Chapter 8

Climbing the mountain twice in one day even made him feel a little tired.

"Finally finished." Teddy took a water bottle and sat next to Steve, "Where's your friend?" Teddy asked curiously.

"Gone, seems to have gone looking for a place to live." answered Steve nonchalantly.

Teddy opened the bottle of mineral water, "You didn't tell your friend to stay at your house for two days?" Teddy asked.

"Why?" Steve turned to Teddy.

Almost choking on the water he was drinking, Teddy hurriedly took the water away. He looked at Steve and was dumbfounded, "Do you really not know or are you pretending not to know? He came all the way here to meet you, right? The result is that you don't even let him stay at your place and then kick him out instead."

"I know he came here to see me, but does it have anything to do with me letting him stay at my place or not?" Steve looked at Teddy with a confused look.

"I think he already knows that you won't let him stay at your place." Teddy clicked his tongue twice, "I can now see why you don't have a boyfriend."

Steve opened the cap of his mineral water bottle, "Oh. I'm going home, is it still the same time tomorrow?" asked Steve as he stood up.

"Yes." Teddy waved his hand at Steve, "See you tomorrow, be careful on your way home."

When Steve received the news that Ricky had died of a heart attack, he suspected for a moment that his break with him had caused this man to lose his life. Of course, Ricky wasn't a man who needed someone to give him a reason to live.

*Ding-dong*

The elevator door opened. Steve tiredly stepped out. The next moment, he stopped a little, because a teenager was calmly standing in front of his house.

'Teenagers?' Steve thought in surprise.

Hearing the sound of the elevator opening, the teenager stepped towards him. From his attitude and the way he looked at Steve, Steve felt sure that this teenager was looking for him.

"Who are you?" Steve asked the teenager in front of him.

"Your cousin." The teenager's cheeks were slightly red from the cold, but his voice was gentle, "You're finally back."

Steve frowned slightly, "I don't have a cousin." The answer gave a suspicious look to the teenager in front of him.

This sentence is not unreasonable. Steve really doesn't have a cousin. When he was in high school, his parents were killed in a car accident. The perpetrator gave a large amount of money after the matter was closed. His parents had no siblings, his mother only had a half-sister whom he never got along with, and his father was an orphan.

The unrelated half-sister came to see Steve once, and after throwing in a line where Steve could call himself, he left. This woman does not care about Steve, but also does not touch the compensation money belonging to Steve's parents.

The change occurred three years ago. Steve's aunt lost her only son. She and her husband went to announce a search notice when they were eventually hit and killed by a truck that was out of control. Since then, Steve has become the only person in his own family, but also a loner in the eyes of the people in his hometown. Steve had little affection for his hometown, so he stayed there to work after graduating from college, until now.

"You are indeed my cousin, although we have never met before. Just read this, if you don't believe me." The teenager hastily dug out a register of household books from the back of his school bag and handed it to Steve. Steve felt a little hesitant. Under the serious gaze of the teenager, he took the register from the teenager's hand and turned a page, and ended up seeing his aunt's name at the top of the page.

'...The woman's son who disappeared?' Steve thought, dumbfounded.

"Reinan?" Steve looked at the teenager in front of him, "You are a Survivor?"

"Right." Reinan's eyes darkened slightly, "That day I was waiting for the shuttle bus to pick me up from school that day. I was just about to walk towards the bus stop when suddenly, my eyes darkened, and when I opened my eyes again, I was already in that world. Until a while ago, when the boundless stream of the world was destroyed and I came back here with everyone else. After leaving, I went to look for my father and mother, and the result..." Reinan said in his hanging sentence. His voice was filled with sadness in Steve's ears.

It turned out that his mother and father had died in a car accident, and after they died, the only living person, his grandfather, could not accept the news that Reinan's father and mother had died and decided to drink pesticide liquid that night.

"The policeman checked the information for me, and finally found that you are the only one still here. I came here for you, hoping that you could be my guardian." Reinan gripped the register in his hands. Despite the calm expression on his face, Steve saw a sense of helplessness in his eyes, "Survivors must have a guardian to watch over them until they turn 18, and I will become an 18-year-old adult within a year. I promise I won't give you any trouble!"

Steve looked at Reinan with an expressionless face, and after a moment he sighed, took his key out of his pocket and opened the door of his house, "Come in." said Steve to Reinan.

After feeling a little hesitant, Reinan lowered his head and followed Steve inside, holding the household register, the warmth in the room seeping into his entire body.

Steve went to the kitchen to pour water into two glasses, and when he came out, Reinan was already sitting on the sofa, so he could see Reinan's face well.