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The Circle of Cards

ShadowC_
7
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The average realized release rate over the past 30 days is 7 chs / week.
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Chapter 1 - Transmigration (1)

The smell of bacon permeated the air. Ansel, with a spatula in his right hand and a large notebook in his left, muttered, "Hydrogel scaffold-based localised gene delivery: enabled spatial control of BMP-2 expression in vivo."

He put down the spatula, switched off the stove, and squinted his eyes while frowning. "BMP-2?" Ansel questioned himself, turning back to the previous pages of the notebook. He tried to find any mention of BMP-2, but the fact that all his pages were cluttered with his handwriting, which looked like a drunk man's rambling, did not help his cause. Eventually, he gave up, put the notebook down on the kitchen counter, and swore under his breath.

Fuck me, why couldn't my memory be like Edward's? He literally goes over his notes a bit and then it's stuck there, like his brain is some sort of sponge.

Ansel sighed, took a few deep breaths, and shook his head while muttering, "No use crying about it."

He took his spatula again and placed the hot, greasy bacon onto his plate. While the pan was full of bacon grease, Ansel turned on the stove, went towards the fridge, picked out two large eggs, and cracked them into the pan. The smell of cooked bacon mingled with the aroma of eggs sizzling in the greased pan.

After the eggs were cooked perfectly, Ansel used the spatula to place the two eggs beside the cooked bacon. After walking to the fridge and taking a single slice of white bread, he made his way to his pine dining table, situated by the window in his small, cramped apartment, while holding the plate of cooked eggs and bacon. Sitting down on the chair and placing the plate on the table, Ansel scarfed down his eggs and bacon while inwardly thinking about his situation at the university.

Fuck me, who did I think I was, trying a PhD in bioengineering? I barely managed my master's. Ugh… I should've just taken Uncle Martin's job offer.

After Ansel devoured his breakfast, he brushed his teeth and then brushed his long black hair into a 70-30 part. He put on his black trousers and buttoned up his white linen shirt. After inspecting himself in the mirror and believing he made a mistake not going into modelling, Ansel found his lab coat, which was hung on the door that led to his bedroom, and put it into his backpack. He then grabbed his keys and left his apartment, making sure he locked the door - just in case any thieves felt like paying him a special visit while he was at the university. Not that it mattered anyway; Ansel was practically dirt broke. Living on his Doctoral Loan and the modest stipend paid to him by the university, Ansel barely had any disposable income - and most of that vanished on his TV subscriptions and fantasy books.

While walking down the stairs of his apartment complex, Ansel grunted as he realised he had left his notebook on the kitchen counter. After going back and placing the notebook into his bag, Ansel finally left the apartment complex and cursed whatever god decided he should have a bad memory. While muttering blasphemy against every religion he knew, Ansel walked to the train station, paid for his ticket, and sighed in relief once he was seated on the crowded train. For one last time, Ansel sighed again and muttered, "Fuck me, I hate my life."

- -

After what seemed like an eternity to Ansel, he finally arrived at his university. Making his way through the gates, he spotted Edward trying to talk to one of the girls from their cohort. Ansel struggled to hold back a smirk when he saw that Angela was completely stoic, while Edward was fully engrossed into talking about… how he hit a new PR on his bench press? Ansel was completely stunned. He knew Edward liked Angela, since he always tried to partner up with her during their lab time and was always the first one to volunteer to go over her data whenever she asked the cohort, but at this rate hell will freeze before he strikes her heart.

Ansel sighed. Again.

Fuck me, he thought as he walked toward Edward and Angela. How many times have I sighed today?

As he neared his love-struck fool of a friend, a few changes caught his eye. Was Edward wearing cologne? And instead of the usual messy blond mop that hung over his forehead, his hair was neatly slicked back.

Ansel smirked. So love can turn even a fool like Edward into a respectable gentleman.

"Hey, guys," Ansel said with a smile, as soon as he approached them, "How have you two been?"

Angela - wearing black leather boots, black trousers and a white turtleneck - smiled and responded first, "I'm alright, it's just this PhD program is doing my head in."

Once again Ansel sighed, "Tell me about it, God there literally is so much work and what? Zero time to complete it!"

Edward, not wanting to be out done by Ansel (even though Ansel has no interest in Angela), boasted: "It really isn't that difficult. Just memorise the notes."

Angela side-eyed him, unimpressed. "Right. Because it's just so simple." Edward seemed taken aback by this response - he'd genuinely expected Angela to be impressed by his intelligence.

To his right, Ansel sighed and rolled his eyes. Fuck me, how can someone have such a perfect memory but still lack any emotional intelligence!

Edward, unbeknownst to Ansel's cursing, lifted his arm and scratched the back of his head. "Anyway let's go to the lab, Miss Yuu will really do us in if we're late," Edward said, glancing awkwardly around and tilting his head.

- -

Ansel sighed again. Fuck me, Edward I'm right here! Why are you still acting like a love sick puppy to Angela? It's been 10 minutes since Ansel and his cohort left the main gate and started to make their way towards the lab.

The entire time, Ansel was silent, pondering inwardly on why Edward was such a fool for Angela. He turned his head slightly to take a glance towards the duo. Once again Edward was grinning like an idiot and bragging about… how he spent 10 hours playing a video game instead of reviewing his notes? Ansel rubbed his temples and groaned. Fuck me again, Edward… how the hell are you not seeing this? Angela was walking beside him, stiff as a board, eyes ahead, only responding with the occasional "Yes" or "Really?" She's clearly not listening, man…

While walking, Ansel thought more about this absurd situation.

Angela is quite pretty, especially that long silky black hair, and that cute button nose but still, our cohort is full of pretty girls! How is Edward so smitten towards her? Maybe he likes cold girls?

Ansel turned his head towards the duo, fully prepared to put their "thrilling" one-sided conversation to bed, when suddenly the ground began to shake.

Ansel, incredibly confused, held onto a nearby street lamp for support. Angela, who did the same to a stationary bin, exclaimed in disbelief, "Is this an earthquake?"

Edward, who didn't react fast enough and fell to his butt, retorted, "No way, we're in England, earthquakes don't happen here!"

Ansel added, "Fuck me, I hate to say this but Edward's right. An earthquake of this magnitude shouldn't happen here since we're not near any major tectonic boundary!"

While Ansel was pondering this strange situation, the magnitude of the earthquake increased causing Ansel and Angela to stumble on the floor. While Ansel was regaining his bearings, the pole he was holding onto swayed violently before finally giving in, crashing to the ground.

Trembling at its base, the street pole gave up and fell, aiming straight for Ansel.

Fuck me, this is really how I'm going to die. Death by street lamp… I really hate my life

The light crashed down, and Ansel's vision went black.