Only After I Was Reborn Did I Realize That I Had Childhood Sweethearts

The first night Lin Youxi spent at the Mei household unfolded with all the tension of a spy thriller. Xiang Xiaoxia had graciously given up Mei Fang's bedroom for their "guest," relegating her son to the living room couch—a arrangement that lasted precisely until 1:17 AM.

That's when Mei Fang's phone illuminated with a message that made his lingering chest pain flare anew:

[Can't sleep. Come service me.]

[Are you insane? Mom's room is right across the hall!]

[AngryHamster.jpg]

The ensuing silence lasted just long enough for Mei Fang to relax before the bathroom door creaked open. He'd barely closed his eyes when an arctic presence slithered beneath his blankets.

"Shhh."Lin Youxi's gloved hand clamped over his mouth as her body molded against him."Your bed smells like you… calms me down."

"If mom catches us—"

"We'll improvise."Her teeth grazed his earlobe."Now about that 'service'…"

Dawn found Xiang Xiaoxia shaking her son awake with unsettling enthusiasm."Sleeping in while Youxi helps with chores? What kind of host are you?"

"Chores?Shevolunteered?"Mei Fang's disbelief evaporated upon seeing Lin Youxi—dressed in borrowed sweatpants and an oversized sweater—industriously folding laundry. The domestic tableau was so surreal he pinched himself.

"Take her to Pan's Beef Noodles,"Xiang Xiaoxia ordered, shoving them out the door."She mentioned craving them last night."

The winter air carried the scent of fried dough sticks as they walked hand-in-hand through Bai Mei's waking streets. Lin Youxi's grip tightened whenever they passed landmarks from her fractured childhood—the shuttered ice cream stall where she'd stolen her first kiss (target: Xia Yuan, age 6), the alley where she'd bloodied a bully's nose for mocking her motherless status.

"This mall's new,"she noted, pausing before a gleaming shopping center."Used to be the night market where mom bought my birthday cakes. One time—"Her voice hitched."She let me lick the frosting tube clean."

Mei Fang studied her profile—the way sunlight gilded her lashes, the barely-there tremor in her lower lip. This Lin Youxi, soft with remembrance, existed only in these stolen moments between manic episodes.

"What?"She caught his stare.

"Just thinking how lucky I am."He leaned in—

"Hair."Lin Youxi jerked back, plucking an imaginary strand from her cheek."You were going for my hair, right?"

"Obviously."

Her resulting pout launched a tickle war that ended with them breathless against a bus stop ad, Lin Youxi's laughter drawing stares from passing aunties.

"Look at them,"she whispered, nodding toward a group of uniformed students."We could've been like that."

"Skipping class to make out behind the gym?"

"Normal."Her smile faded."Just… normal."

The cemetery custodian recognized Lin Youxi immediately—"You're that little girl who used to bring candy!"—directing them to the neglected plot where her parents rested beneath layers of grime.

Mei Fang watched silently as Lin Youxi scrubbed the headstone with monastic focus, her motions growing increasingly frantic until the engraved names shone through:

Lin Guochan

You Lihua

Together in eternity

"Mom, Dad… I brought someone."She arranged oranges with ritual precision."My human weighted blanket."

Mei Fang's kowtow rattled the offerings."Uncle, Auntie, I promise to—"

"—love me forever,"Lin Youxi interjected, pressing their joined hands to the cold stone."Even when I'm… difficult."

The wind carried her whispered confession away as they turned toward Xia Yuan's family plot—a lavish monument now cracked with neglect. Lin Youxi froze before the triple portrait: Xia Yuan's beaming face forever preserved at age twelve, flanked by her elegant parents.

"Hey, crybaby."She laid out strawberry lollipops with trembling hands."Brought your favorite…"

Mei Fang's vision blurred at the edges—a flicker of movement resolving into a translucent figure. The ghostly Xia Yuan knelt beside Lin Youxi, her featureless face tilted in rapt attention as Lin Youxi recounted their childhood adventures.

When the spectre turned, Mei Fang glimpsed fleeting features—Xia Yuan's signature dimples, the mole above her lip—before she dissipated into golden motes that settled over Lin Youxi like a blessing.

"You okay?"Lin Youxi frowned at his gaping expression.

"Just… thought I saw something."

"If it was Yuan-yuan,"she teased,"she'd have hugged me first."

Yet as they left, Mei Fang could've sworn he heard childish laughter trailing them through the rows of silent stones.

New Year's Eve brought unexpected traditions to the Mei household—Xiang Xiaoxia insisting on joint birthday cakes (their birthdays fell within ten days), Mei Lijun sneaking red envelopes into Lin Youxi's luggage ("For luck!"), and the unspoken understanding that Lin Youxi's nocturnal visits to the living room required strategically timed coughs from the master bedroom.

At the train station, Xiang Xiaoxia's hands trembled as she pressed the family heirloom jade bracelet into Lin Youxi's palms.

"This belonged to A-Fang's grandmother… I'd be honored if you—"

"It's beautiful."Lin Youxi admired the piece before gently returning it."But we're just friends."

"You can't expect me to believe—"

"Bipolar disorder."The clinical term dropped between them like an anvil."Incurable. Hereditary. And…"She tapped her temple."When the darkness comes, I destroy everything I love."

Xiang Xiaoxia's stricken expression didn't falter even as Lin Youxi leaned close, her next words carried on a breath of citrus shampoo:

"Your son deserves sunlight, not my endless winter."

Then, with perfect timing, she brightened to greet Mei Fang's approaching figure—the flawless mask sliding back into place as she waved farewell to the woman who might have been her mother-in-law.