Second Lead Syndrome (1-187) | ✓

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Author's Note: Omg, I completely forgot to update yesterday! I was having too much fun doing my own things, sorry! PS. I might reply even lesser to comments for now since I am busy with other things in my own life.

Any urgent questions or comments, please drop me a private message on Wattpad or my discord. My notifications are getting swamped even more so it's hard to see >_<!

There was a soft smile on the raven-haired woman’s lips, her voice soothing and calming. She kept her hands on his cheeks, caressing them gently. 

“It’s going to be okay, Xue.” 

Somewhere within his clouded mind, an unobstructed thought passed through him. 

Cecil Lan. 

The familiar fragrance of herbs and flowers slowly registered in his mind, and the vile thoughts started to disperse bit by bit. Albeit, they still remained there but it wasn’t as loud anymore. 

Xue realised that his breathing was a little too fast, and he had been struggling to catch his breath.

"..."

"...Cecil."

She saw the recognition within Xue's grey eyes, and she sighed in relief. 

Xue looked at his surroundings, puzzled, finding himself out of breath. "We...are...outside?"

Cecil had pulled them into the alleyway beside the restaurant, since the streets would be too crowded as well. 

"Yeah, I brought you out here," Cecil nodded. "You were starting to hyperventilate." 

Xue did not understand that word. "Hyper...what?"

Cecil, once again, realised it was a word that originated from her world. 

"You were breathing too fast for your body to handle." 

"Is that...possible?" Xue was bewildered. 

Cecil felt saddened, wondering if Xue had experienced something like that in the past or in the original novel. However, no one had been there to help him. 

“It is,” she answered before shaking her head. “But no matter, are you alright now?” 

He felt Cecil’s fingers twitching on his cheeks, noticing that her hands were still on his face. 

Cecil seemed to notice it too, withdrawing her hands back.

"So-sorry, I was trying everything to wake you up--"

Xue put his hands over hers, stopping her from pulling back. 

"It's okay," Xue closed his eyes, sighing. "Keep them here."

Cecil blinked rapidly, biting on her lower lip. "O-okay."

A quiet moment passed and his breathing was returning to normal, and he started to feel himself relax. 

Xue knew he was trapped in a dark place, and his mind was on the verge of doing a complete flip. 

Cecil observed him carefully, wanting to wait until the right moment to bring up the question in her mind. She noticed that he was in a much better state compared to before, gathering up her courage. 

"Were you...angry?"

Xue slowly opened his eyes. 

"You looked really angry before," Cecil hesitated to say, nervous. “Like you wanted to kill them.”