On the Professional Qualities of Male Insects

"This is a fictional setting unrelated to reality. Please don't apply it to real life."

Ian, a male insect and the son of a consul in the Cornell Empire, wanted to awaken powerful innate abilities. After searching high and low, he bought a female insect at the colosseum.

The female had silver hair and red eyes. He was handsome and taciturn, the perfect insect to help Ian through his long, sweltering awakening period.

Ian thought he really had gone too far.

He hadn't even asked for the other's consent before turning him over and over and having his fill.

What insect wouldn't be willing? Ian was noble and beautiful, and incredibly strong. Apart from being a little domineering in bed, he was practically flawless.

But...

What if the other was a Tianjia?

A prince who had been accidentally left behind years ago by the powerful neighboring empire, where females held power and males were subordinate.

Ian's mouth fell open wider than a walnut. Oh no, oh no, oh my God, why had his magic stopped working?

The sole Tianjia prince, an SSS-rank psychic powerhouse, had been bought by Ian and forced into a relationship while on his way back to his homeland?

Don't panic, don't panic. It's a small problem. After all, his awakened ability was time reversal.

Sure enough, Ian was caught. Watching the female insect, dressed in splendid robes and wearing an icy expression, enter the punishment chamber, Ian licked his lips and confessed everything without a word of warning.

Looking at Fred, his eyes blazing with fury and his composure gone, Ian was thrilled inside.

Did Fred think becoming the Tianjia emperor would let him take revenge?

Heh. A noble male insect would never suffer humiliation!

**

Starting over, Ian took his seat on the high platform again.

The female insect in the cage was gaunt and haggard. Apart from those bright eyes, how could anyone see the makings of a future Tianjia emperor in him?

Ian had been planning to give up on him, but when those blood-red eyes fixed on him, he couldn't help shivering.

If he left him alone, Fred would definitely take revenge, right?

Remembering Fred's ruthless methods, Ian hesitated.

...Maybe he should take him home and raise him properly this time?

It wasn't as if he had to force him. There were plenty of other female insects in the empire.

Ian put on a professional fake smile.

Was it really so hard to play a hypocritical male insect who was gentle, kind, and expected nothing in return? Easy. Never underestimate a male insect's professionalism.

He would keep a comfortable distance and offer occasional, seemingly casual kindness. That way, when Fred reclaimed everything he had once controlled, Ian wouldn't end up like he had in his previous life.

But could someone tell him why Fred seemed even more obsessed now that Ian was keeping his distance?

**

[Reading Guide:

1. A sweet romance! Pure sweetness! They're both madly in love!

2. A futuristic sci-fi setting with showbiz elements.

3. The time-reversal ability is an original setting, and the focus is on sweet everyday romance.]

----- Recommending my upcoming novel, "The Scum Top Turns Over a New Leaf, But Not Completely" -----

A phoenix man, a kept man, a man bent on revenge, an obsessive man: if they weren't love-brained, just how badly could they make someone fall for them?

[World One]

Lin Ye is a model type, a man who likes women, but a group president sets his sights on him.

Blowing smoke in the man's face, Lin Ye grinned wickedly.

"Sorry, I don't do men."

Until the other man rattled off a number, leaving Lin Ye stunned.

The president kept a cool expression, but was confident of victory. He knew that number would be enough to sway Lin Ye.

Lin Ye took another look at He Congyi's face and decided there was no harm in going on a date with this handsome, gloomy man.

After all... he was offering an awful lot.

Unfortunately, the president was cold, sharp-tongued, and fussy. Generosity was practically his only redeeming quality.

Lin Ye couldn't help wondering what the man would be like if he completely lost himself in Lin Ye.

He and He Congyi carried on a romance. Lin Ye had no idea how much of it was genuine and how much was about personal gain, but he still coaxed the other man into handing over everything he owned.

The He Group gradually declined, while Lin Ye's career flourished.

The newly risen President Lin received one invitation to a banquet after another, and he no longer treated He Congyi with the patience and warmth he once had.

Insecurity, arguments, and quarrels: a love bought with a check couldn't withstand much.

Lin Ye thought they would part on good terms, but what came for him wasn't a breakup. It was a blade.

The president's pale face and obsessive, gloomy smile came into view.

"If you don't love me, then die."

**

Lin Ye was reborn. He knew now that some people valued love more than their own lives.

Unfortunately, he'd already gotten involved with the other man in this life, and the once-cold president was in the final stages of his descent into darkness.

He had to clean up his own mess. Lin Ye changed his ways and turned over a new leaf. Every day, he fussed over the man and cared for him tenderly, as if they were back in the passionate early days of their relationship.

But the president wasn't so easy to fool.

The blade had slid across his palm countless times, but he still couldn't stop himself from believing Lin Ye one last time.

"You're such a scumbag. Can you really change?"

"I can change, baby." Lin Ye's heart clenched. He gripped the other's chin and kissed him deeply, until the blade hidden between his fingers fell to the ground and Lin Ye kicked it away.

Lin Ye cherished his life. Even if he was only pretending to love the other man, he could keep up the act for a lifetime.

Though changing completely would be difficult.

But who could say that acting for a lifetime wouldn't bring a sincere heart?

[World Two]

Scummy male insect from the lowest class * female insect who is an imperial senator

The male insect Kaisa came from a slum in District Seven. Branded a commoner, he nevertheless earned his place at the Imperial Military Academy through sheer ability and became a psychic therapist.

He clawed his way up, but the imperial elite looked down on him.

So what if he was an outstanding male insect? He was still a commoner. The best he could hope for was to become someone's kept lover.

Kaisa tried everything to seduce his way up and finally found a kind-hearted, sheltered female insect from a powerful family. He was quiet and delicate, and liked discussing impractical revolutionary ideals with Kaisa. He wanted to restore the decaying empire to its former strength and make the commoners at the bottom of society equal.

Kaisa thought his ideals and convictions were a joke. Hadn't he become an exalted imperial senator and pushed through those barely worthwhile policies only because of his family and connections?

He deserved to be sent to the gallows for betraying his power and glory over a commoner like Kaisa.

Kaisa didn't hesitate to sell the information he'd obtained. He'd always been heartless. Whoever offered him a better opportunity and greater benefits was the one he'd side with.

Sherien was undoubtedly an ideal bedmate. Kaisa liked his gentleness and docility, so different from other insects, but never took his promises to heart.

Until Kaisa saw him on the gallows. The other's eyes were still as clear as they had been when they first met.

"I'm sorry," Kaisa heard him say.

"I couldn't make District Seven the way you wanted it to be."

Kaisa suddenly remembered that one night, in the heat of passion, Sherien had said he would give him a special gift.

He hadn't been back to District Seven for a long time. When he returned, he found the slum, once choked with filthy water in his memory, transformed. The muddy heap outside his home had been cleared away, and even white wildflowers had sprung up.

He raced back to District One like a madman, only to be stopped by the head of the senate, who thanked him.

"Thanks to the evidence of his crimes you provided, Sherien is dead. Care to have a drink?"

...He had caused Sherien's death.

But Kaisa's own fate was hardly any better. The elite indulged themselves, and he was nothing but a decoration and plaything at their banquets. With no one to protect him, the overdose of drugs they injected into him killed him horribly.

In his next life, Kaisa saw that female insect again in the treatment room.

He resolved to treat him a little better this time.

[World Three]

Villain * aloof master

Cheng Qian didn't know why his master had brought him back.

His father had treasured the warmth of the mortal world and refused to become an immortal. Cheng Qian had entered the immortal sect with the Ascension Token his father gave him, then killed demons and upheld the righteous path. The demonic sect couldn't kill him, so they wiped out his entire family.

His whole family had died because of him, yet he remained graceful and composed.

Cheng Qian hated him, and the other man promised he would do anything to make amends.

"Even let me take you beneath me?" Cheng Qian asked with utmost malice. To his surprise, the other man agreed.

"Relying on a cultivation cauldron isn't the true path to cultivation." The colder his master acted, the harder Cheng Qian fucked him, until he could no longer lecture him.

Cheng Qian loved venturing into the most dangerous secret realms and rifts. He wanted his nominal master, his actual enemy, to die inside one of them.

But when he really did die, why wasn't Cheng Qian happy?

[World Four]

Scummy emperor * powerful minister

The scummy emperor had been neglected as a child. He had only one servant to wait on him.

He had no roots.

As long as he was useful later, that was all that mattered.

The other man ran himself ragged for him and fretted about producing an heir, but the emperor treated him only as a tool for sexual release.

After the emperor successfully ascended the throne, the little eunuch became a powerful chief eunuch with tremendous influence.

He still held everything in his grasp, yet longed for a normal family.

The little eunuch arranged a family for himself and gave his sweetheart plenty of gold and jewels.

The emperor knew the other man simply longed for the warmth of an ordinary home, yet still destroyed everything he had without hesitation.

The little eunuch would always belong to him alone.

He coldly watched as the other man faced open and covert attacks from the court, and as he wished, the little eunuch entered and left the inner palace and gradually distanced himself from the emperor.

The emperor thought the other man would realize he was his only source of support. Instead, he heard that the little eunuch had set himself on fire outside the palace and died to escape punishment.

It was only a little money, a little official rank. He ruled the realm. What couldn't he give him?

Yet the other man had died so resolutely, so heroically.

He had never treated the emperor as a lover. He had only seen him as a master he couldn't resist.

The scummy emperor set fire to the ancestral tablets and executed a great many "loyal ministers and valiant generals."

If he could start over...

He still wouldn't let his little eunuch go.

He'd just have to be gentler in his methods.

[Reading Guide] A story about a scummy top turning over a new leaf, searching for love and returning it. It has a redemption theme, and some of the tops might be manwhores, but every story is one-on-one once it begins!

Theme: Kindness and beauty can save the world