Just in Time

[He walked through thorns and endured life and death. In the end, he put away every last barb and defense, returning all the tenderness he had left to himself.]

Yi Chenliang was ambushed and killed. He returned to the world twenty years earlier, in the body of another young man.

Twenty years ago, Yi Chenliang was fifteen: arrogant and rebellious, convinced the whole world owed him something.

On a sweltering summer afternoon, in a shadowy alley, the Yi Chenliang from twenty years in the future looked at his younger self, beaten like a dog on the ground, and sighed.

No one has ever loved you. I will.

I didn’t love you back then. I came back to love you now.

I met you at just the right time.

Content warning: Selfcest! Read with caution if that’s not your thing!

This story was written because the author was starving for their own favorite kind of fiction.

Coming soon: Parallel to You. Add it to your reading list!

Chen Yilin is irritable and depressed. He dropped out of school early and feels like he’s become a heap of mud.

At eighteen, he unexpectedly gains an ability: he can see another Chen Yilin in a parallel universe.

The other Chen Yilin is handsome, clever, and rich. He’s an impeccably well-behaved top student, living a life Chen Yilin never even dared to dream of.

Bitterness and resentment take root in Chen Yilin’s heart. He envies him, hates him, and wants to destroy him.

But the other Chen Yilin reaches through the warped fabric of space and gently draws him into his arms.

Chen Yilin thinks, What an idiot… but he’s holding me.

They meet on an ordinary winter night and see another possibility for their lives.

[Believe that somewhere in a parallel universe, another version of you is living just as you’d hoped, and doing well. And you’re not doing so badly, either.]

Rebellious, unruly bottom × well-behaved, old-fashioned top

Theme: Stand on your own two feet, face life’s difficulties bravely, and make your light shine.