“Well, too bad,” Nikolai hissed. “I’m what she got.”

“A pity,” Lu Zihao’s remnant murmured in a tone filled with mock pity.

Nikolai clenched his hands into tight fists. The urge to beat up a certain someone overwhelmed him. If not for the sheer impossibility of such a feat, he would have already done so the moment the pest gained the annoying (and a little alarming) ability to have a full, coherent conversation with him. 

“And I’m not going to forget how you kissed my woman,” he said.

The carefree voice inside his head scoffed before laughing out loud. “That kiss on the cheek? Wow, dude. Why don’t you chill a little? That was just an innocent greeting from me to the woman you’re having sex with while using my body!”

“This is my body now! You’re not allowed to kiss Jinjing again!”

“Whatever.”

Frustration filled Nikolai. A vein throbbed in his forehead while he tried to control his temper and restrain himself from punching his own reflection in the mirror. Knowing that another presence, a remnant of the original Lu Zihao’s soul, was still residing in the body he now owned was already troublesome enough by itself. But now that it somehow evolved to its current more sentient state, dealing with it had become many times more difficult than ever before. 

He didn’t know what the evolved remnant was planning by offering a deal for cooperation with him, but he would never let his guard down, not even for a second. There was no way that he was going to give up this body until he achieved his ultimate goal of revenge in this second chance in life. 

But before he could think of a way to deal with the remnant once and for all, he needed to maintain his sanity first and not erupt in total aggravation from the unwelcome chatter inside his head. 

An irritating snicker reverberated in his mind. “Good thing that we share the same body, eh? Someone with a terrible temper like you will surely beat me up if you get the chance. But you can’t! How stupid would you look if you punch your own face! Ahahaha!”

“Fuck you,” Nikolai snarled.

“Aaaw~ You’re so sweet, Nikolai! But no thanks. Sorry to say but I’m straight and won’t let you fuck me. I only like beautiful women. I don’t bend that way, unfortunately.”

Nikolai closed his eyes and forced himself to calm down. If he didn’t, the maddening remnant might succeed in driving him into apoplexy. After a few deep breaths, he was able to regain some semblance of cold calmness. The irritation was still there but he would just treat it as a necessary evil that he needed to deal with until he found a way to drive away the remnant into oblivion. 

The remnant continued trying to provoke him with its lighthearted yet mocking words. “You know what? You’re actually quite a nice guy sometimes if not for all that mafia godfather shit that you’re so involved in. If you just tone down your assholery a bit, then I think you’ll fit right in our brotherhood. We can call you Sixth Brother! Oh wait. You’re older than all of us! But we can’t give you the title Eldest Brother because that already belongs to Eldest Bro Yehan—”

“Shut up! Don’t include me in your stupid brotherhood.”

Silence. 

A heavy pressure weighed down on Nikolai’s head, making him feel like his brain was going to explode. [This novel is a contracted work with W e b n o v e l . c o m (remove spaces). If you’re not reading this chapter on W e b n o v e l, it has been stolen. It’s very discouraging to see thieves profitting from my hard work. Please support the original author, ArriaCross. Thank you! Also follow me on Instagram @arriacross]

“We have a deal, Nikolai,” the carefree voice said, not sounding so carefree anymore. It was serious and even threatening. “Don’t anger me too much or I’ll drive you out of my body until both of us perish together. We’re both dead already, anyway. I may just be a remnant of my original self and won’t be able to sustain living in my body again for long by myself, but I’ll do everything in my power to fight you, an invading soul!”

“You won’t win against me,” Nikolai hissed through the pain in his head. 

“Hah! You think you’re so great? You died too, asshole. In case, you’ve forgotten. And this is my body you’re occupying. It prefers me than you. As long as you keep on rejecting my requests and trying to drive me out of my own body, then I won’t let you live in peace for the rest of your fucked-up life. So you better suck it up like a big boy and fulfill your end of our bargain.”

Nikolai was now down on one knee on the floor while gasping and tried to lift himself up with great difficulty. Sweat ran in rivulets down his entire body and dropped to the floor with an almost audible plop.

“Fine,” he eventually forced himself to say through gritted teeth.

The pressure in his head was gone in an instant as if it never happened in the first place. He stayed on his knee and tried to regulate his gasping breaths back to normal.

“You fucking shit.”

He heard delighted laughter in his head. “Back at ya, asshole.”

Afterwards, he managed to stagger his way into the shower. The remnant was silent for the entire duration that he washed himself, thank fucking goodness. But when he stepped out of the shower, the annoying voice popped in his head again. 

“Hey.”

He ignored the annoying shit.

“Hey, Nikolai! Winter is coming soon. How about we go skiing? It’ll be fun! You can bring your pretty girlfriend.”

“No.”

“Che. What a killjoy.”

He grabbed a towel and began drying his wet body and hair. “Have you forgotten that you died by skiing, you idiot?”

“So what? Life is too short. I believe in living your life to the fullest while doing what you love. And for me, that’s skiing and skydiving and other thrilling activities!”

“Indeed, your life was too short since you died early. Good thing I occupied your body and made everyone think that Lu Zihao is still alive. If not, you would’ve driven the old man to his grave from worrying about your stupid thrill-seeking adventures.”

The remnant had nothing to say to that. 

Ah, finally. Some peace and quiet.