I Share the Same Face with a Monster - Chapter 7

Chapter 19

He fell silent.

For the first time, I realized it wasn’t that he didn’t understand.

He simply had no concept of it.

Zhou Yan said, “When they look at you, I get hungry.”

“What?”

“I don’t have a face.”

He spoke slowly. “So other people’s gazes pass through your face and land on me.”

A chill ran down my back.

“You live off their gazes?”

“Off being seen.”

He raised a hand and touched his blank face.

“The more you’re seen, the more complete I become.”

All at once, I understood.

Why he had borrowed my face to walk the red carpet.

Why he had gone on livestreams in my place.

Why he was appearing more and more often.

He wasn’t helping me unconditionally.

He was using my exposure to nourish himself.

I took a step back.

“Zhou Yan, you’ve been lying to me this whole time.”

He didn’t deny it.

“I told you I didn’t have a face.”

“I never said I didn’t want one.”

Chapter 20

I cut off my deal with him.

Within a week, I canceled every public appearance.

Sister Lin thought I was having a mental breakdown and arranged for me to see a therapist.

I went.

The therapist asked, “Have you felt recently that your body doesn’t belong to you?”

I gave a small laugh.

“For an actress, that’s not exactly an easy question to answer.”

The therapist looked up.

I said nothing more.

I began covering every mirror in the house.

I put a privacy screen protector on my phone.

I kept my head down in elevators.

I drew the curtains over the car windows.

Zhou Yan didn’t appear again.

At first, I breathed a sigh of relief.

On the third night, I woke up with my face hurting.

It wasn’t my skin or flesh that hurt.

It felt as if someone were gently tearing at it from the inside.

I rushed into the bathroom and nearly tore the black cloth away.

My hand froze in midair.

From behind the black cloth, I heard Zhou Yan’s voice.

Very soft.

“Xu Zhiyi.”

“I’m hungry.”

Chapter 21

I didn’t lift the black cloth.

“What happens if you’re hungry?”

“I get thin.”

“And when you get thin enough?”

“I disappear.”

My fingers curled in.

“How did you survive before?”

Behind the black cloth, he was silent for a long time.

“I borrowed from others.”

“Who?”

“Many people.”

“And them?”

Zhou Yan stopped speaking.

My heart sank.

“What did they all lose?”

“Their expressions.”

“What else?”

“Their names.”

“What else?”

“Their faces.”

The black cloth hung there in silence.

Suddenly, that layer of fabric seemed terrifyingly thin.

I asked, “Do you want to take my face too?”

This time, Zhou Yan answered very slowly.

“I’ve thought about it.”

My hand fell to my side.

“And now?”

He said, “I’m still thinking about it.”