Eternal Replay: A Love Rekindled

Chapter Fourteen

Having experienced his previous life, Corey was very certain that after tonight, Nicholas would once again be absent from his life for seven years.

Perhaps what made Nicholas obsessed was that they had slept together once back then. Whether it was a man or a woman, they might have a relatively deep impression of their first partner. And no one knew how Nicholas had turned dark - hearted in the middle, and finally became like that.

This was what Corey thought. At this time, he also felt that he had successfully avoided Nicholas's development into a psycho.

Hearing this, Nicholas slowly let go of Corey. There was a distance of five or six centimeters between their heads again.

Corey probably didn't know that these words of persuasion, in Nicholas's ears, revealed Corey's own inner subtext.

If there hadn't been those six or seven years of separation between Nicholas and him, he and Nicholas might actually have had a future.

Nicholas wasn't a good - natured person. As he saw it, no one raised in the Leon family was a good - natured person, especially someone like him who had been left aside since childhood. So much so that when he later took control of the power of the Leon family, there wasn't a single compliment when others described him behind his back.

He had nothing since he was a child. At first, he didn't fight for anything and coldly watched others fawn on the powerful and look down on others. Later, when he could fight and there was something to fight for, he found that those fame, wealth, and power weren't really what he wanted.

At this moment, Corey's cheeks were bright red, as if from the heat or shyness, like a fruit that had just started to ripen, exuding a fresh and attractive aura.

He was the only thing Nicholas truly wanted.

Biting into it would surely be sweet enough to make the juice flow.

Corey tossed and turned in the quilt and almost rolled off the edge of the bed.

He woke up from his sleep, rubbing his eyes groggily. As soon as he opened his eyes, he was startled by Nicholas, who was standing by the bed, staring intently at his soft - looking face.

"Damn it, what are you doing standing there?" The curtains in the room were still drawn, blocking out the outside light tightly. Corey was a bit disoriented about the time. He stretched out a bare arm from under the quilt. The cold air outside, after the air - conditioner was turned off, made him shiver. Only then did he realize something was wrong and quickly retracted his arm. Corey stared at Nicholas with great suspicion. Although he had doubts, he didn't dare to voice them. He just asked, "What time is it? And where are my clothes?"

His other hand secretly reached down to touch his boxers. Fortunately, they were still there. There probably hadn't been any major problems involving his dignity.

Nicholas seemed to be genuinely clueless and said honestly, "I don't know. You were moving around a lot in the quilt in the middle of the night. Maybe you took them off yourself?"

Corey had no reply to this. He did have the habit of taking off his clothes when he got too hot in his sleep. He couldn't just assume that Nicholas was up to something. And if he delved deeper, if Nicholas were to ask him why he wasn't wearing clothes, Corey would feel extremely embarrassed.

While he was deep in thought and suspicion, the little psycho beside the bed spoke up again.

"It's half past nine. I'm going to the airport right away," Nicholas suddenly knelt down halfway by the bed. Before Corey could react, he quickly kissed him on the cheek and then immediately stood up. "You can sleep a little longer. I'm leaving first."

Being kissed so unexpectedly, Corey stared wide - eyed, not knowing what to do. Scold him? Nicholas wouldn't care. Hit him? He was half - naked. In the end, he could only huff and puff under the quilt, watching Nicholas leave.

Just like in his previous life, Nicholas came back in a hurry and left just as hastily, as if he had never been here at all.

Corey sat at the table, having brunch and listening to his parents talk.

"Nicholas seems to have grown a lot, right?" Corey's father, who had worked overtime last night, didn't see Nicholas when he got home.

"Yeah, he has. I wonder how the kid is doing over there," said Corey's mother.

"I don't think it's going well. Look at how irresponsible Nicholas's mother is. Besides, if his father was a responsible person, he probably wouldn't have left Nicholas here like this. Nicholas is from City A, right? His mother doesn't seem to be from City J either."

Corey didn't know anything about this, but from Joyce's few words, he could vaguely infer that the Leon family was no ordinary family. He guessed that the few years Nicholas lived in City J were like being exiled to the border.

But so what? At least he and Nicholas wouldn't have any interaction for the next seven years. Corey tried his best to ignore his parents' idle talk and push Nicholas as far out of his mind as possible.

There was nothing to do in the afternoon. Corey and his mother watched a movie on the sofa together. Coincidentally, the movie playing was The Butterfly Effect. Corey's mother watched while knitting. By the end, she had a lot of questions.

"Why does it keep jumping back and forth between the past and the future? I don't understand what it's talking about."

"It means that any small change we make in the past can bring about a reversal of future results, just like the butterfly effect," Corey explained the movie casually, biting the straw of his children's milk.

But as soon as he finished speaking, he froze.

At this moment, he himself had become the butterfly flapping its wings. So, would his future with Nicholas, or the variables in his future life, really turn out as he had expected?

Would that seven - year gap still exist?

He was deep in thought when the mobile phone placed on the coffee table as a sort of decoration suddenly rang. Corey snapped back to reality immediately. He picked up the phone and saw that it was Nina calling.

Corey quickly got up. As he had expected, this call was likely from Nina to inform him about the possible connection her uncle might make for him.

And that was exactly the case.

"On the way home last night, my uncle asked me all about you, like your age, height, and so on. It was really detailed. I was wondering what he was up to. Turns out he took a fancy to you!" Nina giggled on the other end of the line. "My uncle usually works in City A. It's so rare for him to be back this time. It's such a coincidence. I told him before that I had a classmate who was extremely handsome, but he didn't believe me. Finally, he saw you with his own eyes yesterday, and then he had nothing to say.

I'm calling you first to give you a heads - up. Is it okay if I give him your phone number? He's producing a drama right now. Let me tell you, this drama is a big deal. The male lead is Andrew, and the female lead is Elaine. How about he tells you the details?"

Both Andrew and Elaine were top - tier stars in the entertainment circle. Corey knew about the drama Nina mentioned. Back then, all kinds of promotions before its release were quite comprehensive. Plus, it was released during the summer vacation, attracting a lot of attention. However, in the end, the drama had a really bad reputation. It didn't even reach five points on the rating website.

If things went as originally planned, Corey was recommended by Robert to audition for the role of the second male lead. But later, due to his mediocre performance during the audition, he didn't get the part.

Although with his current acting skills and performance, Corey was a hundred percent confident that he could secure this role. But he wasn't too keen on participating in such a drama.

The entire drama not only had a ridiculous script, but the actors' performances were also exaggerated and shallow. The post - production was filled with cheap special effects, completely different from what was advertised. It was clearly a money - grabbing work lacking in sincerity. Later, it was often edited into meme - worthy pictures or hilarious video clips and widely spread on social media.

"Okay, you can give him my number," Corey readily agreed, which made Nina breathe a sigh of relief. She had boasted about Corey non - stop in front of her uncle, singing his praises. It would have been really embarrassing if Corey had refused at this moment.

After Corey ended the call with Nina, in just about five minutes, the ringtone of his mobile phone rang again.