I'd recognize you even if you turn to dust.

An awkward silence stretched between them. Jack didn’t say a word, and just as Liam was about to speak again, the call ended.

“Ahh…”

Liam sighed, gathered his courage, and dialled again. There was no shame in begging an ex to take him back.

It wasn’t until the third attempt that Jack finally answered. Even then, he remained silent.

Liam took a quiet breath and awkwardly broke the silence.

“Uh… long time no see.”

It was a cliché opening line, but saying it made him strangely happy.

“Do you need something?”

Jack’s voice was ice cold. It was the typical tone of an ex who wanted nothing to do with you.

“…”

Bloody hell, straight to the point.

Liam hesitated. After their last unpleasant encounter, there wasn’t much room for small talk between them. He decided to get straight to it.

“Yeah. I want to come and see you.”

Bold and blunt. His cheeks burned so hot he could have fried an egg on them.

Jack clenched his jaw.

“What is this? Did you lose a game of truth or dare?”

“No, I’m serious.”

Liam blurted it out.

He had dumped Jack out of nowhere, only to return two years later with something this shocking. He could understand why Jack was suspicious. Before Jack could say anything else, Liam rushed on.

“My mum passed away. I’ve just finished her funeral… and I’m not doing too well right now. Would it be okay if I came to see you?”

He was deliberately playing on Jack’s soft spot, even if it made him look desperate or dishonest.

Besides, it wasn’t entirely a lie. He had died a horrible death, been reborn, and lost his mum. Even if the apocalypse weren’t coming, he would still need time to catch his breath.

If he could stay with Jack until the end of the world, at least he would have someone reliable to depend on.

Of course, this time, he wouldn’t let himself become as helpless as he had been before. His purification ability was useful, but it was weak in a fight. If anyone discovered what he could do and decided to target him, he would end up as a lab rat.

He needed someone strong enough to protect him.

And the only person he truly trusted was Jack Sullivan.

Their tragic ending had been entirely his fault. Remembering how Jack had screamed his name at the end, his voice raw and broken, made Liam’s nose sting.

Even if he had to swallow his pride and beg, he would stay by Jack’s side.

“…I’m sorry about your mum.”

Jack’s tone softened considerably, but he soon asked another question.

“What happened to your usual crowd?”

“…”

Liam tightened his grip on the phone and paused to choose his words.

“You know how bad things are between Dad and me. I don’t want anything to do with him anymore…”

This time, he wanted absolutely no contact with that family.

If they crossed paths in the future and left him alone, fine. But if they tried to cause trouble, they would regret it.

“…”

Jack remained silent for a moment before asking,

“What about your boyfriend?”

“What?”

Liam blinked in surprise. He quickly realised Jack was testing him, so he continued without hesitation.

“I don’t have a boyfriend. I’ve been single since we broke up. Mum was sick for two years, and… well, you never actually agreed to the breakup, so I didn’t dare look for anyone else. I was scared you’d come after me when you got back from the army. I didn’t even dare look twice at a decent-looking bloke for two whole years.”

He added with a cheeky grin,

“Seriously. If you don’t believe me, go and investigate.”

Since he had been given a second chance at life, he might as well make use of that mouth of his and grow a thicker skin. Perhaps Jack would go a little easier on him.

Back when he had first pursued Jack, he had said things far more outrageous than this.

Of course, beneath all the cheeky talk, Liam still believed in genuine love. Otherwise, he never would have dared to get involved with someone like Jack in the first place.

They had barely started dating when Jack was already making plans for their wedding. The bloke had been completely mad, like a character in some ridiculous romantic comedy.

“…”

After a long silence, Jack finally scoffed.

“You’d better not be lying.”

“Wouldn’t dream of it.”

Liam let out a breath of relief before cautiously asking,

“So… can I come and see you? Maybe we could clear the air while we’re at it?”

Playing the sympathy card while sorting out their old problems. Two birds with one stone.

The first step was getting face to face. Once they met, he would have a chance to win Jack back.

“I’ll pick you up at Central Station.”

Jack had finally agreed.

Relief washed over Liam, followed almost immediately by shock.

“You… you’re in Sydney?”

Bloody hell! Had they been living this close to each other the entire time?

In his previous life, Liam had thought Jack’s private security company was based in Canberra, the national capital. Wasn’t that right?

Click.

Jack didn’t answer. He simply hung up again.

However, a moment later, he added Liam on social media using his phone number. At least he had left Liam a way to contact him.

Liam exhaled deeply.

Whatever else happened, he had managed to secure a foothold with someone powerful. That was the most important thing for now.

Next, he needed to scrape together some cash.

Nobody else would lend him money, so he decided to max out the credit card he had only recently paid off and squeeze as much as possible out of the online lending platforms.

The world was ending anyway. What did he have to lose?

After a flurry of transactions, his available funds had climbed to more than A$70,000.

For someone preparing to stockpile supplies for the apocalypse, that was barely pocket money. Still, it was better than nothing. If things went badly when he met Jack, the money would at least keep him going for a while.

He sold his apartment with all the furniture still inside. He only packed a few changes of clothes, his essentials, his mum’s portrait, and a photo album into a suitcase.

He didn’t own much. One suitcase and a backpack were enough to hold everything he needed.

Checking out of his short-term rental was easy. That same afternoon, Liam dragged his luggage to a hotel.

At around eight that evening, his father called and asked whether he wanted to stay at the family home for a few days.

Liam refused.

Nothing major had happened yet in this life, so he didn’t want to explain too much. He was perfectly happy for everyone to go their separate ways.

However, when his father learned that Liam had sold his apartment to pay off his debts, he immediately started berating him for not discussing it first. His stepmum, he claimed, could have paid him the same amount he had received from the sale.

The argument quickly escalated.

In his previous life, Liam had always endured his father’s criticism in silence. This time, all the anger he had bottled up over the years exploded, and he shouted back.

It wasn’t until his father, furious at what he considered a challenge to his authority, accused both Liam and his late mother of having no conscience that Liam finally began to calm down.

He took several deep breaths, wiped away his tears, and gritted his teeth.

He was done pretending they were a proper family.

“Michael Bennett, you can curse me all you want, but don’t you dare drag Mum into this! The only reason I still call you Dad is because she had too much of a conscience to tell me otherwise. Apart from sharing DNA, you don’t deserve that title!

“The moment you divorced her because she insisted on having me during the early days of your business, whatever bond we had as father and son ended! To you, I was nothing but a bloody inconvenience. That’s why I carry Mum’s surname. I’m Liam Bennett, my mother’s son! You’re Michael Bennett, the father of Ethan and Chloe!”

In his previous life, after his mother died and the apocalypse arrived, Liam had thought they could put their grudges aside and work together to survive.

Clearly, he had been a fool.

To Michael, Liam had always been an accident. At best, he was a tool who might one day be useful for saving Ethan. Any scraps of kindness Michael had shown him were no different from throwing food to a stray animal.

Now that Liam had dragged the shameful past into the open, Michael’s carefully maintained image had been shattered.

Enraged, he declared that he was disowning Liam, then demanded that Liam pay back the money he had borrowed if he was man enough to do so.

With that, he slammed the phone down.

Liam didn’t hesitate.

As soon as the call ended, he transferred A$20,000 to his father, sent him a message saying they were even, and blocked every way Michael could contact him.

Paying the money back was a waste, especially when he needed every cent for the apocalypse. But Liam worried that if they crossed paths again after the world fell apart, his father might use the debt to guilt-trip him.

It was better to cut ties completely now.

With that problem settled, Liam collapsed onto the hotel bed, breathing heavily as he waited for his overheated mind to cool down.

About half an hour later, once he had calmed himself, he took out his phone and bought a train ticket to Sydney for the following day.

He sent a screenshot of the ticket to Jack.

Jack ignored him as coldly as ever, so Liam tried to start a conversation.

“Send me a photo of yourself. Otherwise, Central Station gets pretty crowded, and I might not recognise you. I’ll send you one of me too.”

Two years was a long time. People could change quite a bit in that time.

This time, Jack replied almost immediately.

“Forget it. I’d recognise you even if you turned to dust.”