Everyone Is Non-Human Except Me [Rebirth] Chapter 73

Wei Huan didn’t know what was happening anymore.

The sensation was familiar, overwhelming, and easily scrambled his brain into a daze. Right—this felt exactly like when he drank half a bottle of strong human liquor.

He knew he always acted strangely when drunk, so he became extremely cautious, not even daring to breathe too heavily. His chest felt like a broken bellows—he was terrified any noise would give him away, so he tried to pull in air as softly and slowly as possible.

Each inhale and exhale took all the effort he had.

Yun Yongzhou, after selfishly making his unreasonable request, said nothing more. But those three words kept echoing in Wei Huan’s head, broken down and chewed over again and again.

He’d never lacked admirers growing up—he even enjoyed being the one to make the first move in friendships. But when something that truly exceeded the bounds of friendship crept in, he’d instinctively shut the door.

He’d hide behind it, hurriedly dump out a bag full of colorful balls on the floor. Clatter, clatter—they rolled everywhere, each one containing a question.

Why did Yun Yongzhou choose to form a pact with me?

Why is he so good to me?

Why does he keep saving me? Why has he never asked about my past…?

Suddenly, Yun Yongzhou’s hand gently stroked the back of his head. Twice, softly.

The theater in Wei Huan’s mind immediately called cut. Curled up in Yun Yongzhou’s arms, he didn’t dare move. At moments like this, he always shrank—afraid that if he so much as flinched, the door would open and all those strange little balls would spill out in front of Yun Yongzhou, exposing everything in his mind.

Once he confirmed that the golden crow in his arms wasn’t going to move anymore, Wei Huan cautiously resumed examining his little balls.

Why did Yun Yongzhou give me that wristband?

Why did he go to Wuqi?

Why does he say things like that—so ambiguous, so hard to read…

All the balls laid scattered on the ground, but somehow they seemed to be forming a shape.

Could it be that… he likes me too?

The moment Wei Huan used the word too—with that uncertain, questioning tone—he knew he’d lost. Utterly.

Because he’d admitted he truly liked Yun Yongzhou.

Yes, he really liked him.

The nightmare realm that had seemed so perfect in its illusion, and which he had shattered—not just because he wanted truth…

But because Yun Yongzhou wasn’t in it.

Rival, friend, whatever the identity—he should have been there. He couldn’t disappear.

Wei Huan was already beginning to accept this fated defeat. From the very first glance, from their first clash, he’d always been the one who lost.

Yun Yongzhou’s voice suddenly cut off his runaway thoughts.

“Can’t sleep?”

He’d been caught. Wei Huan, still curled up in his arms, frowned and tried to play dead. His voice came out muffled like he had two radishes stuffed in his mouth. “Sleeping…”

“Sleeping?” Yun Yongzhou touched the tip of his ear. “Then what, talking in your sleep?”

Yun Yongzhou was even more in sync than he’d imagined—so much so that in his hypersensitive state, Wei Huan could detect a trace of teasing in his tone.

Well, great—what step down? He didn’t just give him a way down, he built the whole stage for him. And now he was standing on it, while the audience below was already hollering for the show to start. Whether he wanted to act or not, he had to.

Feeling the arms around him tighten slightly, Yun Yongzhou’s mood fluttered like the curtain by the window, stirred gently by the breeze. He heard Wei Huan murmur a sleepy-sounding “mm,” and a sense of joy evaporated from his chest like a drifting cloud into the sky.

The hand resting on the back of Wei Huan’s head slowly slid down to his nape, where the short hair tickled Yun Yongzhou’s palm. He spoke slowly, one word at a time, “Did you dream?”

Those arms tightened again, and the voice muffled in his chest, “Mmm…”

The pad of Yun Yongzhou’s thumb rubbed gently against the smooth skin of his nape, a hint of a smile hidden in his voice.

“Did you dream of me?”

Wei Huan’s heart was clenched tightly in his grip.

He pressed his lips together, the breath from his nose hitting Yun Yongzhou’s chest and bouncing back onto his own face, like he was wrapped in a mist of heat—he couldn’t breathe.

“…Mm.”

He finally forced out that one sound, face scrunching up afterward in denial. His head was full of so many questions that needed answers. He should’ve been acting more normal, sitting down to talk things out clearly with Yun Yongzhou, just like he had with Yang Sheng or Qing He.

But he couldn’t do it. He fell into the trap of ambiguity so easily, like a tiny insect that had stumbled into a pot of honey. The thick sweetness buried him completely—and he didn’t want to get out.

Yun Yongzhou’s hand left the back of his neck—but before he could feel any relief, before he could even catch his breath—that long, slender hand was already touching the protruding bone where his neck met his spine, circling over the thin layer of skin with a slow, dragging motion.

His voice was like a dull blade, scraping across the last nerve in Wei Huan’s body.

“In the dream, what was I doing?”

Wei Huan hadn’t expected him to keep going. He used to think he understood Yun Yongzhou, but now he realized he hadn’t even come close.

Clearly Yun Yongzhou hadn’t done anything, hadn’t even hugged him as tightly as he was doing now—but still, this felt like the most embarrassing moment of his life.

What was he doing in the dream…

Once that question made it into his mind, a stream of images began playing on loop, unbidden, forming the answer.

Hugging. In the dark. Holding tight—just like now—wrapped up in guilt.

There were fireflies all around… or maybe it was his light.

The next image made Wei Huan almost suffocate.

He kissed him. They were like two fireflies in the sky, accidentally colliding in the dark.

Startled by the image in his own mind, Wei Huan suddenly broke into a fit of coughing—coughing so hard he nearly choked.

Yun Yongzhou let out a quiet laugh. The arm around Wei Huan’s waist tightened, lifting him up a little. His long-hidden face was finally exposed to the light. Having stayed curled up against Yun Yongzhou’s chest for so long with his eyes closed, the brightness made him squint—like a dazed hamster woken too suddenly.

Seeing Yun Yongzhou only made him cough harder, his whole face turning red, one hand curled into a fist over his mouth.

No, not a hamster woken from sleep—more like one thrown into water and then pulled out. Yun Yongzhou corrected his metaphor in his mind. He patted Wei Huan’s back gently, a faint, almost invisible smile playing on his lips. He wasn’t sure when it started, but he found himself enjoying this half-hidden, half-revealed intimacy. Even if Wei Huan never exposed his identity, Yun Yongzhou didn’t mind continuing like this.

Probably because he knew—between him and Wei Huan—only behind a mask could they really touch each other’s hearts.

Just like the little phoenix and the little white dragon once did.

Wei Huan’s coughing gradually subsided. His Adam’s apple moved in a tight swallow.

“Sounds like a nightmare,” Yun Yongzhou looked into his eyes. The feral hostility that used to sit in those eyes when facing Wei Huan was now replaced by endless tenderness—with just a touch of restrained aggression and possessiveness.

“It wasn’t,” Wei Huan turned his gaze away.

Yun Yongzhou was still soothingly rubbing his back. “Did I bully you in the dream?”

Wei Huan pressed his lips tightly together and didn’t answer, giving Yun Yongzhou a faint, ambiguous signal.

“Got it right?” Yun Yongzhou read his expression patiently and threw out another guess, “How did I bully you?”

Wei Huan didn’t even know where to look. Yun Yongzhou had really changed. Seven years ago, he was just a withdrawn boy who didn’t understand and didn’t want to understand anything—how had he become like this?

Wei Huan couldn’t even find the right word to describe Yun Yongzhou’s current level of lethality. It was just too strange. Back then, he had been the one who took initiative—though only to make friends.

And Yun Yongzhou had hated it.

No matter what he said, did, or how much of a fuss he made, Yun Yongzhou had always just dodged, avoided, stayed silent.

Now, in this new life, with a different face, could he really get treated differently?

“I didn’t get bullied,” driven by frustration, Wei Huan started spouting nonsense. “I bullied you.”

Yun Yongzhou couldn’t hold back his smile anymore, eyebrows lifting slightly in surprise—he hadn’t expected the little guy to start fighting back. “How’d you bully me?”

The distance between them was too close. Wei Huan could clearly see Yun Yongzhou’s lips moving with each word. His own teeth clenched, then relaxed, a mischievous streak rising.

“How else—kicked you, punched you,” he grumbled, “In my dream, you weren’t like this. You were just a kid, didn’t fight back, didn’t talk back. I even got a witch to turn you into a little golden crow—your original form. Snow-white, like a baby swan. You tried to fly off, but I held you in my arms and wouldn’t let go. I hugged you really tight, so tight you kept yelling, but I wouldn’t let go…”

As if to demonstrate, Wei Huan spoke while throwing his arms around Yun Yongzhou, squeezing tight. Then, a beat later, he released him with a reluctant mutter, all the bravado gone from his voice.

“L-like that tight. Got it?”

“I hold grudges, you know. Don’t think I forgot how you used that false beast to mess with me today.” He deliberately put on a fierce face. “Even if I can’t beat you now, I’ll bully you in my dreams until you hide away and run the moment you see me.”

He thought for sure that would wipe the smug look off Yun Yongzhou’s face. With his strange temperament, he might even throw a fit, storm out, and sulk by himself like he used to.

But Wei Huan hadn’t expected that Yun Yongzhou had learned the art of riding along the pole.

“So impressive.” He looked at Wei Huan with those stunning eyes and curved his lips into a smile. From within those amber pupils, Wei Huan saw a crystal-clear reflection of his own flustered self.

“And then what? Did you bully me until I cried?” Yun Yongzhou reached out and pinched the tip of his chin.

Wei Huan pressed his lips into a line and muttered a defeated-sounding “Mm.”

“Tut.” Yun Yongzhou’s mouth curled ever so slightly, releasing his grip on Wei Huan’s chin. His fingers slid downward to his collarbone. His gaze followed, eyes lowered and fixed on the spot. His long lashes, caught in the light, turned almost translucent, casting a wavering shadow.

To Wei Huan, his collarbone was a place unlike any other. It bore the mark of his Nine Phoenix bloodline—the Nine-Turn Wind Mark that had been imprinted there since birth. When he transformed into his demon form, it would glow and spread, its power flowing into his blood, making him stronger.

Even though he now wore a different skin, his collarbone remained the most sensitive part of his body. It wasn’t just him—every demon was like that. Even Yun Yongzhou had once refused to let anyone touch the flame-shaped demon mark on his forehead. No one knew where the sun-like golden mark, like that of the original Golden Crow, laid on his body. But Wei Huan did.

In this lifetime, he knew—it was on Yun Yongzhou’s chest.

He also knew that this chest had once had a bone extracted, polished into a smooth, gleaming ring, which had encircled his heart.

But now, no one could see the demon markings of a Nine Phoenix on Wei Huan’s body. They had turned transparent, a secret. So when Yun Yongzhou’s eyes fell there, he felt a sudden danger. The hidden blue soul within him trembled in silence.

Yun Yongzhou’s fingertip tapped against his collarbone, and with each touch, it ignited a searing star in the dark of Wei Huan’s chest.

“If you bullied me until I cried in your dream,” Yun Yongzhou’s voice burned like falling fire clouds, “then to be fair, shouldn’t I return the favor?”

---

Can’t wait until next week to see more? Want to show your support? Come to my Patreon where you can get 5 or more chapters of Everyone Is Non-Human Except Me [Rebirth] right away ! Or go donate at Paypal or Ko-fi to show your appreciation! :)

---