Journey to Discovery

Chapter 2

Based on what his mom said... Ethan Carter suddenly found the term a bit strange, his train of thought interrupted in a bizarre manner, and he couldn't recall what she had said at that moment.

In his sixteen years of life, his parents and family were always the only ones, regardless of whether their relationship was good or bad. His mom was always Amanda Collins, his dad was Peter Carter, and he had two twin brothers... now suddenly there was an additional set, Charles and... a few other names he had already forgotten.

It was truly hard to wrap his head around.

His relationship with his family had indeed been tense, whether it was with his parents or his brothers. They would spark at the slightest touch, explode at the sight of fire, and it had been nearly a year since he last spoke to his brothers. Even his usually calm and self-controlled mom had had various outbursts.

But even though this situation had persisted from his middle school years to high school, and even though he often thought about not wanting to go home, not wanting to see his parents, and especially not wanting to see those two identical faces... when this moment finally arrived, as if his wish had come true, he was still completely stunned.

Just stunned.

Very stunned.

From the moment his mom said, "I have something to tell you," to several months of cold wars and procedures, up to now, everything felt like a dream he couldn't wake up from.

Most of the time, he didn't feel much pain or sorrow.

All he felt was stunned.

"Cold, right?" Charles turned back to ask, coughing a few times. "It's much colder here than where you were before, right?"

"Yeah," Ethan Carter replied through his mask.

"It'll be warm once we're inside," Charles said, coughing and speaking loudly, spraying him with spit. "I've specially prepared a room for you."

"Thanks," Ethan Carter responded, pulling his mask up.

"No need for thanks between us," Charles said, laughing and patting him on the back. "No need for thanks between us!"

Ethan Carter couldn't respond. The pats on the back were quite forceful. He already felt like coughing from the cold air, and hearing Charles cough made him want to cough even more. After two more pats, he bent over and started coughing uncontrollably, almost coughing out tears.

"You're not in great shape," Charles observed. "You need to exercise. When I was your age, I was as strong as a bear."

Ethan Carter didn't reply, bent over, extending his arm, and giving a thumbs-up.

Charles laughed cheerfully, "Exercise! I'll rely on you to take care of me in the future!"

Ethan Carter straightened up and looked at him.

"Let's go," Charles patted him on the back again.

"Don't touch me," Ethan Carter frowned.

"What?" Charles was stunned, staring at him with wide eyes. "What's the matter?"

Ethan Carter stared at him for a moment, then pulled down his mask. "Don't pat my back."

Charles's house was on an old street, lined with rundown but lively small shops selling food, clothing, and daily necessities, with low-rise apartments above them.

Ethan Carter looked up through the crisscrossing wires. The exterior walls were indistinguishable, either because of the darkening sky or their original state.