Leo was home alone. Just as he was eating a pizza bought with his very last coins, a sharp knock echoed through the house. He opened the door to find his friends standing there, accompanied by several village elders. They were fully armed with farming tools and dressed head-to-toe in work clothes.

​Without wasting any time, everyone immediately set to work.

​Kai, Mark, and Eva’s father took charge of the heaviest physical labor. Meanwhile, Eva and Tyler’s older sister took over the kitchen, busy preparing hearty meals for the workers. Lina, her parents, and Tyler managed the fields, harvesting the crops. A few elderly neighbors lingered around, "supervising" the progress with watchful eyes. Throughout all this, Leo masterfully pretended to be working. He deliberately botched tasks on purpose, putting on a clueless, helpless display. He would look up with such an innocent, defeated expression that someone would invariably sigh, snatch the tool out of his hands, and comfort him, saying, "It's alright, dear, let us show you how it's done."

​That was how autumn passed. Thanks to the overwhelming support of the village—and Leo’s calculated laziness—everything was fully prepared for the upcoming winter. Despite his manipulations, the six of them genuinely enjoyed each other's company, sharing laughs and spending time together just like any normal teenagers their age.

​Then, winter arrived.

​On New Year's Eve, sitting inside the empty, silent cottage, Leo found himself harboring a faint, desperate hope that his parents would finally come to take him back home. Since the very day he had been exiled to Earth, he had strictly forbidden himself from thinking about his family or his past life. Thoughts of sadness, let alone longing, were completely out of the question for someone as proud as him. But on this specific night, the dam broke, and the repressed emotions came crashing down all at once.

​To avoid looking pathetic to the neighbors, he had lied to the village, claiming he was going to spend the holidays with his parents in the city. In reality, he had locked himself inside the house. He didn't even turn on a single light, terrified that the villagers might spot a glow through the windows and realize he was there. Dark, freezing, miserable, and entirely isolated—that was how he spent his very first New Year on Planet Earth.