AT ONE DARK EVENING
XAVIER
One dark evening, rain poured down so heavily that the entire city looked like it had disappeared behind a curtain of water. I walked alone down the empty street, my coat already soaked through. Cold rain dripped from my hair, and my shoes splashed through puddles with every step. It had been a terrible day. The kind of day when everything went wrong, and all I wanted was to get home, take a hot shower, and forget the world existed.
I never noticed the truck, the rain was too loud. My thoughts were too distracting. The only thing I heard was the sound of water hitting the pavement, then I heard HONK nearby! I turned my head. A pair of bright headlights cut through the darkness. For a moment, I just stood there. Confused, frozen, then came the impact, pain, and a terrifying feeling of weightlessness, and then nothing.
The first thing I noticed was how soft everything was. Too soft. My body sank into the bed beneath me like I was lying on a giant cloud. I slowly opened my eyes and a strange ceiling greeted me. Not my apartment ceiling, not a hospital room, a beautiful crystal chandelier hung above me, sparkling under warm golden light. I blinked. Once. Twice.
"Where am I?"I whispered.
My voice sounded different. That immediately made me sit up. The bed beneath me was covered in smooth silk sheets. The room around me was massive, decorated with expensive furniture and elegant paintings. I stared at the bed, then at the room, then back at the bed.
"Why is this mattress better than my entire apartment?" I grabbed the blanket.
Silk, it was real silk.
"Who even sleeps like this?"I asked.
Before I could figure out what was happening, a sharp pain shot through my head. Then memories that weren’t mine started pouring in. A palace, a kingdom, a lycan nobles, alphas, betas, omegas and and a name. Wei.
I froze.
"No..."I whispered.
More memories followed. A novel. An LGBTQ+ romance story I had somehow read before. "Lycan Emperor’s Secret Male Concubine." My face slowly went blank.
"No way." I looked down at myself, then at the unfamiliar room, then back at myself.
"I got hit by Truck-kun." I pointed at the ceiling. "And I woke up inside a romance novel?"
I couldn’t believe it. Out of every possible world, every possible character, every possible second chance at life I had to become Wei. The forgotten male Beta concubine of the Lycan Emperor. Not the main character.
Not the powerful villain, not even someone important. Just the poor side character who spent years chasing the Emperor’s affection, only to be abandoned and forgotten before the real story even began.
"Of course." I laughed bitterly. "Of course I would reincarnate as the guy with the worst luck."
Before I could complain any further, the door opened.
"Your grace. "A guard stepped inside and bowed.
I looked at him.
"Yes?"I asked.
His expression remained serious.
"Since His Majesty has abandoned you, you are to leave the palace immediately."A guard said.
Silence.
I stared at him, he stared back.
"..."
"Excuse me?" I asked and that was when I realized something.
I wasn’t just reincarnated. I was reincarnated as the character everyone wanted to forget. The Lycan Emperor’s abandoned Beta concubine. My second chance at life had lasted less than ten minutes. New world, new body, new identity, and somehow I was already being kicked out. I stared at the guard for several seconds, waiting for him to laugh. He didn’t. The man was completely serious.
"You’re joking, right?"I asked.
He remained silent before turning around and leaving. That was when I realized this wasn’t some strange dream. I really had been thrown into another world, and apparently, my welcome gift was getting kicked out of a palace. Wonderful, absolutely wonderful. I looked around the luxurious room that belonged to the original Wei. The expensive furniture, the elegant decorations, the countless gifts displayed around the room. Everything screamed wealth and privilege. Yet somehow, the owner of this room had still ended up abandoned. I let out a long sigh.
"Of course." I walked toward the wardrobe and opened it.
Inside were rows of beautiful clothes made from expensive fabrics. Robes, coats, formal outfits, and accessories that probably cost more than my entire previous year’s salary. As I touched the clothes, more memories surfaced, not mine. Wei. The original Wei had spent years in this palace. Years waiting for the Lycan Emperor to notice him. He remembered every small moment, every time the Emperor walked past without looking, every feast where Wei sat alone, every night he hoped tomorrow would be different. The original Wei believed that if he tried harder, smiled more, and became more useful, the Emperor would eventually accept him, but the Emperor never did.
And now he had been abandoned.
"You really went through a lot, didn’t you?"I stopped folding a robe.
For a moment, I felt sorry for him. The original Wei wasn’t stupid. He was just someone who loved the wrong person. Someone who kept waiting for a miracle that never came.
"Sorry, but I’m not continuing your plan."I shook my head. I folded another robe and placed it into the bag. "My goal is survival."
Another robe. Another coat. More clothes. I wasn’t sure where I was going after leaving the palace, but staying here definitely wasn’t an option. Especially since I knew the story. In the novel, Wei ending was simple.
He disappeared, everyone moved on. The Emperor found his true love, and nobody remembered the abandoned Beta concubine. I wasn’t going to let that happen. I opened another drawer and found several pieces of jewelry. I stared at them, then looked around, then slowly packed them.
"Technically, these are mine now." I paused. "Well Wei now. But I’m Wei , so close enough."
I continued packing. The more memories returned, the stranger it felt. I was carrying the belongings of someone who had lived an entire life. Someone whose dreams had been crushed. Someone who never got the happy ending he wanted. I zipped the bag shut and looked around the room one last time. This place had been Wei entire world. But for me? It was just the starting point of the biggest disaster of my life.
"Alright, Wei ."I picked up the bag and took a deep breath. "Let’s see if we can do better than your original story." And with that, I walked toward the door.
Ready to meet the outside world or more accurately, ready to survive the mess that truck kun had thrown me into.