Aren't We Cool 1?

*

There are novels like this: In his past life, the protagonist gave everything to a scumbag, who left him utterly broken. Only at the end of his life did he realize that the second male lead, the one he'd always ignored, was the one who truly loved him. His only wish as he lay dying was to live his life over again.

According to the script, after being reborn, all he had to do was give his former devoted admirer, the second male lead, the slightest hint, and the other man would happily rush to him as before. Then he could leave the scumbag behind and start a new life.

In the end, fate gave him that chance. He really was reborn. But somehow, the story wasn't going as planned.

He was reborn, sure, but... it seemed like nobody cared.

[Story One]

A poker-faced human-shaped machine of a top x a sweet, scheming younger brother of a bottom

Xu Mingshu x Yan Li

Xu Mingshu is the undisputed ace of a top-tier boy band. With his strikingly handsome, sharp-featured face, he's the band's most popular “top,” and every pairing with his bandmates has a huge following.

Except for Yan Li, the youngest member. The two fell out publicly on camera before their debut, and their solo fanbases have been at each other's throats ever since, waging brutal wars across social media.

Then, during a game in one of the group's variety show episodes, Xu Mingshu unfortunately lost. According to the rules, the winner got to choose a task for the loser.

At the leader's special request, the poker-faced Xu Mingshu was forced to take his first cute selfie, making a face for the camera, and post it to his personal Weibo account.

The moment the photo went up, the comments section exploded, and all the fans became his moms.

Then a conspicuous repost and comment suddenly appeared.

[NEXUS-Yan Li: My wife's so cute. I want to kiss him. // @NEXUS-Xu Mingshu: [Shared image]]

All the fans celebrating, the band fans thirsting over their looks, the CP fans hunting for clues, and the antis waiting for their chance: ?

The other four members, Xu Mingshu included, all turned to look at someone in the back seat of the car: ?

Under everyone's gaze, Yan Li looked up and gave them a cute smile, his tone casual.

“Sorry, forgot to switch accounts.”

.

Xie Yan died. In his previous life, he was a struggling little-known star who lost his head and fell in love after being kept by a sugar daddy. He thought the man had a soft spot for him too, until the man used him as a bargaining chip and handed him over to a business rival, leaving him disgraced and depressed.

As he lay dying, Xu Mingshu came to mind. When the whole internet was attacking him, Xu Mingshu had sent him a private message of encouragement, saying he'd always be his fan.

After coming back to life, he swore to stay away from his sugar daddy and win the heart of the one man who truly cared about him.

He returned to the variety show they'd filmed together. After the shoot, he found out which dressing room Xu Mingshu was in and went there to confess his feelings. But the moment he pushed the door open a crack, he froze.

On the dressing-room sofa, Xu Mingshu, normally so stern and taciturn, had his head tilted back as the youngest member of the group kissed him until his eyes glistened with tears.

[Story Two]

A straight, cool guy of a top x a gloomy cross-dressing bottom

Zheng Jingsheng x Shen Xi

After the college entrance exams, Zheng Jingsheng added the account of a scammer who'd cheated his friend out of money, hoping to help catch the culprit. He sent over a few shirtless photos showing off his impressive physique, and the other person took the bait right away.

To meet the person in real life and bring him to justice, Zheng Jingsheng went along with it and started dating him. Everything went smoothly, except that his new partner sometimes made some strange requests.

A month later, they finally decided to meet in person. But the day before their planned meetup, his friend told him the scammer had already been found.

Only then did Zheng Jingsheng realize he'd added the wrong person. He hurriedly apologized and asked to break up, but the other person refused, so he simply deleted him as a friend.

Not long after starting university, Zheng Jingsheng began to feel as if someone was always watching him from the shadows. Then, after military training ended, he was walking back to his dorm when his vision suddenly went dark...

When he woke up, a beautiful young man in women's clothes was sitting in front of him.

He looked familiar. Wait, didn't he look exactly like Zheng Jingsheng's online boyfriend?

Zheng Jingsheng realized he'd been targeted for revenge. To keep things under control, he offered to grant the other person one request, as long as they could both pretend afterward that none of this had happened.

*

Lin Xu died on a day of torrential rain. In his previous life, he'd been in love with his senior for years, cooking for him and even falling out with his family over him. In return, his senior said he loved Lin Xu while secretly carrying on with one of Lin Xu's friends. In the end, the two scumbags teamed up to frame him, leaving him to die miserably in the street.

In his final moments, Lin Xu thought of his college roommate. Through countless nights of heartbreak and sleeplessness, his roommate had always been there for him. But back then, Lin Xu had eyes only for his senior and never spared a thought for all his roommate had done.

Filled with belated regret, Lin Xu was reborn in his student days, back in the year before any of those tragedies had taken place. He immediately distanced himself from his insincere senior and went to find his roommate, full of anticipation. But as soon as he opened the familiar dorm-room door, he froze.

In the glow of the setting sun, his tall roommate leaned lazily against the balcony railing, hands in his pockets, while someone else kissed him. When it was over, he complained in a mildly grumpy tone, “That hurt. Go easy.”

[Story Three]

A stern, old-fashioned, divorced father of a second marriage, top x a mixed-race illegitimate son who knows how to play the victim, bottom

Yan Yunfei x Xu Hansheng

36 x 18

Yan Ran was the result of a reckless moment when his father was young. He and his unsmiling father had a distant relationship. Yan Yunfei might not have given him much love, but he had given him plenty of money.

Born into high society, Yan Ran had seen plenty of spoiled rich kids throwing their weight around. He considered himself one of the more easygoing young masters, and he always stood by his friends. Xu Hansheng was the exception.

From their first meeting, the two rubbed each other the wrong way. Xu Hansheng was nothing but the Xu family's illegitimate son, hidden away from the world. After living overseas for more than a decade, he could barely speak Chinese, yet the moment his pretty face was brought back into the family, he managed to steal Yan Ran's goddess.

From then on, the two clashed constantly, trading barbs as a matter of course.

Then, after one midterm exam, Yan Ran got the lowest score in the class and was kicked by Yan Yunfei in front of everyone. Xu Hansheng happened to be in the crowd. Yan Ran felt utterly humiliated, but then he noticed that Xu Hansheng wasn't laughing at him at all. Instead, he was staring intently at Yan Yunfei, the man who'd just kicked Yan Ran a full meter away.

Xu Hansheng suddenly stopped picking fights with him and instead began throwing an arm around his shoulders all the time. Every now and then, he even looked at him with a trace of affection.

Yan Ran couldn't understand this sudden change in attitude, until one day he accidentally stumbled upon a scene outside his father's study. His always dignified and self-controlled father was pinned against a redwood desk, while Xu Hansheng, dressed in an international high school uniform, tugged open his impeccable bespoke suit and kissed his neck, murmuring “Mommy” in a lingering voice.

[Story Four]

A dark-skinned, rugged auto mechanic, top x a fussy college student and millionaire influencer, bottom

Kong Huan x Li Yunsi

After his grandmother died, Kong Huan decided to move to the city and join his boyfriend, only to find that the boyfriend he'd grown up with had become a completely different person after starting to perform in group livestreams.

On the first day after deciding to break up, Kong Huan rented a place. He'd just lain down to sleep when music and laughter came from next door. When he knocked, he found a group of impeccably dressed influencers throwing a birthday party for someone.

The handsome young man at the center of the crowd glanced at Kong Huan's bulging chest muscles and said, “Country bumpkin.”

The day after Kong Huan found a job, a luxury convertible pulled up. Its familiar owner wore sunglasses, his gaze traveling from Kong Huan's tan arms to the rounded contours straining against his work vest. In a nasty tone, he said, “Be careful. You can't afford to pay for it if you scratch it.”

On the third day, Kong Huan's ex came begging to get back together, and the neighbor happened to see them. It seemed he'd misunderstood what was going on. He folded his arms and looked Kong Huan up and down, then frowned, his disgust plain in his voice. “So you're selling yourself.”

Half an hour later, someone knocked on the door.

Kong Huan opened it. His neighbor stood there, hair slicked back with gel, wearing cologne, his face stern as he asked, “How much for a night with you?”

[Bonus Story]

A cool, fair-skinned, big-breasted top x an uneducated rich second-generation bottom

Sheng Cong x Chi Ling

[Reading Guide]

1. The blurb includes the side characters' perspectives, but the main story focuses on the two leads.

2. The entertainment industry content is fictional. Please don't relate it to real life.

3. Handsome tops and beautiful bottoms, the bottom pursues the top, gets humiliated, and chases after him. One-on-one pairing.

4. The whole story is just a stream of events, with no plot or logic. Everything is in service of the author's kinks. Enter at your own risk.

Theme: Plant flowers in your heart, and your life will never be barren.