"An offer?" Johan retorted, suddenly uneasy.
Eric nodded.
"But before you make that offer, I think you need to understand me a little, so you can say yes or no." Erick grinned, mischievously. "Although I doubt you'll refuse."
"Um..." Johan crossed his arms in disbelief, while Erick grimaced in pain as he tried to laugh. "Don't do anything that could open the stitches. Here..." Johan stood up and picked up the medicine bag, the half-eaten bag of chips at his side. "I took the liberty of going through your belongings, and found enough money to buy the medicine you need to take while your wound heals."
Erick was about to say something, but he remained silent for a moment, as if searching for the right words.
After a few moments, however, he just shook his head and let his tongue roll between his teeth.
"How does a miserable homeless man like you know so much about First Aid?"
Johan let out a heavy, angry sigh and got up, approaching the bed and throwing the bag with the medicines exactly over the bandage on Erick's torso.
"Ouch! That hurt!" Erick grimaced, under Johan's smiling gaze.
"It was supposed to hurt." Johan retorted. "I know these things exactly because I'm a, like you said... 'Miserable Homeless man'. But First Aid isn't the only thing I know, and these other things have kept me alive until now. Take one pill of each every twelve hours, and it'll be as good as new in about five days. Or at least as good as new as possible so you can go back to your little mansion or wherever you live."
Erick licked his lips, shocked by Johan's acid and sagacious response.
"You see... I think we were made exactly for this day." Erick half smiled, half grimaced. "You saving my life was no small thing. But what intrigues me most is that we are so similar in appearance, and that's exactly why I want to make you this offer.
I come from a very rich and powerful family on the other side of the country, the Vaughn family, whose last name you may already know, at least, since you looked through my belongings, and may have seen my driver's license.
Turns out... I need to disappear for a while, put my life in perspective, if you know what I mean. And having you by my side seems like fate, since-"
Johan didn't let Erick continue, raising his hands and shaking them intensely.
"Wait. Let me get this straight. You need to disappear for a while... A rich guy like you... And on top of that, you happened to bump into a guy who looks exactly like you... You can't be suggesting that-"
It was Erick's turn to interrupt Johan.
Making the same gesture that the homeless young man had made to interrupt the fancy young man.
The same gesture.
In every detail.
Even the pace at which Erick shook his hands.
The resemblance - despite Erick being pale and with dark circles under his eyes, but still having that cropped but straight hair, and looking much cleaner than Johan - only became more frightening for Johan.
"Yes." Erick responded in a tone of voice full of malice and depth.
A tone of voice so deep, that Johan felt as if the gates of hell were opening beneath his feet.
"I'm suggesting we switch places."
***
The two talked for a few hours, after Erick took the medicine, and after some time, the injured young man couldn't stand it, and, too tired, he went back to sleep.
Leaving Johan alone with his thoughts.
Alone with the idea of switching places with a guy the same age as him, but, unlike Johan, rich and powerful, with a sphere of influence that would make even the governor himself jealous.
"Ha..." Johan laughed bitterly, walking towards the bathroom.
Looking in the mirror over the sink, Johan studied his own face.
No.
Erick and Johan weren't exactly the same.
There were some very soft scars in some spots on Johan's face.
Over one eyebrow, a not very thick line descended from above it to just below the cheek.
On the bridge of the nose, another very thin scar ran from one side to the other.
And another, more prominent this time, right in the corner of Johan's mouth.
If he were to stop and count how many scars covered the vastness of his skin, he would definitely lose count.
And each of those scars represented a story for each day of the years he had spent on the streets.
Some stories even carried more than one of the brands.
"Am I capable of impersonating this guy...?" Johan closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.
Exhaling slowly, almost sighing, he remembered when Erick had imitated his gesture.
Perfectly.
"I know you're awake." Johan said, loudly, from the bathroom.
Leaving there, he saw Erick sitting down again.
"You got me." He laughed dryly. "Do you already have an answer about my proposal?"
Johan shifted a little, nervously.
"Look, I know you must think we have all the time in the world since I'm healing from the stab wound." Erick said, a slight note of urgency showing in his voice. "But in two weeks, I have an important dinner with one of the most... Inopportune members of the family. And I would like to be there in all my glory and grandeur." Erick winked in Johan's direction.
Johan, in turn, sighed heavily, frustrated and feeling defeated, for some reason he himself didn't know.
"What are the terms of the deal, and what do I get in return, in the long game?"
"Smart. I like that, that's exactly what I need in you." Erick smirked, ever so slightly. "This cleverness and your knowledge"
Johan crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, waiting for Erick to continue.
"You're going to live five years of your life as Erick Vaughn. In the meantime, I'm going to live as Johan Reed, and pull some strings to make your situation better. However..." Erick cast a dark look at Johan, once again feeling an chills run through your body.
'Who is this guy, that he can make a person feel afraid with just one look...?' Johan asked himself, but Erick was already talking, before he could find an answer to the question.
"... What will you do or not do with the life I'm going to give you, after we change places again, in five years... It will be your sole responsibility. But before that, you will be able to enjoy everything, the good and the best, that my life has to offer you..."
Johan heard a brief pause in Erick's speech, and waited for a few moments for the rich man to continue.
Seeing that he wasn't going to say another word, and was just waiting for the answer, Johan drummed his fingers on his arm, slowly closing his eyes.
'Five years? There's no way I'm going to lose out on this...' Johan grinned inwardly.
The word that fell from his lips next made the air around him practically shake with the intensity.
"Deal!"