Age Reveal II

"What difference is there?"

"Well, this body isn't entirely mine. It's more like a vessel. But this body itself is thirty years old."

A collective gasp escaped Akiko and Angelina's lips. "Thirty!?" they exclaimed in unison.

"Y-Yeah," Alex confirmed, feeling a blush creep up his own neck. "But if you're asking about my actual age, my soul, I'm seventeen."

"Seventeen!?" Akiko shrieked, her eyes wide with surprise. Angelina mirrored her expression, her earlier disapproval morphing into something akin to shock.

"Well, then I guess I'll just choose to believe you're older than me. But thirty? How did that happen? Did you steal someone's body?" 

Angelina, cut through the confusion. "No, of course not. There's more to this story, Alex. Tell us what really happened."

Alex hesitated, unsure how much he could reveal without raising more questions. "Maybe this isn't the best place to talk," he suggested, his voice laced with a hint of unease.