So ML is the classic obsessive character forcing MC to be with him and is borderline abusive or so we’re told. This is because all of those dog blood scenes happen in MC’s previous life. We see glimpses of the behavior but due to MC’s change of perspective and willingness to be with the ML; he kind of holds the leash in the relationship.

The story is lighthearted and any possible misunderstanding are solved quickly with communication. However I do have a few qualms.

• MC being hyperfeminized. At one point he asked a question about men and I’m like “are YOU not a man?” Really common in danmei though and not as bad as others tbh. At least there’s the excuse of his poor health.
• Why does the ML love him so such? Other than his appearance which the author will take a paragraph to gush about. This could be answered if I finished the story but...
• I got bored. I’ll probably come back to it later but for now I’m just so bored. I almost wanted the ML to do something toxic.

There’s plenty of good things too though. Like...

• The MC. He really chill and kind. He’s learned from the past and knows what to accept and what to change. I like how he thinks before he act.
• The lack of unnecessary villainization. Characters are not taken revenge on or hated simply for having a romantic interest in one of the protagonist. Some danmei will kill off a female character or make her evil for no good reason.
• Dogfood. MC and the ML are a pretty solid couple.

Not a must read. I kind of rounded the rating up tbh, but I like it 👍

Sickly unreliable narrator MC gets reborn into debt & resigns himself to a life of being kept by a stereotypical dominating CEO gong again. Except this time he knows the gong ML probably really loves him & just can't spit it out.

Aspects of their relationship are very unhealthy, in particular the ML's insecure need for control that stems from being convinced his love has to be unrequited, because of course who would like the rich man extorting your family's debt for s*xual favors. Their relationship in their past life was... more>> made much more toxic by this insecurity and the resulting raging jealousy that would make them fight over and over again. ML's actions may have been borderline abusive because of their unequal power dynamic, but MC doesn't seem to truly hate him even after their bouts of messy, dubiously consented to s*x. MC mainly complains about being confined to the house, but he was out driving by himself at the beginning of the story, so his narrative is really doubtful. He's also softened a lot by ML's confession in the last life & reveals that he still cares about the ML he left behind after all. This honestly reads more like a weak, coquettish MC saying he's going to break up with the ML in a fit of anger before being assuaged that ML does love him after all so he'll give things another try. <<less

I was very dubious of this story, but it's become one of my favorites. The frail, tiny, sardonic MC constantly trolling his hulking, brutish ML is hilarious.

Yes, the MC's actions are messed up; but speaking as an abuse survivor, they're messed up in ways that make sense from his perspective. He's not "weak"; if that were the case he would have collapsed into hysteria or su*cide after meeting the ML in his second life. He knows he doesn't have the resources to escape the ML -- he's tried it before,... more>> and his attempts only resulted in harming those he cares about. So he tries to use his advance knowledge to seize control of those aspects of the relationship that he can get his hands on. This is a common coping mechanism for adults in this situation.

Would he act differently if he could get away from the ML for six months to get his head sorted out? Absolutely, but he doesn't have that luxury.

I'm looking forward to finding out how the ML got messed up to begin with. <<less

Is the main character called Xia Shu An, Xia Shuan or Xia Shu'an? Is it a sloppy editing work or are they three different people? I think we all know the answer.

Whatever his name is, the MC is ridiculous. I haven't figured out what happened between him and the ML in the previous life. There is no r*pe tag, so I assume everything was consensual? Then what is the MC unhappy about?

Oh wait, he's so "unhappy" that he jumps into the same relationship before Chapter 10. So he's just acting... more>> coy or what? Never mind, there's no logic in the MC's thoughts or actions. Like he decides he's free from the ML now, and two sentences later does everything to attract the ML's attention.

Really, the MC was so hypocritical that I wondered what the ML liked about him. Sure, he's pretty. And sickly. Yes, there are countless sickly beauty characters but there is usually something else about them that makes them attractive. Not here. <<less

Complicated emotions about this one. At the start you can get a feel for how big of a controlling bastard the ML was so you sympathize with the MC. But later on, when we find the ML's POV from the extras it's actually so painful. He's a messed up stalker/yandere all the way, but his mentality was likely twisted from all the suffering he had gone through before. I really can't imagine how much he had gone through to go from a penniless teen to his current status as a... more>> tycoon so that he could match up to the MC. He shouldn't have made the MC suffer that much during the relationship, but in a way I'm glad that he managed to snatch his canary back and that the MC had a chance to be reborn so he could find out the true feelings hidden behind all the savagery. Bittersweet. <<less