"Yohan."
The mere mention of Yohan's name caused his body to freeze, as if the world had stopped moving. It was impossible for this man to know him, they were strangers who had only just met in his second life. A million questions swirled around Yohan's mind, but before he could gather himself, a big hand grabbed his shoulder.
Despite the coldness that radiated from this man like an icy pole, Yohan felt a strange warmth emanating from within him, as though standing near a heater on a chilly winter night. He slowly turned around and spoke with a trembling voice.
"What is it? How do you know my name?"
Yohan avoided meeting the man's eyes at all costs. Suddenly, the man slipped something into his palm, it was Yoh's stolen ID card which he needed because he didn't have one.
"You dropped this when you bumped into me earlier."
The man said in a cold tone that reminded Yohan of his first life.
Yohan realized that the man had only read his name from the ID card and didn't actually know him. Though a hint of disappointment lingered in Yohan's mind, he quickly brushed it aside and offered a sincere smile to the coldly handsome man.
"Thank you, sir..."
Without wanting to linger any longer with this man, Yohan hurried off in search of his room number. As soon as he found it, Yohan rushed inside and closed the door behind him, still feeling his heart pounding in disbelief.
He hadn't expected to run into one of the men he had avoided on his very first day after regressing!
In his previous life, they hadn't met until four months later... so why was this man here now? But then again, considering that Yohan had spent most of his previous life locked up in his uncle's house, this new life was bound to be different. Yohan had run away from home and started a new life in another city, it was only natural that everything would be different now, including chance encounters with that man.
Yohan gazed down at the ID card in his hand, before placing it on the table and covering his face with both hands.
"What's wrong with me?" he muttered to himself. "First my wallet gets left behind until Landon finds it, now this... Is this what happens when you spend most of your life locked up and try to live alone? Do you just end up dropping things everywhere?"
Sighing deeply, Yohan tried to shake off his anxiety and instead focus on the positive. The odds of running into one of them, those men from his past that he had been trying so hard to avoid, were incredibly slim. And yet here they were.
After all, what were the chances of running into one of them in the same hotel, let alone in another city? The fact that they'd met so soon was surely an indication that life would be different this time around.
If I can run into him this quickly... Then maybe life really will be different this time...
Yohan thought optimistically.
But as soon as he thought about that coldly handsome face once more, a wave of feelings and memories flooded back into his mind - memories that he had tried so hard to bury, trying to keep them locked away and hidden from sight. But now they threatened to break free, bursting through the chains that Yohan had used to seal them off.
He felt utterly drained from the overwhelming emotions and memories that had been haunting him, so he decided to get some rest. As he lay on the hotel bed, Yohan tried to focus on happy thoughts, things that would allow him to have beautiful dreams.
He reminisced about everything he'd accomplished in just one day since his return to the past: hitting Yoh's body and stealing valuables from his uncle's house. A small chuckle escaped his lips as he thought back on those moments before sleep began overtaking him.
But even as exhaustion took hold of him, the cold face of that man still lingered at the forefront of his mind like an unwelcome guest. Just as he was about to drift off into a deep sleep, a familiar voice from his past echoed in his mind.
"Yohan..." the voice whispered. "I've trusted you so many times before. But every time I did... I ended up being disappointed with what I got."
"Even if I try to trust you again now," the voice continued. "We still can't-"
Just as quickly as it had come, the sound of his voice faded away into nothingness. Yet Yohan remained awake long after the echo faded away into silence, whispering under his breath,
"Will you finally see the real me this time? Will you continue to trust me?"