there are multiple versions of every person in these worlds. now ling jiushi knew it for sure — their names may vary, so may their appearances, and every single difference will add to the whole pull of suchlike differences, making them completely dissimilar. but still, they retained something in common — being reflections of one single personality, they still had the same soul. their habits, their behaviours, their decision-making — it was all the same.
and, of course, there was indeed a world where ruan baijie and yu lingling existed as the real ones — the girls, to be exact. they were both women, no tricks or false faces. just like ling jiushi himself was a man and ruan lanzhu, though pretending to be a woman, was one.
but the names were not the same they used when passing through the doors — not exactly ruan baijie and yu lingling, but ruan nanzhu and lin qiushi. ling jiushi saw these a few times before in another realms — one of the most common versions, probably the main one. not from his own perspective, of course, but still.
he grasped the opportunity — opportunity to see a bit of their life — so easily and suddenly that he himself couldn't quite get how. but still, there he was, looking over his own other self — and realizing that she was literally the same, to his utter relief.
in the world behind the door lin qiushi wore a long pink skirt and a sweater of the same colour, her curly hair a bit lightened; she pretended not to know ruan nanzhu, who allegedly just randomly came closer to her on their first day.
"linlin-jiejie," ruan nanzhu smiled enchantingly, her long eyelashes trembling slightly as she lowered them. "linlin-jiejie, I'm so scared, please take care of me~"
lin qiushi nodded, a bit confused. ling jiushi laughed to himself — he would be, too.
ruan nanzhu was dressed perfectly beautiful, as always; her outfit carried a sense of universal appeal: a classical suit with jacket and trousers, of lavender-blue colour, with a basic white shirt underneath it. she wore her long cascading hair in a high ponytail, and her shoes had extremely high heels that sounded clearly when touching the tiled floor of the building they were in. her face was perfectly attractive, with her usual bright, defined traits; porcelain-like skin, dark eyebrows, deep-black large eyes and two moles — all the same, again, — under her right eye.
and, of course, she was also playing her part.
that of a seemingly powerful, yet innocent newbie girl constantly sticking closer to her new-found "jiejie".
who was equally beautiful, as always, but not even half as charming.
"ah… well, zhu-mei, you don't have to worry," she answered absent-mindedly, "since you've chosen to rely on me, I'll try my best to keep you safe… come on, we need to find some clues first. that can be crucial for our survival."
ruan nanzhu moved closer to her, smiling timidly.
"of course," she said. "I'm just afraid I'll be of no use to you, jiejie, but I'll do my best as well."
they went through the large hall of the building together. it was followed by a long corridor leading to the elevator. on their way they continued speaking, noticing the glances people trailing behind — strangely enough, almost all of them men — casted on them.
"what's your occupation in the real world? I'd say you look quite businesslike," lin qiushi asked casually.
"oh, I'm a lawyer," ruan nanzhu lied with no trace of hesitation. "just started into it. that day I was meant to participate in my first trial, but I suddenly ended up here… linlin-jiejie, do you think it was deliberate? somebody wanted to get rid of me, something like that?.. it can't be a simple coincidence, what do you think?"
lin qiushi assumed a thoughful appearance.
"it may be the case," she finally answered. "but usually the reasons why people end up passing through the door are a bit more… complicated, I'd say. but as long as you survive it here, you can still figure it out when you're back, right?"
ruan nanzhu nodded.
"of course, jiejie." she thought for a moment before she continued. "by the way, I still don't know much about you. what do you do in real life?"
"well…" lin qiushi pretended to be hesitant. "how should I put it… you had probably seen me many times before. though I doubt it that you'd recall me."
"are you an actress?" ruan nanzhu asked with a slight smile.
"yeah, only background roles though," lin qiushi replied. "my face isn't memorable enough and my skills are second-rate as well, so I'm not very popular… sometimes I regret my decision to go for it actually."
you act much better than me though, ling jiushi chuckled. among them, ruan lanzhu had always been the one with the best artistic skills while he usually could only play along. in this version, however, he — she — was much more proficient in it.
but ruan nanzhu was still as good as usual, as well.
"oh, don't say so," she looked really saddened, leaning closer to lin qiushi and kinda giving her a supportive hug. "I believe linlin-jiejie is a real beauty, both here and in reality. and you're so kind-hearted, to add up to it. we only know each other for a couple of days but I already came to adore you."
still smiling, she winked at her, and a small trace of trickiness sparkled in her eyes — just for a moment, no one could notice it though.
no one, except lin qiushi.
and she, as far as ling jiushi could guess, was then restraining herself from breaking the distance between them for a long, passionate kiss.
he could see — could sense — the love she felt for her ruan nanzhu. the same love he felt for his ruan lanzhu.
in every version of reality, in every universe, in every timeline, they stayed the same.
completely enamored, completely into each other.
nothing could ever change it. it was just… the ultimate truth. the unwavering tendency. the unbreakable rule of their very existences.
ling jiushi smiled.
it was so lovely to realize that.