Suddenly, the teenage boy on the hospital bed opened his eyes.
Subconsciously, he reached out to touch his head. His right hand suddenly felt pain, making him stretch his hand to look at the source of the pain.
The last thing he remembered was being blown to smithereens.
Looking at his hands, he could not believe it. His hands were smaller than he remembered, his skin pale white...his mind kept screaming that whatever was happening could no way be possible even with science.
"I have really become young..."
Stretching out his hand to his head, the scar left behind by the experiment was gone.
It was the first time for him to ever think of anything about a soul being able to reside in another body.
Whether he had become a ghost and taken possession of this body or he had gotten another chance at life, all he knew was that he was living and breathing.
Looking around, the room he was in looked like an old-fashioned hospital ward. From the red hue of the sun he could see from the window, it was probable that the time was approaching late evening.
On the white wall not far away, a calendar was pasted. The paper was old and tattered and it read: December 1, 2022.
Not too surprised, he just frowned and then showed a faint smile. After a while, the smile gradually widened. Lips closed, his whole body was trembling...looking like he was trying so hard not to laugh out loud.
At that moment, he came to a realisation..
He had been reborn, he was now free from the shackles of his past life.
Looking back, he remembered it was also around that time, that he had been taken from the orphanage by the government. The time had not changed, the country nor the world, but the person had changed.
There was still gauze wrapped around His arms, and there was also pain especially when he moved his hand. But to him at the moment the pain was nothing at all. He pushed himself to the right end of the bed and tried hard to open the cabinet next to the hospital bed, looking to find something that could confirm his current identity, but he only found two sets of clothes, an insulated lunch box containing a few fruits inside.
After thinking about it he crawled to the other end of the bed, and sure enough, there was a data card there.
Eli Thorne.
Such a decent name. There was a smile at the corner of his lips.
No matter what, he finally had a name of his own, not just a code name, and an identity he could use openly, not secretly, unlike his past self.
While feeling sentimental, the door of the ward squeaked open, and a boy around seventeen years old, with a school bag on his back, walked in. He had shaved his head military style, an oval face, tanned skin and big shiny eyes, looking very ehem! Cute.
"Ah? Eli, you are finally awake!" When he saw him awake, he rushed to the bed with a smile on his face while putting down his school bag. Eli wrapped the hospital quilt subconsciously around himself when, the boy reached out to touch him. He had never been one to have close contact with people.
The boy seemed to notice his little movement but paid no mind to it, as he reached out to touch the bandage lightly.
"Does it still hurt? Are you feeling any discomfort? Oh, wait, I'll call the pretty auntie nurse to come over."
As he spoke, he ran out of the ward like the wind. Eli smiled faintly and cast his eyes on the boy's big schoolbag.
Two large characters were stitched on it with red thread: Crestmont Academy.
There were two words after that which seemed to be the boy's name: Roman Vale.
....
It had been nearly two weeks now since his transmigration.
As usual, Eli Thorne spent his PE on the basketball pitch. With his tall build, he had joined basketball since he was in the third grade.
After Eli finished playing basketball with his fellow classmates and returned to the classroom, he checked his phone and at a glance, saw the Instagram notification on the screen: Baby, your shirt is too small. Your slim waist nearly made me hard.
"Cough, cough!" Eli nearly choked to death on his own saliva.
Hard! Wth!!! This boy was getting even more shameless.
When Eli reread the message, his face reddened drastically. He had never encountered anything like that, even though he had lived for twenty-nine years in his past life. Marcus, who was behind him, saw his strange expression and curiously came closer. "What are you looking at?"
Eli panicked and quickly pushed him away, turning off his phone and putting it in his pocket. Right then, the class bell rang and Marcus didn't pay any more attention, instantly returning to his seat.
Eli heaved a sigh of relief. Thinking of the extreme message from earlier, his face became red and hot.
Returning to the night three days after his discharge from the hospital.
Eli was slumped on his bed, browsing through Instagram when there was a notification requesting him to add the other as a friend since his account was private. The remark from the other party: I'm Roman Vale, accept my Friend request!
At first, Eli Thorne had not reacted to who Roman Vale was. When he realised that it was that class grass from Class Two, the well-known school bully that even the teachers were afraid of, at the Roman Vale, he quickly scrambled up and sat straight, hugging his phone. That was the same boy he had seen upon his awakening into the body he was occupying.
Accidentally Eli had been collateral damage to a fight between the two well-known thug groups of Crestmont High, so Roman as the boss of the number one thug group at Crestmont High visited him at the hospital to make sure he was alright and won't report him to the teacher, uhm...he did offer him hush money.
He thought to himself, I don't think I offended him, right?
The two of them were from the same school but in different classes. Roman Vale was in Class Two and Eli Thorne was in Class Twelve, eighteen thousand miles apart. So, although they were in the same year, they were completely unfamiliar with each other and had no common friends.
So why was he requesting to be added?
Eli Thorne was thinking about the reason and delayed accepting his request. Roman Vale had probably waited enough as he sent another request: Accept me.
Eli Thorne hastened and subconsciously selected accept.
The other party immediately sent over a message: Eli Thorne?
The original Eli Thorne was actually a little afraid of Roman Vale, rumour had it that his father was in the mafia and owned one of the biggest Secret Mercenary groups. Although they had never interacted, he had heard many things about Roman Vale's "brilliant" deeds.
For example, he had emotionally abused a classmate just because that classmate had touched a book of his. Another example was Luke from their class. Because he had secretly "discussed" Roman Vale, the next day, he was beaten up until he had to be admitted to a hospital. These were the consequences of offending the school bully.
Even hearing about it made the current him scared to death, so he replied with particular prudence: Yes, I'm Eli Thorne. I didn't see it earlier. Sorry. May I know why you're looking for me?
He even used the honorific "you".
The other person very quickly input: ... you? Am I that old?
Eli Thorne hurriedly explained: No, no, I just wanted to show respect.
The tanned, slender teenage boy on the other end, who was lying on the bed, holding up the phone with both hands, let out a laugh.
He replied: Just call me by my name. Nothing much. Just wanted to chat with you.
Eli Long found it strange but still replied politely: Oh...chat about what?
He couldn't figure it out. What was there to chat about? They weren't close!
Using the interval before Roman Vale replied, Eli Thorne got off the bed and poured himself a glass of water to ease his nervousness.
No, he had not lost his assassin talents or anything; he was now in a weak body, trying to live a normal life. He absolutely did not want to entangle himself with anything in connection with who he used to be.
The phone notification sounded.
Roman Vale: Just a casual chat. Are you currently seeing anyone? Interested in the female gender or are you gay?
Eli Long had just taken a mouthful of water when the question made him swallow it the wrong way, causing an intense bout of coughing.
This was too straightforward, wasn't it!
Huh? Was this considered a casual chat? They weren't close enough to talk about such personal things, right? Of course, he only dared to ask this question in his mind. He wasn't brave enough to question the school bully!
So, he replied honestly: No, I'm not seeing anyone. I am not particularly romantically interested in the female gender, either.
Behind that, he even added an emoticon with a stupid expression.
Roman Vale found the emoticon adorable and the corner of his lips lifted unconsciously. He continued asking: Then do you have a boyfriend?
Eli Thorne was instantly petrified! What, did he look very gay? He was just a little bit paler and prettier than the other boys of the same age. Why did he suspect he was gay?! Was it the red hair? He got that from his mom!!
Although he felt indignant, the reply he sent back was very proper: Ah? I don't have that either.
Eli Thorne continued typing, wanting to add on to his reply, I don't like girls either. Roman Vale was one step ahead and sent: Then may I pursue you?
Eli Thorne's hands suddenly stopped typing. His eyes widened at the words and read them over and over to ensure that he didn't read them wrongly. His heart was jumping and it wasn't because he was touched, but because he was too flustered!
Firstly, the person who had said he wanted to pursue him, was a boy! Secondly, this boy was Roman Vale!
He did not look gay at all, as a matter of fact, he looked every bit the person at the top. Wait, what was he thinking?
Eli Thorne was dumbfounded. How could this be...
All along, he felt that his looks were just above average because he looked like his mom, his grades were nothing special and he was timid...how could someone like him attract Roman's attention? Thinking about it, Eli Thorne's face gradually became hot and his mouth was dry. For a while, he was in a panic and didn't know what to do...
Picking up his glass of water, he took two big gulps of water, then heard the phone notification.
Roman Vale: If you don't say anything, I'll take it that you agree. !!! How could Eli Thorne dare to agree? He hurriedly replied: Sorry, I like girls!
After the message was sent, Eli stared at the screen as the other party was in the midst of typing. He was extremely nervous as he swallowed his saliva and counted the time. Thirty seconds had passed and the other party was still typing!!!
He felt like his heart was about to explode! His heart was in a mess. Thinking about it, would Roman Vale fly into a rage out of humiliation, then send someone to beat him up tomorrow? If he was really beaten up, how could he explain this matter to his mother? He was innocent and yet, he would have to pay for his own medical bills. Would his classmates look down on him?
The more he thought about it, the more apprehensive he became. The other party was still typing and had not replied yet. Eli Thorne was so frightened that he retracted the message and re-typed: Regarding that...can I think it over?
He was afraid of getting into trouble. In this life, he just wanted to live his life aimlessly and only wanted to continue school in a law-abiding manner, so he was very afraid of offending Roman Vale. He did not want to do anything that would attract attention to himself.
This time, the reply came very quickly: Okay.
Followed by another message: I'll be good to you. Sleep early. Goodnight.
Eli Thorne felt that this "okay" had another meaning! After ensuring that no more messages were being sent, he hugged his pillow and lay paralysed on his bed, feeling as if his whole body was hollow.