Chapter Five: The Turning Point of Fate

Just as Chen Zhe was about to pull up the zipper of his dress and gazed at the excited, frenzied audience below the stage, he couldn't help but recall the day his fate took a sharp turn—the day he was reborn.

Time turned back to 2012, to a modest two-story house in a small alley of S City, Y Province. In a simple yet stylish room, a rhythmic melody played.

“Deja vu! I've just been in this place before. Higher on the street. And I know it's my time to go…”

The scorching June sunlight seeped through the gap in the curtains, casting a sliver of warmth and brightness into the cool, dim room kept that way by drawn curtains and air conditioning. On the large bed in the center of the room, a quilt was bunched up, forming a small mound.

As the music played, the mound shifted slightly. A hand emerged from beneath the covers and groped for the phone on the nightstand, pressing a button with practiced accuracy. Yet, for some unknown reason, the music continued to blare. After fumbling with the phone for a while, the hand stilled, as if struck by a sudden realization, then withdrew back under the covers.

The quilt wriggled a few more times, as if searching for something. After a long while, as if confirmation had been reached, the quilt was flung aside. A boy with a head of messy hair sat up in bed, blinking in confusion at his surroundings, not fully awake and caught between dream and reality.

He sat in a daze for a while before finally coming to his senses. Looking around at the familiar yet strangely foreign room, he muttered to himself. Hadn’t he fallen asleep at a hotel after the company’s year-end party, tipsy from drinking too much? Why had he suddenly returned to his childhood room? And yet, the room’s décor didn’t seem quite right—his old room should have been in a modern minimalist style.

On the walls hung posters of his favorite Korean girl groups: Kara, Girls’ Generation, T-ara, and f(x). This setup vaguely resembled how his room looked in middle school, as he recalled.

Staring blankly at the posters, the boy mulled over what had just happened. Why had his childhood room reverted to its middle school arrangement?

As he pondered, strange yet familiar fragments of memory suddenly flooded his mind. The onslaught of tangled memories overwhelmed his brain, making him groan with pain. The pressure of the influx triggered his body’s self-defense mechanism, and with a final cry, he collapsed back onto the bed.

Time flew by. Over an hour later, the boy stirred. His eyes opened slowly, and he sat up with effort, massaging his temples to soothe the pain left by the mental overload.

“So, it’s just after the high school entrance exam in 2012? Why couldn’t it have been my university days? I never imagined something like reincarnation from those novels and comics would happen to me.” After sorting through the chaotic memories, the boy sighed softly, not entirely satisfied with being reborn before high school rather than during university.

“But why does it feel like so many things I’ve experienced here are different? And why are so many of the great works I once saw or heard of missing?” After his greedy lament, he scratched his head in confusion.

“And my exam results seem off, too. Was I really this good? I remember only learning guitar and piano before, but in these memories, I’ve studied violin, drums, and other instruments as well.” Sitting on the bed, he silently pondered why his past in this life didn’t align with what he remembered from before.

Why were those remarkable works from his past life absent in this world? Had the butterfly effect of his rebirth changed everything? Or was this his cheat—his golden finger, his reincarnation bonus?

“Chen Zhe, are you still in bed? It’s almost lunchtime—Mom’s calling!” Just as the boy named Chen Zhe was lost in thought, a knock sounded on the door, followed by the voice of his sister, Chen Yuqi, cutting through his reverie.

“I’m already up! Sis, stop banging on the door—one more time and you’ll break it!” Hearing the persistent knocking and recalling his sister’s temperament, Chen Zhe shivered and responded hastily.

Chen Zhe’s sister, Chen Yuqi, was now a third-year economics major at Central University in Seoul, Korea, also minoring in performing arts. She was university friends with Choi Sooyoung, and due to certain circumstances, the two had become close.

“If you’re up, then open the door! What are you doing hiding in your room? Or are you up to no good with that signed Girls’ Generation photo I gave you?” Sensing that her brother wasn’t coming to open the door as usual, Chen Yuqi paused her knocking, but raised her voice instead.

“I’d never do that!” Chen Zhe shot out of bed and, after swiftly getting dressed, hurried to open the door for his sister.

The moment the door swung open, before he could react, a figure dashed into the room. Turning his head, he saw it was his sister, Chen Yuqi, poking around the room and sniffing the air as if searching for something.

“What are you doing, sis?” Watching her antics, Chen Zhe pressed a hand to his forehead, exasperated by his scatterbrained, mischievous sister.

“Ahem, it’s nothing. I was just checking to see if you were up to anything you shouldn’t be!” Unable to find any evidence and hearing her brother’s question, Chen Yuqi gave up on collecting blackmail material to use against him later, coughed into her fist, and put on the air of a concerned older sister guiding her wayward younger brother.

Seeing her act, Chen Zhe knew she was just trying to change the subject and move past her earlier embarrassment. He sighed helplessly.

“By the way, where did you put the signed Girls’ Generation photo I brought back for you this time?” Sure enough, as Chen Zhe expected, Chen Yuqi shifted the topic.

“It’s on the cabinet—you can look for yourself. And what’s with that weird message you had Sooyoung write? And in Chinese, no less!” After pointing out the spot, a memory surfaced, and Chen Zhe’s brow twitched in irritation.

“To: May our A-Zhe of the Wu family become a real man soon!” Sooyoung’s peculiar message on the signed photo.

“What’s wrong with that? I just wanted to wish you a speedy passage into adulthood!” Chen Yuqi stroked her chin, gave Chen Zhe a once-over, and nodded, reaffirming her choice of words.

“Forget it. Didn’t Mom call us to eat? Sis, are you sure it’s okay to keep chatting and teasing me now?” Frustrated by her feigned innocence, Chen Zhe ground his teeth, but to avoid further teasing, he invoked the household’s ultimate authority as his shield.

“Ah! I almost forgot Mom’s orders! Hurry and wash up and come eat breakfast—I’m going down first!” At her brother’s reminder, Chen Yuqi finally remembered her real task, said a few words, and hurried downstairs toward the kitchen.