Third Male Lead Syndrome

Chapter one: I might have transmigrated

There are many kinds of dogs in the world.

Single dogs.

Taken dogs.

Lovey-dovey dogs.

Losing dogs.

In this case, Ru Yijing was a very love-sick dog. His owner was someone who was not interested in a pet. A rather lackluster man whose primate goal was his own self-enjoyment. There was nothing wrong with indulging oneself, but overindulgence in your own could only be regarded as a problem if it started to put others at stake too.

Do not mistake it. Ru Yijing was actually a full-fledged human, not a hybrid crossbreed between the human species and dogs. He was called 'dog' for a specific reason — like how dogs are purely devoted to their masters, with a one-track mind that only stayed dedicated to one person and one person alone, Ru Yijing was the same. His leash belonged to someone with an immovable heart. No matter how much Ru Yijing tried to carry favour through acting cute, or providing acts of services, in the end, it only served to as a convenience to his master, but never rewarded himself.

To others, living a life solely for one person would be too grave of a responsibility, but Ru Yijing was a top contestant, ready to pluck the stars and the moon to satiate his little lover. But, his little lover was cut-throat to the extreme, bearing resilience similar to a boulder.

Others looked down upon on Ru Yijing's devotion, due to their preceding concepts that a conceptual existence like 'love' was no better than a materialized hand-bag. Regardless, Ru Yijing was astute, and continued to disembark on the journey of a faithful dog.

He probably would've continued living as so, if it weren't for an abrupt interference, one that ended his life prematurely.

Ru Yijing saw that a car was heading straight for his little lover, who was more engrossed in his mobile phone, than the incoming horde of vehicles. In a desperate attempt, Ru Yijing lurched forward, grabbing his lover's arm backward and thrusted himself forward, substituting his favourable position and exchanging fates. It then became Ru Yijing's fate to die in the stead of his beloved.

As he laid on the ground, afterimages of bystanders that came to swarm him, flickering like the dying fire of an incense, he did not see his beloved in his vision that was coated by a thick sheen of blood. Even on his last breath, Ru Yijing wondered: Could this possibly move his beloved's heart? Then, he ended up laughing bitterly. What use was it if it showed his sincerity? He was dead, or at least that was what he thought before his eyes came to a still shut.

His ears picked up on the faint rustles of clothes, and indiscernible chatter. Far away from his hearing, a bird's crisp, but melodious chirp resounded, seemingly far away, but simultaneously right beside him. Ru Yijing tried to open his eyes, to attempt to make sense of what was going on, but no matter how hard he tried, he was unable to lift his eyelids for the time being. It was as though he had rocks for eyes instead; a bleak darkness that he was unfamiliar with.

Discomforted, Ru Yijing tried once more to open his eyes. This time, it actually worked.

Dark lashes twitched with a hint of annoyance. This pair of lashes were long, only slightly curved at the end naturally. Beneath those black lashes revealed a set of almond-shaped eyes. Coloured like a splash of dark brown, his irises were a lighter shade than the rest of his pupils, which resembled cut oak. A murky tint that hid his innermost thoughts. When others looked into this eyes, they would be comforted by its earthly nature, yet feel distant, like watching a scenic landscape from afar. Beautiful, but detached.

Ru Yijing at first saw a white ceiling, noticeably clean, even seemingly shedding a lustrous gleam, showcasing how meticulously it must've been cleaned over and over again to emit this kind of shine. His eyes glossed over, thinking that the with the appearance of a ceiling in muted colour, he must've found himself at a hospital after the car incident. That must explain why his limbs felt so heavy. They felt as though they had been weighed down by a ball-and-chain, causing Ru Yijing to experimentally flex his fingers to test whether he had became permanently paralyzed.