Ficorpio
Chapter 1
I woke up inside an M/M romance novel as the villainess.
She was a hopelessly obsessed fool who indirectly caused the two male leads to be separated by death.
To avoid her miserable ending, I did everything I could to stay far away from them.
And yet the seemingly delicate, innocent male lead pinned me against him in the middle of the night.
“Shh. You wouldn’t want him to see us like this, would you?”
I had barely realized I was trapped inside a novel when a semi-truck ran me down.
The instant I died, the timeline rewound.
I found myself back in the previous timeline, at the exact moment I was confessing my feelings to Adrian Sterling.
Dusk settled over the fields, where golden canola blossoms swayed in the breeze.
“Adrian, the truth is, I like—”
Just as the word you reached the tip of my tongue, an invisible force seemed to close around my throat.
I sucked in a breath and looked up to find Adrian watching me, impatience written all over his face.
The sensation of every bone in my body shattering still hadn’t faded. I hurriedly touched my eyes to make sure they hadn’t fallen out.
Only after confirming they were still safely in their sockets did I breathe a sigh of relief.
Adrian’s expression was cold, his gaze brimming with disgust.
Realizing how dangerous this moment was, I forced the rest of my sentence down a different path.
“The truth is, I like… the grilled fish with hot peppers at that place next to the Mountain Lodge. I want some!”
Once I finished, Adrian’s expression became slightly less icy, though his disgust only deepened.
“You dragged me all the way out here over a fish?”
He clearly didn’t understand, but at least he didn’t seem suspicious. I nodded with absolute conviction.
Then, before he could recover, I turned and fled the scene.
I lay sprawled across the king-size bed at the Mountain Lodge, drenched in cold sweat.
Only minutes ago, I had been the victim of a deliberately staged car crash.
And Adrian Sterling had been the one behind it.
As I lay dying, the sealed memories of a novel had finally unlocked inside my mind.
The protagonists were Adrian, the man I’d secretly loved, and Julian Ashford, my childhood friend.
They’d met in junior high as teammates in academic competitions, each the only rival capable of truly challenging the other. What began as the uncertain stirrings of first love eventually grew into something neither of them could deny, and they chose each other despite everything standing in their way.
That was where the original story should have ended.
Unfortunately, the villainess had ruined it.
And that villainess was me.
After finally snapping, I tore them apart forever and drove the story to its disastrous conclusion.
Adrian was left shattered by the loss of the man he loved, while I ended up flattened beneath a semi-truck as collateral damage to their romance.
Honestly, I had to admit it.
I really had deserved to die.
Chapter 2
But since I hadn’t recovered my memories of waking up inside a novel until after my death, I was starting to think someone else deserved it more.
Unlocking my memories late was bad enough. But when the plot derailed, no one even bothered to pull me out of this world!
My character got crushed to death, the Prime Reality ordered a Mission Reset, and now I had to do the whole thing over again.
Damn it.
More overtime.
Maybe it was a case of loving everything connected to the person you cared about.
Despite all my shameless begging to tag along on their graduation trip, Adrian had treated me fairly well. He complained the whole way, but there was still a platter of steaming grilled fish waiting on the table.
Through the fragrant clouds rising from the hot peppers, I saw Julian Ashford again.
He was still young. Still untouched by tragedy.
Whenever he looked at me, his eyes held that same gentle smile.
The day I died in the car crash had marked the tenth anniversary of Julian’s suicide.
One furious rumor post from me had opened the floodgates. The lies and online harassment that followed had driven him to the breaking point.
He had been brilliant, kind, so nearly perfect it hurt. Then, one spring day, he had stepped off the eighteenth floor.
His pale, beautiful face had burst apart like a smashed watermelon.
For ten years, that image had haunted every nightmare.
Guilt pulled painfully at my heart, yet the sight of him filled me with nothing but relief.
Thank God I had woken up inside a novel.
Thank God I had another chance to stop the tragedy.
Julian, my childhood friend, was standing right in front of me, alive and unharmed. None of those terrible things had happened to him yet.
Noticing something was wrong, he frowned slightly.
“Lena? What’s the matter?”
My eyes burned. I didn’t dare keep looking at him.
I hurried to the table and sat down.
“Nothing. This fish smells amazing. I’m digging in!”
Julian shot Adrian a displeased look, leaving Adrian visibly confused.
I dug a piece of fish out from beneath the mound of hot peppers and forced it into my mouth.
This time, I swore silently, if I let the story go off the rails again, then I was a damn dog.
The grilled fish worked like a charm.
The sky had barely begun to lighten when both my stomach and my rear started screaming for mercy.
I was about to make a run for the bathroom when I spotted two figures leaning against each other by the floor-to-ceiling window.
I immediately shrank back into the shadows. Like a rat in a sewer, I cautiously poked my head out for another look.
They must have gotten up to watch the sunrise, though Julian was dozing off.
Chapter 3
Compared to his usual aloof expression, Adrian’s gaze was openly tender.
The sun was about to crest the mountains, but Adrian only had eyes for the person beside him.
He leaned closer and closer to Julian’s profile.
His throat bobbed, and every movement was impossibly gentle, as though he were afraid of disturbing a drop of morning dew.
I clenched my fists, too tense to remember how desperately I needed the bathroom.
Unfortunately, my stomach was even more desperate than I was.
Grrrrrrrgle.
The sound of my intestines shattered the peaceful atmosphere.
Clutching my stomach, I closed my eyes in despair.
“Who’s there?”
Adrian jumped in alarm. Beside him, the half-asleep Julian opened his eyes.
“What happened?”
His voice was thick with sleep as he lifted a hand to rub his eyes. They were red from staying up all night, and when he looked at Adrian, he resembled a pitiful little rabbit.
Adrian seemed flustered. Even his ears turned red as he stammered, “I—I heard something strange.”
Afraid he might kill me to silence the only witness, I leaned against the doorframe and pretended to collapse weakly.
When I spoke, my voice sounded as if I were breathing my last.
“Help me… My stomach hurts…”
Julian’s expression changed. He vaulted over the couch and rushed straight to me.
Someone switched on the lights in the dim living room, and I squeezed my eyes shut against the sudden glare.
When I opened them again, Julian’s anxious face filled my vision.
“Lena, what’s wrong? Your stomach hurts? I’m taking you to the hospital!”
My performance faltered.
Maybe I’d overdone it a little.
When I saw Adrian approaching too, I hurriedly waved them off and pulled myself upright with the doorframe.
“No need. I ate too many hot peppers. I just need the bathroom.”
Julian frowned. Still unconvinced, he supported me all the way to the bathroom door.
If I hadn’t stopped him, he probably would have followed me inside.
Every two minutes, he asked how I was doing, terrified I might pass out in there.
I was so mortified I wanted the floor to swallow me whole.
What kind of villainess had one male lead standing guard while she took a dump?
Seriously.
Who else could claim that achievement?
Five minutes later.
Same spot. Same sunrise.
Except now, between the two people who should have been leaning against each other, there was me, squatting awkwardly in the middle.
I scratched my cheek, then picked at my fingers, not daring to turn my head in case I caught Adrian Sterling glaring at me like he wanted me dead.
After I explained to Julian Ashford for the third time that I’d only eaten too many hot peppers and gotten diarrhea, he finally gave up on taking me to the hospital.