little sibling. and the mortifying ordeal of being liu fuyi and watching all this (while also little-sister-zoning your one night stand. mortifying). wars are waged for Jiejie's Pullout Couch
-and then the mortifying ordeal of realizing that your one night stand/coworker/little sister is 100% trying to get you and your fwb together for real. she's enlisting the little baby intern. they are fucking with the partnered work schedule and pushing the two of you into closets and shit. obviously your fwb doesnt want you so it's pointless, but more importantly where is she finding the time
-THEN the mortifying ordeal of miaomiao accidentally letting it slip to mu sheng about the whole threesome thing (at work and in the middle of a Crisis of course)
-mu sheng is now jealous of miaomiao, jealous of liu fuyi, and in the absolutely excruciating position of being jealous of his sister
-AND! not only does he have to contend openly with the fact that his precious perfect sister has a sex life, now he's angry at liu fuyi for being unfaithful to his sister, and at them both for treating miaomiao's affections so lightly. and he's never going to recover from liu fuyi's gentle but chastening lecture about the concept of polyamory. he KNOWS what polyamory is!!! it's just that if anyone does that with his sister or miaomiao he is entitled to shoot them with a gun!!!!
-mu sheng: was she not GOOD enough for you??? (doesnt know which 'she' he's referring to, or for that matter which 'you') mu yao & miaomiao: ziqi it's literally fine it just d- mu sheng: you SCOUNDREL. you HOUND
-all of this of course pales in comparison to the horrifying realization that the woman he is earth-shatteringly, cataclysmically in love with fucked his sister