A Glimmer in the Dark Alley

Short-tempered bottom vs. sweet, aloof top

[Light horror, fantasy, no logic, reborn story, scraping-by-in-a-rented-room-and-eating-biscuits kind of story]

After being reborn, Wang Xiaoyu returns to the age of nineteen, to his college days.

He knows that a car accident will destroy his eyesight, that he'll be locked in a pitch-black basement and tortured, and that he'll eventually throw himself into the sea.

To hang on to the life he's finally been given and stay as far as possible from the person responsible for everything, his older brother, he starts living an ordinary, deadbeat life.

One day, looking at the chicken leg on his plate, he can't help asking a philosophical question: "What in this world is truly real?"

His roommate, Pei Yingbao, thinks he's taken leave of his senses and humors him out of boredom.

"Look at this chicken leg. It could be the chicken's belly or its butt. Once I eat it, it ceases to exist, and all that's left is a bone, trash the cafeteria worker has to sweep up. Is being eaten all it was meant for? If I were this chicken, I'd feel like I hadn't found the meaning of my chicken life."

Pei Yingbao is stunned, and what Wang Xiaoyu does next leaves him even more astonished. Determined to live by the saying, "If failure is the meaning of my life, then madness is its main theme," Wang Xiaoyu completely loses it and holds the first-ever Dorm Room Weird Snacks Showdown with the others.

Not only does he avoid losing, he even attracts quite a bit of attention.

But the male streamer he's always thinking about is talking to another big spender who's richer than he is. Wang Xiaoyu resents it and keeps taking on odd jobs. When he runs into an acquaintance on the street and gets looked down on, he doesn't panic in the slightest.

Until Qishan of the Mental Hospital replies to Dashing Feather Brother:

Are you reborn?

His secret is about to come out, so Wang Xiaoyu calmly admits it.

After all, no one in this world would believe in being reborn. Sure enough, that pack of mad dogs doesn't believe him at all. They tear into him and get his account banned.

He thinks again of the male streamer with the warm smile and courteous, humble manner he saw on screen.

From the first time they met, he felt something was off.

Chi Kong was very concerned about his wound. He even brought over the tools and carefully cleaned it.

Wang Xiaoyu gets a little nervous. When he gets nervous, he tends to feel hot, and when he feels hot, he gets drenched in sweat and starts talking nonsense. He asks Chi Kong, "Do you want to put on a shirt? Aren't you cold? Is it really okay for you to be shirtless like that?"

Chi Kong smiles. "I'm freezing..."

In the cramped rental room, an ear-splitting noise rings out...

Unpleasant sounds come from next door, too.

What is Dashing Feather Brother supposed to do?

He's walked right into the wolf's den!

Later, he runs into his older brother. That familiar voice still chills him to the bone.

Wang Xiaoyu can't tell which timeline he's in or what is true and what is false. He easily lets his brother pull him into an embrace. He glances toward a narrow alley in the distance, and the blurry figure in his field of vision suddenly comes into focus.

Chi Kong stands expressionless in the shadows. Wang Xiaoyu's eyes widen. The moment he sees Chi Kong's anger, he immediately pushes his brother away.

But what he never expected was for the sky to shift and the world to start falling apart.

Chi Kong says, one word at a time, "If you want him dead, I'll kill you first."

To avoid hurting anyone, Wang Xiaoyu watches helplessly as Chi Kong's disguise falls away and he suddenly turns into a little cat.

The black cat has a plump, glossy body and a steady gait. It runs toward him, and tears stream down Wang Xiaoyu's face.

"Laika!"

They enter a world that can be reached through imagination, and Wang Xiaoyu can't make heads or tails of it. As they walk along the shore, Chi Kong says bluntly, "From now on, don't mention him in front of me. Not a single word, not even a thought. From this moment on, I'm your one and only."

As for Chi Kong, if love makes him ugly, then he doesn't think he needs to dress it up as something beautiful.

Even praising him for being generous would be an insult.

Without a doubt, he's stingy and obsessive, consumed by a dark possessiveness... a rat.

Wang Xiaoyu is completely stunned.

Theme: I want us both to live well.