Misplaced in Obsession: The Painted Skin I Kept Hidden

[Gender Swap + Transformation + Cross-Dressing + CEO + Slice of Life + Mild Angst]

A car accident utterly destroys college student Lin Cheng's life. He survives, but the mastermind behind it alters his medical records and has plastic surgery turn his face into that of Gu Linchen's late wife. Gu Linchen is a domineering tycoon from a wealthy family, driven nearly mad by his wife's death. He forces Lin Cheng to wear a female silicone mask that cannot be removed, making him take on the identity of “Mrs. Gu” and care for his young son.

Day after day, Lin Cheng looks after the child and endures Gu Linchen's pathological control. But even a heart of stone can soften. Gradually, Gu Linchen stops treating him like a substitute, and the two cross the line while living under the same roof. Lin Cheng thinks fate has finally tossed him a sweet treat, until he accidentally stumbles upon his real wife's body, preserved in a subterranean freezer. It turns out he isn't even the first choice as a stand-in. Worse still, Gu Linchen wants him to undergo full gender reassignment surgery, to make this “substitute” more perfect.

On a deadly night on an island, an AI drone locks onto Gu Linchen, leaving him no chance of survival. In that desperate moment, Lin Cheng makes the most harrowing choice of all. He tears off the mask covering his own body, forces it onto Gu Linchen, slashes his face, and sends him into an underground river. Then he faces the explosion and raging fire alone. After suffering severe burns, he undergoes full gender reassignment surgery, is left disfigured and mute, and his legs atrophy. He disappears into the slums.