Jin sat on the edge of a luxurious leather sofa, stiff as a statue. The grand Feng estate echoed with too many voices, too many memories he didn't have. People walked around calling him "Young Master Jin" like it meant something.
He hated it.
[This place reeks of lies.]
Across the living room, several relatives tried their best to act casual, but their eyes kept drifting to him — not in pity, not in anger… but in confusion.
No one dared speak about it openly.
But they had heard it. All of them. Every time he had a thought, it slipped into the air and slipped right into their minds.
And the scariest part?
He didn't know.
---
Feng Yulan, his biological mother, approached with a gentle smile and a cup of tea.
"You've always liked jasmine, right?"
Jin didn't take the cup.
"I wouldn't know," he said flatly.
[Yours wasn't the voice I grew up with.]
The cup trembled slightly in her hands. She withdrew without another word.
Feng Yujia, the third sister, came to sit beside him. She was trying to be warm, sincere even.
"You don't have to force yourself, Jin. We just want you to feel at home."
[Home? I had a real home. Cracked walls, cheap ramen, two jobs a day. But at least it was mine.]
Yujia's breath hitched. She quickly turned away, blinking hard.
None of them dared tell him the truth.
They could hear everything. Every raw, unfiltered thought. But how could they explain that?
Jin blinked.
[Why did I end up in this story again? What kind of dumb reincarnation system brings someone back just to watch a soap opera?]
Unbeknownst to him, his thought slipped out again — echoing in the minds of every Feng relative in the room.
Across the couch, one of his older sisters covered her mouth.
In the corner, a younger one stared at him like she'd seen a ghost.
He stood.
"I'm going out."
"You don't want to eat?" someone asked.
"I'm not hungry."
[Every spoonful here tastes like guilt anyway.]
No one followed him out the door.
They just stood there.
Shaken. Ashamed. Silent.
---
Outside, Jin leaned on the edge of the stone railing in the Feng courtyard. The garden was blooming, a little too perfectly.
He watched koi swim in circles.
[They're all pretending. Like this is some happy reunion. But they don't realize I already know how the plot ends.]
Ergouzi chimed in lazily.
[Ichiro's going to frame your third sister soon. He already started planting fake data on her login.]
[Let him.]
You're cold, Host.
[No. I'm realistic.]
Jin turned to leave.
[Let them play house. I'm not here to save anyone. I just want out.]
---
And behind the sliding doors?
Half a dozen Feng family members stood frozen.
Their minds echoed with his truth.
But not one of them said a word.
Because none of them had the courage to ask:
"Jin… how do you know so much?"