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He put his hands on my shoulders, then grabbed my chin, bringing my face close to his. When our eyes met, almost sparkles appeared in his eyes.

“You are my Mina. We should go home.”

Home? What the hell are you talking about?

At that moment, the suffocating feeling I hadn’t felt in years came rushing back. I always felt this way around him. His cryptic words were messing with my mind; his admiring yet distant gaze was choking me.

Every damn time.

I’d had enough. I shoved him away with all my strength and stumbled a few steps forward, but a prickle crawled up my spine, and I froze.

Strong arms wrapped around me like vines, pressing me against his chest. Feeling his warm breath at the nape of my neck, I went rigid in his strong embrace.

Before I could react, he pushed back the hood of my capelet. His lips traced a path from my neck to my shoulders, leaving tiny, deliberate kisses along the way. Heat rose wherever his lips touched. He was kissing me. My ex-boyfriend, the one who had ignored me for years, now loomed over me like a man starved.

Is this a lucid dream?

“Where are going without me? You’re so cruel, Mina.”

His warm breath on my ear made all of the blood rush there. Being so close to the body I’d missed for years was hard on my heart. When he pressed a long kiss to my shoulder, my legs trembled, I instinctively pressed them together. It was too much all at once. Too sudden. I felt lightheaded, afraid I might faint at any second. My mouth opened and closed helplessly. Every move seemed pointless, every word sounded like nonsense.

“Ra…”

“You smell just like her. So odd. When did I make you? Where’s your number?”

I blinked in shock.

What?

I put my hands to my ears as if to protect them, staggering a few meters away from him. Even though I freed from his grip, my heart was still pounding in my throat. I forced my voice to remain steady, but it came out almost as a shout.

“What did you just say?”

Raymond closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.

“You must have lost your memory. Why did you even come here? You must be tired…”

Standing right in front of me, he leaned down, then rested his forehead against my shoulder. When he tilted his head up to look at me and smiled in that adorable, playful way, my heart skipped a beat. He was acting like a pet who had missed its owner.

“Let’s go back to home, okay? I’ll explain everything to you. Don’t worry.”

I stepped back again, but he only chuckled. He closed the distance between us and pulled me into his arms again. His grip was too fast I couldn’t escape it. This time, his lips brushed against the roots of my hair.

“Even your personality is similar. When did you leave the lab? How did you get here? It’s dangerous.”

“What are you talking about?” I whispered weakly. A possibility came to mind, but it was too crazy, impossible. My imagination truly ran wild this time, right? “What number? What lab? I… I’m really Mina. I…”

Before I could resist, his hands were beneath my arms, and in another instant I found myself flung across his shoulder. My stomach pressed against the hard line of his shoulder, my body swaying limply against his back. I felt like a toy whose owner had come to take me home.

“But this won’t do. Your clothes are all dirty. Let’s go home and clean up.”

His tone was too gentle that might have comforted a child. I swallowed again. At that moment, I consciously gave up resisting and decided to observe to see if the scenarios spinning in my head were true. As always in my strange life, my curiosity soon overcame my fear.

Let’s see what you’ve been doing all these years, my dear Remi.

He sat me on his lap when we got into the car. I hadn’t fully understood it in the dark street, but now, I could see clearly. His under-eye circles were dark as ash, his gaze vacant and unable to focus. I remembered how he smoked shisha for hours, gambling carelessly, down dozens of glasses. Oh. He was drunk, probably oblivious to what—or who—was resting in his arms.

I shouldn’t be here.