Hollow Vessel

(Coming soon. The blurb may change. Be sure to read the content warnings.)

Lin Yuqiu once thought he was the luckiest person in the world.

Although he grew up in an orphanage, hard work made him a well-known writer, doing work he loved.

Although he had a congenital heart condition, he found a donor at the last moment and successfully underwent a heart transplant.

Although his parents abandoned him, he had a warm, sunny, loving partner.

Until one day, he learned where the heart inside his body had come from: it belonged to his lover's childhood friend and longtime unrequited love, who had died young.

Only then did he understand why Wu Tang looked at him as if he were someone else.

Why Wu Tang's attitude toward him shifted between affection and distance.

Why Wu Tang was always so worried about his health, especially his heart.

Why Wu Tang's favorite thing was to lie against his chest and quietly listen to his heartbeat...

It turned out he was nothing but an empty vessel. Wu Tang loved the burning heart inside it.

A vessel should know its place.

So, reborn into a new life, he chose to risk his life to save that childhood friend, becoming their friend and helping them get together.

But, Xiao Tang, why are you holding me and crying?

Why cry so hard over a vessel that's about to shatter?

Notes and content warnings:

1. A gentle, patient writer, dead inside × a CEO who doesn't realize he's in love. Older gong, both reborn, happy ending. The recipient starts with no memories of his past life, but regains them later.

2. The gong, recipient, and childhood friend are all good people. The childhood friend only has platonic feelings for the recipient. The recipient had already fallen in love with the gong in his previous life, but never understood his own heart. He always took good care of the gong and never did anything scummy. The gong doesn't resent the recipient; he's always loved him. So in this life, he sincerely wants to help his lover find happiness. There's no traditional groveling arc. In this life, everyone is making up for the regrets of their previous one. The angst comes from the gong's intense self-destructive tendencies and the recipient paying for things he said carelessly.

3. If you want a traditional groveling arc, don't read this! If you want one person to be the only one who gives in the relationship, don't read this! If you're an extreme gong-only or recipient-only fan, don't read this!

Theme: Cherish the person before you