It was New Year's Day, and everyone was happy. 😊
Adam was happy.
Robin, though, wasn't thrilled at first. But by the end, she was happy too.
Things like shame and dignity? Once you lose them, they're gone for good.
So when a colleague from the TV station called to remind Robin to get ready for her broadcast, she didn't even want to go.
They say a gentle embrace is a hero's downfall.
Adam, on the other hand, preferred the song P.S. I Love You.
But after Robin sang her heart out to that song, her mood brightened up again. She felt like the sparkling, radiant Robin from her early days of fame. And Adam? He didn't mind the sparkling Robin either.
This gave Robin a feeling she'd never experienced before.
Watching the music video on the car's TV, where a special-effects robot accompanied the sparkling Robin, and then glancing at Adam beside her, Robin felt a bit dazed.
Was the director of this MV some kind of prophet who could see the future?
Oh, my teenage heart, she thought, struggling internally.
It was like Doctor Strange getting blasted out of his body by the Ancient One—her soul seemed to leave her, floating in midair. Before she could figure out what was happening, she blinked and found herself inside the music video.
She was making a gesture with her arms outstretched.
She remembered that during the original shoot, this was the only move she did.
The rocket effects that sent her soaring into space were added later. Back then, she was just a young idol singer with zero acting experience.
When the director asked her to pose with her arms open like she was flying, she couldn't connect to any emotion. After endless coaching, she finally managed an exaggerated look of infinite joy.
But now? She got it.
When humans break free from gravity and soar into the sky, it's pure, overwhelming joy.
And so, she naturally let that joy show on her face.
In that moment, though she couldn't see her own performance, she knew—the Oscars owed her a Best Actress award! 😤
Was this some kind of superpower? A soulful singer and a soulful actress?
Thinking about it, Robin felt a bit lightheaded, like she held the soul in her hands and owned the entertainment world.
But then, her colleague called again, asking her to host the late-night dead-air slot. It was like gravity kicked back in, yanking her down from space.
She was not happy about it.
Luckily, a tiny thread of reason held her together. Realizing she was about to crash from the clouds and hit rock bottom, she snapped awake. Hearing the urgent reminders on the phone, she quickly agreed and hung up.
"Damn it!"
Robin cursed under her breath. "You almost killed me!"
"No way, really?" Adam laughed.
"I'm running late—hurry up and drive me to the station."
Robin flipped down the visor mirror and started fixing herself up, all while explaining how her soul had just plummeted from space, nearly face-planting into the ground. She'd woken up in a panic.
"That's pretty normal," Adam reassured her. "Lots of people have dreams like that. It could be stress, feeling down, or maybe you're just tired or not feeling well. I used to have those dreams all the time as a kid."
"You had those dreams a lot?"
Robin paused mid-motion, looking at him in surprise.
Once Adam said it, she believed him.
After all, whether it was stress, feeling down, physical discomfort, or exhaustion—she'd just ticked all those boxes.
But Adam having those dreams, and often? That piqued her curiosity.
"Yeah," Adam said, turning the key to start the car. It roared to life, and he gently pressed the gas, pulling out of the mall's underground parking lot and heading toward the station.
"When I grew up and studied medicine, I looked into it. Turns out, it's a subconscious symptom of anxiety or your body sending warning signals. It's pretty common. As long as you don't hit the ground in the dream, it's usually fine."
Of course, this wasn't from this life—it was from Adam's past life.
In his previous life, Adam had those dreams all the time as a kid.
For example:
He'd be running wildly across an empty field, and a plane would fly low overhead. He'd reach up, grab the bottom of the plane, and get carried into the sky. When they passed over a dark, gaping cliff, his grip would slip, and he'd fall into the void.
He'd keep falling, and just as he neared the ground, he'd scream in terror, his legs would go numb, and he'd wake up.
When he woke up, his legs were actually numb. It took a while to shake it off.
Hmm.
Back then, it wasn't anxiety for Adam—it was just his body sending signals.
In this life, after studying medicine, he learned it was pretty common.
But here in the States, it was interesting—fewer cases were about physical warnings, and more were tied to subconscious anxiety.
A land where everyone's depressed and popping pills to cope? It's no joke.
Someone even made a movie about it. The main character, "Reverse Flash" (the actor who played Reverse Flash in The Flash), gets injured and ends up in a hospital bed, suffering.
In his dreams, he keeps running into all sorts of frustrations: a simple surgery goes wrong, his wife cheats with a handsome doctor, and the high-and-mighty him gets humiliated by ordinary folks.
It's all stuff his subconscious is anxious about, imagined by his brain.
Of course, there's also a beautiful nurse who tries to seduce him…
When he finally wakes up and learns the truth, he goes back into the dream and jumps off a building, ending the dream world.
And in reality? He dies too.
Of course, that's just the movie.
"What if you do hit the ground in the dream?" Robin asked, startled.
"Then it's trouble," Adam said, shaking his head. "Falling from a height in a dream, whether it's anxiety or your body warning you, is your brain sending an alert. Waking up before you hit the ground is your brain protecting itself.
"You know, your brain processes signals from all over your body.
"If that self-protection fails and you die in the dream, your brain might actually believe it.
"You've heard of that prisoner experiment, right?
"They blindfolded a death row inmate, dragged a knife's dull edge across their wrist, and played the sound of dripping water…"
"He died of fright!" Robin exclaimed. "Are you saying if you die falling in a dream, you could actually die?"
"The prisoner didn't die," Adam said with a smile. "He just passed out from fear. But all the monitoring equipment showed he was in extreme terror, and his body's data suggested he was losing blood.
"That prisoner didn't die from fright.
"But that doesn't mean others wouldn't.
"People have been scared to death before—it's not unheard of.
"So, while dying in a dream doesn't guarantee you'll die, there's a chance your brain could react to the dream and cause it."
"OMG!"
Robin was stunned. It wasn't until Adam pulled up to the station and nudged her that she snapped out of it. She let out a yell, punched Adam in the chest, and shouted, "You really almost killed me earlier!"
"…"
Adam's mouth twitched, unsure of what to say.
"Hurry up, or you'll miss the recording," he said, half-laughing, half-exasperated.
"You attempted murderer!"
Robin shot him a glare, grabbed her coat from the back seat, and stormed out. She threw on the coat and hurried toward the station.
Sure, she'd almost been "killed," but no one would believe her if she told them.
Others might think she was just humble-bragging and get jealous.
So, she let it go, returned to reality, and focused on keeping her job.
Adam glanced at the time—it was only 10 p.m. After a moment's thought, he pulled out his phone and dialed a number.
"Officer, I've just been accused of murder. Please come arrest me."
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