As soon as he said it, An Zhihan’s fingers stopped rolling the pen.
Assistant Wang immediately realized what he had just said.
His heart skipped a beat.
Damn!
An Zhihan set down the pen.
“Who did you say he resembles?”
Assistant Wang wished he could slap himself.
Looking nervously at the man, he forced out an awkward smile.
“M-Mr. An, I misspoke. Please don’t mind it…”
But An Zhihan remained silent.
Seeing this, Assistant Wang became even more uneasy.
The man, whose brow bore the permanent crease of years of frowning, lowered his eyes thoughtfully.
Like… Yan Mo?
A figure buried deep within his memories surfaced.
Young.
Shy.
Though he shared the same face as his brother Yan Fei, his personality was completely different.
Far too gentle.
That young man had been gone for two years.
Back then, An Zhihan had despised Yan Mo’s timid obedience.
He hated the way Yan Mo lowered his head and avoided eye contact.
He hated the flowery handwriting in those tacky love letters.
The endless attempts to start conversations.
The childish jokes copied from the internet.
The clingy behavior.
The time-wasting homemade lunches.
The meaningless concern and care.
The person An Zhihan admired had always been Yan Fei—
Independent.
Strong.
Someone willing to endure hardship for his dreams.
An Zhihan divorced Yan Mo.
Then married Yan Fei.
That should have been the ending he wanted.
Yet after sending Yan Mo away and finally getting together with the man he admired, An Zhihan discovered something unexpected.
He and Yan Fei did share many topics of conversation.
But they also had countless disagreements.
Independent and rational, Yan Fei had strong opinions about everything.
Whenever they disagreed, Yan Fei would frown and try to persuade him.
Yet An Zhihan possessed greater experience, knowledge, and confidence.
Neither would yield.
Arguments became inevitable.
Yan Fei’s dream was medicine.
He would never stay in the An family home.
He flew around the world.
His schedule was every bit as busy as An Zhihan’s.
As a result—
They rarely met.
Even phone calls had to account for time differences.
Whenever one was free, the other was busy.
After finally managing a call once a month, it would quickly turn into another argument.
The admiration that had once attracted them to each other soon disappeared.
To Yan Fei, An Zhihan was a chain preventing him from pursuing medicine freely.
To An Zhihan, Yan Fei was a stubborn child constantly opposing him.
Less than a year into their marriage, they couldn’t even meet without showing displeasure.
Before long, they divorced.
Only then did An Zhihan realize something.
What he felt for Yan Fei wasn’t love.
Yan Fei simply resembled him too much.
That was why An Zhihan admired him.
His affection was more like appreciation and approval for a younger version of himself.
And two An Zhihans placed together were destined never to coexist peacefully.
A family shouldn’t be like that.
But then—
What should a family be?
An Zhihan found himself lost.
Because of this, he sought advice from his grandfather, Old Master An.
Old Master An and his wife had been childhood sweethearts.
They had known and loved each other their entire lives.
Even after Mrs. An passed away, he still missed her often.
Much of An Zhihan’s expectations regarding marriage and companionship had been influenced by them.
He had pursued Yan Fei because he believed they understood one another.
Later—
The old man looked at his grandson.
A man already in his thirties.
Renowned and powerful.
Successful in every way.
Yet completely lost.
Then he spoke softly.
“Marriage means having someone who cares for you and worries about you.”
“Someone willing to spend their precious time cooking for you.”
“Someone who argues with you over childish things.”
“Someone who still lowers their head shyly when they look at you, no matter how many years have passed.”
“Someone who leaves a light on for you late at night.”
“When you’re not thinking about them, they seem unimportant.”
“But when you do think about them, they become the gentlest breeze in your heart.”
“Marriage isn’t about finding someone exactly like yourself.”
“Marriage is about finding someone who loves you and accepts you.”
An Zhihan opened his mouth.
For a long time, he couldn’t say anything.
It felt as if he had just awakened from a dream.
As if the fog had suddenly parted.
Only then did he realize the answer had always been hidden within the question.
The person he had been searching for had been waiting among the distant lights all along.
But he didn’t want to admit it.
The thing people fear most is admitting they were wrong.
His expression darkened.
“What if it was all an act?”
Old Master An replied,
“Then think about what you gave him.”
“And think about what he ever asked from you.”
An Zhihan thought about it.
He remembered the day Yan Mo entered the An family home.
One suitcase.
His head tilted upward in amazement at the magnificent estate.
Then he remembered two years later.
Yan Mo still had only one suitcase.
Silently signing the divorce papers.
Turning his back on the luxurious An family estate.
Walking farther and farther away down a long road.
An Zhihan fell silent.
A moment later—
He heard his own voice choke.
And he said:
“Yan Mo didn’t take anything with him…”
He only took himself.
And he never came back.
How could An Zhihan be here?
Why would he be here?
The pressure from that unhappy marriage returned all at once.
Yan Mo trembled.
His fingers clenched the fabric over his chest until the knuckles turned white.
The color drained from his youthful face.
His mouth opened, yet he felt unable to breathe.
A constant ringing filled his ears.
The system panicked.
【Host! Breathe! Breathe! You’re about to suffocate!】
Only then did Yan Mo snap back to reality.
He suddenly sucked in a breath, nearly choking.
Afraid An Zhihan in the seat ahead might notice, he covered his mouth and breathed quietly, doing his best not to attract attention.
The system’s presence gradually warmed his body again.
“…System, w-why is he in this world?”
【I don’t know either! Logically speaking, he and Gu Yanhui belong to two completely different strategy worlds.】
The system itself had nearly suffered a data malfunction when it saw An Zhihan.
It immediately began investigating.
But the system network wasn’t responding.
【D-Don’t panic.】
The system stammered.
【I’ll contact the Main System right away. Just stay calm and don’t let him recognize you. It’s okay, Host. Don’t be afraid. This scumbag is part of the past now. Every world adjusted your appearance. He won’t recognize you. We just need to stay far away from him…】
…Probably.
Under the system’s reassurance, Yan Mo gradually calmed down.
His trembling lips bit repeatedly at his knuckles.
That’s right.
An Zhihan wouldn’t recognize him.
He no longer looked like the Yan Mo from the first world.
…The only face An Zhihan had ever liked was gone now as well…
For the sake of the mission, the system had always adjusted Yan Mo’s appearance to suit the target’s preferences.
An Zhihan loved Yan Fei.
So the system created Yan Mo as Yan Fei’s identical twin brother.
But in this world, Yan Mo was using his original appearance.
To An Zhihan, he was simply a stranger.
Besides—
The person An Zhihan loved had always been Yan Fei.
After abandoning Yan Mo, An Zhihan had immediately married Yan Fei without any gap between relationships.
They were probably very happy together.
As for him—
A thing of the past.
Most likely forgotten long ago.
Yan Mo’s racing heartbeat finally slowed.
He laughed bitterly.
For the first time, he felt that not being loved and not being remembered could be a blessing.
The system looked at the frightened young man with concern.
Extending a tiny data-paw, it patted him reassuringly and proudly declared:
【Don’t worry! Back when the mission failed and you left An Zhihan’s world, I cleaned everything up for you.】
【I scattered your clothes and identification deep in the mountains of a tourist area. Everyone assumed you’d fallen off a cliff. Even without a body, An Zhihan would probably think wild animals ate you.】
The system puffed out its chest proudly.
【You’re leaving in two months anyway. I refuse to believe that after getting off this plane, out of all the people in the world, you and An Zhihan will somehow meet again.】
Then it glanced cautiously at Yan Mo.
With a sigh, it added:
【And honestly… An Zhihan doesn’t care about you.】
The system’s voice softened.
【He won’t go looking for you, Yan Mo…】
“…”