"As long as Episode 6's ratings climb back up, this show will enter a rapid growth phase, all the way to the finale."
"You're that sure?" Shinozaki Ikumi asked, puzzled.
"I'm sure," Su Yan replied.
Because in his past life, it was around this point—playing 'To the Moon'—that he had nearly run out of patience too.
The pixelated graphics were rough, the text-heavy story seemed dry, and there were so many better games on the market. Why keep wasting time on this one?
But he held on… just a little longer.
And then he finally witnessed the soul-shaking narrative that stayed with him for years.
Su Yan had always believed he had pretty average taste.
So if he had that experience in his past life, the audience in this world should too.
Mid-February, Saturday night.
Gao Jing tuned in to 'The Crimson Magician' first, then immediately switched to Sakura TV.
He'd been reading all the complaints from other Su Yan fans online, saying the show was too slow, too dull—but still, he waited.
He was waiting for that moment.
The moment Su Yan, just like when he wrote 'Rurouni Kenshin' and 'An Ancient Love Song', would ignite the story.
He refused to believe what the media was saying—that the show was aimless and being made up as it went.
He believed the first five episodes were laying the foundation.
There didn't need to be logic behind it—it was just a kind of blind faith in Su Yan.
And then, the opening theme of 'To the Moon' Episode 6 played.
The episode began with the two doctors, Neil and Eva, finally breaking through the memory barrier. Using the scent of a dead squirrel, they guided Johnny's suppressed childhood memories to the surface, and the machine began reconstructing them.
Right from the start—a devastating car accident.
A mother, reversing her car, accidentally runs over her own child.
The scene was brutal. Bloody. Tragic.
Beside them, another child stood frozen—watching his brother die before his eyes, breaking into a heart-wrenching cry.
Gao Jing's pupils widened.
What the hell?!
Wasn't this supposed to be a romance drama?
And that surviving child…
Was it Johnny?
Did he have a twin brother who died in childhood?
And that brother's name was Joey?
The story opened with heartbreak.
Joey's death caused severe trauma in Johnny.
To treat it, his mother gave him beta-blockers, erasing all memories before that tragedy—including the memory of his brother Joey.
But the mother couldn't forget. Her mind slowly broke down. From then on, she would look at Johnny's face and call him by his dead brother's name.
But Johnny, who no longer remembered any of it, couldn't understand why.
Gao Jing felt like he couldn't breathe.
No wonder Johnny's childhood memories couldn't be reconstructed.
No wonder, at his wedding to River—
His mother had stood there and called Johnny by the name "Joey."
She had raised him as a replacement for her dead son.
Gao Jing couldn't take it. The deeper he immersed himself in Johnny's childhood, the more suffocating it felt.
But the story didn't stop.
The two doctors, shaken, continued diving deeper into Johnny's memories.
And they discovered that even before Joey died, their mother had played favorites.
She doted on Joey.
She was strict with Johnny.
They also learned that Joey's favorite book before his death was 'Transformer.'
Gao Jing's heart clenched even more.
He remembered clearly—at Johnny's wedding, his mother had gifted him a copy of 'Transformer' and said it was his favorite childhood book.
But Johnny had looked confused—he'd never read it before.
How could that be his favorite book if he didn't even recognize it?
"This is too heartbreaking..." Gao Jing was already on the verge of tears.
Witnessing his brother's death left him mentally scarred. Then his own mother made him forget everything and raised him as a stand-in for the child she lost.
Even at his wedding, the blessing wasn't for him—it was for a boy who'd been dead for decades.
The worst part? Johnny never knew.
He never realized that his mother's love was for someone else—someone he didn't even remember existed.
The story pressed on.
In Johnny's fragmented memories, before Joey died, he was always protecting Johnny.
The two would talk about their dreams together in their room.
Joey would share everything—his toys, his snacks, his love.
The things their mother gave only to him, Joey would secretly give to Johnny.
And with a warm smile, he'd say—
"I know Mom plays favorites. But listen, Johnny—what's the difference between what you and I have?"
"Everything I have is yours too. The toys, the train sets, everything. We can play together."
"Because we—"
"We're twin brothers."
The ending theme began to play.
Gao Jing felt something deep in his chest crack open.
As that little boy in the show smiled and said those words, Gao Jing was overwhelmed by something he couldn't put into words.
So that's why Johnny couldn't cope after witnessing his brother's death. That's why he needed beta-blockers to survive.
He never resented his mother for favoring Joey. He never resented his brother for taking the love he never received.
Instead, he loved them both—deeply.
Until the tragedy stripped him of every memory and feeling tied to that love.
And his mother, now lost in her own guilt and madness, raised Johnny as a shadow of the son she accidentally killed.
This… this was supposed to be a romance drama?
Why did the family plot hit so hard?
Gao Jing thought he had prepared himself.
River was already dead. Johnny was dying.
What danger could there be in watching the memories of two people who were already gone?
But now… his nose stung. His eyes welled up.
After watching for six weeks, for the first time, he truly felt for Johnny—a man nearing the end of his life.
Johnny would die never knowing he once had a twin brother.
Only the two doctors inside his memories… and the audience watching from their couches… would ever know the truth.
He would never realize that his mother's love was never meant for him.
["Su Yan, you old fox… You really do know how to write a tragedy."]
Gao Jing, holding back tears, quietly listened to the ending theme.
Waiting for the preview of Episode 7.
Most viewers didn't bother waiting for episode previews.
But Gao Jing was different.
Soon, the preview began.
A soft, romantic scene unfolded:
A dark blue night sky. A golden moon.
Two small silhouettes—one boy, one girl—sat side by side on a tree stump.
A gentle breeze stirred their hair and clothes.
Then the girl spoke softly:
"What do you think those stars mean?"
"What if you forget? Or get lost?"
A cryptic teaser.
There was no proof, no clear reveal.
But in that moment, Gao Jing—and every other viewer who had made it through Episode 6—felt the same thing deep in their gut:
That girl sitting beside young Johnny…
Was River.
Wait…
Could it be?
Did Johnny and River not meet in middle school?
But all the way back…
In childhood?