A Cousin From London

Finally, with slightly tired steps, Sava entered her house.

Today had been exhausting. School activities had drained all her energy. Still, she was grateful that the problem in the art club had been resolved properly—thanks to Dio, of course.

To Sava, Dio felt like a guardian angel. Although they hadn’t known each other for long, there was a natural compatibility between them. Both were mature, disliked childish things, and felt comfortable talking to each other. That was why their conversations always flowed so easily.

“Hey, miss. If you keep walking with your head down like that, you’ll bump into a pole. If you’re lucky, it’ll be wooden and won’t hurt much. But if it’s concrete? I guarantee that smooth forehead of yours will end up with a bump.”

A deep baritone voice pulled Sava out of her thoughts.

“Kay?” she said, startled.

“Hn… did you miss your cousin?” Kay asked with a gentle smile.

Without hesitation, Sava and Kay hugged each other like Teletubbies. It had been a long time since they last met.

Kay was Sava’s cousin who had moved to London since elementary school.

His full name was Revansha Kay. He was manly, kind, and undeniably handsome—thanks to being half-blood, with his father being English. Even though he looked manly, there was a cute side of him that only a few people could see… and Sava was one of them.

“Why didn’t you give me a heads-up?”

“Surprise.”

“Seriously…”

“I think you should accept sharing your room with me, because I’m going to stay here.”

“What do you mean? No way! There’s an empty room in this house, right next to mine! You can use that if you want. If not, then you can sleep with my dad! He adores you—he’ll be more than happy to let you stay in his room.”

“Hahaha… of course I’m joking. There’s no way I’d sleep with your father,” Kay laughed. “And definitely not with you either—you sleep like you’re watching a football match. Don’t tell me you still talk in your sleep? Like this… ‘no… don’t… don’t… don’t…’”

“As if! I don’t!”

“But I’m curious. What do you even dream about? Don’t tell me it’s a giant fish with a shark’s mouth chasing you, and that’s why you keep saying ‘don’t, don’t, don’t’?”

Bletttaaakkk—

A solid punch landed on Kay’s head.

“Sava, that hurts!”

After that, they continued chatting casually, just like they usually did through messages.

Besides being family, they were also the same age, so their relationship felt more like close teenage friends.

Even though Kay lived in London, they video-called almost every day, making the distance between them feel almost nonexistent. They often shared stories with each other.

Back in elementary school, Kay once had a crush on Lien. But when he finally wanted to confess, he didn’t have the courage—and before he knew it, he had moved to London.

He had once told Sava about it, but she only treated it as something silly, even laughing at him. To Sava, childhood love in elementary school sounded too innocent to be taken seriously.

---

On the other side of town, a six-pack-bodied young man lay on his bed.

The bedsheet was messy, his thick blanket had fallen to the floor, and several comic books were scattered everywhere.

That boy was Luhan.

He was staring at photos of himself with his friends on his phone. In the picture, a boy stood with his arms around two girls.

Lien, Luhan, and Sava.

Looking at it, Luhan smiled faintly. Lien with her playful pose, himself sticking out his tongue, and Sava smiling gently with a mature expression.

“You two are my life…” he murmured softly before drifting off to sleep.

---

In Lien’s room, things were not much different.

She was still busy editing her reporter work, occasionally glancing at her laptop screen. The online world had become a part of her life—she was active on almost every social platform.

Right now, she mostly used Facegram, waiting for a reply from an account named Sen12.

That account owner somehow always made her feel a little bit nostalgic, even through a screen. She didn’t even fully understand what she felt, but seeing him online was enough to make her happy.

Lien : Is that true?

Sen12 : Do I look like someone who lies?

Lien : Ah… alright… I hope our friendship continues in the real world. Welcome to our home, Country Z :’)

After chatting for a while, Lien closed all the windows on her laptop.

Before turning it off completely, she paused for a moment, staring at her desktop wallpaper.

A small smile formed on her lips.

A graduation photo from middle school.

“You guys are amazing… I love you, guys…”