Second Sunrise - Chapter 1

Chapter 1

My body had been taken over by a stranger.

But I felt no turmoil inside. If anything, I even felt sorry for him for a second.

Because I was five foot three and two hundred pounds. My dad didn’t care about me, my mom didn’t love me, my classmates avoided me, my teachers got headaches over me, and the guy I liked found me disgusting.

Right now, that person was sitting drenched on the beach, pinching the three thick rolls of fat around my stomach and spacing out.

“Stop pulling at it. It’s already red,” I said, feeling bad for him.

It’s not like you can pinch the fat off. Seriously.

“Who?” The person tensed and looked around.

“This is my body. Shouldn’t I be the one asking who you are?” I muttered.

That low, hoarse voice sounded in my mind again. “What the hell? What is this?”

“I don’t know either. I was about to die, and then you came in.”

“…You can hear my thoughts?”

“Yes.”

“…”

We sat there in silence for a long time, until the sky was stained a brilliant purple and the afterglow scattered over the sea, making every wave look gentle.

“Why did you want to die? Look. It’s so beautiful.”

The boy quietly gazed into the distance and took a deep breath. The air smelled of sunshine and ocean waves.

“Because… I’m not beautiful,” I answered softly.

After a while, the boy let out a scoff. “Idiot.”

Chapter 2

After several rounds of conversation, all I learned was that the boy’s name was Jiang Yi.

All his memories were blurry. He only remembered drifting for a long, long time, like he was floating through nothingness.

His world had always been a gray haze, and he couldn’t see anything.

But today, he saw a stretch of sea in the distance.

When he drifted closer, he saw me struggling as I drowned in the water. He rushed over to save me, but he never expected that he would just… end up inside me.

He tried for ages to return my body to me.

I thought about it.

Since I didn’t really want to live anyway, I might as well let him have it.

Chapter 3

Panting every few steps, he made his way to the airport, bought a ticket back, and, with my directions, returned to my home.

My place was on the sixth floor, and there was no elevator.

The moment he got through the door, he collapsed onto the sofa, wheezing for breath.

“You really…” He gasped several times. “Need to lose weight.”

I felt a little embarrassed. “I told you to take it slow. You were the one who insisted on climbing all six floors in one go.”

Still panting, he looked around. “Where are your parents?”

“At work. They’re usually not home.”

“Good. I’m going to take a shower first. I’m covered in sweat.” Jiang Yi braced himself against the sofa and struggled to sit up.

“No! You can’t shower!” I panicked.

“You can’t expect me to stay drenched in stinking sweat forever. I’ll have to wash eventually.”

“No, no, you can’t. You’re a pervert.” I was so anxious I even tried to take control of my body myself, but unfortunately, it was useless.

“You’re not afraid of dying, but you’re afraid of taking a shower? I’ll keep my eyes closed and won’t touch anything. I’ll just rinse off. Is that good enough?”

I reluctantly agreed.

More than shyness, what was unbearable was the shame.

That thin layer of fabric was my only shield. Hidden beneath it, the folds upon folds of fat were the deepest fear in my heart, and also my greatest humiliation.

Jiang Yi shuffled into the bathroom and froze in front of the mirror.

It was his first time seeing my face.

Eyes squeezed together by fat. Thick lips. A nose sunken deep into flesh.

That mirror was like a demon-revealing glass, exposing me with nowhere to hide.

I kept mentally preparing myself, trying to predict every possible reaction he might have in advance.

That way, when it really happened, I wouldn’t look so pathetic.

He might bluntly say, “Holy crap, you’re so ugly.”

He might tease me in a roundabout way. “Miss, where are your eyes?”

He might even say cruelly, “How about I help you die one more time?”

But he never made a sound.

I forced myself to joke lightly. “What? Scared?”

“Your eyes are so beautiful,” he said, his fingers gently brushing over my eyelashes, sending a soft, tingling sensation through me.

I let out a breath of relief.

Of course I didn’t believe that compliment came from the bottom of his heart. But at least he was kind. He hadn’t added another tiny cut to my already mangled heart.

When he showered, he obediently kept his eyes closed and followed my instructions for every movement.

But because of that, the whole shower became incredibly tedious and dragged on and on, lasting until past ten at night.

Jiang Yi flung himself face-first onto my soft bed and rolled back and forth. “Ah, a warm bed. Finally, I can rest.”

“Um… Tomorrow is Monday, and I still have a translation assignment.”

Jiang Yi stopped rolling and buried his head in the bed without moving.

After a long while, he heaved a sigh. “Fine. I owe you, don’t I?”

Jiang Yi dug out my schoolbag and started writing furiously.

I studied Business English, so a large portion of it was specialized vocabulary. Jiang Yi picked up the pen and wrote without the slightest hesitation.

I was a little worried. He wasn’t just writing random nonsense, was he?

“Don’t worry. It’ll definitely be better than what you’d write,” Jiang Yi said faintly.

I shut up and quietly watched him write.

Even though Jiang Yi was fast, there was just too much homework. He kept his head down and wrote until two in the morning, and he still wasn’t done.

The light in the living room came on. My parents were back.

My mom opened the bedroom door and said softly, “Nannan, still doing homework? Do you want Mom to make you a late-night snack?”

Jiang Yi hesitated for a moment, and I quickly stopped him. “You can’t eat in the middle of the night. If you get any fatter, you won’t be able to walk.”

“No, Mom. Thank you,” Jiang Yi said, turning her down.

“All right. Then go to bed soon, Nannan,” my mom reminded me before closing the door.

There was a rustle in the living room for a while, and then everything fell quiet again.