Fated Exchange [AkkAyan]

Chapter 2: The Stranger in the Mirror

The first thing Akk noticed was the smell – a faint, earthy scent mixed with the hint of paint and turpentine. His head throbbed as he opened his eyes, blinking against the dim light filtering through a narrow window. He was lying on a worn-out mattress, surrounded by canvases and scattered art supplies.

He sat up slowly, a strange heaviness in his limbs. His hands – they looked wrong. Slender, rough, speckled with paint. These weren’t his hands. Panic bubbled in his chest as he stumbled to his feet, searching the small room until his gaze landed on a cracked mirror by the window.

The face staring back at him was not his own.

His heart raced as he touched his face, his fingers tracing the unfamiliar features, the high cheekbones, the slightly upturned nose, the softness of a stranger’s gaze. But he wasn’t a stranger. The face looking back at him was Ayan Sukkhapisit, the struggling artist he’d seen in newspapers, the one with a reputation for rebellious art and a defiance that fascinated the media.

“What the hell…?” he whispered, his voice barely recognizable to his own ears.

Meanwhile, Ayan woke up to the cool touch of silk sheets, the scent of cologne, and the sharp, clinical neatness of a luxurious room. He blinked, disoriented, his fingers brushing over the fabric, the texture foreign and out of place. When he sat up, he felt a strange weight on his shoulders, a rigidness that wasn’t his own.

Across the room was a large mirror, its ornate frame casting a faint shadow on the wall. He walked towards it, his steps hesitant, each one filled with a growing sense of dread. When he looked at his reflection, the breath caught in his throat.

The man in the mirror was tall, broad-shouldered, and impeccably dressed in a crisp suit that fit like a second skin. His hair was neatly combed, his features sharp, commanding, exuding a confidence that was completely alien to him. He touched his face, feeling the strong jaw, the unfamiliar roughness.

This was Akk Pipitphattana.

A wave of disbelief washed over him, followed by panic as the implications began to sink in. This wasn’t a dream, or a nightmare. He was in someone else’s body – in Akk’s body, the famous businessman with a reputation for being ruthless and ambitious.

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