Krishna didn't say anything after that.
He simply stood up from the sofa, adjusted the fold of his shirt out of habit, and walked toward his room. His steps were unhurried, steady, the way they always were. The door closed softly behind him—not slammed, not dramatic. Just closed.
That sound lingered longer than it should have.
Felix remained seated, hands resting loosely on his knees, eyes fixed on a spot on the floor that suddenly felt important. The living room, moments ago warm and familiar, felt wider now. Emptier.
Radha didn't move immediately.
She watched Felix instead.
He hadn't argued. He hadn't protested after that brief attempt. He hadn't even looked upset in an obvious way. But she knew that look—the one where thoughts stacked too fast behind the eyes, where silence wasn't peace but pressure.
She picked up her cup of tea, walked over, and sat beside him.
Neither spoke at first.
Outside, the evening had settled in properly. The faint sounds of traffic filtered through the windows, distant horns and passing scooters blending into a low, continuous murmur. Somewhere in the house, a fan hummed steadily.
"Are you okay?" Radha asked gently.
Felix nodded automatically.
Then paused.
"I… don't know," he said honestly.
Radha smiled faintly, not amused—understanding. "It's alright."
Felix let out a breath he hadn't realized he was holding. His shoulders relaxed just a little.
"I didn't mean to upset Dad," he said. "I just thought… helping at the shop made sense. It's stable. It's familiar."
Radha stirred her tea slowly. "Your father knows that."
"Then why—"
"He's not stopping you," she said. "He's giving you space."
Felix frowned slightly. "It doesn't feel like that."
"No," she agreed. "It wouldn't. Growth rarely feels comfortable."
She looked at him then, really looked at him—the way only a mother could. Not at the medal he'd worn earlier. Not at the athlete others saw. Just her son, sitting too still for his age, carrying more weight inside than he ever admitted.
"You've always taken responsibility very easily," she said softly. "Sometimes too easily."
Felix glanced at her. "Is that bad?"
"It can be," Radha replied. "When responsibility becomes a place to hide."
That landed deeper than Felix expected.
Radha reached out and placed her hand over his. Warm. Steady.
"You don't have to decide everything today," she continued. "But you do have to start asking yourself what you want. Not what feels safest. Not what feels expected."
Felix nodded slowly.
After a few moments, Radha stood up. "Get some rest. It's been a long day."
She hesitated at the doorway, then added, "Whatever you choose… we're with you."
Then she left, her footsteps fading down the hallway toward her room.
Felix stayed where he was for a while.
The house had settled into its nighttime rhythm. Alex's door was closed; faint sounds of pages turning drifted through the corridor. Krishna's room was quiet.
Eventually, Felix stood and went upstairs.
His room greeted him with stillness.
Nothing had changed—bed neatly made, desk slightly cluttered with books and notes, his badminton racket resting against the wall. Yet everything felt unfamiliar, like he was seeing it through different eyes.
He sat on the edge of the bed.
Silence pressed in.
For the first time since regressing, there was nothing urgent demanding his attention. No mistake to fix. No outcome to prevent. No one to help.
Just him.
Felix leaned back and stared at the ceiling.
In his first life, moments like this had always ended the same way.
He would think, I'll decide later. Or, I will do whatever they decide for me.
Later never came.
The memory surfaced uninvited.
A small shop. Evening light filtering in through dusty windows. His hands counting change automatically, movements practiced, mind numb. Customers came and went. Years passed the same way—quietly, predictably.
No disaster.
No collapse.
Just a slow narrowing of possibilities.
He remembered standing behind the counter once, much older than he was now, realizing he couldn't remember the last time he'd felt excited about waking up.
That memory faded, but the feeling stayed.
"No... not this time."
Felix suddenly sat up.
He reached for the notebook on his desk—the one he used for random thoughts, training schedules, half-written plans. He flipped it open to a blank page.
The white space stared back at him.
He wrote a single word at the top.
Future.
His pen hovered.
Badminton came to mind first—but not as trophies or rankings. He remembered the sound of the shuttle hitting the racket, the way time slowed during long rallies, how the court felt like a world that made sense when everything else didn't.
Then the shop—but not as a duty. As a place filled with voices, regular customers, and his father's quiet pride.
Then something else he hadn't expected.
What if there's more?
The thought startled him.
Felix had never asked that before—not sincerely. In his first life, he hadn't believed he deserved "more." In this one, he had been too busy repairing the past.
He realized then how easily he'd slipped into old patterns. Helping. Fixing. Supporting.
Avoiding choice.
Felix closed the notebook without writing anything else.
Not because he had no answers.
But because he finally understood the question.
He stood up and walked to the window. The night outside was calm, streetlights casting soft pools of light on the road below. Somewhere, laughter echoed briefly before fading.
Felix rested his forehead lightly against the glass.
"I don't want to drift," he murmured to the quiet room.
The words weren't a promise.
They were an admission.
He stepped back, turned off the light, and lay down on his bed. Sleep didn't come immediately. His thoughts circled—not anxiously, not urgently.
Just thoughtfully.
Felix wasn't running toward something.
Or away from it.
He was standing still.
And that, somehow, felt like the beginning.
. . . . . .
AN- This is the end of Volume 1. I know that not many exaggerated things have happened in this volume, which you or even I would think that we would do after being regressed, but I ask you to follow the story to understand it. I will try to add more action and romance in the next volume.
Hope to see some support from my readers.