My back hurt from the pain from the wall, and my wrist was tightly grasped by him.
It's obviously the same face, and the nineteen-year-old features still have the youthful energy that hasn't faded away, but in the eyes there is an overwhelming loneliness that I have long forgotten.
I opened my mouth to persuade him, to tell him that everything would be better in ten years, and to tell him that I was just a passing visitor and did not belong to this timeline.
But these words were all stuck in his throat under his gaze.
I know him so well, and that's me too. I know all the low self-esteem and despair buried deep in my heart, and I remember all the scars from countless late nights.
"Don't coax me by saying things will get better in the future."
He leaned forward slightly, his forehead almost touching my shoulder, his moist breath fell on the side of his neck, his voice was soft, but with a stubbornness that could not be broken away, "You will survive the hardships in the future, but that is your life, not mine."
"You showed up and saw me in the most embarrassing state. You know all my unbearable thoughts, and you are the only one in the world who understands me."
He released one wrist and touched the side of my face with his palm, feeling cool on his fingertips.
"I won't let you go."
I struggled for a moment and found that the door had been quietly locked by him. In an old house, the curtains were drawn tightly, and no light from the outside could come in. The whole room was suffocatingly stuffy.
"It makes no sense for you to do this." My voice trembled a little, "I don't belong here in the first place."
"So what." He laughed softly, but the smile did not reach his eyes. "Since you came to save me across time, you should be prepared to stay."
"You saved me when I was about to die, and you have to bear the consequences."
He didn't let me have any room to dodge anymore, and kept me firmly between the wall and him. In the past, I only remembered that I was silent and lonely when I was nineteen years old, but I forgot that people who are forced into desperate situations will never let go no matter what once they grab the only light.
"Don't think about disappearing." He leaned close to his ear, his tone almost pleading, but also hiding cruelty, "If you leave, I will go back to the way I was before. Can you bear to leave me again?"
I froze in place.
The scariest thing was never his coercion, but the fact that I knew in my heart that what he said was all the truth.
I came here with good intentions and wanted to redeem my past self, but in the end, I ended up being the imprisoned party.
The night fell completely outside the window, isolating two eras. Here, there is no future, no way back, only the present, and the young me who clings to me.
Purpose: Everyone is unique, don't trap yourself