Pairing: Cen Zeng (Gong) x Cheng Shuo (Shou)

Tags: Depressed & Impoverished Substitute Gong x Playboy Scion Shou

The shou is likely a scumbag. As for the gong, it's debatable whether he's a doormat, but he certainly has no strong desire to live.

However, these tropes don't actually seem that important in this novel. I even get the feeling they're in some kind of pure and innocent romance.

The substitute that Cheng Shuo found for his situationship left his home without a trace.

Before he left, Cen Zeng only left a ten-character note for Cheng Shuo.

He didn't have much will to live, nor did he particularly yearn for love. Being a substitute was a safe position; a counterfeit can't be wounded by love.

Cheng Shuo tried many times to keep Cen Zeng alive.

After numerous failures, on his final attempt, he succeeded.

Genre/Themes: Rebirth, a story where the shou is reborn—many times. (Well, not that many times.) A melodramatic redemption arc, with a heavy emphasis on the melodrama.

Author's Notes & Warnings

Warning for "gong-con" and "shou-con" readers: [T/N: Readers who are extremely protective of either the gong/top or shou/bottom role]. You will likely find this triggering.

If anyone else clicks in and still gets triggered, all I can say is sorry. Run for your life.

A shorter summary would be: The pain is real, rebirth is absurd, love exists, death is cool, and living is sweltering.

(The "death is cool" part is a reference to Heinrich Heine's classic line, "Death is the cool night.")

A Substitute Gong Decides to Die