When Wen Shu woke, he felt strange. His whole body ached, and his head throbbed in sharp pulses. Someone was talking outside.
“Mori, did you buy all that stuff for your brother again?”
“If I were you, I’d have kicked that bloodsucking lunatic out ages ago! Did he go crazy again yesterday?”
“Please don’t say that,” a particularly gentle male voice answered. “My brother only acts that way because he can’t bear to be without me.”
“Of course he can’t bear to be without you. He does nothing all day! All he does is threaten you. Why do you care what happens to him? Just let him die!”
“Stop. He’ll hear you. Then he’ll think I don’t want him anymore…”
What?
Wen Shu frowned. He didn’t recognize any of those voices, and he had no idea what they were talking about.
He struggled to open his eyes. The room was completely unfamiliar, and even its style struck him as strange.
The walls looked metallic, with things like light screens embedded in them, but the furniture seemed old and worn.
Wen Shu tried to get up, only to tumble off the bed and hit his head on something with a bang.
“Fuck…” He clutched his head, in too much pain to move.
Why was he so weak?
The conversation outside stopped as soon as he made a sound.
Hurried footsteps approached, then the door flew open.
“Brother, are you all right?”
In the corner of his eye, Wen Shu saw a tall, slender figure kneel beside him and take hold of his arm, bringing his face close. “Brother?”
Was he talking to Wen Shu?
Wen Shu looked up, then froze.
The man was extraordinarily beautiful, with striking, delicate features and pale skin. His hair and eyelashes were silver. Sunlight caught in his hair, haloing him until he looked almost like an angel.
But the instant Wen Shu met his bright golden eyes, his first instinct was fear.
Fear so sharp it clenched his stomach. A chill crawled over his skin, as if a snake had slithered across it.
“Don’t touch me!” Wen Shu went pale and shoved him away.
Mori had to step back, out of the sunlight. His angelic face disappeared into shadow, leaving only his golden eyes shining as he looked down at Wen Shu, like some nocturnal predator.
Wen Shu felt a chill run down his spine again.
But the dangerous presence vanished almost at once. Mori bent down again, bathed in sunlight, his face full of apology.
“I’m sorry, brother. It’s my fault. I got home late today. Are you hungry? I’ll make you something right away.”
As he spoke, he reached out with a pair of long, elegant hands, as if to grab Wen Shu again.
Wen Shu quickly dodged, as though those hands were iron clamps.
“But I’m not your brother.”
“No kidding. You’re not his brother!”
Someone had clearly come into the bedroom. It was the other person who had been talking to Mori.
“You’re just a bloodsucker! A vicious piece of shit, just like your parents. The people in this dump adopted orphans so they could use them as slaves.”
Wen Shu had no idea what he was talking about. All he knew was that everything had been very, very wrong from the moment he woke up.
He looked down at his hands. They felt familiar, but they were paler and thinner than his own, and his wrists bore a lot of fresh cuts.
He had no memory of being injured.
The inexplicable situation sent his adrenaline surging. His heart pounded in his chest. He sprang up from the bed, wanting only to get out of there.
Before he could reach the door, someone grabbed him by the back of his shirt.
“Brother.” Mori looked delicate, but he was even taller than Wen Shu, with a broad, solid chest. With one hand, he held Wen Shu against him. “Where are you going?”
“Don’t be angry. Lie down. I’ll make you something to eat.”
Mori’s cool breath brushed Wen Shu’s ear like a snake’s tongue. Wen Shu’s skin prickled, but Mori’s grip was far stronger than he’d expected. He couldn’t fight him off.
“Let go of me!” Just as Wen Shu was desperately trying to break free, Mori suddenly released him.
Wen Shu wasn’t ready. He landed hard on his elbow and fell to the floor.
The sudden pain made him clutch his arm. He couldn’t get up, curling in on himself and letting out a pained whimper like a young animal.
The sound made the person standing at the door pause. Almost without thinking, he stepped inside.
“What are you up to now? Why are you making such a…”
The newcomer was covered in tattoos and had red hair. He’d been muttering complaints, but the words died on his lips when he saw Wen Shu.
The infamous “bad guy” was trembling faintly with pain. His soft black hair hung down, revealing only a slender strip of pale neck. His waist curved like the stem of a broken flower. His face was hidden, but Redhead’s heart gave a sudden thump.
“Good guy” Mori stood over him, making Wen Shu look even smaller by comparison.
“Brother… do you see?” Mori crouched suddenly, nearly straddling Wen Shu. He cupped Wen Shu’s face in both hands, lifting it as effortlessly as a beast might tear away a piece of flesh. “If I let go of you, you’ll fall and get hurt.”
“So how can you ask me to let go? Don’t do that again. Come on, lie back down.”
Mori’s words were full of helplessness, as if this were all Wen Shu’s fault.
Wen Shu stared at him, shuddering. He tried to struggle, but Mori immediately took hold of his injured arm. Wen Shu sucked in a sharp breath of pain.
Redhead watched as Mori easily lifted the trembling Wen Shu into his arms and pressed him back onto the bed.
The handsome silver-haired man bent over him, his broad shoulders almost completely eclipsing Wen Shu’s slender frame.
“Just tell me what you want, all right, brother?”
Wen Shu seemed to shiver again and lowered his head further. His long black hair hid most of his face, revealing only the tip of his straight nose, his pale chin, and his unexpectedly full lips.
Redhead saw Wen Shu bite his lip and say something, but for a moment he could only focus on those lips parting and closing.
Sunlight by the bed illuminated the small patch of skin at Wen Shu’s collar, collarbone and all, and against it his lips, marked by a small red cut, were impossible to look away from.
But soon Mori’s body blocked those vivid colors. The brightest thing by the bed was a glint of gold.
Mori had lifted his head and was looking at Redhead without expression.
Redhead could barely process what he’d just been doing. “Uh, your brother… I didn’t know he was in such bad shape. Is that why he never goes out?”
“You shouldn’t have come in.”
Redhead instinctively tried to look toward Wen Shu again, but when he glanced up, Mori was already standing in front of him.
Redhead had to step back. Mori walked out and slammed the bedroom door shut, completely blocking Wen Shu from view.
“My brother doesn’t like having strangers in the house.”
Redhead stared blankly at Mori’s face, tongue-tied for the first time, his mind full of questions.
Was it Wen Shu who didn’t like strangers in the house… or Mori?
“But… what happens to him after you go to the imperial army?”
Redhead sounded almost worried about how Wen Shu would manage, completely forgetting that just minutes ago, he’d been wishing him dead.
Mori’s golden eyes darkened. “I’m taking him with me, of course.”
“With you…?” Redhead spoke as Mori backed him down the hall.
“Yes. My brother can’t be without me for even a day. He couldn’t survive on his own.”
“But there’s no way they’ll agree to that…”
Before Redhead could finish, Mori’s mouth curled. He suddenly shut the door behind him, trapping them both in the dark hallway.
“What, did you think I’d leave him in your care?”
“With your pathetic excuse for bounty-hunting skills?”
Redhead froze. There was something about Mori standing in the darkness that felt utterly unfamiliar.
And dangerous.
…
Wen Shu struggled to sit up in bed. Bracing his pale fingers against the round window, he looked outside.
The wind seemed strong. Far away, endless dunes rolled across the landscape, dotted with metal buildings half-buried in sand.
The sun overhead was scorching. On the horizon, tornado-like funnels swirled, and two moons, one large and one small, hung pale in the sky.
Wen Shu turned even paler.
Sand kept pelting the window, but the room was silent.
Wen Shu slowly slid down onto the bed and looked at his arm again, frowning.
It was thin and pale, as though it could be snapped with ease.
Unless he’d been bedridden for years, a grown man shouldn’t have become this weak.
But though his body was frail, he wasn’t sick. There was no reason he had to stay in bed.
Stranger still, his wrists were marked with numerous scars, some deeper than others, all straight lines. The freshest were still blood-red, running right across his arteries.
Wen Shu took a deep breath and pressed his fingers to his temples. His head was splitting.
What the hell was going on? He’d been working late at home until he fell asleep last night!
Had he transmigrated, like in a novel?
Other people who transmigrated got to have a harem or become invincible heroes. What kind of hellhole had he ended up in?
The red-haired man had said Mori’s name, but no matter how hard Wen Shu tried, it meant nothing to him.
Had he read some damn novel recently?
Was it a game? A TV show? No.
He was a fucking overworked wage slave. When would he have time?
Bang.
A loud crash outside abruptly interrupted Wen Shu’s thoughts.
He tensed all over, staring nervously at the bedroom door.
Soon he heard the front door open and close quietly, followed by footsteps.
The person stopped in the kitchen for a while, then came closer, step by step, before opening the bedroom door again.
“Brother.”
The handsome young man stood there with his immaculate silver hair, angelic smile, and golden eyes bright as sunlight. “Sorry to keep you waiting.”
Only then did Wen Shu notice the tray in Mori’s hands.
“Don’t worry, brother. I won’t leave you. I’ll find a way to take you with me tomorrow.” Mori sat down at the edge of the bed. His beautiful lashes lowered as he blew on a spoonful of food, then held it out to Wen Shu.
Like any normal person used to feeding himself, Wen Shu instinctively pulled away.
Mori stayed in place, spoon extended, but his smile cooled.
The silent standoff made Wen Shu inexplicably nervous. He reached out himself.
“I can do it…”
But Mori didn’t hand him the spoon.
“Are you still angry with me, brother?”
“I’m not…”
But Mori cut him off and went on as if speaking to himself. “Is it because I got home late? Or because you don’t like the food? Or are you worried I’ll leave you behind tomorrow?”
Wen Shu swallowed. “You can go by yourself tomorrow. You don’t have to take me.”
Mori’s hand went still. His golden eyes fixed on Wen Shu, and his smile vanished completely.
Author’s note:
This story may contain, but is not limited to, coercive romance, violence, crazed and obsessive characters, a male lead who cries easily, nonhuman love interests, a straight male protagonist, a protagonist adored by everyone, a weak and timid protagonist, a scum protagonist, the protagonist kissing and having physical contact with men who aren’t the main love interest, the protagonist being injured, angst for the male lead, multiple love interests, a crematorium ending with the ashes scattered, love rivals, and melodrama for melodrama’s sake.
This is not a sweet romance or a wish-fulfillment story. It’s a melodrama.
The male leads and most named supporting characters will fall for the protagonist. He won’t return the male leads’ feelings until the very end. Please note that the one whose feelings he returns is the actual male lead. Not everyone is a love interest; some will be left heartbroken.
If this isn’t your thing, feel free to avoid it, but please don’t attack readers who enjoy it. Thank you for your time.