Mood: Fluffy, slice of life, sweet
Summary: Lu Hao and Hong Sheng visit Ma and Pa in Iceland, where they have a relaxing time and enjoy the sights.
The private plane landed in the Icelandic airport of Egilsstaðir at noon. Lu Hao shook Hong Sheng awake, and Hong Sheng groggily took off his eye mask and ear muffs.
The air outside had a biting chill to it, mainly because of the strong winds that whipped their clothes when the two descended from the plane. But once they got inside and away from the wind, it was a fine temperature, the kind that made one want to bundle into sweaters and jackets or sit by a fire.
The town of Egilsstaðir had a charming peace to it, with simple and colorful houses spaced out along wide and winding asphalt roads. It was one of the relatively newer towns built in the sparsely-populated region of eastern Iceland. There had only been over two thousand people living here before the apocalypse, and it was hard to say how many lived now.
Lu Hao and Hong Sheng only briefly stopped through the town before they headed north. Father and Mother Lu’s vacation home had been built a ways away from the larger settlements. It took about an hour to get there, from the highway roads to the rocky dirt roads to finally, hiking up the uneven and grassy hillsides that led up to the house.
But once they arrived at the front door, Ma was already waiting for them outside, beaming brightly.
“Little Sheng, Little Hao!” She squeezed Hong Sheng’s cheeks, and gave each of them a hug. “Oh, it’s been so long since I’ve seen you. You’ve grown so thin!”
“Ma, we missed you.” A hit of emotion overtook Lu Hao at the sight of his mother. Her hair had grown much more gray over the years. He’d never seen her grow old. He had been eighteen when his mother and father had died. They had still been young, with many years of life still left in them.
Ma ushered them in, where they saw Pa waiting to greet them. Although he had turned into a zombie, he had regained his sentience through the zombie virus cure. He looked similar to how he had looked before, except his eyes were pale, and his skin a bit waxy. But he was happy, healthy, and alive.
Through the windows pointing to the back of the house, Lu Hao saw some of the bodyguards he had hired in the distance, herding some sheep. The other bodyguards had chosen to go home. They had packed up, and were going to take the private plane that had carried Lu Hao and Hong Sheng here to return to China.
The family of four caught up over the dining table. Ma prepared some coffee and hot milk for them to drink, and put some snacks on the table—bread and sweet pastries for Hong Sheng, and a local specialty for Lu Hao.
Hong Sheng glanced at the basket of dried and torn-up fish meat with morbid curiosity, while Lu Hao himself was absolutely delighted. He was like an old man and loved the kinds of dried seafood snacks that would usually be eaten by bar-goers padding their stomachs while they drank. This, however, was a proper Icelandic snack. Ma had gotten it as a gift from their neighbor, who recommended spreading butter over the fish as one ate it.
Lu Hao had a great time trying out this buttery dried fish, to the bemusement of his family and partner beside him.
The family of four spoke casually about their experiences over the past eight years, and glossed over the hardships. Lu Hao, Hong Sheng, and Ma had checked in with each other through the satellite phone over the years, so it was mainly Pa who was hearing things for the first time.
Pa was amazed to hear what Lu Hao and Hong Sheng had helped achieve. A small part of Lu Hao was fulfilled to see it. His entire adult life had been without his parents, and now, he could finally share his accomplishments with them. He’d been quite arrogant as a child, always believing he’d change the world and do great things, and part of that had come from his parents’ unwavering confidence in him.
Now he could let them know that they had reason to be proud of him and Hong Sheng.
It was after they’d gone through the new events in their lives that Ma suddenly looked at Lu Hao with a smile. It was an unfamiliar kind of smile, with an intention that Lu Hao had never seen before—after all, he’d always had a girlfriend in the past.
But once Ma hit Lu Hao with the dreaded question, “So, Little Hao, when are you going to get married?” he understood.
Lu Hao fell into an awkward silence.
Beside him, Hong Sheng paused in nibbling his pastry and turned his eyes on Lu Hao.
“…Ma, Pa.” Lu Hao reached up and fit his hand over Hong Sheng’s. “Hong Sheng and I are in a relationship.”
Under the prolonged silence that followed, Hong Sheng slowly set down his half-eaten pastry.
Ma’s face hadn’t changed in expression, though her smile had become a bit more inscrutable. Pa, on the other hand, made a small ‘ah’ sound.
“I see. Well, I had always thought… No, never mind. As long as you two are happy, your Pa will be happy.” Pa gave them a very gentle look, his pale eyes curving in a soft smile. He looked a bit wistful, with some thoughts and, perhaps, old wishes held back from being said. But he was sincere, and Lu Hao was grateful for that.
“Thank you, Pa.”
“Lu Hao, Little Sheng. How long have you two been together?” Ma finally spoke. She was still smiling, but she turned the force of her inquisition on Lu Hao. “You’ve never mentioned this to me before.”
An intuitive sense of being in trouble kept Lu Hao from answering immediately. It was Hong Sheng who spoke up instead, “We got together seven years ago. I… I asked Lu Hao to keep it a secret.”
“Little Sheng.” Ma reached out to take Hong Sheng’s other hand. She shook it affectionately with a helpless look. “You’ve always been a part of the family. I’m happy for you to be my son-in-law. But for Lu Hao… he… this boy…”
Afraid of her saying anything that would hurt Hong Sheng, Lu Hao cut in, “Ma, I know it might not be what you expected, but—“
He didn’t expect Ma to outright ignore him. “…I’m worried that he won’t treat you well. You’ve seen how he is. So fickle, always thinking he knows what’s best. If he ever makes you angry, just let Ma know, okay? Ma will teach him a lesson for you.”
“That’s right,” Pa suddenly joined in. He turned to Lu Hao with a worried look. “Little Hao, when you’re in a serious relationship, you can’t be how you were before. Think of how your Pa always treats your Ma. Little Sheng is such a good boy. You have to treasure him well.”
“…” Lu Hao was speechless. At his side, Hong Sheng nodded seriously along with what Ma was saying.
Okay, fine.
Lu Hao was the one who was a bad match for Hong Sheng. He accepted it!
After that, Ma ushered Lu Hao out so that she could speak with Hong Sheng privately.
Sent out into the cold, Lu Hao stared up at the cloudy blue sky and wondered just how in the world things had gone this way.
But after a moment, the corner of his lips pulled with contentment, and he walked out to where the bodyguards were tending to the sheep.
There was a barn out in the back of the house, but the sheep were mostly free to roam. Once he greeted the mercenaries and introduced himself, Lu Hao chatted with them about how his parents had been doing, and told them about what he’d seen in China.
The situation there came as a shock to them. Apparently, in Iceland, they’d rarely seen many zombies. Especially in this area, the population was sparse and people were alert, so the zombie apocalypse didn’t take off as violently as it did in densely-populated countries like their homeland.
Lu Hao nodded along with what they were saying. At the same time, he heard distantly from inside the house, “…I know, a young man like you won’t like to wear this jewelry. This is a gift from your Ma, so take it as a keepsake. This ring, your grandmother-in-law gave it to me…”
If he listened even further out, he would hear the sound of their neighbor brewing coffee, the liquid pouring into a cup. The sheep baa’d, feet padding on the grass and dirt. Birds soared with their wings beating against the air, and insects skittered along the trees and the detritus on the ground.
This was the first time Lu Hao had been in such an open space with so few people. The sounds of nature overtook his senses for a moment. When he zoned back in, he found that a curious lamb had come over to mouth at his gloves.
Letting out a small laugh, Lu Hao rescued his hand from the lamb’s mouth. He pat the little animal’s head, and saw its ears flick about.
Not long after, Hong Sheng came out of the house and joined Lu Hao. He stood a little bit behind Lu Hao and stared at the sheep. At first, he seemed intimidated by them, and always made sure to keep Lu Hao between him and the sheep.
But after a period of mutual observation, Hong Sheng seemed to accept the sheep, and he listened carefully as the bodyguards taught him how to interact with them. Sheep could display various behaviors to indicate their discomfort, and Hong Sheng memorized each one.
Prepared, Hong Sheng tentatively approached the flock of sheep.
Some of them immediately steered away from him, while others remained in place, docilely grazing or standing around. A few particularly curious sheep came over to inspect Hong Sheng, which he allowed and returned with cautious petting. His gloved fingers skated over the fluffy wool coats of the sheep, seemingly fascinated by the texture.
Hong Sheng played with the sheep, looking very content. At one point he put a hand in his pocket to dig out his phone and take a few pictures and video of them, but when he got his phone out, it promptly died in the cold air.
“…” A slight depression fell over Hong Sheng. He wordlessly looked at Lu Hao and held out his phone.
Lu Hao was amused and took the phone, then removed the glove from his hand. He walked a safe distance away from the sheep before he started channeling a very weak current of electricity through his skin. The current jumped into the battery of the phone as Lu Hao charged it up.
He was a very convenient boyfriend. Lu Hao reminded himself of his good points. It didn’t matter what his mom thought. He was handsome, strong, influential, and most of all, he was a portable charger.
Once the phone was charged up, Lu Hao dispersed the static electricity. He walked back over and took a few cute photos of Hong Sheng huddled up in a pile of sheep.
Lu Hao and Hong Sheng planned to stay in Iceland for three weeks. The SG was now in peaceful times, and the combined neo-human forces of ability users and zombies meant that they had ample power to protect themselves in case of an emergency.
Although Mother Lu had initially prepared two rooms for their stay, only one of them was used in the end.
Iceland had a calming sense of isolation to it. In the mornings, Lu Hao and Hong Sheng sat at the porch of the house. With their arms pressed together, they sipped on mellow steaming coffee and enjoyed the tranquility of the vast natural landscape before their eyes. In those times, it was easy to feel like their family was the only one left in the entire world.
While Hong Sheng stayed home with Ma and Pa, Lu Hao took the car and drove out to town. He kept whatever he did there a secret, until the last week of their stay in Iceland.
At that time, Lu Hao asked Hong Sheng to head out hiking with him. They’d previously hiked out to see the nearby lakes and waterfalls, but this time, Lu Hao brought along some camping supplies.
They set off early in the morning, driving along the road to the northern part of Iceland. It was about a two hour’s drive to the canyon of Ásbyrgi.
From above, this canyon looked as if an ancient god had scooped a piece of land out of the earth, leaving a horseshoe-shaped hole in the ground with tall sheer cliffs surrounding it on three sides. While the area above the cliff faces was bare and rocky from the exposed basalt, hidden like an enclave below was a lush forest of fir and birch trees.
Lu Hao and Hong Sheng spent the daytime walking through this forest. They stared up at the rocky cliffs and took a rest at the end of the wooden pathway. There, benches were set up to allow people to gaze out at the mossy ponds at the end of the canyon. Bright purple flowers with long stems swayed beside rocks bearing grass toupees, and a few birds chirped from the surrounding forest. They ate a late lunch and discussed how many earth ability users it would take to carve out a place like this.
Before it got dark, Lu Hao urged Hong Sheng to head up above the canyon walls with him.
“I don’t want to walk anymore.”
Hong Sheng said it plainly and straight to the point.
The kind of fitness Hong Sheng was used to had been the ‘running for his life’ variety. Hiking was a bit much for him.
“Do your feet hurt?” Lu Hao knelt down and helped Hong Sheng take off his hiking boots. The soles of his pale feet were red, and blisters were starting to form on some of his toes. “I’ll get the spring water.”
Hong Sheng shook his head. “It’s fine. I don’t want to use it.” Now that Lisa Xi had publicized the zombie virus cure, Hong Sheng didn’t like to keep Ji Ling’s jade pendant on him. They usually kept it stored away in a drawer, with a few bottles of the spring water kept on hand in the same way people kept cleaning alcohol in their cabinets.
Lu Hao gently rubbed his finger over a blister, only for Hong Sheng to yank his foot out of Lu Hao’s grasp with an admonishing look. Lu Hao got out the hand sanitizer and cleaned his hands under Hong Sheng’s watchful glare. “Alright, don’t walk. I’ll carry you up.”
The enhanced physicality of Lu Hao’s mutation meant he could leap his way up the cliff side with the agility and ease of a mountain goat. As practical as that might be, it wasn’t exactly the most romantic way to do it. So Lu Hao had Hong Sheng settle down comfortably on his back, and he walked the entire way up the trail to the top of the canyon.
By that time, it was already nearing evening. The sunset cast a golden glow over canyon, and the shadows stretched into long silhouettes. Free from having to exert any effort, Hong Sheng laid bonelessly on Lu Hao’s back and gazed out over the world.
Lu Hao picked a spot not far from the cliff face to set up camp. From here, they could easily walk over to the cliff and look down at the forest and pond below, the same place they had just been earlier that day. Except now it was all so distant and small beneath them, as if they had become gods gazing down at a miniature world.
Night fell. They ate dinner around a small fire Lu Hao had sparked with a hit of lightning. As the hour grew later, Hong Sheng leaned against Lu Hao and fell asleep. Lu Hao set him to rest inside the tent to keep him warm, while he himself stayed out to keep watch.
A while later, Lu Hao shook him awake.
“Hong Sheng.”
“Mm?” Hong Sheng sleepily got up.
“Come out and look at the sky.”
From inside the dark tent, Hong Sheng crawled out the tent flaps and looked up.
There, the brilliant night sky covered the world, and magnificent colors danced in the sky. The northern lights, in brilliant and vibrant hues, weaved over the sea of stars.
Hong Sheng’s eyes widened, and the colors and lights reflected in his irises. He stared up in wonder at the sky, and without shifting his gaze away from what he saw above, he staggered over to Lu Hao to cling to him in a desire to share this moment with him.
Lu Hao smiled and gazed up at the sky with him.
The world was beautiful.
The northern lights would only last for a few minutes. As they faded away, leaving only the twinkling of the distant cosmos in the river above, Lu Hao reached into his pocket and palmed a small box he carried inside it.
His fingers trembled with a trace of nervousness. Without Hong Sheng noticing, he took a slight, shaky breath.
“Lu Hao, thank you.” When the last of the northern lights finally disappeared, Hong Sheng rested his head on Lu Hao’s shoulder. He kept searching in the sky for anything he might have missed, and when he was sure that only the stars remained, he shifted slightly to glance at Lu Hao and smile at him.
Huddled in the crook of Lu Hao’s arm, such a Hong Sheng felt like a secret only Lu Hao could ever know. Hong Sheng’s dark eyes were bent at the bottom in an expression of pure wonder and joy. That smile took Lu Hao’s breath away. It brought back memories of the first time he had ever seen Hong Sheng this way, the day he decided he wanted Hong Sheng in his life.
His fingers tightened around the box.
Lu Hao swallowed with nervousness, his adam’s apple rolling in his throat. “Hong Sheng,” he said, hoarsely.
With his name having been called, Hong Sheng looked at Lu Hao, his eyes a little wider and softer than usual.
There was an intensity to Lu Hao’s expression, a kind of vulnerability he had never shown before. “When I was given a second chance,” he began, “I knew it was because of you. I’d loved you for a long time. But I was so caught up in how I thought things were, that I never realized my feelings until you were gone. Back then, when I went back to find you, it was because I wanted us to be together to the end. No matter what that meant. I still feel that way now. Even if time turns back, or the world around us changes in unimaginable ways, all I hope is to be with you. From now, to forever. So, Hong Sheng… this is my promise to you.”
Lu Hao took out the box from his pocket. He put it in Hong Sheng’s hand, and opened it.
Inside was a ring. It was a simple, minimal design of matte metal that dully reflected the starlight. But etched into the ring was a thin, jagged line, through which an unusual and rough stone could be seen.
Hong Sheng took the ring in his hands. He soon recognized what was inside, and he looked up at Lu Hao in a daze. “You made this.”
It was fulgurite. When lightning struck, the very ground itself fused and transformed under its impact. Under the right conditions it became what people knew as lightning glass or petrified lightning. It was a coarse and strange structure of minerals that looked almost like tree roots rising from the ground. It wasn’t the most beautiful stone in the world, but it was a fascinating one, and it rarely appeared in the world.
Lu Hao had gone out in search of ground that would yield a more crystalline look, then struck down a powerful blast of lightning to create the fulgurite. The end result contained in the ring had subtle, glittering facets to the stone.
“So that a part of me will always be with you,” Lu Hao said. “It’s a wedding ring, Hong Sheng. Will you let me put it on you?”
He saw the moment it all came together in Hong Sheng’s mind. He looked so stunned that his soul might have flown away for how frozen he was. But piece by piece, parts of him came back to life: Hong Sheng breathed sharply, his eyelids fluttering as he tried to control his tears. Hong Sheng didn’t cry, the bottoms of his eyelids turned red from the wet sheen over his eyes.
He nodded, decisively, and put his hand in Lu Hao’s.
The ring fit perfectly.
