Ficorpio
Chapter 1
I was a six-foot, broad-shouldered man who had somehow transmigrated into an MM romance novel as the male lead’s unforgettable lost love—the one destined to die in a car crash.
The Plot System tried to reassure me. My role was small, and I would be written out of the story within a few chapters.
I reluctantly accepted my fate.
The moment I finished my part in the plot, I planted myself in the middle of the road and waited to die.
Except the male lead arrived just in time to save me.
“Don’t worry. This time, I’ll protect you.”
What the hell?
No one had told me the male lead had been reborn!
“Theo Bennett, could you stop staring at me?”
“Who’s staring at you? Don’t flatter yourself.”
The handsome man standing in front of me was Adrian Sterling, the male lead of this MM romance novel.
“Come on.” Adrian glanced up at the clear morning sky. “The weather’s perfect. Are you planning to spend all day crouched beside the trail?”
“What else am I supposed to do? What normal person gets up at the crack of dawn on a weekend to climb a mountain? We could’ve stayed home and slept in.”
“Let’s go.”
Adrian gave me a look of open disdain, then held out his hand.
“I’m good.”
I rejected him without thinking and pushed myself to my feet.
Ever since I’d learned that I was supposed to be Adrian’s unforgettable lost love, I’d done everything possible to avoid getting too intimate with him. After all, I was completely, undeniably straight.
Adrian awkwardly shook out his empty hand, turned away, and started walking ahead of me.
Watching his retreating back, I suddenly regretted what I’d done.
According to the original plot, I would soon die in a car crash. Adrian would spend years sinking into despair before eventually dying of heartbreak.
I couldn’t help feeling sorry for him. His feelings for me were already something the world might refuse to accept, and after my death, he would have to endure both his grief and his longing alone.
At that thought, I quickened my pace until I was walking beside him.
“Why are you going so fast? Trying to show off those long legs?”
Adrian paused for half a beat. He didn’t answer, but I could feel his steps growing lighter.
Half an hour later, we reached the summit.
The early sunlight wasn’t harsh or oppressive. It spilled lazily over us, warm and quiet.
I turned my head and caught Adrian looking at me. In the sunlight, his eyes gleamed amber.
For a moment, I couldn’t look away.
“Ahem…”
Heat rushed into my face, and I cleared my throat awkwardly.
“What’s wrong?”
Adrian placed a hand on my back and gave it a gentle pat. I’d been fine until he touched me. Then I actually choked on my own saliva and started coughing.
“N-Nothing. I’m fine. Maybe it’s the wind!”
Once Adrian was sure I wasn’t in any real trouble, he slipped both hands into his pockets.
“I wish time could stop right here.”
Chapter 2
He spoke as if to himself, turning his gaze toward Harborview below.
“Quit being so dramatic. I’m hungry.”
I hurried to change the subject. He looked so serious that I was genuinely afraid he might do something reckless. I still had a plot to complete. The last thing I needed was for him to die before I did.
Adrian shot me a disappointed look, then pulled a piece of chocolate from his pocket.
“This should hold you over.”
I took it. The wrapper still carried the warmth of his body.
“I need to use the restroom. Wait here for me.”
That was it.
That was the line.
In the original plot, Adrian went to the restroom after we came down the mountain. I left to buy water, and a car hit me at an intersection.
As soon as Adrian disappeared, I spotted the intersection from the novel. I shoved the chocolate into my mouth and ran excitedly into the middle of the road.
Then I closed my eyes and waited.
Before long, a horn blared in the distance.
Brakes shrieked against the pavement.
So this was what it felt like to wait for death.
I braced myself for the impact.
Instead, someone slammed into me from the side and knocked me onto the shoulder of the road.
My eyes flew open in disbelief.
Barely three feet away, Adrian lay sprawled on the pavement after being clipped by the truck.
“Don’t worry. This time, I’ll protect you.”
As I dragged myself toward Adrian, he forced the words through gritted teeth.
“Adrian Sterling, have you lost your mind?”
I shouted at him, but his eyes had already fallen shut.
Someone nearby called 911. By the time the ambulance arrived, panic had swallowed the entire crash site. I sat beside Adrian on the ride to the hospital, staring at his motionless body while silently cursing the heavens.
This wasn’t how the original novel went.
I was supposed to be written out of the story today. So why was Adrian the one lying here injured?
The more I thought about it, the less sense it made. Why had he appeared out of nowhere? And what had he meant by “this time”?
Unless…
Had Adrian experienced a timeline rebirth?
No. That couldn’t be right. If he had come back with memories of the original timeline, then the plot had gone completely off the rails.
I stared at Adrian in disbelief, but he lay perfectly still, offering me no answers.
Once we reached the hospital, the medical team rushed him into emergency surgery. I had escaped with only a few scrapes on my arm. After a nurse cleaned and bandaged them, I took a seat outside the operating room to wait.
Click. Click. Click.
The sharp rhythm of high heels echoed from the far end of the corridor.
I kept my head lowered until a pair of elegant heels stopped directly in front of me.
“Where’s Adrian? How is he?”
I looked up at the woman standing over me.
After a moment, I recognized her. She had to be Vivian Ashford, the woman who pursued Adrian in the novel.
“He’s still in surgery.”
“If anything happens to him, I’ll kill you.”
The hatred in Vivian’s voice was unmistakable.
Chapter 3
I was about to explain when the operating-room doors swung open and Adrian was wheeled into the corridor.
“Is Mr. Sterling’s family here?” the doctor asked, pulling down his surgical mask.
“Yes.”
Vivian and I answered at exactly the same time.
She shot me a contemptuous look, then hurried past me to reach the doctor first.
“He’s no longer in immediate danger,” the doctor said. “However, he suffered multiple fractures and will need to remain in the hospital for treatment. One of you should take care of the hospital bill.”
At the mention of money, Vivian stepped back and lowered her head, suddenly very busy searching through her things.
Seriously? Why retreat now, when it actually mattered?
I ignored her, accepted the hospital bill from the doctor, and went downstairs to settle it.
When I returned, I had barely reached the door to Adrian’s hospital room when I heard Vivian sobbing inside.
My heart lurched. Thinking something had happened to him, I shoved the door open and rushed in.
Vivian sat beside the bed, clutching Adrian’s hand and weeping as though the worst had already happened. Adrian’s eyes remained closed. He still hadn’t regained consciousness.
“Why are you crying?” I demanded, unable to hide my irritation. “The doctor said he’s going to be fine. He has some broken bones, that’s all. Standing over him and crying like he’s dying is just inviting bad luck.”
“He was perfectly fine this morning!” Vivian shot back. “How did he end up like this after spending one day with you?”
I had half a mind to ask who I was supposed to blame for any of this. Then I remembered that Adrian really had been injured because he saved me.
As much as I hated to admit it, Vivian wasn’t entirely wrong.
I couldn’t escape responsibility.
“Theo Bennett, don’t think I don’t know what you’re trying to do,” she snapped. “You’d better stay away from Adrian.”
“What is wrong with you?” I lowered my voice, struggling to contain my anger. “This is a hospital room. Stop shouting.”
But Vivian only grew louder.
Fury churned in my chest, yet I couldn’t bring myself to stand there and trade insults with her.
Adrian Sterling frowned faintly on the hospital bed.
Vivian noticed the tiny movement at once. A moment ago, she had been shouting threats at me. Now, seeing that Adrian seemed to be waking, she instantly softened her expression.
“Adrian, how are you feeling? Does anything hurt? Would you like some water?”
The rapid-fire questions only made his brow tighten further.
He slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room.
“Th-Theo? Where’s Theo? Is he all right?”