"What?!" I screamed, "Today is the deadline?! I thought it was tomorrow?" I scrambled from my bed in panic, the sleepiness vanishing as I hurried to my desk to open my laptop while talking to Xia Chen on the phone.
"You better hurry up girl! or you'll be la—"
"Hey, I'll call you back later, okay bye!" I interrupted and hang up without waiting for her reply. Sitting in front of my desk, I turned on my laptop to print out my papers, thank the Gods I finished my papers last night—I mean earlier—since I only slept for less than an hour.
Recently, I've been sleeping less to finish my capstone project, which will decide whether I get to graduate or not. Right now, my head is throbbing after being woken up forcefully and my eyes are only open through sheer willpower as I feel like if I even blink a little that I'll fall asleep.
While printing, I wash my face and change clothes like I'm being chased and put on a little concealer and powder so I won't scare people by looking like a vengeful ghost. I grabbed my bag just in time the printing is done. After securing that I didn't forgot anything important, I hurry out the door and ran to the subway station like my life is on the line. Luckily the subway station is just near my rented apartment, but unluckily I'm still 15 minutes by subway away from campus.
…
I sat in the bench under the Sequoia tree inside the campus, as I watch Xia Chen approaching me holding a milk tea in both hands.
"Here" she said, handing me the strawberry flavored milk tea, "Thanks".
I sipped on my milk tea and sigh in relief after I finally submitted by capstone papers, now I don't have to worry about deadlines anymore.
"Xiaochen thanks for calling me earlier, otherwise I'll never be able to submit my papers and I'll have to wait next year to graduate"
"Its good that you manage to arrive on time , otherwise that nasty professor probably won't receive your papers—no, he definitely won't receive your papers." Xia Chen says then sips on her milk tea while biting the straw.
"Ah right, I won't be coming with you guys tonight, I really need to catch up on my sleep haaa" I say as I tried to hold back a yawn.
"You sure?", "Yeah, I'm dead tired. I just want to sleep. I'll leave first, and thanks for the milk tea. Bye." I said as I stand and grab my bag.
After reaching my rented apartment, I closed the door behind me and leaned against it for a second, letting out a long, quiet breath.
The silence felt like a balm, wrapping around me gently after the nonstop noise of the day.
I dropped my bag onto the floor and made my way to the bed, tugging off my shoes on the way.
Without turning on the lights, I sat at the edge of my bed and stared blankly at the floor while massaging my forehead. The rush from earlier had finally worn off, leaving only the dull throb in my temples and the ache behind my eyes. But underneath it all was a strange kind of peace—because it was over. The papers were submitted. The deadline was met. I did it.
The exhaustion hit all at once like a wave crashing over me. I didn't even bother changing—I just collapsed onto my bed, still half-dressed, eyes fluttering shut before my head even hit the pillow.
As I drifted off, I thought I heard my phone buzz once from across the room inside my bag , but I was already too far gone to care.
…
I had already anticipated that after sleeping for five hours at most for the past five days, I'd have another headache party going on in my head the following day. But I didn't expect it to be this bad!
It started with a mild throb at the back of my head, which quickly escalated into something that felt like my skull was about to implode. I had headaches before, whenever I work so much and I had gotten used to it, or at least I thought I had. But no amount of caffeine or willpower could make this better.
The unmistakable smell of herbs and dust hanging in the air aggravated my headache. F*ck.
I clutch my head and sat up too quickly, which was a terrible idea because my vision decided to go on vacation. My hands fumbled against the fabric beneath me. Wait. Was that... straw?
A voice snapped me out of my dazed state.
"Hey! You're awake, Sis!"
I blinked. Trying to regain my vision. That sounded like—
"Sis?"
I turned my head to see a young boy standing beside the bed, his face lit up with excitement. The second he saw my confused expression, he frowned. "What's wrong? You don't look so good…"
I stared at him for a second. He was probably around 7 or 8 years old, with bright eyes and an innocent look that screamed "too young to understand the horrors of adult life." But what really made me freeze was the fact that he was calling me Sis.
Was this… a younger brother? When did I have a younger brother? What happened?
Was I in some alternate version of my life?
What the f*ck happened while I was asleep!?
"Wait," I whispered, "Who… who are you?"
The boy's eyes widened, and he rushed to my side, as if I had asked the dumbest question in the world. "It's me! Your little brother, Duan Yu! You've been asleep for days! I told you to take rest sometimes, why do you work so hard."
"I'm so worried you won't wake up and leave me" the boy said with watery eyes.
Duan Yu?
I blinked a few more times. There it was again. The name I didn't recognize. I look around at my surroundings and notice the shabby shack, there was a decrepit table in front of the door with medicinal herbs lying around half processed and half dead. The bed I was sitting on looks like it had been passed down from generations to generations.
I scan myself and notice that I look malnourished, I'm so thin that my wrist will probably break with a thug. And I notice my shabby dirty clothes that looks like it hasn't been washed since ages ago.
"Sis? Are you… okay? You look like you're about to faint again…"
"No, I'm fine," I muttered, still processing everything. "I just…"
I couldn't even finish my sentence, because that's when it hit me. My head. It was spinning, and now my entire life seemed to be slipping out of my control. This wasn't my body. And it sure as hell wasn't my world.
And then—he said it. The thing that would change everything.
"Sis... don't scare me like that, you're Duan Yanyan, remember? That's your name."
Duan Yanyan.
My eyes went wide. "Yanyan?" what kind of name is that?
(A/N: Yanyan literally means Choking choke.).
"Why does that sound like... someone choking on their feelings?" I muttered, barely holding back a laugh that sounded more like a cough.
The boy stared at me, his expression becoming more serious. "That's what you are called. You've been Duan Yanyan for as long as I can remember."
I stared at him dazedly. Duan Yanyan? That wasn't me. But... this wasn't my world anymore. And no matter how much I resist I was stuck in someone else's life now. How the hell did it happen? Did I die in my sleep?
It hit me all at once. I'd died from overwork. And now... this was my new life?
Then I realized something—his name. Duan Yu. His name was almost the same as mine. What kind of sick joke was this?
The boy tilted his head, "Are you sure you're okay? You've been working too hard lately."
I let out a sigh, the weight of it all finally crashing over me. The only thing I knew for sure was that I wasn't Chen Kangle anymore.
I am now Duan Yanyan.
And my little brother, Duan Yu, was here to remind me of that.