Bound By Silence [BL]

Chapter 1: Before the Silence

Daniel Taylor sat in the back corner of the lavish ballroom, surrounded by people, yet feeling utterly alone. The chatter, the clinking of champagne glasses, the lights bouncing off the high ceilings—it was all a blur. He should have been excited. Winning an award for his novel was a dream come true, wasn't it?

His fingers curled around the small glass of wine, untouched. The event organizers had urged him to sit at the front, near the stage, but he'd refused. Attention was something he'd spent his life avoiding. Writing gave him an escape, a way to express what he couldn't in person, but being forced into the spotlight? That was a nightmare he couldn't write himself out of.

He ran a hand through his short brown hair, glancing down at the table where his novel sat next to the award plaque. The Reluctant Emperor—ironic, given the circumstances. He chuckled to himself, thinking about the journey that led him here. Late nights hunched over his laptop, days spent with notebooks scattered across his apartment floor. It was a life of solitude, but it was his choice, his comfort zone.

"Daniel! Daniel Taylor!"

The voice cut through his thoughts, pulling him back to the room. A journalist. Of course. She smiled brightly, pushing a microphone toward him as if he owed her something. He didn't.

"I'll pass," he said flatly, his voice barely audible over the noise.

The journalist blinked, clearly unprepared for rejection. But before she could protest, Daniel was already on his feet, his long legs carrying him toward the exit.

The cold night air hit him like a refreshing slap, and for the first time that evening, he could breathe. He hadn't expected to feel like a caged animal at his own celebration, but there it was—his antisocial nature winning out over social niceties once again. The quiet street, with its empty sidewalks and distant city hum, felt far more like home than the crowded ballroom.

As he crossed the street, his thoughts drifted to the novel. He'd written about emperors and warriors, ancient worlds where honor and power reigned supreme. It was a world he'd researched and immersed himself in, but never truly understood. He wondered what it would be like to live in such a place.

A sudden flash of light blinded him, followed by the screech of tires. His body froze, but his mind raced. In the split second before impact, his thoughts weren't of fear, but curiosity. How strange.

And then—nothing.

When he opened his eyes again, everything was wrong.

The scent of pine and earth filled his nostrils. His fingers grazed rough wood beneath him as his vision slowly cleared. He was lying on a hard, uneven surface, surrounded by towering trees that swayed gently in the breeze. The pain he expected—the bruises, the broken bones—was nowhere to be found. In fact, he felt... fine. Too fine.

"What the—"

The words died in his throat. They weren't his words. The sound of his voice—no, that wasn't his voice either.

Daniel sat up abruptly, his long black hair falling into his eyes. Wait—black hair? He pulled a strand of it into his line of sight, staring in shock. His hair had always been short and brown, hadn't it?

His hands shot to his face, running over features that were distinctly not his own. And then he saw his clothes—simple robes, unfamiliar and worn. He shot to his feet, his heart pounding as he stumbled toward a nearby stream. The reflection that stared back at him wasn't Daniel Taylor. It wasn't anyone he knew.

Brown eyes blinked back at him, wide and confused. A face that wasn't his, but somehow... familiar. Where had he seen this face before?

It hit him like the impact that had knocked him out of his world. Xiao Dan. The name echoed in his mind, yet it wasn't his own. It was the name of the character from his novel, the man who wandered ancient lands in search of something more.