The sun rose behind layers of mist. A new day. A new round of pretending.
Downstairs, Ichiro greeted everyone with that same smile. Not too bright. Not too fake. Just enough to look trustworthy.
"Good morning," he said gently. "I made warm congee."
[Fake smiles go best with poison.]
Silence.
Feng Lianhua flinched, spoon trembling. She stared at her bowl like it would leap up and bite her.
[Three hours from now, she'll get that fake scandal email.]
[By nightfall, Weng Corporation will call to freeze her partnership.]
Jin didn't even look up from his phone.
[But I'm just imagining things, right? Definitely just coincidence.]
Across the table, the family froze — again.
No one knew what to say.
Ichiro smiled politely, none the wiser. "Jin, do you want some—"
"No thanks," Jin cut him off. "I already had enough fake stuff this week."
Ichiro's smile stiffened for half a second.
Just half.
---
Later that afternoon, it happened — just like Jin thought.
Lianhua's phone call ended with her slamming the device onto the table, eyes wide, knuckles white.
"T-They really… They actually froze it…"
A full month of work, partnerships, negotiations — gone in a blink.
"I didn't even leak anything! It just appeared on the forums...!"
No one spoke.
Not a single one dared look at Jin.
He sat on the far couch, arms folded.
[They're still hoping this is a one-time thing.]
[They haven't realized this is how it starts.]
[One by one.]
[He'll tear them apart like he did in the original.]
---
In the garden that evening, Yujia whispered, "We should say something. Warn him. Or stop Ichiro—"
"No," Su said firmly. "He doesn't want to be involved. You heard him."
[Just let me go. Let me leave. I'm not your redemption arc.]
"Besides…" Meiyu muttered, "if we tell him we've been listening to every thought in his head…"
They all fell silent.
How do you confess you've been eavesdropping on someone's soul?
How do you admit you didn't believe them until it was too late?
---
Back in his room, Jin lazily scrolled through his system screen.
[New Event Detected: Feng Yujia's graduation speech will be tampered with tomorrow.] [Credibility sabotage level: 88%.] [Status: Inevitable.]
"...Hmph."
[Wouldn't it be funny if they asked Ichiro to 'help edit' her speech tonight?]
Host, Ergouzi said softly, aren't you even a little angry for them?
[They made their bed.]
[They chose the fake.]
[Now they lie in it.]
[All I wanted was to live quietly. But they insisted on dragging me into a plot I read three years ago.]
He rolled onto his side.
[Well, I'll keep playing the background character. Until the story collapses.]
And downstairs, Meiyu whispered to Su:
"I think we chose the wrong brother…"