A Bad-Hearted Doctor is Unbearably Beautiful - Chapter 105

Giant posters of Nine flanked the stage, while the spectator stands were a sea of support flags organized by fan clubs. A single, cold white spotlight beamed down from above, turning the stadium into a space as bright as day.

Before Shen Zhao could even process the scene, he felt a series of cold pinpricks on his face.

“Rain… no, is it snowing?”

He looked up to see pure white snowflakes drifting down, dancing through the air before landing on his skin. One flake landed on his lip; the moment it melted, it left behind a faint, cool moisture.

Shen Zhao looked at Lu Xiao, whose palms were also catching large flakes.

“It hasn’t snowed in Shen City for years…”

“Even in the dead of winter, we haven’t seen snow! This must be artificial, right?”

“It’s fake snow! But it’s so beautiful…”

Under the blue-white spotlights, the snow fell upon every upturned face. Suddenly, the most dazzling beam of light in the house centered on a single point. Every gaze followed it.

The ultra-wide screen behind the stage abruptly turned a stark, blinding white. A moment later, the white retracted from both sides simultaneously, swallowed by a deep ink-black. Finally, the screen was pitch black save for a single vertical line of white in the center.

At a glance, that sliver of white looked like a ray of heavenly light piercing through the void. Or perhaps… like a cross in the darkness.

Right then, a lift in the center of the stage slowly rose, carrying an ice coffin…

“Holy crap!”

“What kind of insane opening is this?”

The audience fell deathly silent in an instant. Everyone held their breath. Shen Zhao sat below, his face submerged in the shadows of the crowd, looking up at that coffin. It was translucent, shimmering behind the veil of falling snow.

The head of the coffin was slowly tilted upward until the man lying inside was standing upright. The camera on the big screen zoomed in tight on his eyes. Everyone could see that Nine’s eyelashes were coated in white crystals, like rime ice. He lay there with eyes closed, his silver hair hanging low, appearing as though he had been preserved in ice for an eternity.

Pressed against his chest was a single rose, half-charred by fire.

As the first beat of the music dropped, Damian abruptly snapped open his ice-encrusted eyes.

Clang—

The ice coffin shattered. He stepped out barefoot, singing his first note amidst a blur of smoke, shattered ice, and shifting shadows. Dry ice billowed from the stage edges, coiling around him like white serpents.

The crowd went wild. An uproar erupted.

“AHHHH!”

“That was incredible!”

The cacophony gave Lu Xiao a headache. He was about to complain to Shen Zhao when he noticed that Shen Zhao was staring at the stage, completely entranced.

Lu Xiao frowned but said nothing. Fine, he thought, a “main partner” should have the grace to be patient…

On stage, Nine stood at the center. His silver-white shirt was slightly open at the collar, revealing the elegant lines of his collarbone. Whether it was the stage makeup or some other effect, his skin seemed to shimmer with the brilliance of crushed diamonds.

His long, slender fingers gripped the microphone as he paced forward. His curls cast deep shadows across his brow and the bridge of his nose—a profile that looked as if it had been carved by a Greek sculptor. Beneath his silver-gray hair, his gaze was tender, melancholic, and full of longing.

Just as the dry ice began to dissipate, he leapt into the air. The LED floor beneath him instantly ignited into a fiery red, swallowing the cold lights of a moment ago.

The audio shifted to a heavy, electronic beat that mirrored the thumping hearts of the fans. In Shen Zhao’s pupils, Nine had already shed his silver robe to reveal a skin-tight, crimson leather outfit. It hugged every inch of his alluring physique.

Standing at the edge of the stage amidst erupting pyrotechnics, his eyes burned with intensity as he sang:

I was a child in frost / with toffee-sticky fingers / fake swords, / real vows — / we were legends in the dirt.

But you burned the garden / now I burn the world / ‘cause frozen boys don’t stay quiet / — they burst.

Shen Zhao’s pupils contracted with every line of the lyrics. Lu Xiao’s brow furrowed imperceptibly.

“What do those lyrics even mean?” Lu Xiao muttered, trying to parse the words. He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but he felt a heavy sense of subtext.

Shen Zhao stared at the stage, unmoving. Scenes from their childhood—the two of them play-fighting with wooden swords—flashed vividly before his eyes.

The stadium had descended into total euphoria.

“Is this a new song?!”

“A premiere! It’s a new song premiere! The title hasn’t even been announced yet. We’re so lucky!”

People were so excited they were practically standing on their seats. Someone screamed “Long live Damian!” while others yelled “Husband!” incessantly.

Before the final note had fully faded, the lights went dark once more. As Nine dropped down into the stage lift, Lu Xiao saw it clearly: Nine’s gaze had lingered on Shen Zhao’s section for a split second.

Suddenly, it felt as if all light had been sucked out of the world. Decades of silence seemed to pass in those few seconds of darkness, followed by a drumbeat—increasingly rapid, increasingly deafening.

The rhythm was eerie, reminiscent of an ancient sacrificial rite, pounding against the chests of the audience. A moment later, gold-dust shadows fell, and the stadium felt as though a blast of hot air had been turned on. The stage transformed into a desert parched by a scorching sun.

Warm, amber beams converged in mid-air, and Nine descended from the sky. He faced away from the audience like the deity of an ancient dynasty, his silhouette looking as if it had been weathered by sands for a thousand years. His silver-white hair danced in the air, whipping against his beautiful face.

The visual reminded many of Viserys Targaryen—the man driven mad by his own obsessions. Nine’s eyes were naturally amber, and his brow carried a look of extreme, paranoid arrogance. Bathed in the golden light, he looked like a god descending to earth.

So “chuunibyou”… Lu Xiao couldn’t understand the explosive atmosphere at all. Feeling a strong sense of dissatisfaction and a sudden urge for a break, he decided to make a “bathroom run.”

He tapped Shen Zhao on the shoulder. “Keep watching, I’m going to go take care of some personal business!”

Lu Xiao squeezed his way out through the crowd. He had intended to head back after using the restroom, but the scene back there made him feel restless. He decided to find a spot to smoke a couple of cigarettes first.

He finally found a corner without a smoke detector. He leaned against the wall and flicked his lighter—click.

In that moment, he saw a familiar figure flash past in the distance.