Lin Wan never imagined that a chance pause in an old alley would send her life completely “out of control.” It all began when she bought a bronze lock engraved with winding lotus vines. Suddenly, five completely different souls entered her quiet life as an office clerk.
The lively, spirited art student Su Xiao secretly covers sticky notes with drawings while Lin Wan works. Chen Mo, the cool and taciturn bookstore clerk, keeps her up reading obscure books until dawn. The gentle, comforting pastry chef Xia Ran turns her kitchen into a fragrant little workshop. And Lu Ze, a guitarist who is cold on the outside but warm within, coaxes crisp, boyish melodies from her fingertips.
The five souls take turns “borrowing” her body, turning Lin Wan into the shape-shifting girl her colleagues know as someone who can draw, understands literature, makes desserts, and plays guitar. Amid the fluster and embarrassment of each “identity switch,” she also stumbles upon the tender, unspoken sparks hidden in everyday life: hot coffee offered by a regular at the bookstore, a neighbor pausing to listen to guitar music on the rooftop, and the delighted look in a colleague’s eyes after tasting her dessert.
But sharing a body with other souls is no simple matter of “roommates.” Arguments in her mind, battles over who gets to use her body, doubts about “who I am,” and the growing suspicion of those around her that “something is off” keep pulling Lin Wan back and forth between breaking down and adapting.
As the pasts of the five souls gradually intertwine with Lin Wan’s life, and the budding feelings become impossible to distinguish as either “her” fluttering heart or “my” concern, Lin Wan finally understands: perhaps the bronze lock did not bring “loss of control” at all. Perhaps, from the fragments of five souls, she has pieced together a more complete self.
And those things hidden in paintbrushes, words, and desserts
