In a men's restroom of Longteng Internet Cafe, a young man in a black T-shirt and a baseball cap was sitting with smoke curling around his left hand while he was leisurely fiddling with his phone with his right hand. His fingers were long and slender with distinct joints, and the corners of his lips were raised from time to time.
He is tall and thin, and looks no more than eighteen or nineteen years old. At first glance, he has the air of a bad boy.
But suddenly, the interest in the boy's eyes slowly turned into confusion, and the cigarette between the index and middle fingers of his left hand fell to the ground because he didn't hold it firmly, and his fingers were burned and turned slightly red.
Lin Xu subconsciously looked at his hands, and saw a piece of cigarette ash on his fingers. He habitually put away his phone, frowned, and washed his hands. He accidentally saw the figure in the mirror. His body paused, and he realized in a trance that something unscientific seemed to have happened to him.
The boy in the mirror looked no different from when he was young, with immaturity visible between his eyebrows and eyes, but Lin Xu knew that this was not him.
When he was young, he wouldn't hide in the bathroom smoking in ripped jeans.
Lin Xu had been living in an ivory tower in his previous life. After completing his studies, he stayed in a research institute, doing the scientific research he was interested in day after day. In real life, he died suddenly due to overwork.
Lin Xu was not quite sure who he had become now. Only some fragments would occasionally appear in his mind. They might be the memories of his original body, some of which were trivial.
But Lin Xu roughly realized that his original self was a senior high school student, who seemed to be... still in the rebellious period. He didn't quite understand the scenes in his memory.
Just as I was thinking about it, another person walked in through the door. He looked the same as the original person, a young boy.
As expected, I know him.
"Brother Lin, you are such a heavy smoker? Smoke less, or be careful that your grandparents won't smell it when you get home." The other person wrinkled his nose and fanned away the smell, then embraced Lin Xu again.
"The brothers said they were a little hungry. Let's go out and find something to eat?" Mao Jun pulled Lin Xu out.
Although Lin Xu was not used to being touched by others and felt a little stiff, he still followed.
Walking outside, Lin Xu realized that this was actually an Internet cafe. He had never been to an Internet cafe before, and looking at the group of Internet-addicted teenagers not far away, he also felt unfamiliar.
These were all friends the original owner knew. When they saw them coming, they grabbed their coats, stood up in twos and threes, and were about to go out in a noisy manner.
"We've been waiting for you for a long time." they complained.
Lin Xu glanced at them, said sorry softly, lowered his head and naturally picked up his shoulder bag and put it on his back.
Everyone thought he was acting weird today, but they didn't think much about it. They just discussed whether to go for barbecue or hotpot. Lin Xu didn't listen much as he was a little dazed when he first came here.
His thoughts were interrupted by a white and soft hand. The girl with delicate makeup at the end of the group put her hand on his shoulder and said ambiguously, "Although your smoking posture is very attractive, but... I really don't like the smell."
The original owner learned this activity from them, but what the girl said was biased. In fact, Lin Xu only had a faint smell of tobacco on him, which was not unpleasant.
The main reason is that although the girl hangs out with them, she likes the type of academic nerds who are out of her reach.