Early spring, 1992
Blue sneakers trod on the still-wet asphalt, splashing through small puddles left after the rain had stopped. Along the quiet Novinskiy Bul'var, Soviet-style buildings stood sturdy but showed signs of wear—peeling plaster in places, rotting wooden frames, and paint colors faded by time. In the distance, the domes of Orthodox churches still looked elegant, standing like eternal guardians amid the rapidly changing times following the collapse of the Soviet Union. A young man with neatly combed blonde hair walked along a silent alley, pulling his bomber jacket tighter as he took a deep breath—the air after rain always brought a sense of calm, even though the night was never truly safe in this city.
The time had passed 11:30 PM, and Noel was just returning home from the café where he worked. Noel was a part-time waiter there. While quickening his pace toward home, the young man occasionally rubbed his hands together and wiped his cheeks because of the cold air. Around him, the dim streetlights danced atop the puddles, creating long shadows that looked like city ghosts in the dead of night.
"Hey there, sweetheart!"
A slap landed on his shoulder, and Noel flinched. His gaze immediately turned to see who had just greeted him. And he squinted when he saw a young man like himself. The young man was wearing a denim jacket with ripped jeans at the knees.
A sarcastic voice asked, "Just getting back from your part-time job, Noel?"
Noel immediately put on an expression of dislike; he only responded to Terenti Gilhooley's greeting with a flat question. "None of your business. What do you want?"
A rough grunt came from Terenti in response to getting a question delivered in an unfriendly tone from the person he was speaking to. Not long after, one of his friends came from behind and immediately reached out to grab Noel's hair.
"Let's have some fun! Just you and us, how about it?" he suggested while roughly pulling the blonde hair.
Before the young man could pull harder, Noel immediately parried roughly while shouting, "Don't touch me!"
Noel mustered the courage to stare at one of them, then was met by the strong-jawed face and grinning expression of Terenti. Two black eyes touched him with a condescending look. And that successfully gave Noel goosebumps. Noel suddenly felt something unpleasant—when Terenti and his friend kept following from the side, occasionally pushing his shoulder until he staggered. Noel knew them; those two young men were a teenage delinquent gang from his school. Although not in the same class, their mischief was well-known across several schools. They enjoyed finding weak targets to intimidate—and Noel, with his small body and quiet demeanor, was a perfect target.
Noel was sure they weren't just two, so Noel intended to run away before saying, "I don't have time to deal with you." Noel refused firmly, and quickened his pace to run. However, it didn't go as smoothly as Noel had hoped.
In a fraction of a second, Terenti pulled his arm hard, causing Noel to stagger backward, nearly losing his balance. And at that same moment, Terenti pushed him until Noel's back hit the cold brick wall. "Hey, why are you in such a hurry, hmmnn? We're not done talking."
Noel's instincts warned him of danger. His heart began to beat fast, and Noel struggled. "Let go!" He wanted to scream. But before he could do that, Terenti was one second faster and covered his mouth with his hand. Noel's fear grew even more when the young man forcibly dragged him into a dark alley.
"Arghh, damn it!" A curse managed to escape Terenti's mouth when Noel reflexively bit his finger.
When Terenti's grip loosened, Noel quickly tried to escape. However, his step was immediately blocked because his arm was firmly gripped by another, larger young man who appeared around the corner.
"Let me go! Do you want my money? I'll give you all of it," Noel begged.
However, his plea was only answered with laughter.
The large-built young man's grip was as strong as handcuffs clamping around Noel's wrist. Not wanting something bad to happen to him tonight, Noel kept struggling with all his might, although it yielded no results because his strength was no match for theirs. Noel didn't even notice Terenti's figure already standing in front of him.
A cry of pain escaped Noel's lips when Terenti kicked his leg right around the knee area. The kicker didn't waste that opportunity; with the support of his other friend, Terenti pushed Noel onto the asphalt in the dim, dark alley.
The pain in his buttocks might still be bearable. But the aching pain from the kick to his leg successfully made Noel whimper. Not only that, but fear also crept in further. Noel jumped slightly in place when the three young men's attention returned to him. Noel immediately moved backward the moment Terenti took a step closer.
Clear liquid welled up in Noel's eyelids as Terenti crouched down, gripping his cheek hard until his thumbnail dug into the young man's skin.
Terenti observed him slowly with a cynical look and whistled. "Look at this, this good boy is now scared like a rat. You better watch out if the others find out you're a loser!"
One of his other friends chimed in, "Yeah, you wouldn't dare report us, would you? We'll finish you off!"
Noel finally shed tears as he choked on a wave of pain. His vision was blurry from tears, also from the hard impact of his cheek against the cold, wet street asphalt. Noel trembled, his breath racing from overwhelming fear. He felt the other two young men starting to restrain both of his wrists, while Terenti slapped his cheek softly, as if playing with his prey.
"Don't... please don't..." Noel's voice was almost a whisper, broken.
Terenti took something from his pocket, a shiny white object, a folding knife. The growing fear crept deeper into Noel's heart when he saw Terenti point the knife at his cheek. "Do you want me to scratch this thing across your face? Or maybe..." He moved the knife toward Noel's hair. "Let's tidy up this beloved blonde hair of yours?"
Noel quickly shook his head, his tears continuing to flow.
Terenti smiled. "Good, be a good and obedient boy, okay?" His other hand reached for Noel's backpack, forcibly opened it, and emptied its contents onto the ground—notebooks, an old wallet, and a wrapped dinner. "Well, here's our pocket money for tonight."
His two friends laughed, picking up the few fallen rubles.
"You know, Noel," Terenti pressed the back of the cold knife against Noel's cheek, "at school, stop acting so clean, so neat, so smart. You're just a nobody. No wonder you don't have any friends."
Noel closed his eyes, his hands trembling violently, unable to do anything but stay silent. Noel had no self-defense training whatsoever. If he tried to fight back, that knife might actually tear the skin of his face.
"Hey, don't be too harsh, or he'll report us to the police," said one of Terenti's friends half-jokingly.
"Report? Hah!" Terenti spat to the side. "The police are busy with other matters these days. Besides, who would believe an orphan like him?"
Their laughter broke out again, echoing in that narrow alley.
Before Terenti could take his next action, a hand suddenly grabbed his collar from behind.
Without time to dodge, a punch landed hard on Terenti's cheek, leaving a stinging sensation and a bluish bruise. Still not satisfied—the young man who had just arrived threw another punch at the same spot. This time faster and stronger, causing Terenti to fall flat onto the asphalt, grimacing.
In the midst of the still-shocking situation, Noel faintly heard the fight through his blurred vision. Ignoring Terenti who was still sprawled on the ground, the young man immediately turned to the youth who was holding Noel's left wrist. His movements were fast; he kicked the delinquent hard in the stomach. Seeing both of his friends fall, another one of them released his grip on Noel's hand and attacked the young man from behind, throwing a punch. However, the young man quickly dodged and kicked the delinquent's head until his ear bled.
After managing to get up, Terenti counterattacked, his strike landing on the young man's back. But an attack like that meant nothing to him. Not stopping there, Terenti swung the folding knife again at the young man. He moved quickly and dodged, so it only hit the sleeve of his jacket; the jacket tore a little from the knife. The young man remained calm.
Another punch of his landed on Terenti's face. The knife fell loose; quickly, the young man picked it up and pointed it at the three delinquent youths. "Don't bother him!" he growled.
Terenti's eyes widened after realizing who the young man was who dared to interfere in their business. There was a look of shock on his face along with his two friends. "Alexei Tsvetkov..." he muttered in disbelief.
Terenti clicked his tongue while wiping a little blood that came out of his mouth. He said to his two friends, "Let's go. Dealing with him is like looking for death." And his two friends immediately nodded.
After Terenti and his gang had disappeared from view, the young man approached Noel, who was still in shock. "Are you okay?" he asked softly while extending a hand.
"No, don't hurt me!" Noel screamed hysterically while throwing his bag, which was lying not far from his side. However, it was easily dodged. Noel, seeing that his attack hadn't worked, shrank back.
The young man quickly caught Noel's wrist. "Hey, it's okay, they're gone. No one can hurt you anymore." The young man tried to calm Noel. However, Noel still looked restless. "Come on, does my face look like a criminal's?" He chuckled a little as he asked.
Fearfully, Noel's sapphire eyes rolled to look at the face of the young man who had saved him. He was stunned, even almost forgot to breathe. Handsome, one word crossed his mind. The young man's figure was so charming with his sharp facial features; his white skin looked like porcelain.
However, Noel then shook his head, setting aside the thought because how could he be mesmerized at a time like this. When Noel realized that the young man's hand was still tightly gripping his wrist.
"Can you let me go?"
Realizing, the young man immediately released his grip on Noel's hand. "Sorry." He smiled again. "Are you okay?"
The young man's gaze was so concerned seeing Noel's disheveled condition; the slap mark didn't just leave a red mark but also made the corner of his lip bleed. Three undone buttons on his uniform shirt revealed his slender neck and also his slightly sagging pants. Unconsciously, the young man swallowed a rough gulp, trying to calm his wandering thoughts. He took off the black racer jacket he was wearing and put it on Noel.
"You're shivering," he said while gently stroking Noel's hair. "I'll take you home. My motorcycle isn't far from here."
"N-no need, thank you," Noel refused quickly.
However, the young man seemed insistent. "I don't take no for an answer."
Noel stood up, leaning on both arms of the young man before him, trembling slightly. He looked up without realizing that the distance between his face and the young man's face was less than a span. Their eyes automatically met in a gentle gaze. Not sure what made him aware, Noel reflexively let go of his grip, stepping backward without realizing his leg still hurt, so on the second step, that piercing ache attacked him, making Noel almost fall if the young man hadn't grabbed his waist.
"Sorry to trouble you," Noel said softly again while stepping back to create a little distance between them and also releasing the young man's embrace around his waist.
"It's okay, no need to apologize, I don't feel troubled at all, really," he replied kindly. "So, wait here, I'll go get my motorcycle."
The young man left and disappeared from Noel's sight as he turned left out of the alley.
Not long after, the sound of a motorcycle engine broke the silence of the night. From a distance, Noel could see the young man approaching while waving his hand toward him.
"Hey!" The young man stopped the sport motorcycle he was riding in front of the pretty young man. "By the way, what's your name?" he asked while opening his helmet visor.
"My name is Noel." Noel smiled sweetly, showing his neat row of teeth.
"Nice to meet you, Noel." A charming yet cold-looking smile curved on his lips.
Alexei reached for Noel's hand into his grasp; Noel was surprised because the young man's hands were so warm. His fingers were long, his nails neatly trimmed. The skin of Alexei's palms was slightly rough against his grip, wrapped by Noel's soft palms.
His sweet face flushed slightly again when Alexei complimented him. "You're cute." Alexei handed the helmet to Noel, and the young man could only bow his head shyly as he received the helmet.
"Shall I put it on for you?" Alexei offered.
"No need," he answered nervously. After putting on the helmet, Noel got on the back.
"Hold on tight!" Alexei said, guiding Noel's hands to wrap around his waist, then starting the motorcycle engine.
The night wind whistled in Noel's ears as the motorcycle sped down the streets. This was one of his first experiences riding on the back of a motorcycle with someone he had just met; hugging Alexei's waist tightly made Noel's feelings warm as the motorcycle they rode sped along.
Seventeen years ago, for the first time, Alexei Tsvetkov appeared in his life as a hero to Noel. A memory he still remembered even into his second life. Noel would never understand why he always remembered it, even after his naivety was exploited and his trust was betrayed.
In this world, everyone always has things they desperately want to forget, don't they? The human brain is not a tool that can be erased or filled with various memories at will; they can forget and simply remember. It has limited storage space; when new memories come, old ones will fade over time. However, sometimes unwanted memories continue to linger in the heart and mind even after dozens of full moons have passed through changing seasons. And now, fifteen years have passed.
A pair of grey eyes belonging to Nate stared out the frosted glass window, with a few snowflakes resting at its base. That night was dark without stars, without a moon; all that existed were cold snowflakes and strong winds blowing hard against the glittering, brightly lit skyscrapers.
In contrast to the temperature outside, the room inside was illuminated by an orange glow that radiated warmth. The man turned away from the window; his eyes stared straight at the man sitting on the cheap-colored sofa. Noel, the man sitting on the pale white sofa, only averted his gaze to the side when he realized he was being stared at.
For several minutes, neither of them spoke. This unpredictable silence truly made Noel feel great nervousness in his heart.
The man walked closer, sitting on the sofa directly opposite Noel. A table made of mahogany wood became their divider. His face was elegant, with a pair of eyes that looked firmly. Noel stared at him in a state of not being ready to meet that man again. Here and now. To see Alexei once more.
Alexei looked healthy and fine. Meanwhile, Noel, his entire body was terrified. Noel stared at him with a look of hatred, but there was also a little longing accompanying it.
Noel couldn't remember much about Alexei from his previous life. Because of that man, he endured suffering. Alexei was also the one who robbed Noel of everything he had until nothing was left. Leaving a wound on his chest.
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