An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
It is complete! Until we write the sequel, anyway, since we plan for this to be a trilogy ^_^
A few people have asked if you need to have seen GYADL to understand the fic - nope! We have tried very hard to make it understandable to DMBJ fans who haven’t seen GYADL, as well as to GYADL fans who don’t know DMBJ.
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Archive Warning: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Hei Xiazi/Luo Fusheng/Xie Yuchen, Hei Xiazi/Xie Yuchen, Luo Fusheng & Original Character
Characters: Luo Fusheng, Hei Xiazi, Xie Yuchen, Original Characters, Luo Cheng, mentions of other characters
Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Time Travel, Fix-It of Sorts, Canon-Typical Violence, Angst, Established Relationship (heihua), Developing Relationship (heihuasheng), Falling In Love, Found Family, opera - Freeform, Alcohol, Unhealthy Coping Mechanisms, Grief/Mourning, murder puppies in love, luo fusheng and luo cheng are siblings, shuang-jie is the best, luo fusheng needs a hug, Happy Ending
Summary: Luo Fusheng had been having a pretty normal day until he found a mysterious statue in a crate that shouldn’t have been there. One blinding flash of light later, he found himself suddenly transported from 1930s Dongjiang to 21st century Beijing. With no way to get home, he resolved to make the best of his new life - a new life that took an unexpected turn when he helped a strange man in black sunglasses foil an attack on his new favourite opera singer, Jie Yuhua.
Legs shaking so much that he was half afraid they wouldn’t be able to support him if he tried to keep standing, Luo Fusheng sank onto the edge of the bed, picking at his gloves as he forced himself to breathe. He had to pull himself together. Xie Yuchen and Hei Xiazi had done so much for him, they didn’t deserve to deal with another one of his pathetic breakdowns. Even after so many weeks, he still couldn’t understand why they had decided to help him and ask for nothing in return.
The duo baffled him. Just what did they see in him that kept them wanting him in their orbit? He was a good fighter, but Hei Xiazi was better. He loved opera, even knew a lot about it, but Xie Yuchen performed like he’d been born for it, lived and breathed it in a way that Luo Fusheng never could. Maybe they just wanted to woo him into joining the Xie family like Xie Yuchen had offered all those months ago, maybe even to fill the currently-vacant second-in-command position. He was good enough for that, he knew that, having already done it for the Hong family. But why go so far? Why take him to expensive restaurants and spend weeks searching for the graves of people they’d never known? They’d both lost people, certainly, which meant they both understood his pain, but still. They could have just pointed him in the right direction and sent him to look by himself, not spend so much of their own time and money helping him personally. Why did they think he was worth so much effort?
He pulled off his gloves, tossing them onto the small table next to the bed, and tugged the laces of his boots undone to kick them off. Maybe it would make sense in the morning. He was too tired to think straight after travelling so far, and he swallowed again as the ghost of Xie Yuchen’s finger tingled under his chin. Yeah, sleep, he needed sleep. He needed to sleep and forget what his heart had done at every fleeting, and not so fleeting, touch. At what it had done when Xie Yuchen had praised him like that, even as false as the praise was.
He groaned, dragging his hand down his face. Fuck it all, he was such a mess, he didn’t even know what to think anymore. He stripped off his clothes and crawled into bed, too tired to bother with anything else. He’d feel better in the morning. Once he’d seen his family and apologised, and no longer had all that built-up nervous anticipation. It was clearly making him loopy.
He was sleep in moments, to once again toss and turn fitfully as nightmares old and new paraded through his mind.
