Eternal Replay: A Love Rekindled

Chapter Nine

The winter in City J was damp and cold. Especially since it started raining early this morning, the air was filled with an unpleasantly gloomy chill that seemed to penetrate deep into one's bones.

However, this didn't stop Corey's parents from their outing plans. The couple left home early in the morning to pick vegetables at a small farm on the outskirts of the city. They said the produce there was fresh and delicious, and it would whet Corey's appetite.

In the past, during his sophomore year, Corey would surely have overslept at home. But now, with the biological clock from seven years later still lingering, he managed to get up at around eight o'clock.

He walked into the bathroom to relieve himself. Then, still half - asleep, Corey looked up at the reflection in the mirror. The hair at his temples touched his ears, and his hairstyle, which looked like a dark cloud covering his head, was neither short nor long, and extremely tacky. But it was the fashion at that time.

It was really ugly.

If it weren't for the fact that his face, being seven years younger, was full of collagen, Corey wouldn't even be able to bear looking at himself.

Suddenly being back in the sophomore winter vacation, Corey found that there were more things he wasn't used to than just the fashion and esthetics. For example, compared with the smartphones he was accustomed to later, the ones at this time were almost like children's toys. Using them was really frustrating. The popular catchphrases on TV and the Internet were so embarrassing that they gave him goosebumps all over.

WhatsApp wouldn't be launched for another half a month. For Corey, who knew nothing about the stock market and didn't remember any lottery numbers, the joy of being reborn was pitifully scarce.

Corey splashed two handfuls of cold water on his face and went to the kitchen to find two warm steamed buns. The meat - filled buns made by Corey's mother were extremely tempting. Corey was chewing vigorously with his cheeks puffed out when he looked up and saw Nicholas's face in the photo frame beside him, with a rare, broad smile. He immediately choked. Corey reached out and pressed the photo frame down, and with a "snap", it landed on the table.

Out of sight, out of mind.

After Corey finished one bun, the digital pet in the lower - right corner of the computer screen was jumping around the screen.

Looking at it a few years later, Corey thought it was stupidly amusing. But he still casually bathed and fed the little penguin. Then he suddenly remembered that this pet was married.

He had raised a female doll, and Nicholas had raised a male doll. It was Corey himself who had insisted on getting the two digital pets married.

Thinking about it now, it was not only extremely childish but also extremely embarrassing.

Corey quickly closed the digital pet application, lest it keep jumping around and reminding him of this embarrassing past.

Fortunately, at this moment, the chat box suddenly started to flash, diverting his attention.

Corey clicked on the message. As expected, just like in his previous life, it was from his former high - school monitor.

Monitor: Coco! There's a class reunion tomorrow. You're coming, right?

Coco was Corey's nickname in high school.

The reason Corey embarked on the path of acting in his previous life was that after this reunion, the uncle of a classmate who worked in the relevant industry dropped by to pick up his niece. He took one look at Corey's face and was immediately impressed. Later, he contacted Corey and asked him to go for an audition.

Although Corey wasn't selected for that TV drama in the end, it led to an audition opportunity for that popular online drama that made him a little famous. In the end, the positive reviews of that serious big - budget TV drama on the rating website were less than half of those of the online drama. This was caused by the increasingly impetuous atmosphere in the industry. From top to bottom, every link didn't care about the results. Everyone just wanted to make a profit from the part they could get their hands on. From film and television to music, it was all the same. Big - budget productions were no longer a synonym for good quality.

With a face of a popular young idol, Corey actually hated this atmosphere. So much so that later, when he became somewhat famous, he never took on any cheesy romance - filled scripts.

Of course, he still had to go to this class reunion. He had to seize the current opportunities.

Corey: I'll come. Send me the time and place.

Monitor: Great! We'll meet at 4:30 pm tomorrow at People's Park. We'll have dinner together and then go sing KTV. There aren't many people, about seven or eight.

Corey: Okay.

Monitor: We haven't chatted for a few months. Why do you seem like a different person? You talk so formally.

The monitor's words somewhat woke Corey up.

It wasn't that he was deliberately being formal. For him, it had been far more than just one semester since he last talked to the monitor. When communicating now, the first feeling that surged up was unfamiliarity. Not to mention having to repeat a conversation from seven years ago.

Corey: Hahaha, really? My hands are cold, so I'm typing a bit slowly.

Monitor: I don't believe it. Anyway, remember to be on time tomorrow.

Not long after, the monitor sent another message.

Monitor: Oh, right. I forgot to ask. Is Nicholas coming?

Nicholas used to always hang out with Corey, and all their friends knew Nicholas.

Monitor: It's not me asking. It's Nina who wants to know.

Corey:???

What was going on? He had long forgotten all the little details from seven years ago. He knew who Nina was. It was her uncle who had taken a fancy to Corey and asked him to go for an audition. But Corey didn't immediately remember that Nina had a crush on Nicholas.

Monitor: Nina likes Nicholas. Why don't you play matchmaker?

Corey: Nicholas is only 17.

As soon as he said this, it was like a slap in the face of his past self. Even now, it made his young face blush remotely.

Monitor: He'll be 18 after the New Year. What's wrong with that? Haven't you heard the saying "When a woman marries a man three years younger, she'll live a prosperous life"? Why are you so old-fashioned?

Corey: Nicholas moved away a year ago. I haven't been in touch with him. I can't be a matchmaker.

Monitor: Really? You and Nicholas aren't in touch anymore? You used to be as close as brothers.

Later, they were so close that they were more than brothers. And yet, they hadn't seen each other for seven years.

Corey thought sarcastically in his heart, and then spat on himself mentally.

Corey: Anyway, we're not in touch.

Seeing him say this, the monitor thought there was some kind of falling - out between them and didn't ask any more.

Monitor: Alright then. I'll tell Nina to give up. Just forget I asked. Don't take it to heart.

Corey rested his chin on his hand and stared at the computer screen. He had come back with great ambitions to get rid of Nicholas this time. But in less than a day, he found that at this point in time, Nicholas was even more present in every corner and aspect of his life, to the point of being almost helpless.

When it was almost time for lunch, Corey's parents came back from outside.

"The vegetables we picked ourselves are so fresh," Corey's mother pulled Corey to the kitchen to sort the vegetables and chattered on, "Oh, by the way, I thought I saw Nicholas when I went out today."

Corey was sipping from a bottle of children's milk. When he heard his mother's casual words, he almost spat out the milk. He widened his eyes and asked, "Nicholas? Where did you see him?"

This hadn't happened at this time in his previous life. Corey's heart was pounding. He was afraid that some uncontrollable plot would emerge.

"I just said he looked like him. I didn't say it was him. I was so far away. How could I see clearly?" Corey's mother said, "If it was Nicholas, I would have called him back for dinner."

Corey let out a sigh of relief and didn't say anything.

Corey's mother had picked a lot of coriander. Corey helped clean it for a while but soon became reluctant.

"Mom, why did you buy so much coriander? It stinks," Corey sniffed his fingertips and wrinkled his nose.

"I like it, and your dad likes it too. What's wrong? I'm going to put it in the hot pot later. Only you don't like it. You deserve to be disgusted by it," Corey's mother said bluntly, "Nicholas even likes it. Where did you come from, you strange kid?"

"Why do you always mention him? He's not even here anymore," Corey complained, "You should care more about your own son."

Corey's mother glared at him and reached out as if to twist his ear. After Corey nimbly dodged, she said, "He's just a kid. Are you jealous of him?"

Corey couldn't explain to his mother that this little poor guy would later turn into a big psycho. He could only swallow his bitterness like a mute.

After a while, Corey couldn't help but ask.

"Hey, Mom, do you think the environment a person grows up in has a big impact on their personality? If a child is well-educated from an early age, will they be less likely to do illegal or psychologically twisted things?"

He was thinking of Nicholas. When he was a child, Nicholas seemed so normal. Being quiet wasn't an incurable flaw. How could he have turned out the way he did later?

Corey's mother nodded in agreement. "Of course. That's why Mencius' mother moved three times. The environment has a huge impact on children. Take Nicholas, for example. What was he like when he first moved across the street from us? And what was he like when he left? He was like two different people."

Corey grunted in agreement, thinking his mother made a lot of sense. No wonder she always mentioned Nicholas.

Perhaps Nicholas hadn't started to turn into a psycho at this time. Maybe there was still a chance to change him from the root?

Anyway, no matter how Nicholas evolved in this life, it had nothing to do with him. Corey's mind was calculating back and forth, and finally, he came to a conclusion that still made him feel quite satisfied.