After Being Reborn, He Became An Ace In A Boy Band Chapter 1

Chapter 1: The Doll in the Window This Really Isn’t His Body…

The night Li Xun died, the city saw its first snow of the winter. He was returning to the Company Dormitory from his sister Li Mo’s school, passing by a shop window. It wasn’t the first time he had walked past this store, but today, his gaze was drawn to a giant rabbit doll behind the glass. It was dressed in a playful Christmas outfit, smiling at everyone who passed by. Its simple, lined expression was rendered surprisingly lively and cute—it was Li Mo’s favorite cartoon character.

Li Xun paused in front of the window, took out his phone, and snapped a picture. Just as he tapped open the pinned chat window for his sister on WeChat, an out-of-control sedan rushed onto the sidewalk.

Li Xun heard the sound of shattering glass and the screams of the surrounding people.

He must have died horribly. In the instant his ribs and internal organs were crushed, Li Xun’s only thought was that he hoped his sister wouldn’t see his corpse.

But consciousness quickly returned. When Li Xun opened his eyes again, the image of the smiling rabbit doll seemed to linger on his retina.

Evidently, he was in a Hospital.

Li Xun let out a long breath, yet nowhere on his body did he feel unusual pain. There wasn’t even an oxygen mask on his face.

Not only was he not dead, but his body had recovered well? Had he been unconscious for a long time?

Li Xun turned his face slightly. There was someone by the bedside. Noticing his movement, the person immediately stood up and looked at him with surprise. “Lan Ge, you’re awake!”

Lan Ge? What Lan Ge…

This person looked familiar, seemingly someone from the company.

“You really scared me. Thankfully, the doctor said it’s nothing serious… Are you uncomfortable anywhere, Lan Ge? The doctor said you have a minor Concussion. Are you dizzy? Do you feel like throwing up?”

Li Xun stared at him blankly. His head did feel a little dizzy. How could it not be dizzy after smashing through glass…

Was his life really this tough? Li Xun thought incredulously. That car was moving fast. He had distinctly felt the inhuman pain of his entire body being crushed. A blow like that to the head should have at least cracked it, if not flattened it.

Thinking this, Li Xun raised a hand to touch his head and face.

“Don’t worry, Lan Ge, your handsome face is perfectly fine!” the person said upon seeing his action. Since there was no mirror nearby, he took out his phone, opened the front-facing camera, and aimed it at Li Xun’s face: “Look! Still perfect. You might have a bump on the side of your head…”

Before he finished speaking, the person on the bed suddenly sat up, nearly knocking the phone out of his hand.

“What’s wrong, Lan Ge?” He was startled. He saw his Lan Ge’s chest heaving violently, his face several shades paler than before, staring at the phone with utter disbelief. His mouth was half-open, but no sound came out.

He hurriedly shoved the phone into his pocket, holding Li Xun’s shoulder in panic. “Are you uncomfortable somewhere? Don’t scare me. I-I’ll go call the doctor!”

The person rushed out of the room. Li Xun touched his face and hair again.

The hair was longer than his own, and it had hair gel in it.

He lowered his head, lifted the blanket, and with trembling hands, unbuttoned the hospital gown. This body was completely intact, without even a scratch.

This really wasn’t his body.

That face, the one he had just seen in the phone, belonged to someone he wasn’t familiar with, yet someone he had resented.

More than two years ago, the Entertainment Agency he belonged to was planning to launch a new five-member Boy Group, To5. Li Xun had excellent scores among the Trainees and was basically set to debut with four others. The five of them had even held meetings to discuss group-related matters. But on the night before the roster was announced, someone from the company he was close to found him, saying they were giving him a heads-up: the results might change.

When the list was announced, the names of the other four were still there, but his was replaced by a completely unfamiliar name—Jiang Yilan.

If this person had been a Trainee with similar ability, or even less talented, Li Xun wouldn’t have felt any resentment. But after finding out more, he learned that Jiang Yilan was a rich second-generation heir who simply wanted to be a celebrity and gain fame on a whim. His parents were Shareholders in the Entertainment Agency. His singing ability was KTV level, his only experience dancing was Broadcast Gymnastics, let alone any other professional skills.

Fortunately, his visual conditions were overwhelmingly good. Debuting as a celebrity based purely on looks was justifiable. He was slotted into the group as the Visual/Face of the Group, with the hope that his skills would slowly improve later.

Li Xun had asked the company at the time why they had to replace him to insert someone else—why couldn’t they form a six-member group? He was told, “Why don’t you go ask Jiang Yilan?” The person answering him looked troubled. “He doesn’t want to debut in the same group as you.”

It wasn’t until he saw Jiang Yilan’s photo that Li Xun remembered he had met this person at the company.

That afternoon, around one o’clock, Li Xun was heading to a Vocal Lesson when he bumped into Jiang Yilan in the hallway.

“You’re a Trainee, right?” That person spoke to him in a tone of utter entitlement that Li Xun couldn’t comprehend: “Go downstairs and grab my takeout for me.”

Li Xun looked at him. That face was unforgettable in its beauty.

“Why?”

“I’m the director’s son.”

“Oh.” Li Xun brushed past his shoulder and went to class.

“Where are you going? The elevator is this way!”

He shouted at Li Xun, but Li Xun walked away without looking back.

Recalling this incident, Li Xun actually smiled. Anyone who heard it would find it ridiculous.

Yet, it was this ridiculous incident that changed his fate.

This was too common in any industry. Li Xun was just an ordinary person, with only his sister and himself relying on each other. What could someone like him use to fight against capital? He only had two choices: accept his fate and wait for the next opportunity, or simply give up on this path.

Li Xun chose the first. In the past two years, he had worked twice as hard, and his assessment scores improved every time. He was someone who had entered the company through a dance audition, yet he had rigorously trained his singing and rap skills to a level where he could stand on his own. The company wasn’t foolish; they couldn’t let such a promising talent waste his youth. But forming a new group took time. Just two months ago, the company told him that the plan for a new Boy Group had been finalized, and the members were chosen. He was positioned as the leader and ACE, and they would heavily promote him.

What was meant to come was two years late, but better late than never. Unfortunately, accident arrived faster than good fortune—he died.

The door was pushed open. Two people entered with the doctor: the person who had been by the bedside earlier, and Rong Xiao, the leader of To5.

Li Xun now remembered who the familiar person was—he was Xiao Cheng, To5’s new assistant. When Li Xun was at the company, he usually stayed in the Practice Room or the dormitory, so he had probably only run into this assistant twice.

The doctor came over first to perform a simple check-up and asked if he was uncomfortable anywhere.

“…No.”

His voice was hoarse, but it was clear that this voice did not belong to him.

“Your mother is on her way,” Rong Xiao said. He walked to the bedside and reassured him, “We’ve already told your mother that you’re fine, so don’t worry. She’s on a plane right now, so she can’t contact you yet.”

Father and mother, such unfamiliar words.

Li Xun couldn’t even clearly recall his parents’ faces. Photos were always two-dimensional; they couldn’t help Li Xun imagine a three-dimensional, living person.

And Jiang Yilan, the parents of this body, were the company Shareholders—two of the main culprits who had kicked him out of To5.

His reaction was truly abnormal. Rong Xiao asked worriedly, “Are you really okay, Yilan? Should we do a more thorough check-up?”

Was this a hallucination from his near-death experience?

“I… I can’t quite remember. What kind of injury did I sustain?”

Rong Xiao and Xiao Cheng froze.

“We were having a Concert Tour, did you forget?” Rong Xiao said. “The Lift Platform malfunctioned. You missed your step while walking back and fell. Thankfully, it wasn’t too high.”

“The height wasn’t great, but you’ve been unconscious,” Xiao Cheng said fearfully. “The fans were terrified. The internet is in chaos right now.”

Rong Xiao observed his reaction and said, “Later, post something on Weibo to let the fans know you’re safe. The company’s official account will also post a statement explaining the situation.”

Li Xun knew that To5 was currently on a Concert Tour. For the past two years, he had avoided receiving news about To5, but the overwhelming coverage of the popular group made it impossible to ignore. Often, the splash screen of a mobile app would feature the five of them, with Jiang Yilan’s Visual face usually shining brightly in the center. Moreover, they were from the same company, so it was hard not to hear about their recent activities.

All three people, including the doctor, were looking at him, waiting for his reply. Li Xun nodded, then put on a half-genuine, half-feigned confused expression and said to the three of them, “I might have… really hit my head. I can’t remember a lot of things.”

Rong Xiao and Xiao Cheng looked at the doctor. The doctor speculated, “It might be Temporary Amnesia. We’ll check again later.”

Rong Xiao comforted him, “It’s okay. Today was the final show of the Concert Tour anyway. Get some good rest, and you’ll recover.”

“Mhm,” Li Xun replied, then asked, “Can I have my phone, please?”

Xiao Cheng paused for a moment, then handed him the phone. Li Xun said “Thank you” to him. Xiao Cheng and Rong Xiao exchanged another look.

Jiang Yilan had never said thank you to Xiao Cheng. While he wasn’t outright rude, he always spoke to his assistant in a commanding tone. He wouldn’t ask “Can I…?” and certainly wouldn’t use polite phrases like “sorry” or “thank you.”

He really has amnesia? The exchanged glances between Rong Xiao and Xiao Cheng clearly held this suspicion.

Li Xun used facial recognition to unlock the phone. He checked the time; it had been less than three hours since he was hit by the car. Opening WeChat, a flood of messages poured onto the screen. Li Xun skimmed through them. The most messages came from the chat box labeled “Mom.”

Li Xun didn’t open it. He closed WeChat and opened Weibo. The comments on his latest post had already exploded. All notifications in the message bar were set to red dots without specific numbers, but he could imagine how many fans had constantly visited his page in these less than three hours.

Although the people who were truly concerned weren’t concerned about him, Li Xun didn’t want so many people to remain worried. He looked up and asked the leader for permission, “I’ll post a Weibo now, just saying, ‘I’m fine, sorry for making everyone worry.’ Is that okay?”

If he hadn’t been looking directly at Rong Xiao, and if Xiao Cheng, who was also present, couldn’t make decisions, Rong Xiao wouldn’t have believed that Jiang Yilan was asking for his opinion.

In the two years since the group formed, Jiang Yilan had never given anyone in the group any respect. He was always self-centered. Aside from Rong Xiao, the leader and resident nice guy, who treated him kindly, the other three never hid their dissatisfaction with Jiang Yilan. Jiang Yilan didn’t bother with them either; they had the purest form of a working relationship.

At this moment, Jiang Yilan looked up, his expression sincere, waiting for his reply.

Rong Xiao suppressed his inner shock and suggested, “If it’s convenient, you could take a selfie. Otherwise, fans might think a staff member posted it using your phone.”

“Okay.”

Opening the front camera again, Li Xun’s heart couldn’t help but skip a beat.

Li Xun adjusted his expression, forced a smile at the camera, and snapped a photo.

There was no need to painstakingly adjust the selfie angle or edit the picture. Even though his complexion wasn’t great right now, it didn’t stop the photo from being posted unedited.

Li Xun finished editing the caption and photo, then handed the phone to Rong Xiao. “Rong… Ge?” He remembered Rong Xiao was older than Jiang Yilan; he wasn’t sure how Jiang Yilan used to address him. “Do you think this is okay?”

Rong Xiao’s instantly widened eyes confirmed to Li Xun that Jiang Yilan had never called him that before. Li Xun suddenly felt like laughing, because Rong Xiao’s expression was one of being flattered yet also uncomfortably disoriented. Li Xun pressed his lips together, holding back the inappropriate amusement. After Rong Xiao nodded, he sent the Weibo post.

Just a few seconds later, his phone rang with the intro of their new song. The caller ID displayed “Mom.”