Chapter 1: Some Things Never Come Back Once They’re Gone

Colorful lights pulsed with the rhythm of the music, and lively chatter rose and fell with the clinking of glasses.

Zhu Niao glanced around the vibrant KTV room and poured a bit more Wangzai Milk into his glass.

Tonight was their dorm get-together.

It was sort of a tradition—they always held one of these little parties right before the new semester started.

He didn’t actually live in the dorm. He shared a rental outside.

Not that he could afford a better place.

Quite the opposite, actually—he was strapped for cash.

The only reason he could live outside was because a close buddy let him crash in a tiny spare room rent-free.

Still, his dorm buddies had never treated him any differently.

Even now, while he sipped Wangzai Milk at a rowdy party like this, nobody gave him grief.

The only one even trying to sing tonight—and badly drunk at that—was the dorm leader.

He was the only one of the four who could halfway carry a tune, and he’d been shoved to the far end of the room to belt out his songs.

“If you can’t drink, don’t force it. Look at our Little Bird—knows he can’t drink, so he doesn’t.” The speaker was their bleach-blond Second Bro, a classic rich kid and the one footing the bill for tonight’s festivities.

Zhu Niao frowned as one of his slightly tipsy roommates nudged him.

“Big Bird,” he corrected.

“Didn’t notice,” Third Bro muttered near his ear, letting out a boozy burp.

He looked like a scholarly, clean-cut guy.

For the record, Zhu Niao was the youngest in their dorm.

And from the looks of it, these three drunkards weren’t making it back to campus on their own tonight.

The dorm leader, who was supposed to be the one responsible at times like this, was still off in his corner singing his lungs out.

Zhu Niao looked up.

The guy’s face was flushed red, completely lost in the music.

“Ding dong chicken, ding dong chicken…”

What the hell is this guy even singing?

Zhu Niao pulled out his phone to check the time.

If he escorted all three of his dear bros back to the dorm now, by the time he left again it’d be way too late.

He couldn’t bring himself to wake up the friend who was letting him crash for free.

That would be seriously ungrateful.

Besides, he didn’t feel good leaving these three drunk idiots to fend for themselves.

Might as well crash on the dorm floor for one night.

“Dorm leader, stop singing already. Time to go.”

Zhu Niao walked up and took the microphone from the dorm leader’s hand.

The guy collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut, a drunken heap on the floor.

Great.

Now he was officially the only sober person in the entire room.

He still had to drag these guys out one by one and get them a cab back to the dorm.

For someone as small and skinny as Zhu Niao, that was no easy task.

With his thin arms and legs, he never dared take on physical part-time jobs.

And now here he was, having to haul a bunch of full-grown men.

Thankfully, the KTV staff seemed pretty used to scenes like this.

With their help, he managed to get his drunk-as-deadroommates to the pickup area before they took their leave.

“If only you guys were girls,” he muttered.

At least then it’d be less of a workout.

But something like that… was obviously never going to happen.

The early spring breeze stirred the bangs on his forehead.

His unconscious roommates were still mumbling about Milk Dragon and Belial in their sleep.

The chill in the night air helped clear Zhu Niao’s head a little.

The smell of alcohol still clung to him, but he felt a bit more alert.

He took out his phone—figuring now was a good time to call his roommate, just so the guy wouldn’t worry.

As it turned out, the call was already coming in from the other side.

“Yo, Little Bird. Where the hell are you this late? If you’re really that broke, just talk to your old man. Don’t go selling your ass, seriously.”

A short pause, and then in a softer tone:

“Though… I gotta admit, you really would make a convincing femboy.”

There wasn’t a trace of mockery in that statement.

Just sincere, deadpan admiration.

“Out drinking with the dorm guys. I probably won’t make it back tonight—none of them are even remotely sober.” Zhu Niao didn’t take offense.

Conversations like this were pretty normal between the two of them.

He was used to it.

If anything, he’d kind of gotten used to not having a traditionally masculine body.

“You want me to come get you?”

“Nah, don’t bother. Just go to sleep. Don’t you have deliveries to make in the morning?”

Zhu Niao’s roommate was Gou Yu.

As a seasoned mutt, the guy’s only redeeming features were that he looked slightly handsome and kept his figure in somewhat decent shape.

Other than offering up a spare room for them to live in together, his financial situation wasn’t any better than Zhu Niao’s.

Both were scraping by—waiting on meal deals, surviving on budget apps, and always calculating every yuan.

Over the phone, it sounded like Gou Yu was about to protest, but Zhu Niao quickly cut him off.

“Alright, alright—the car’s here. Gotta go.”

He hung up.

And just like that, as if his words had summoned it, a pair of headlights flickered in the distance.

Apparently, he was the only one hailing a ride at this hour.

As the car pulled up in front of him, he immediately began dragging his unconscious roommates off the pavement.

With the driver’s help, he managed—somehow—to shove all three into the back seat.

The only downside? He realized the female driver was stronger than him.

With a long exhale, Zhu Niao buckled his seatbelt as the car slowly pulled away.

Just as he closed his eyes, the driver started chatting.

“You guys are out pretty late, huh? Four dudes, no less.”

“Dorm gathering,” Zhu Niao replied curtly.

The alcohol fumes in the car were getting to him.

Even though he hadn’t touched a drop himself, his head was starting to ache, and his answers grew shorter.

“Not a single girl with you?”

“Our dorm’s got a yin-yang imbalance,” he said dryly.

“We only know how to hang with bros. No clue how to deal with girls.”

In truth, it was just that none of them could get a girlfriend.

Anyone who dared betray their brotherly circle with a girlfriend would probably get beaten half to death with broomsticks.

“Aw, that’s a shame…” the driver murmured.

“In that case… how am I supposed to finish my romance quest…”

“Romance… quest?” Zhu Niao raised an eyebrow.

The driver was wearing a mask, so he couldn’t see her expression.

His mind had been groggy from fatigue, but now, the longer he stared at the woman behind the wheel, the stranger she seemed.

He was seriously starting to wonder if he’d gotten into the wrong car.

Just as he reached for his phone to double-check the ride info, the driver suddenly perked up as if she had an epiphany.

She raised one finger in triumph.

“Ah! I’ve got it! If they’re all girls, then problem solved, right?”

Then she shouted out, loud and proud, “Senior, please lend me your power!”

Zhu Niao was now absolutely certain—he had gotten into the wrong car.

There was a high chance this woman had just escaped from a psychiatric ward.

Unfortunately, he didn’t have time to react. A blinding light flashed in front of them—accompanied by the roar of an engine.

A semi-truck had suddenly appeared.

He had no idea why a semi would be here of all places, barreling toward them dead-on.

It was moving too fast—way too fast. Zhu Niao didn’t even have time to lunge for the wheel.

In the blink of an eye, the headlights were upon them.

He could even make out the truck driver’s face, both he and the woman beside him yelling in unison:

“This is our hot-blooded combo move!”

And then—darkness.

No pain.

No dramatic life-flash.

It was like accidentally dropping an eraser during math class and, by the time you picked it up, a different teacher had taken over the room.

*****

The morning sun filtered through the curtains, casting light on the small lump huddled beneath the blanket.

A girl stirred beneath the covers, shifting slightly—only to tug painfully on her long, dark hair.

Groaning from the sting, she rubbed her eyes and sat up slowly.

Her brain, still fogged with sleep, wasn’t registering her situation.

Mechanically, like it was just another morning, she climbed out of bed.

The oversized shirt hanging off her shoulders was clearly too big.

She kicked off a pair of pants that had bunched around her calves, yawned, and shuffled toward the bathroom.

“Yo, old dog. You’re up early.”

She saw her roommate, brushing his teeth—and the expression on his face looked like he’d seen a ghost.

Wait.

That voice.

Zhu Niao whipped around, clamping a hand over her throat.

In the mirror, a girl stared back at her, wearing the exact same horrified expression.

“What the f—!”