29 A life that never was.

Just like that, Aidan was again in a body of a stranger. He still couldn't control his actions and felt more like a passenger with no rights besides watching from the sidelines. It didn't seem that the original owner even had any idea about the sudden invasion.

His name was A.D. And judging from his thoughts and memories, he was a kind and decent fellow. Albeit, a bit lazy. At this exact moment, A.D. was panicking – as far as Aidan could understand, the guy had almost screwed up an important task. Instead of working on the breach detection program, he had promised to deliver to the CEO of "Weinhardt and Sons" this morning, he spent the whole day and half the night fixing a stupid bug in his own point-and-click adventure game he wanted to present at the retro GamesCon.

He knew he was not going to win and probably wouldn't even get into the honorable mentions, but handing in a fully functional game guaranteed him a goodie bag. Nobody knew what was going to be inside the bag, but there were rumors that an out-of-stock add-on for a specific early 80's game might be included. And A.D. needed to have that. Obviously much more than he needed to keep his tiny company from going bankrupt.

As soon as he realized that it was already past 3 am, and he hadn't written a single line of code for this boring detection nonsense, all he could do was curse himself.

When he and a couple of his college friends decided to start their own software company, it was not supposed to be a long-term thing - just something to finance their studies and get some experience. But little by little, this enterprise started bringing in some real cash. A.D. had to admit to himself that he was more than ready to whore himself out for the money. And all it brought with it - namely, collectibles, retro games, out-of-print guide books, good quality merch, and tickets to all the conventions he always dreamed to attend.

Thus, fucking up an important "Weinhardt and Sons" project would not be ideal. Especially with the European GamesCon coming up, which was going to cost a pretty penny.

So, the night before, A.D. sighed and got to work. As with almost everything in his life that was not related to his specific field of interest, he did the bare minimum. Aidan suddenly felt that he and A.D. did have a couple of things in common.

At 7.30 in the morning, A.D. had one of the most horribly written programs on his hands - it lacked any kind of structure, he didn't bother to leave any meaningful comments for future developers and it looked like a barely trained blind monkey wrote most of the functions. But it did technically work.

At least he had something to present.

A.D. crossed his fingers, hoping that it would not be too obvious, that he was handing in a total load of crap. He packed up the flash drive and ran out of the apartment, feeling like he needed a big cup of coffee.

The car with the tinted windows took him to a fancy hotel. And as he stepped into the room on the top floor, he saw a familiar figure sitting at the desk. The man was wearing a tailored suit, his blonde hair was meticulously combed back, and his dark blue eyes expressed bottomless boredom.

"Kai? Is that you?" Aidan wanted to ask, but A.D. didn't recognize the man at all, so he just waved awkwardly and said "hi".

The blond man looked him up and down, and Aidan felt that A.D. was slightly self-conscious about his old hoodie with a silly dog on it. Aidan couldn't help but laugh – he also always felt underdressed next to that dandy.

"Do you have the program for me?" the man finally broke the silence.

"Yes, of course, here you go," A.D handed him the flash drive, his fingers slightly shivering.

The man suddenly took a hold of his hand. "Are you cold?"

A.D. shook his head. Aidan expected to feel uncomfortable from the touch, but to his surprise, he felt nothing. He guessed A.D. had no issues in this department. Lucky guy.

"Run it for me on the simulated interface," the blue-eyed man pointed at his laptop. "I don't want to buy a pig in a poke."

A.D. felt nauseous, but he still obeyed. He really hoped that his program wouldn't lag and expose just how little time he had invested into it. Aidan was suddenly also a bit nervous for him.

Luckily, the program seemed to run just fine. The man looked through the results it had delivered and seemingly wasn't disappointed.

"You're good," he said, his blue eyes getting a tiny bit warmer.

A.D. immediately blushed. If Aidan could, he would have rolled his eyes. Why was this guy such a puppy?

A couple of days later, A.D. received another invitation from "Weinhardt and Sons". This time the driver took him to a private house on the outskirts of the city. The ride there was so long that A.D. nodded off while Aidan was growing more and more suspicious about the possibility of being killed and buried somewhere in the middle of the woods. Thankfully, his paranoia had nothing to do with reality.

The blond man welcomed A.D. inside the house once they arrived and offered him a glass of wine.

"We have eliminated a lot of outside threats, thanks to you," the man said with a smile. A familiar dimple appeared on his left cheek. "I wanted to express my gratitude personally."

A.D. didn't take the wine and asked for some juice instead. Aidan was shocked by A.D.'s illogical and outrageous behavior, but he couldn't do anything against this blasphemy.

"I wanted to ask you if you could teach me a couple of things about cybersecurity," the man gave A.D. an expectant look.

"Just take a course on the internet, man," A.D. responded absentmindedly. Aidan could feel his impatience – he wanted to get paid and leave as soon as possible. That seller on eBay won't hold the Gameboy '89 for him forever.

"I'll give your company a consulting fee," the man carefully fixed his tie and then announced the amount he was willing to pay.

A.D. immediately agreed. Aidan smirked – this guy was so easy.

From then on, A.D. enthusiastically embarked on the path of teaching. He seemed to enjoy it a lot, especially considering that the blue-eyed man was a very attentive student. A little too attentive, even. Aidan was very aware of how "Kai" used each and every opportunity to put his hands on A.D., who seemed to be completely oblivious.

"Come over today. I have a surprise for you," A.D. heard the man's smooth voice when he picked up the phone one fine morning.

The surprise turned out to be the game add-on that A.D. had been desperately searching for. He had already given up, and now here he was – holding the treasure in his hands. A.D. was so thankful, he was about to start crying.

"How do you like it?" the man asked softly.

A.D. hugged him in response while Aidan mentally winced.

"Is this all?"

A.D. looked up, confused by the unexpected question when his lips were taken hostage. The kiss was gentle at first, almost too chaste. Until "Kai" suddenly deepened the kiss and forced his tongue inside. A.D. gasped as he felt the man's hand grab him by the back of his neck and pull him into an even deeper kiss. A.D. felt desire he hadn't felt in years rise up in him and he leaned towards the man, giving a passionate response. At that moment, "Kai" let go of him and stepped back. A.D. was left gasping for air.

And Aidan was left entirely confused. He knew that A.D. had developed warm feelings towards his "student". And those feelings were not entirely platonic. But Aidan himself didn't have any such feelings towards Kai! No, sir. He expected to be repulsed by the kiss, but for some reason, he felt that he wanted it to continue much more than A.D. did.

This was a very embarrassing hallucination, indeed! Aidan was almost happy that he was probably already dead and thus wouldn't have to face the real Kai ever again.

What followed made Aidan even more uncomfortable. A.D. and the CEO of "Weinhardt and Sons" officially became a couple.

"You don't need to pay the consulting fee anymore," A.D. said with a frown after checking his company accounts. "At this point, you know enough to singlehandedly take care of all the cybersecurity at "Weinhardt and Sons". And if you have any questions, I'm at your disposal free of charge."

"Kai" laughed and gazed at A.D.'s face with deep affection. Aidan's heart almost exploded.

"Did I ever tell you that your smile is like a ray of sunshine?" A.D. asked playfully, tickling the man under his chin.

"Kai" immediately stopped smiling and shoved A.D. away.

"Oh no, is the big CEO embarrassed?"

The next year, A.D. finally had the chance to go to the European GamesCon. Halfheartedly he invited "Kai" to come along but, as expected, received a skeptical look. "Go, geek out without me. Just don't forget to call."

A.D. felt that his life couldn't be better – his company was doing so well he could afford to hire a couple more helping hands and was thinking about fulfilling his lifelong dream and expanding into gaming, he had a hot boyfriend whom he loved to pieces, and he was currently at the retro merch paradise.

Aidan was very happy for him. Maybe even a little bit jealous.

On the evening of the fourth convention day, some guy approached A.D. and got him into a long and tiring Nintendo VS Sega discussion. A.D. even followed the guy to his car, tirelessly proving his point. Aidan honestly didn't care either way and was bored out of his mind, so he checked out of the conversation.

This was also the first evening when "Kai" didn't pick up the phone. A.D. tried a couple more times but finally gave up and just texted: "Good Night :)" He was tired and fell asleep almost immediately.

Weirdly enough, "Kai" didn't respond the next day either. Till the end of the week, there was complete radio silence. A.D. was worried that something might have happened to him and was about to call the company when he finally received a text back.

"I'll meet you at the airport. Don't try to run."

Both A.D. and Aidan were confused by the wording, but at least "Kai" wasn't dead, lying in some ditch, so that was a relief. Maybe he was just in a bad mood.

"Kai" did indeed meet him at the airport. As soon as A.D. saw him, he went for a hug, excited to finally see his boyfriend. The blond man, however, just stood there motionless, not pushing him away but also not pulling him closer.

"What's wrong?" A.D. asked.

"Not here," the man spat out. He grabbed A.D. by the arm and dragged him towards his car. The ride was extremely uncomfortable. A.D. tried to start a conversation several times but was ignored until "Kai" finally said: "Would you shut up already?"

Instead of bringing A.D. home, "Kai" took him to his own house. As soon as the door closed behind them, A.D. was pushed down on the floor.

"Will you finally tell me what is going on?" A.D. shouted, feeling "Kai's" hand grab his neck.

After a moment of silence, the blue-eyed man stood up, took a file out of his desk, and threw it at A.D.

"You tell me."

A.D. looked through the documents inside the file, and Aidan suddenly felt his terror.

"Shit," he said and covered his face.

"So, when did you decide to collude with my brother? Before we fucked or after?" "Kai's" blue eyes were almost black at that moment.

"What? I've never even met your brother! Yes, the program I made for you was faulty. I'm sorry for that. I fucked up. I didn't even know I left the backdoor in the code that could be exploited," A.D. really wanted to slap his past lazy self.

"You expect me to believe that?"

"It's an honest mistake. I messed up. I will pay for all the damages, I will fix the code immediately."

"Oh, you will pay," the blond man came up to A.D. and unexpectedly kicked him right in the stomach. "In many ways and then some."

A.D. was still trying to catch his breath when "Kai" pulled him up by the collar and whispered into his ear: "I always wanted you to move in, sweetheart. I guess there's no better time than now."

From that moment on, A.D. was confined to one room. "Kai" took away his phone and didn't let him anywhere near a computer.

A.D. pleaded with him every day. "Just let me fix this! I swear, I didn't do it to hurt you or your company. It was a stupid mistake."

Unfortunately, "Kai" turned a deaf ear to all his pleas. It seemed that he was getting angrier by the day.

"You told me you've never met my brother, huh?" he asked one evening after pressing A.D. down and venting his anger at him for an hour and a half.

"Never," A.D. answered weakly, tears in his eyes. If only he had known, it would come to this...

"Kai" took out his phone and showed him a couple of photos.

"Yes, that's me at the convention," A.D. sighed.

"That's you and my brother, having a very cozy conversation."

"I didn't know that man was your brother. We just talked about games."

"Lies," "Kai" smirked. "Tell me, why did you choose him over me? Is he bigger? Does he last longer?"

A.D. was too tired to protest.

The next day, "Kai" brought him some papers to sign.

"You want me to sign away my company?" A.D. was incredulous.

"Isn't that the least you can do?"

A.D. closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Kai" was right. He had to pay for his mistake.

"Just let my guys keep their jobs. They had nothing to do with anything," he pleaded. As always, "Kai" didn't respond one way or another.

Several months passed. Both A.D. and Aidan felt that they hadn't seen sunlight in ages. That one room of terror had become their whole world.

"Hasn't anybody asked about me?" A.D. inquired carefully the next time he saw "Kai".

"You mean, my brother?"

"Damn, I don't give a shit about your brother! Why do you never listen to me? How are my friends? How is my mother?" A.D. finally lost it. "How long are you going to keep me here?"

"Your friends? They asked a couple of times. It got annoying, to be honest. So now, they are too busy doing job interviews to care about you."

"You fired them?"

"Kai" smiled. "I didn't need to. They left once I shut the company down. Obviously."

Aidan felt tears streaming down A.D.'s cheeks. He wanted to comfort the guy, but unfortunately, he couldn't.

"And your mother... Well, she was more difficult to deal with. But once they stopped treating her cancer due to the lack of funds, she... didn't have anything to say anymore."

"You bastard!" A.D. screamed. "Have you gone completely insane?! Do you understand that this is murder!"

"Kai" left without a word, as A.D. proceeded to smash every single thing inside the room.

Another couple of months passed. A.D. didn't have any strength to scream or even speak anymore. He spent most of his days just looking into the distance. Aidan was very worried about him and cursed "Kai" in many different ways. He could understand revenge, but this went way overboard. The man who seemed so sweet, handsome and cool, turned out to have the face of the devil. Aidan had to repeat to himself several times that this wasn't the real Kai but just a figment of his sick imagination.

"Come, I have a surprise for you." One evening "Kai" brought A.D. a change of clothes and escorted him to the car. A.D. didn't ask or say anything.

"Obedient, I like it," the blond man smirked.

They arrived at an abandoned warehouse in the industrial part of the city. Inside were a couple of men in black suits, holding baseball bats. As "Kai" led A.D. closer, he saw that they stood around a naked man who was beaten down to a pulp.

"Recognize your lover?" "Kai" asked.

A.D. kept quiet. Nothing he said ever made any difference anyway.

"Kai" put his hand around A.D.'s waist and whispered into his ear: "Now that you see him like that, whom do you choose? Me or him?"

At that moment, all A.D. could think about was the gun in "Kai's" back pocket. With surprising agility for someone who had spent months locked up in one room, he grabbed the gun and then pointed it directly at "Kai". It was his one and only chance.

"Kai" didn't seem at all nervous. He looked at A.D. with slight amusement.

"You think I won't do it?" A.D. asked, and Aidan suddenly recognized the scene.

After A.D. pulled the trigger, a long silence followed.

He missed. Whether by accident or on purpose, Aidan couldn't tell.

"Kai" was still standing there with a smile on his face. "Give me the gun, A.D. And then we'll go home."

After hearing these words, without any hesitation, A.D. fired a bullet right into his own skull. Aidan felt his soul slowly floating up and leaving A.D's dead body that dropped onto the cold concrete.

In the corner of the warehouse, he saw the white-haired boy.

"Little dude!" Aidan called out. "What's going on?"

The boy didn't answer and turned around to leave. This was when Aidan remembered something very important. Even if he died, he still could at least help save other people.

"Please, don't go!" he shouted at the top of his spiritual lungs. "Listen to me!"

The boy turned around, his expression complicated. It was as if he couldn't bear looking at Aidan, yet at the same time, he couldn't look away.

"Tell the Regent just these couple of words..." Aidan breathed out, feeling that his strength was rapidly abandoning him. "Tunnel. Kear's manor. Everyone in the noble court. He will understand. Please, tell him."

Without saying anything, the boy just left – he didn't even nod. Aidan wasn't sure if he was real or also a part of this deathbed hallucination. Yet, at the moment, he was Aidan's only hope.