*Bai Xue POV*
Three years ago.
I still remember the smell of the hospital that day.
The antiseptic. The cold air. The suffocating atmosphere.
Gu Sheng lay motionless in the bed, hooked up to machines that beeped at regular intervals.
His face, always so arrogant, looked strange without expression—almost fragile. I stood at the doorway for several minutes before I gathered the courage to walk in.
I stood by his side, studying his face for a few minutes. Even in that state, he was still beautiful…
I felt guilty for thinking that about the man my sister loved.
I felt guilty for desiring an unconscious man.
But what I felt was undeniable.
I loved him.
Not as the older sister of his fiancée.
Not as someone who admired him from afar.
I loved him selfishly.
I wanted him for myself.
At that moment, Bai Yue walked into the room.
Unlike her usual impeccable appearance, her hair was disheveled, her clothes wrinkled, and even her steps lacked their habitual elegance.
She had dark circles under her eyes, and they were red, as if she had spent the entire night crying.
When she came closer, she suddenly hugged me.
"I can't take it anymore, Xue…" her voice trembled. "I can't stand seeing him like this."
I hugged her back and tried to comfort her as best as I could.
"Then stay home," I said. "I can come here sometimes."
She shook her head.
"It's not just that. My scholarship in Europe… it starts in a month."
I froze.
"You're really going?"
She nodded, her eyes brimming with tears.
"It's my dream, Xue… But how can I leave while he's like this?"
She grabbed my hands tightly.
"You care about him, don't you?"
My heart nearly leapt out of my chest, and I fell silent, hesitating over what to say.
Yes, I care about him so much it hurts to see him lying in this hospital bed. But how could I possibly say that out loud?
"Xue… what if you took care of him?"
My brain took a moment to process her words.
"What?"
She took a deep breath, as if making the hardest decision of her life.
"Let's switch. Temporarily."
The world seemed to spin, and I still didn't understand the full weight of what she was suggesting.
"Switch…?"
"You pretend to be me while I'm away. Take care of him. Stay by his side. When he wakes up… you can continue with him."
My breathing quickened, yet I still felt short of air.
"Sister… what are you saying…?"
She leaned closer, as if whispering a precious secret.
"I know you love him."
I started crying at that instant.
Not out of sadness, but from a storm of repressed emotions. Someone had finally seen my feelings—and that someone was my sister.
Unlike what I had imagined, I wasn't met with disgust or judgment, but with understanding.
"I can let him go…" she whispered. "As long as he's well taken care of, no one needs to know. It'll be our secret."
Our secret.
Those words still echo in my mind.
I should have realized.
I should have been suspicious.
But I was overwhelmed.
By love.
By guilt.
By the chance to finally have Gu Sheng.
I accepted without hesitation, and we made the switch without any issues.
She left for Europe, and I stayed by Gu Sheng's side.
They were the most intense three years of my life.
I held his hand every day.
I read the news out loud. Talked about the weather. Told him about memories he might not even remember.
Sometimes I cried. Sometimes I smiled to myself, imagining him waking up and seeing that I had never abandoned him.
I believed I was building something real.
I believed love meant presence—that if I cared for him, maybe he would acknowledge my existence when he woke up.
I was so foolish to believe that, and the world made sure to throw it in my face when Gu Sheng woke up.
He woke up on a rainy morning.
I was holding his hand when his fingers moved.
I'll never forget that moment.
"Gu Sheng?" My voice trembled.
His eyes slowly opened.
Confused. Disoriented.
But alive.
I cried like a child.
I thought that was the beginning of my happiness.
But it was the end.
Because Bai Yue returned the following week.
She walked into the room as if she had never left.
She hugged him. Called his name. Cried in his arms.
And he… held her.
As if it were natural.
As if it had always been her there.
I tried to speak.
Tried to explain.
But news from overseas began surfacing that very same day.
Photos. Rumors. Scandals.
My name tied to parties, men, and luxury abroad.
A life Bai Yue had been living under my name!
My reputation collapsed within days—or maybe it had already collapsed long before that. I had just been too absorbed in the illusion called Gu Sheng to notice anything else.
"Have you lost your mind?" he asked when I tried to explain.
I tried to tell him about the agreement, but there was no proof.
No messages. No witnesses.
Nothing.
Just my word against hers.
And she cried so convincingly she looked like an angel. What kind of man would suspect a lie? None.
"Xue has always been unstable…" she would say through tears.
And I began to look exactly that way.
Unstable. Obsessed. Desperate.
Because I was.
I was crazy—crazy in love.
When I saw her on the stairs, I confess the thought of pushing her really did cross my mind.
But at the critical moment, I stopped. After all, I'm not a murderer.
"Coward."
Those were her last words before she threw herself down.
And as she lay there, she looked at me.
And smiled.
It was the first time I saw her true smile—and the last.
*End of POV*
…
What a long story—it's already night here.
Only in a dog-blood drama would something like this happen.
For God's sake, how did Bai Xue take Bai Yue's place and no one noticed?
And besides, Bai Yue would need enormous influence to simply control the media and destroy her sister's reputation in a matter of days.
"Do you believe me?"
Bai Xue looked at me with eyes shining with hope.
I can't resist that.
I moved closer and pulled her into a hug—or at least tried to, since all I managed was to wrap an arm around her shoulders.
"Of course I believe you."
Bai Xue's body visibly relaxed at my touch and words, her tense shoulders dropping as if a heavy burden had been lifted.
A soft sigh escaped her lips, and she leaned further into my embrace, pressing her forehead against my shoulder.
"You have no idea how much that means to me," she whispered, her voice thick with emotion. "Everyone took her side. No one wanted to listen to me… Thank you."
I felt the fabric of my shoulder grow damp.
Small tremors ran through her body before I even realized she was crying.
Her tears were warm—so different from the cold night air—and slowly soaked into my suit.
She didn't make a sound.
She just clung to me, as if afraid I would disappear too.
My first instinct was to pull away, but doing that would make Bai Xue think I was rejecting her.
So I did the opposite—I moved closer and wrapped my arms around her waist, closing the distance between us.
"Don't cry… Your little face is too pretty for that."
I made sure to whisper it into her ear so she could feel my warm breath against her neck.
"Nn—mmh?!"
She suddenly lifted her head, her eyes wide, her ears turning red in seconds.
Our faces were only centimeters apart.
Neither of us spoke.
Even the tears were forgotten.
Her lips were slightly parted, and knowing those same lips had moaned for me filled me with heat.
"Hah… mm…"
A trembling sound slipped from her, her breathing unsteady as her tongue darted out to moisten her lips.
It wasn't a word, but it felt like a plea.
[Warning!]
[Emergency mission: Save the heroine from being raped.]
As if on cue, three burly men who looked like gangsters stepped out of the darkness.
"Well, well. What a lovely couple."
The one who spoke stood in the center, probably the leader. The other two remained slightly behind him—one to the left, one to the right.
They weren't ordinary thugs. They looked trained, like they had done this many times before.
The one on the left chewed gum, the sharp popping sound echoing in the silence of the night. His posture was relaxed, but he seemed mildly irritated by the situation.
The one on the right spun something metallic in his hand—a knife. Unlike the other two, he didn't even try to hide his malicious intent.
The leader took two steps forward.
"Isn't it dangerous to be so focused on each other? The night's full of accidents."
His voice was low and casual. He didn't even sound like someone planning to rape anyone.
The one on the right laughed.
"Especially when the ladies are this pretty."
I could feel his eyes roaming lasciviously over Bai Xue's body… and mine.
Bai Xue shrank at the sound of his laughter, clutching me tightly. Her tearful eyes, which moments ago had seemed inviting, were now filled with fear.
"B-Brother… What are we g-going to do?"
Her voice was barely more than a trembling whisper.
____
[Save the heroine from being raped.]
Success Reward: +20 Affection (Bai Xue), Basic Military Training Card (Gold): Grants all the skills of a soldier at a basic level.
Failure Penalty: Permanent loss of heroine Bai Xue.
____
Permanent loss?
"Explain that better, system."
[The trauma will harden Bai Xue's heart, making it impossible to corrupt/break her.]
I looked at the three men again and made my decision.
"System, distribute one of my free points into vitality and raise my strength and agility to four."
[Ding!]
[Operation completed successfully.]
____
Attributes:
Strength – 4
Agility – 4
Vitality – 1.4
Charm – 8
Intelligence – 11
____
My muscles swelled, and I felt a pleasant warmth and power spreading through my veins.
I never imagined allocating attribute points would feel this good.
Those men didn't even look like a threat anymore. In fact, I was already imagining how I'd use them as punching bags.
I'm pissed.
My first kiss was right there—and these bastards had to ruin it.
"Don't worry, sister. I'll take care of this."
I stood up and stepped in front of her, blocking her view of the gangsters.
Then I lifted her chin with my thumb, making her look at me.
"Do you trust me?"
She gave a small nod.
"Then close your eyes. When you open them again, it'll all be over."
"O-Okay."
She answered shakily and shut her eyes tightly, as if trying to keep her tears from falling.
"Kid, we only want her. If you don't want to get hurt, you'd better leave."
The leader spoke again.
When I turned to face them, I realized I was already surrounded.
The leader stood in front of me. The henchmen were at my sides. Behind me was Bai Xue.
I'm not great at fighting, but I probably shouldn't let that happen.
"Well, screw it. I'm confident."
My attributes were four times the human average. There's no way a few thugs can beat me in a fight.
"Arrogant," the one on the right muttered. "Hope you're still that confident after we're done with you."
The one on the left spat out his gum and said, "Let's finish this."