Several expensive sports cars sped down the street, and other drivers instinctively pulled over and made way after catching a glimpse of them.
A few minutes later, the sports cars pulled up in front of the most luxurious hotel in the area.
One of the sapphire blue sports cars took a corner without slowing down, parking right outside the hotel’s main entrance in the blink of an eye.
The valets, who had been waiting outside for a while, noticed the arrival of the sports cars in advance and jogged over from the roadside.
Not just one valet, but several.
They all stepped forward and stood before the three sports cars.
The car doors opened, the valets took the keys, and carefully drove the cars away to the parking lot.
Stepping out of the sports car and standing in front of the hotel’s main entrance, Qin Yuan seemed a little strange today.
Instead of walking straight into the hotel, he looked up toward the upper floors.
His friend Fang Chen came over to Qin Yuan’s side, followed Qin Yuan’s gaze up to the building, but didn’t see anything out of the ordinary.
“What’s wrong?” Fang Chen asked with concern.
Hearing his friend’s voice, Qin Yuan pulled his gaze back.
“If I told you I died here once before, would you believe me?”
“I would believe it.”
Fang Chen’s unexpected answer left Qin Yuan stunned for a few seconds.
“Sometimes I dream about this hotel when I am sleeping, though it is usually not about dying or anything like that.”
“What do you dream about, and how did you die?”
“Heh.” Qin Yuan chuckled and turned his face away, preventing Fang Chen from catching the trace of deep sorrow that clearly surfaced in the depths of his eyes as he spoke. “I dreamed that I was stabbed to death by someone while trying to protect another person.”
“You? Protecting someone?”
“Wouldn’t it be someone protecting you?”
Regarding Qin Yuan’s dream, Fang Chen instinctively retorted. He simply could not imagine a scenario where this childhood friend of his would protect anyone.
“Couldn’t it be your dream lover?”
“Qin Yuan, you actually know how to like someone?”
“So it is just a dream.”
“Yes, just a dream.” Qin Yuan lifted his foot and walked into the hotel.
The front desk staff all recognized them and immediately greeted them with smiles as the group approached.
Another friend from the sports cars had also stepped out, but since he happened to be taking a phone call, he was oblivious to the contents of Qin Yuan and Fang Chen’s conversation.
Although that friend usually spoke very little, his observational skills were arguably a bit sharper than Fang Chen’s. Especially as he drew closer to Qin Yuan and glanced at his face, he could not shake the strange feeling that Qin Yuan’s expression was a bit odd, though he wondered if he was just imagining things.
“Let us go upstairs.”
Everyone had free time today, so they had made plans to go swimming together.
The roof of this hotel featured an open-air sky pool, which was where people usually went.
The group then entered the elevator, which traveled all the way up to the rooftop. It was a completely transparent elevator; standing inside and looking down, one could see the elevator operating at high speed, getting further and further away from the ground.
Fang Chen glanced outward, and a wave of dizziness instantly washed over him. He hurriedly reached out and grabbed Qin Yuan beside him.
If it were in the past, Qin Yuan might have even kicked Fang Chen away. But today, Fang Chen seemed to have completely changed; when Fang Chen leaned in and hung half of his body weight on him, not only did Qin Yuan refrain from kicking him away, but he instead reached out and firmly steadied Fang Chen.
Because of his fear of heights, Fang Chen did not pay much attention to this detail.
However, the other friend, Wang Xiao, saw it clearly.
Wang Xiao did not say anything, instead lifting his gaze to eye Qin Yuan with a strange look. Qin Yuan’s handsome face remained unchanged, as if steadying Fang Chen like this was the most ordinary thing in the world.
Wang Xiao narrowed his eyes. It must have been his imagination. He just felt that today’s Qin Yuan seemed a bit different from yesterday.
The elevator arrived at the rooftop. There were other elevators available, but only this one was transparent while the others were fully enclosed. Yet Fang Chen was always like this. He was clearly terrified of heights, yet he still wanted to ride the transparent one every single time.
Back then, Qin Yuan used to tease him, saying that thankfully he only shook, but if he ever ended up paralyzed on the ground and unable to move, he would film a video and post it on his WeChat Moments for everyone to laugh at.
With a ding, the elevator stopped, and the group walked out.
Since it was the weekend, there seemed to be quite a few people coming up to swim. Occasionally, before coming over, they would make a phone call in advance to rent out the entire pool for a bit more privacy. However, today’s outing was entirely a last-minute decision, so they had not booked it out.
Qin Yuan was the one who had called the other two. Even though Fang Chen originally had some matters to attend to, Qin Yuan, his childhood best friend, was clearly much more important, and minor affairs could easily be pushed back a bit.
Stepping out of the elevator, a waiter immediately approached them. Swimming trunks and other necessities were all provided on this side.
The three of them went to the changing rooms, and Qin Yuan lifted his hand to strip off his clothes. He had fair skin, the kind that would not tan even if he wandered around a desert for a few rounds.
Once undressed, Qin Yuan went into a stall to put on his swimming trunks. When he came out, he raised a hand to brush the hair from his forehead backward. The other two friends were changing outside.
Although they were friends, their sexual orientations differed. Qin Yuan was gay. While his friends did not mind, Qin Yuan still tried to be somewhat considerate of them. You could say that when it came to treating his friends, Qin Yuan was genuinely a good guy.
This was precisely one of the reasons why, when he met with an unexpected accident in his previous life, both friends had rushed to his side at the first possible moment, pressing down tightly on the wound on his abdomen.
At the mere thought of that moment, the right side of Qin Yuan’s abdomen felt a dull, slight ache once more. He looked down at his stomach. Aside from his ab muscles, there was no visible trace of ever having been stabbed by a knife.
Qin Yuan walked out of the stalls, where his two friends were already waiting for him.
The group then headed toward the public pool.
Other people were heading that way as well, but when the three of them walked past, half the gazes of the entire area practically landed on them, especially on Qin Yuan, who was walking right in the middle.
Qin Yuan’s whole body was excessively fair, to the point where calling it snow-white would not be an exaggeration. With the sky clear and sunny at the moment, sunlight spilled over him, making his entire body seem as though it were faintly reflecting light.
There were some girls in the pool, and upon catching sight of Qin Yuan’s semi-nude body, their cheeks instantly turned quite red.
“Too bad you do not like women. It would be great if you did.”
“I am fine with women too.” Qin Yuan’s features were striking and bold as he smiled and took over Fang Chen’s remark.
“Aren’t you gay?”
“When I close my eyes, I can be straight too.”
Fang Chen looked Qin Yuan up and down, his gaze eventually dropping to the area covered by Qin Yuan’s swim trunks. “You said it. I will send a woman over to you tonight.”
Qin Yuan wore a smile at the corner of his lips, neither nodding nor shaking his head. “I have no appetite for things delivered right to my doorstep. I like this kind of excitement.”
Qin Yuan’s voice abruptly cut off because he caught sight of someone. That person was sitting among a crowd, but while those around him chatted away, he merely offered a faint smile. In that instant, Qin Yuan lost his composure; he did not even realize when he had walked right up in front of the young man.
Before the young man knew it, he reached out and touched the youth’s face.
Thinking a handsome guy passing by was just walking past, the young man had assumed nothing of it, but the next moment a hand reached out and touched him. Taken aback by the sudden gesture, the young man was too stunned to react for a moment.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
An exclamation of surprise snapped Qin Yuan out of his trance. Slowly lowering his gaze, he realized that the face before him bore no resemblance whatsoever to the person deep within his heart.
They were clearly two completely different people. The person in his heart would never come to a place like this.
“Sorry, mistake.”
Qin Yuan turned around and walked away.
In the distance, Fang Chen and Wang Xiao looked at each other, neither seeming to understand what had just happened.
Fang Chen walked quickly to Qin Yuan’s side and asked, “What’s wrong?”
Qin Yuan met Fang Chen’s somewhat concerned gaze. “Nothing.”
“Someone you know?”
“No.” Qin Yuan shook his head.
“Not a friend?”
Fang Chen could not shake the feeling that Qin Yuan was hiding something from them. While everyone certainly had their own private matters, the secret Qin Yuan was keeping might not be so simple.
“You don’t…” Fang Chen probed, “actually have someone you like, do you?”
Had Qin Yuan actually fallen for someone without them knowing?
Yet no matter how he thought about it, it seemed impossible. The few of them hung out every few days, and whatever each of them was up to was usually known to the other two.
“Yes.” Qin Yuan unexpectedly admitted it outright.
“What?” Now it was Fang Chen’s turn to be even more curious. “Who is it?”
Fang Chen’s voice did not fully reach Qin Yuan’s ears because Qin Yuan had already jumped into the pool.
He had jumped into the deep end, where the water was over two meters deep. Ordinary tourists mostly stayed in the shallow end and rarely came over to this side.
Once Qin Yuan’s fair, athletic body entered the water, it seemed to vanish instantly.
Standing on the edge, Fang Chen searched for a moment before finally spotting his figure.
“Don’t you think he is acting a bit strange today?”
“Didn’t notice. Isn’t he the same as always?”
Wang Xiao actually had that exact feeling, but claimed otherwise out loud. He did not immediately jump into the water either, opting instead to find a spot to sit down. A moment later, a waiter brought over some water, and Wang Xiao picked it up and took a couple of sips.
“Aren’t you getting in?”
“I am, why wouldn’t I?” Fang Chen warmed up his body slightly before entering the water. Given his previous experience of jumping straight in and getting cramps, he made sure to be careful now.
However, shortly after, Fang Chen went into the water too, only to find that just as he caught a glimpse of Qin Yuan’s silhouette, he turned his head and could not find him anywhere.
It was as if he had vanished.
Qin Yuan’s body sank deep into the water, his hands and feet completely still. He drifted down toward the bottom of the pool. Everyone here was busy playing amongst themselves, and no one paid attention to Qin Yuan’s situation.
The sensation of suffocation was intense, yet that feeling of suffocation was fundamentally different from the sensation of death.
Death did not feel like this. He had experienced it firsthand. His blood kept gushing outward, and his body rapidly turned cold.
It was all blood, thick and viscous blood.
Before death, he had seen both Fang Chen and Wang Xiao weeping, shedding tears over his demise.
As for the person he loved, that person had been shoved aside by the crowd, pushed all the way to the back.
What kind of expression had that person worn at the time?
He had resorted to forced possession, only to end up falling deeply in love with him in the end. What expression had that person worn upon witnessing his death?
Qin Yuan did not regret his death. Even now, having been reborn, he only harbored one regret: that at the moment of his death, he had not been able to see Lin Xi.
Bursting out of the water abruptly, having held his breath for too long, Qin Yuan’s throat felt uncomfortable, and his head seemed to buzz.
Qin Yuan coughed twice.
“Choked?” Fang Chen turned his head to look at Qin Yuan, echoing his coughing fits.
Having just emerged from the water, Qin Yuan was thoroughly soaked, his hair entirely drenched, and beads of water trickling down his incomparably handsome face.
Fang Chen’s pupils suddenly contracted and then slowly widened. He thought to himself that he must be hallucinating. Otherwise, why would he feel like Qin Yuan, whose eye sockets were turning red, was actually crying?
Those water streaks running down Qin Yuan’s face looked just like tear tracks.
Fang Chen gently reached out, intending to place his hand on Qin Yuan’s shoulder, but Qin Yuan shifted his body aside to dodge Fang Chen’s hand.
“You keep swimming.”
With that, Qin Yuan walked out of the pool.
As his retreating figure walked away, though it looked upright, Fang Chen frowned deeply.
Walking ashore, Wang Xiao thought Qin Yuan was heading over to his side, but instead, Qin Yuan told him, “I remembered I have something I need to take care of. It will be quick, just an hour or two. I will come back later.”
Without waiting for Wang Xiao to say a word, Qin Yuan turned and left.
The speed of his departure suggested he genuinely had an urgent matter on his hands.
Left standing on the shore, Wang Xiao and Fang Chen were dumbfounded for a moment.
Wang Xiao took out his phone and dialed Qin Yuan’s number.
“Is it serious?”
“Do you need help?”
“No, it’s a minor issue. Thanks.”
Hearing Qin Yuan say thanks, Wang Xiao knew for sure that something really was off with him.
Hanging up the phone, Wang Xiao toyed with his phone in thought for a good while. After letting out a chuckle, he got up and stepped into the pool.
Qin Yuan changed his clothes and took the elevator downstairs.
However, instead of going straight to the first floor, he stopped on the fifth floor, stepped out onto the carpeted hallway, and walked straight ahead. When he arrived in front of a private room, Qin Yuan stopped and stood outside.
The door was tightly shut, but Qin Yuan would never forget what had once happened in here.
His own blood had stained the floor of this private room a crimson red.
Was it a dream?
That kind of real pain, and everything else, it couldn’t have been a dream.
Qin Yuan placed his right hand gently over his abdomen.
At that time, someone had suddenly rushed out, charging at Lin Xi with a knife. Qin Yuan did not know the person, nor did he know what grievance that person had with Lin Xi, but the moment he saw the knife, Qin Yuan did not hesitate for a second. He had pulled Lin Xi into his arms to protect him, and then that blade had plunged straight into his body.
If given a second chance, would he still protect Lin Xi?
Qin Yuan chuckled. Most likely not.
He would not even like Lin Xi anymore.
It had been a forced romance to begin with. Lin Xi had his own partner, and their relationship of many years wasn’t something a third party like him could casually disrupt.
A third party, huh?
To think that in matters of the heart, he had actually ended up playing the role of a homewrecker.
Now, following his rebirth and regaining his clarity, or rather, realizing he had awakened to his true role, felt far more fitting.
The moment Qin Yuan woke up earlier that morning, he had unexpectedly discovered that this timeline was nothing more than a novel world.
And he was merely the cannon fodder secondary gong of this world.
His appearance and the significance of his existence were solely to fight the main gong for the shou, and ultimately die protecting the main shou.
Along the way, you could say he had caused the two of them no small amount of trouble, even going so far as to frame the main gong and land him in prison for half a year.
Thinking about it now after his awakening, his past self in his previous life had truly been completely controlled.
He could get whatever person he wanted. Why go out of his way to force himself onto someone who was already taken?
In the end, he had even thrown his life away.
Just thinking about it made him feel like his past self was out of his mind.
Fortunately, he had been reborn. Those past events would not repeat themselves, and he would no longer harbor feelings for the main shou.
Qin Yuan turned around and was about to leave when he suddenly noticed someone emerging from further down the hallway.
If it were just someone passing by, Qin Yuan wouldn’t have cared much.
However, among them was a young man. Standing in place, Qin Yuan narrowed his eyes. This person looked far more like him than the one by the pool. He looked way too much like Lin Xi.
The two of them even shared striking similarities in build, hairstyle, and attire.
Though his reason told him he should leave, upon seeing someone who resembled Lin Xi, Qin Yuan’s heart still gave a sharp, pinching ache.
He had thought he could let go easily, but clearly, that was just wishful thinking.
Just seeing someone who looked similar was enough to make him want to take a few extra glances.
“Fengbei, I do not want to break up. Can we please not break up?”
The young man grabbed onto someone. Unlike the youth’s pitiful, tearful pleading, the handsome face of the man being grabbed was covered in a frost-like coldness.
The man allowed the youth to grab him. While he did not directly push him away, the icy, emotionless gaze he cast caused the youth to tremble all over upon meeting it.