Chapter One: Hello There, Son Seungwan

February 9, 2014, the tenth day of the first lunar month, Sunday, sunny.

The Spring Festival had already passed, but the long snow season was far from over. Willow-like snowflakes danced across the sky, and the bare, dark brown tree trunks stood erect on both sides of the road, wrapping the entire Seoul in a layer of silver gauze.

On the snow-white streets of Seoul, upon a bench where the snow had been swept away, sat a man wearing a dark navy blue down jacket, light blue jeans, and a black duck-billed cap on his head.

A face mask covered the man's face securely, concealing his features completely. He held a cup of milk tea that emitted wisps of hot steam, occasionally raising his head to look around his surroundings.

Just as the man lowered his head once more to stare at his milk tea, a pair of blue sneakers suddenly entered his field of vision, standing still in place without moving.

Seeming to realize something, the man quickly moved his gaze upward along the shoes. What came into his view next were white straight-leg jogger pants, and he continued to move his gaze further up.

This time, a blue down jacket appeared in his sight, along with a pair of hands holding a cup of milk tea identical to his own. Seeing this, the man knew that the person he had been waiting for had finally arrived, and he quickly stood up.

"Whoo... Cheol, why on earth do you want to hang out in such cold weather!"

After standing up, the man finally saw the person before him clearly. The girl in front of him wore a white plaid knit cap on her head, and a white scarf wrapped around her neck, with the prominent English word "MELODY" embroidered on it in black thread.

Although holding a steaming cup of milk tea, the girl was shivering uncontrollably. The warmth provided by the milk tea could only chase away the chill in her hands.

Looking at the man who had walked closer to her, the girl raised her head slightly and began to complain to him. She even suspected that if she were to pour out the hot milk tea right now, it would freeze into an icicle the very next second.

"Seungwan, is it really that cold? Coming from the subtropical region of southern China, I think it's quite alright!"

Squatting down slightly, Chen Zhe maintained eye contact with Son Seungwan, first asking with an instinctive tone of concern, and then tilting his head with a trace of puzzlement.

Although Chen Zhe was wearing a mask and his tone seemed genuinely confused, given their familiarity with each other, Son Seungwan could tell at a single glance that Chen Zhe was currently making fun of her.

"Yeah, I really didn't expect winter in Seoul to be this cold! It's hardly any different from when I was in Canada!"

Bringing her mouth close to the milk tea straw, Son Seungwan took a hard sip of the lukewarm beverage, seemingly trying to drive the chill from her body.

After swallowing the milk tea, Son Seungwan let out a breath and began to grumble about the Seoul winter. While complaining, her gaze remained fixed on Chen Zhe, as if she were anticipating something.

Though he had a pretty good idea of what Son Seungwan was expecting, Chen Zhe pretended not to notice and straightened his posture once again.

"Cheol, I said I'm really cold. Did you not hear me, or were you deliberately pretending not to hear?"

Seeing Chen Zhe looking completely unconcerned and unmoving, Son Seungwan, who knew him extremely well, could tell instantly that he was purposely pretending not to hear her words and ignoring her.

Thinking back to when she and her roommate went out to buy milk tea the other day and saw Chen Zhe acting that way toward her company's senior Jung Soo-jung, she suddenly felt an itch of annoyance, and a trace of anger unconsciously crept into her tone.

"Alright, I won't tease you anymore. Warm enough now?"

Seeing that Son Seungwan seemed genuinely a bit angry, Chen Zhe did not dare to continue teasing her. He hurried back to the bench, retrieved a navy blue padded jacket from a gift bag, and draped it directly over Son Seungwan's shoulders.

"Consider yourself wise. But Cheol, weren't you so busy recently that you didn't even have time to play games? Why do you have time to ask me out today? Shouldn't you be keeping your girlfriend company?"

Glaring irritably at Chen Zhe, Son Seungwan freed one hand to pull the padded jacket tighter around herself before speaking to him in a leisurely manner.

"Ah, I recently finished the promotional activities for *My Love from the Star*, and coupled with *I Can Hear Your Voice* and *The Heirs*, I spent the entire second half of 2013 filming and promoting."

"So the company specifically gave someone as hardworking as me a vacation. I don't have much to do for the time being, so I figured I'd catch up with old friends I haven't seen in a while. As for my girlfriend, I've already spent time with her."

Though she did not know why Son Seungwan suddenly asked these questions, out of trust for this friend—who, for reasons unknown, matched her exceptionally well and shared similar interests—Chen Zhe chose to answer truthfully.

Speaking of how Chen Zhe and Son Seungwan met, it was quite dramatic. At the end of 2012, when he had no schedules and was feeling bored, Chen Zhe returned to the battlefields of Summoner's Rift. With his experiences from the previous life, he was considered a formidable expert in the canyon.

One day while playing on a smurf account to bully newbies, Chen Zhe was accidentally matched with a beginner whose ID was "ShuaShuaWan" (Scrubbing Bowls). After bullying this newbie thoroughly, a refreshed Chen Zhe received a friend request from her.

From that moment on, as if by destiny, the two got to know each other. Through battle after battle of carrying the little rookie, they grew increasingly close, until Wendy finally proposed an offline meeting.

Chen Zhe, having plenty of leisure time and feeling quite interested in this netizen whose hobbies aligned so well with his own, accepted her invitation to meet. When they finally met at a certain plaza, Chen Zhe realized that "ShuaShuaWan" really did mean scrubbing bowls.

Before his rebirth, under the enthusiastic recommendation of his good buddy Yi Ziyuan, Chen Zhe's favorite member in RedVelvet was Wendy Son Seungwan. Seeing her appear right before him in the flesh as his online gaming friend—such a surreal development truly startled him immensely.

"Hello, I'm Son Seungwan, my ID is ShuaShuaWan. Thank you for your guidance during this time, Senior Superstar Mr. Chen Zhe. Please continue to take care of me in the future!"

Seeing Chen Zhe stunned and frozen in place with astonishment, Son Seungwan couldn't help covering her mouth with a chuckle. Then, using the Chinese that Chen Zhe was exceptionally familiar with yet not entirely standard, she introduced herself while extending her palm toward Chen Zhe.

"Hello, Miss Son Seungwan, I'm Chen Zhe, very nice to meet you! Um, if I remember correctly, I seem to have seen Miss Son Seungwan over at the SM Entertainment trainee dance studio, haven't I?"

Chen Zhe, who had just recovered his wits, was startled once again by Son Seungwan's less-than-standard Chinese. After a brief moment of regaining his composure, he quickly introduced himself, and after shaking hands, asked with a somewhat uncertain tone.

Although outwardly inquiring whether Son Seungwan was a trainee at SM Entertainment, Chen Zhe's inner thoughts were in turmoil. In his pre-rebirth life, he had never heard that Son Seungwan could speak Chinese.