Help! I Became A Guy In A BL Novel!

The moment Riven's heartbeat calmed, Soren tightened his hold—but then something reached his nose, a familiar smell. A faint chemical tang, almost metallic. He froze, senses sharpening in an instant. He knew that smell—a hallmark of a particularly dangerous substance, one that is famous for all the wrong reasons.

A drug from the black market, known to trigger animalistic rage and ferocity in those who took it.

Soren's mind raced. This was no accident, Riven was being targeted. Whoever had given Riven this drug had chosen that specific drug carefully.

It was used not just to destroy but to frame: make someone appear savage, unfit, dangerous, then swoop in and take their power, their land, their reputation. Such incidents were a pretty common occurrence.

"Nicholas," he breathed, low and tense.

He remembered the advisor: how he manoeuvred, whispered, quietly undermined his authority until Soren finally stripped him of his position. It was no coincidence that the day he dropped off Riven at his home, Riven went through this.

He'd always been power-hungry, always planted seeds wherever he could—back-room deals, off-the-record deals, trying to claim more power than he was given. Soren dismissed him the moment he overstep. Not dealing with him and putting an end to his life back then... Now that was Soren's mercy.

Soren had tolerated him before, because nobody understood a territory better than the man who helped build it—but now he realised how dangerous that tolerance had been. Nicholas, once his mentor, had begun surviving by turning every quiet whisper into a conspiracy, always waiting for the moment to strike.

Now, he'd struck at Riven. Riven was not his weakness, he was his reverse scale.

Yet Soren's hands remained steady. Riven stirred, eyes fluttering. Soren placed a soft kiss on his forehead, his voice quiet.

"It's okay, I've got you."

Soren assumed that Riven pushed him away because he was afraid of hurting him. He was going feral after all. That, however, was not the case. Riven pushed him away because he was scared of him.

A plan was already forming. He couldn't let Nicholas get away with this.

Riven's breathing quickened, and he felt something touch him, no, it was not Soren. But something, not someone.

His skin was clammy against Soren's palm, and when he pulled his hand from Riven's cheek to tuck damp hair behind his ear, Riven flinched again.

'You are in danger.' A voice whispered.

Riven's wide green eyes fixed on Soren's face as though searching for something—some reassurance, some proof that he wasn't still trapped in that nightmare. But no matter how Soren looked back at him, the fear didn't fade.

Slowly, Riven backed away, each inch feeling like it stretched a mile between them. But there was not much space to begin with, he was sandwiched between Soren and the wall.

Still, those few inches of space gave him relief.

Soren followed, dropping to a knee in front of him, his hands out but not daring to touch. His voice was hushed and breaking.

"Riven," he whispered, "please. I'm here. You're safe with me."

'You will die... Again.'

Again? He did not want to die again.

Riven tried to nod in response to Soren, but the motion was jerky. His vision blurred, and he realised only when Soren's thumb brushed the heat from his cheek that he was crying. Soren's face crumpled, pained in a way that Riven rarely saw. He gently covered Riven's eyes with his palm, shielding him from everything, including the shame in Soren's own gaze.

"Don't—don't look at me like that," Soren murmured hoarsely. "Like I'm some monster. I couldn't bear it."

Riven's lips parted, but no words came out. Instead, he swallowed hard, he removed Soren's hand with his own, still holding it while his gaze flicking up to meet Soren's—and then away again, unable to hold it. The memory of those cold, murderous eyes was burned into his memory. He could never forget it.

He let go of Soren's hand.

He thought he'd known fear before. But it was nothing.

The voice came again, slippery and quiet, like someone breathing in the dark just behind his ear."You're not safe."

Riven's eyes snapped open wider. He shook his head, trying to clear it, but the voice only grew clearer."You are going to die."

It kept repeating like it was not some omen, it was a fact. It was destiny. He would die again.

He flinched hard, clutching at his hair.

"S-stay… Stay back—" Whenever Soren came close, that voice became louder. He could not- That voice sounded like his own, and he could not hear it say those things again.

"Riven," Soren pleaded, his hands hovering helplessly inches away. "Please." Soren was on his knees, begging. Begging for it to end. For whom was it a nightmare? For Riven? To Soren, it felt like he was the one experiencing it.

"It wasn't a dream, I wish it was a dream," the voice insisted, dark and honey-sweet, but at the same time, it was filled with resentment. 'It was a glimpse. A warning. Stay away from them. All of them.'

Riven whimpered, his body curling forward over his knees. The words crawled under his skin, he did not want to hurt others, nor did he want to hurt himself. Mustering up the courage, he asked, "Please... Just leave me alone for some time... I need some time..."

Soren felt like his heart was being grasped by an iron fist, squeezing it. It was torture, but he always honoured Riven's wishes. He would honour this too.

His hand that was reaching out to Riven was clenched into a fist and brought back to his side. He slowly got up and left. He felt more grief than anger.

It was temporary... He told himself. Riven was not going completely feral so the dose was not too much, he would be back to being himself with some time... That was what he kept repeating.

The only thing that stopped him from dragging Nicholas by his throat and ripping him apart at this very minute was the fact that it was not lethal...

Riven will be back.