Everyday Life as an Exchange Student After My Parents Packed Me Off

--The main story is complete. Bonus chapters will be updated as a treat.

On the first day after arriving, Wen Shu stood before a castle estate with its own woods and swimming pool, his fingers gripping the handle of his suitcase. For once, he was at a loss for words.

He couldn't help wondering what his parents had been thinking. Before he left, they'd only said that this host family was made up of longtime friends who were warm and hospitable. They hadn't mentioned that the family was so rich they were practically swimming in money.

The couple who opened the door to greet him were exceptionally cheerful. American English came at him like a wave of heat. After only a few pleasantries, the lady of the house patted him on the shoulder and came straight out with it in accented Chinese: "Wen, we've been friends with your parents for decades, so there's no need to be formal. Our son Clemens is gay. He's seen your photo and really likes your type. Remember to lock your door tonight."

Wen Shu: "..."

He stood there, wondering if the jet lag was making him hear things. So his parents hadn't just sent him here to study abroad, they'd also packaged him up and recommended him to their friend's son? With his insides in tatters, he didn't know what to say. He could only force a stiff smile and mumble a vague reply.

As expected of America. Even the parents are so... direct.

After showering that evening, he was going downstairs to get some water.

He opened the door just as the person next door opened his. The boy stood backlit, exceptionally tall, nearly two meters and almost filling the doorway. Wet blond hair clung to his temples. Water ran down his sharply defined jaw and disappeared into his open bathrobe, revealing sculpted pectorals and abs. He looked strong, but also had a boyish, dopey air about him.

His deep blue eyes crinkled as Clemens Anderson grinned at him, flashing his white teeth. "You must be Wen. Mom said you were coming."

Wen Shu glanced him over, his fingers pausing for a moment.

He was just like a big golden retriever fresh out of the pool, and a huge one at that.

He hadn't taken the host parents' words to heart. Good-looking people were liked wherever they went, but that didn't mean everyone would like him.

But clearly, Clemens's parents knew their son better than he did.

Wen Shu woke with a weight pressing on his chest. The moment he lifted the covers, he came face-to-face with a fluffy head of blond hair.

At some point, Clemens had climbed into his bed. Curled into a ball, he had buried his face against Wen Shu's stomach, his breath warm and one arm unconsciously wrapped around Wen Shu's waist. Like a clingy big dog, he was fast asleep.

Wen Shu stared down at the head nestled against his lower abdomen and said nothing for a full three minutes.

Lock the door?

Things had been peaceful between them so far, so tonight... he hadn't locked it.

A cool, flirtatious-looking bottom with a rich inner life x a clingy puppy top with a massive possessive streak, and a football player.

Both are each other's first.

--

Upcoming novel "Chronicles of Surviving Natural Disasters". Please visit my page to read the preview.

Extreme weather has become the new normal after years of wild fluctuations. Temperatures soar and plunge, and even scientists have confirmed that the climate is shifting toward conditions resembling the Mesozoic Era.

Warnings say the shadow of an ice age is also drawing near. Humanity may be standing at the edge of the planet's selection and extinction process, watching the old era come to an end.

But no one expected this cleansing to come so suddenly. A cataclysm originally predicted to arrive in a hundred thousand years was suddenly compressed into the imminent present.

Torrential rain, floods, extreme heat, and bitter cold take turns ravaging the world. Animals begin showing signs of reverting to ancestral forms, while plants in the cities grow wild at an almost insane pace.

Humanity, too, seems to be changing.

The world stands on the threshold of a new era, and the old world's order is being crushed beneath it.

Ji Yu presses his fingers against his forehead, massaging his throbbing temples as his brows draw tightly together.

Fragments of a dream mingle with the hangover-like headache: scenes that may be from a parallel world, or perhaps a past life, so vivid they feel as if he experienced them himself.

The good news is that he seems to have glimpsed the truth behind this catastrophe ahead of time.

The bad news is that it seems to be a little too late.

He looks out at the endless rain. The first signs have already begun to appear in this unrelenting downpour.

He doesn't know whether the events in his dream will come true, but those images are too real. So real that the warmth of blood still seems to linger in his palms, and the taste of rust seems to cling to his fingertips, impossible to shake.

"We can't wait," he says quietly.

If everything in his dream is true, then the mutations have already begun.

This rain is only a sign of the new era. There's still time to prepare, but not much.

Reading Guide:

Mostly an ensemble cast, with several secondary couples. Stockpiling, a portable space, leveling up, and fighting monsters.

Theme: Cultural inclusivity