The World-Weary Canary in a Restricted Novel

After Shi Gui awakens, he discovers that he is the captive songbird in a dark, explicit romance novel with a bad ending.

Qin Longsheng wields absolute power in Haicheng, but hides an utterly twisted, sinister side.

He lures and deceives Shi Gui behind the facade of a refined gentleman, then forcibly takes him back home after he tries to run away. He loves Shi Gui with all his heart, yet refuses to let him leave his side for even a second, until the caged songbird dies of depression, stripped of his freedom.

By all rights, now that Shi Gui knows the story in advance, he should run.

But when Qin Longsheng speaks to him from on high at their first meeting, Shi Gui lowers his eyes and reaches out to take the man's hand.

When Qin Longsheng lays a trap to force him into signing a contract, Shi Gui doesn't refuse at all. He goes to meet him in the dead of night.

In the end, they move in together. Between the sheets, Qin Longsheng grips his ankle, his movements barely concealing his brutality, and Shi Gui accepts it all.

Everything proceeds just as the story dictates.

But for some reason, whenever Shi Gui enters the kitchen, the man follows close behind as if bracing for disaster.

Even when Shi Gui picks up a fruit knife to peel an apple, the man grabs the blade to stop him.

When Shi Gui can't sleep late at night and leans against the balcony railing to feel the breeze, the man stands inside the doorway, gently coaxing him back to bed with a trembling voice.

It seems some things are different after all.

*

From the first moment Qin Longsheng sees Shi Gui, his blood seethes. Every fiber of his being cries out that he wants this man.

After resorting to every means at his disposal, he finally gets what he wants, only to dream that his beloved is miserable and, in a daze, leaps from a high-rise.

The dream is so vivid that, after waking, Qin Longsheng forces down his need to control Shi Gui and wishes he could lay every beautiful thing in the world at his feet.

Shi Gui loves acting, so Qin Longsheng personally clears the way for him.

After that, Shi Gui wins several awards in a row and thrives in the entertainment industry.

Renowned directors regard him as their muse, and his fans put him on a pedestal.

Every night after a shoot, Shi Gui gets into a discreet black car and returns to the kingdom Qin Longsheng built for him with his own hands.

And yet, Qin Longsheng discovers that his beloved still wakes suddenly in the middle of the night and, without realizing it, wanders out onto the terrace.

Or he accidentally takes too much medication, then curls up pale and falls into a deep sleep he cannot be roused from.

He unconsciously runs his fingers over sharp objects, and tiny cuts of unknown origin are always appearing on his hands.

When Qin Longsheng asks in a trembling voice what is wrong, Shi Gui only looks at him, bewildered, and asks calmly, "Did I do something wrong again? You... don't want me anymore either?"

*

Sickly, world-weary captive songbird x possessive Daddy

Desperate for love x loves with reckless devotion

Theme: Live life to the fullest