(This is a story with two male leads, set in a fictional world where men can marry men. Anything impossible is possible; the author makes the rules. Please don't take it too seriously. If it's not to your taste, feel free to leave. Thank you for understanding!)
Guo Lantai had woken up in a novel!
That's right! All he'd done was receive a reading recommendation from some app. He'd seen a minor character with the same full name as him, had a momentary lapse in judgment, and tapped on it. Once he started reading, though, he couldn't stop!
It was a domineering CEO romance called The CEO's White Moonlight Became a Top Star, written by an author with an infuriating pen name: "If You've Got an Itch to Hit Someone, Come Hit Me."
Whenever Guo Lantai thought of that name, he couldn't help cursing the author. He wanted to track down the jerk and give him a good beating, then change his pen name to "Keep Asking for It, and I'll Make Your Wish Come True"!
Let's see if that would send him off in style!
The story was mainly about Cen Muxiao, a wealthy CEO who took the business world by storm, dumped his arranged-marriage partner, and used every resource at his disposal to turn his white moonlight into the entertainment industry's top star. In the end, the two fell into each other's arms, and the lovers finally got their happy ending.
On the surface, the white moonlight seemed noble and pure, perfect in the CEO's eyes. In reality, he was a thoroughly scheming green-tea bitch.
Back when the CEO wasn't yet a true titan of business, the white moonlight kept him dangling, never accepting his confessions. Later, he even claimed he had to pursue his dreams, abandoned the CEO, and went abroad to make a name for himself. He stayed away for three whole years.
Then, just as the CEO reached the peak of his life, became one of the richest men in the country, and got engaged to someone else, the white moonlight made a dramatic appearance at his wedding.
He claimed he was there to wish the CEO a happy marriage, but he'd really come to stir up trouble.
Other authors gave their protagonists kind hearts or a strong sense of justice. How come, in the hands of "If You've Got an Itch to Hit Someone, Come Hit Me," the innocent fool had to die miserably while the villain got everything he wanted?
That's right. The fool in the story was the CEO's arranged-marriage partner: the original Guo Lantai.
He'd agreed to be used as a pawn in an arranged marriage to save his family's company. But after meeting the CEO just once, he'd fallen head over heels!
Cen Muxiao had money, looks, and a great body. Just getting to stand beside him would be enough to make anyone else green with envy, let alone marrying him!
It was a bargain!
So Guo Lantai hadn't hesitated or played hard to get. He'd been all in: marriage, marriage, the sooner the better!
Unfortunately, they'd gotten married in name only. The CEO's white moonlight kept haunting them, driving the CEO out of his mind, while Guo Lantai became a complete joke.
After being set up time and time again, the original Guo Lantai was finally kicked out of the house and died in a car accident.
Hmph! What a sucker!
The reason Guo Lantai had wound up in the novel was that he'd stayed up for several nights, devouring it. Then, worked up over the original Guo Lantai's unfair treatment, he'd gotten so angry he'd choked on his own breath and died!
He himself was a huge sucker, too—one who made the original look like an amateur!
Why? Because he'd become the minor character Guo Lantai, who shared his full name!
If not for that name, why would a fine young man like him have gone and painstakingly read some boys' love novel like those fujoshi?
And not just any novel, either, but a tired, melodramatic romance full of the same old tropes!
By the time he realized he'd transmigrated, he'd already had enough complaints to write an eighty-thousand-word essay. But right now, he had something much more pressing to worry about!
Which moment in the story had he landed in?
Why was the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes a handsome face, cold and dark as a storm cloud?
And why was a large, powerful hand pinning him against the wall?
His back was pressed against a wall covered in raised reliefs, and pain seeped right through him!
Yes! He might have transmigrated the moment he opened his eyes, but he was still fully conscious. This wasn't some romantic kabedon. It was a damn wall slam!
The tall man in front of him was making his displeasure perfectly clear!
"Guo Lantai, I'm warning you. If you try to pull another stunt, then we might as well call off the wedding!"
Guo Lantai's thoughts had raced through a dozen possibilities in the blink of an eye. At last, he figured out what was going on.
The man before him was the novel's male lead, the wealthy CEO Cen Muxiao. And Guo Lantai had arrived at a pretty awkward moment.
The story had a scene at the wedding where the CEO's white moonlight, Song Anning, suddenly showed up. In a panic, the original Guo Lantai tried to stake his claim and did something suicidal: he kissed Cen Muxiao in front of everyone.
He searched through the original Guo Lantai's memories. Cen Muxiao's first reaction had been to shove him away, then turn to look at Song Anning in the audience, his eyes full of alarm.
Song Anning clearly hadn't expected to see such a scene, either. He'd frozen in place, looking deeply wounded!
Tsk, tsk! What a pair of lovesick fools!
But as Guo Lantai stared at those two sexy, thin lips in front of him, he couldn't help cursing the damn heavens. Why couldn't he have transmigrated a little sooner?
His first kiss as a soul was still intact. He hadn't gotten to enjoy any of the perks, yet here he was, stuck taking the CEO's anger on behalf of the original Guo Lantai. Who could he complain to about that?
Luckily, a CEO was still a CEO. Even after Guo Lantai had taken advantage of him, and with the white moonlight there to boot, Cen Muxiao had managed to keep his composure and finish the wedding ceremony.
That was the power of a business marriage!
"Look, Brother Xiao, the media are all here. We can't just stand around without showing them anything, can we? You said it yourself: if we're putting on a show, we have to make it convincing!"
Guo Lantai defended himself, turning his head away. If he kept staring at those lips, he was liable to lose his mind again.
"Don't call me Brother Xiao. You're not worthy!"
Cen Muxiao's voice was so cold it could freeze solid.
"Then Muxiao? Cen Muxiao? Or Mr. Cen?"
Guo Lantai boldly planted a hand against his chest and pushed him back a little. "How about Mr. Cen?"
There was no need for Cen Muxiao to create distance between them. Guo Lantai was doing it himself. No one could be more considerate than him, right?
Still, his question seemed to catch Cen Muxiao slightly off guard. The man took the opportunity to step back, putting some distance between them. He considered it for a moment, then answered awkwardly, "Just 'sir.'"
The address wasn't unfamiliar to Guo Lantai. The original had called him that in the novel. Anyway, "husband" or "baby" would never do. Guo Lantai was sure that if he dared to call Cen Muxiao either of those, the man would snap his neck on the spot.
"Then, sir, the wedding isn't over yet. Shouldn't we go back out?"
Cen Muxiao had used the excuse of changing in the lounge to put him in his place. He'd been cooperative enough, hadn't he?
Guo Lantai had already made up his mind. Since he'd transmigrated, he'd face it head-on.
The CEO was like a big wolfdog with a short fuse. All Guo Lantai had to do was set aside his pride and soothe him the right way!
His real opponent was Song Anning!
Heh. Song Anning had come back at just the right time. Guo Lantai knew the plot inside out. As long as he stayed one step ahead, what did he have to fear from Song Anning?
White lotus or green-tea bastard, it didn't matter. With Guo Lantai around, Song Anning wasn't getting his way!
And as for Cen Muxiao, that two-timing jerk—hmph! Guo Lantai would make sure he saw Song Anning for what he really was, once the mask had been ripped away!
Before you continue