Forced into a romantic relationship

"alien."

"Ok?"

Do you think it's already the end of the world outside?

"Why do you think so?"

"Because that's how it's written in the book—'Ross and James were trapped in a cave for three days and three nights without any rescue. A deathly silence enveloped them; even breathing sounded harsh. They began to fear that perhaps the earth had been destroyed, and they were the only two left on the planet.'"

"I told you, our ending is different from the book, and the end of the world is still far away."

"……sorry."

"Are you scared?"

"A little."

"Just a little?"

"A little more."

"That's good."

"……That's good?"

"Yes, if you're not afraid, then I'm the one who should be afraid."

Han Zhou looked down at Xiao Wang Leng Qiu in his arms, met her slightly puzzled eyes, and said with a wry smile, "You're more like an alien than I am."

If this girl isn't afraid of despair and death, then he should really be ashamed.

"But in your eyes I am an alien."

"That's not a problem... but strictly speaking, we are actually the same kind of people."

"similar?"

Xiao Wang Lengqiu tilted his head, seemingly expressing doubt about the matter.

"Forget it, you wouldn't understand even if I told you... Compared to this, I think something else is more important, you could even say it concerns our future." Han Zhou's expression became serious.

"what's up?"

The girl looked up at him, but could only see his stubble-covered chin.

The next second, her chin disappeared into her collar, replaced by a pair of gentle yet weary eyes.

Those eyes blinked and began to speak: "Well, although we're not friends, I still hope you can give me a more intimate address. Calling me 'alien' would be too strange."

"Is this about the future?" she asked curiously.

"Isn't that right?" Han Zhou retorted.

What do you want me to call you?

"Anything is fine, just not my uncle..."

After a pause, Han Zhou looked expectant and tentatively asked, "What do you think of my brother?"

"No," Xiao Wang resolutely refused.

"Should we add a prefix, Brother Han Zhou?"

"No."

"..."

It seems that finding a friendly name to call this child is really difficult...

Han Zhou sighed inwardly, then suddenly became curious: "By the way, how did Ross call James in the book?"

“Just call me by my name,” Xiao Wang Leng Qiu replied.

"Then why don't you call me by my name too?"

Han Zhou pondered for a moment, "I'll call you Little Leng Qiu, and you can call me Big Han Zhou."

As he spoke, perhaps feeling that the title "Daehan Joo" was too casual, he laughed before Xiao Wang Leng Qiu could react.

A few seconds later, the smile on his face faded, and he turned to look at the puddles outside the wall.

"It's been almost two days already..."

Amidst the rapid dripping of water, the entire outer kiln was already filled with water, which was now a meter and a half high and about to overflow the walls and flood into the inner kiln.

This means they don't have much time left.

No one knows what the situation is like outside, and no one knows whether the search and rescue team has searched the area or whether they have been missed—perhaps, as the book says, the world is facing its end, and no one will come to save them.

Han Zhou had calculated that, based on the rate at which water entered the cave, once the water flooded into the inner cave, it would be completely submerged within three hours at most. At that point, he and Xiao Wang Leng Qiu would lose even their last foothold.

Even more terrifying is that as the water level rises, the air inside the cave will become increasingly thin. If rescue cannot arrive in time, they will slowly exhaust their last breath of oxygen in darkness and fear, and eventually die in despair.

The thought of such an outcome filled Han Zhou with an overwhelming sense of despair, but he couldn't show it. If even he panicked, then Xiao Wang Leng Qiu would only be more at a loss.

But he couldn't figure out how to leave this place.

He even tried to reactivate "There Will Be an Echo" to teleport to Uncle Xia or Teacher Chen and tell the rescue team the location of the brick kiln, but as expected, he failed several times. This state once again demonstrated the despairing difficulty of triggering it.

He really had run out of ideas.

In front of Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu, he couldn't show even the slightest bit of despair—if the outside world really was the end of the world, then he had to at least make this place look like a refuge away from natural disasters.

"What are you thinking?"

A clear voice suddenly rang in his ears. Han Zhou looked down and met Xiao Wang Leng Qiu's clear eyes. The latter raised her arm and held a peeled orange in her hand.

This is the last orange.

"Same as always, half for each of us."

Han Zhou forced a smile as he took the orange, cut it in half, put one half in his mouth, and put the other half back in the girl's palm.

Xiao Wang Leng Qiu took the orange but didn't touch it. She just stared silently into Han Zhou's tired eyes and waited for a while before saying, "You still haven't told me what you're thinking."

Han Zhou was taken aback.

This was the first time he had ever seen this girl press him on a question since they met, a question he had intentionally tried to ignore.

Did the other party notice anything?
“I wasn’t thinking about anything,” he replied in a relaxed tone.

"You didn't think about anything?"

"Yes, I haven't thought about anything. If I had to say, I'm thinking about what we should do after we get out. Is there anything you want to do?"

Xiao Wang didn't respond, and it was unclear whether he believed what he said. After a while, he looked away, lowered his head, and said, "You and James are so alike."

Her voice was soft, but loud enough to be heard in the narrow cave dwelling.

"Really? How so?" Han Zhou asked casually. "Aren't they both very handsome?"

Looking at the half-eaten orange in his hand, Xiao Wang Lengqiu replied, "James loves to lie. He's just an ordinary outpostman, but he always tells Ross that he's the Grand Admiral and in charge of everything on the fleet."

Han Zhou's expression froze: "You mean I also like to lie?"

Although I don't really want to admit it, the girl is right.

He is certainly not an honest person, especially after becoming a scumbag.

...But is it really that obvious?

He quickly realized that this wasn't what Xiao Wang Leng Qiu wanted to say. The girl first shook her head seriously, took a bite out of an orange segment, and then said softly, "James lied because he likes to show off. He thinks he can save Ross, and he should save Ross."

The air suddenly became quiet.

The last two candles on the ground were about to burn out, with only less than half a centimeter of candle body remaining. The candles were surrounded by crooked candle wax, and the remaining weak candle flames stubbornly flickered, reflecting on Han Zhou's somewhat dazed face.

I knew they figured it out...

Han Zhou felt bitter. He had once again underestimated Xiao Wang Leng Qiu's keen perception. This girl seemed to have already sensed what he was thinking. Perhaps what she said before wasn't out of genuine fear, but rather to comfort him.

Even though she meant well, she still chose a rather roundabout way.

His breathing quickened involuntarily, and his fists clenched unconsciously. In the dim candlelight, Han Zhou remained silent for a long time before suddenly asking, "What about Rose? What kind of person is Rose? Are you like her?"

“No, not at all.” Xiao Wang Leng Qiu replied, “Ross is optimistic, brave, warm and kind. Grandma said she has almost all the good qualities a girl should have, which is why James was willing to be friends with her. I’m nothing like her.”

"So what kind of person do you think you are?" Han Zhou asked again.

"A person who always causes trouble for others."

"That's it?"

"Um...that's all."

Xiao Wang Lengqiu lowered her head, the candlelight gradually dimming in her eyes until it was completely extinguished.

The cave was pitch black; you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

The air fell silent once again.

Mom and Dad were right. She really should stay away from other people. She thought aliens might be different from "other people," but now it seems they are no different... The moment she saw Han Zhou covered in wounds in front of her, this thought had already formed in her mind.

She is not Rose, nor does she want to be Rose.

This alien looks a lot like James, but she also doesn't want the other person to become James.

Out of some inexplicable emotion, she didn't even dare to turn to the next page to see how the story would unfold.

"Actually, you're all pretty much the same."

After an unknown amount of time, Han Zhou's smiling voice suddenly rang in the girl's ear.

"Ok?"

Xiao Wang Leng Qiu subconsciously looked up, but because it was pitch black all around, she didn't see that Han Zhou was also looking down at her, so she bumped into his nose.

The skull collided with the bridge of the nose, producing a dull but clear sound.

"hiss--"

Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu heard a gasp of shock.

"sorry."

Her voice finally cracked with panic as she hurriedly asked, "Are you bleeding?"

"Of course not, my nose is harder than you think. I'm more worried that I might have hit your head and made you bleed." Han Zhou's voice came from above.

Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu didn't believe it. They fumbled in their schoolbag to take out a flashlight, but after pressing the switch several times, there was no response. It seemed to have malfunctioned because of water damage.

Are you using a flashlight?

"Hmm, but it seems to be malfunctioning."

"Give it to me, I can fix it."

Han Zhou reached out and gently patted the girl's head, gesturing for her to bring the flashlight over.

Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu seemed to want to say something, but in the end they remained silent and handed the flashlight to him.

In the darkness, she heard a series of patting and knocking sounds, followed by a blinding light shining down from above, causing her to instinctively raise her hand to shield her eyes.

Looking against the light, you can just see Han Zhou's smiling face as he says in a tone as if he's been exonerated, "See? I told you I could fix it. Aren't you different from James, who loves to show off?"

Xiao Wang Leng Qiu hesitated for a moment: "But you still had a nosebleed."

Han Zhou: "..."

"It's probably because they ate too many oranges."

He took the tissue the other person handed him, casually wiped the blood from his nose, and then shifted the blame to the oranges he had used to stave off hunger.

"I'm sorry," Xiao Wang Leng Qiu said, bowing her head in apology.

"I already said it was because I ate too many oranges that I had a nosebleed, it has nothing to do with you."

“That’s not what I meant.” The girl shook her head.

"what is that?"

Seeing her head down and silent, Han Zhou thought for a moment, then suddenly laughed, "You're not trying to say that you're the one who caused me to end up like this, are you? If I hadn't come to save you, I'd probably be at home eating and drinking well, watching movies and scrolling through videos, having a great time, and I wouldn't have to suffer here with you?"

Xiao Wang Leng Qiu raised her head and gave him a strange look: "You said it."

Han Zhou smiled and met her gaze: "But don't you think I'm right?"

"……Um."

"I knew you would think so."

He thought to himself that his "mind-reading" skills had finally improved a bit, then sighed, "I don't quite understand. In the novel, James wanted to be friends with Ross because Ross had a lot of good qualities. Why can't you think the same way when I want to be friends with you in real life? Instead, you say that I'm always causing trouble for others. Are you going to treat me and James differently just because we're both aliens?"

“I didn’t treat you differently,” Xiao Wang Leng Qiu denied.

Han Zhou did not respond. He handed the flashlight back to the other person, held the light up his face, and gestured for the other person to look into his eyes.

The two stared at each other for a long time, then he suddenly asked, "Then tell me, what exactly are you treating differently?"

Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu did not answer.

However, Han Zhou didn't really want to force the girl to give an answer. Just as he was about to change the subject, he heard her ask, "Then can you tell me why you want to be friends with me?"

This time, Han Zhou didn't know how to answer.

After hesitating for a moment, he ultimately did not fabricate any reason, but sighed and said, "I can only say that the reason is rather complicated."

After a moment of silence, Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu moved the flashlight away, shining it on the wall so that neither of them could see the other's expression, before continuing to ask, "If it weren't for this complicated reason, would you still be willing to be friends with me?"

Han Zhou was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "Of course."

Admittedly, he had ulterior motives in befriending Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu, but that doesn't mean he would hate being friends with them after achieving his goal.

On the contrary, if there hadn't been so many concerns, if they had met... no, if they had reunited sooner, if everything had been just right, they might have become more than just friends.

Thinking of this, Han Zhou felt a pang of melancholy. However, the next second, he heard Xiao Wang Leng Qiu suddenly ask a question that left him speechless:

"do you like me?"

Fortunately, the other person asked the question in a very calm tone, as if they had just thought of this possibility and were just asking casually.

However, it must be said that it sounds rather strange for such a question to come from the mouth of a twelve-year-old girl.

Han Zhou couldn't be sure if this "like" was the same as what he understood as liking, but he was too embarrassed to confirm it further, so he answered honestly, "I can only say that I don't dislike it."

"Isn't not disliking someone the same as liking them?" Xiao Wang asked Leng Qiu.

"Of course not, the difference is huge."

"Oh."

After another brief silence, Xiao Wang Leng Qiu shone the flashlight on Han Zhou's face again. "You don't dislike me, so you want to be friends with me?"

Han Zhou hesitated for a moment: "You can understand it this way for now..."

As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly felt the ground getting cold, and his heart tightened. Xiao Wang Leng Qiu also noticed the abnormality and picked up his flashlight to shine it on the wall of the inner kiln.

In the blinding light, streams of water could be seen flowing down the wall, quickly submerging large areas of the ground.

Clearly, the water in the outer kiln had filled up and was beginning to flow into the inner kiln.

"That's too late."

Han Zhou's expression turned serious. According to his judgment, the inner kiln would be completely submerged in three hours at most, and that was only the best-case scenario. Perhaps before the inner kiln was submerged, the thin air would kill them first.

Therefore, action must be taken.

Just now, he had vaguely thought of a solution, and although its feasibility was questionable, he had no choice but to give it a try.

Taking a deep breath, he looked earnestly at Xiao Wang Lengqiu in his arms and said, "Xiao Lengqiu, I... I might have a way to get you out of here safely, but I need your cooperation. And if anything strange happens during the process, don't panic, okay?"

Xiao Wang and Leng Qiu didn't know what his method was, but they still nodded slightly.

"Ah."

(End of this chapter)