To the Start of a New World

3.3

The day Hong Sheng came into his home was a celebration. He walked in, wide-eyed, taking in the flourishing beauty of the villa. It must have looked completely different from when he'd last seen it.

A suitcase and a box. That was all Hong Sheng brought. It reminded Lu Hao of when Hong Sheng had been a child, staying in Lu Hao's parents' home. He'd only brought a backpack and the clothes on his back. Even now, there were so few things he cared to keep with him.

Lu Hao reached out and hooked an arm around Hong Sheng's thin and bony shoulders. The other man shuddered under his touch, and Lu Hao smiled. He loved when Hong Sheng reacted to him.

He had always loved being the only one in Hong Sheng's space, allowed to breathe in the same air, allowed to live in the same solitary universe Hong Sheng had made for himself. He'd been too blind before to not have been conscious of this. But now that he knew, he felt the urge to keep getting closer, to prove that though Hong Sheng cared for so little, he still kept Lu Hao cradled in his heart.

Lu Hao felt so many things when he looked at Hong Sheng, all of these silent and unknown desires that now burst out like a broken dam. He wanted to be by Hong Sheng's side. Wanted to hold him, touch him in ways no one else had ever touched him. He wanted to see Hong Sheng look at him with bright happiness in his eyes. He wanted to see Hong Sheng be the happiest person in the world.

He never wanted to see Hong Sheng empty and lifeless. Never again.

With the warmth of Hong Sheng's body in his grasp, Lu Hao lead him inside, showed him the villa as it originally stood. They went upstairs, to the third floor, where Lu Hao took him to his room. It was a room with a balcony, situated directly across from Lu Hao's own.

Lu Hao could see the hesitation in Hong Sheng's face. This area was at the heart of the SG, back then; mainly because it was where Lu Hao was. Hong Sheng probably felt he belonged in some far off, forgotten corner. But when Lu Hao mentioned, "My room is right across the hall from yours," motioning to the closed door, Hong Sheng's fight went out.

"Thank you," Hong Sheng said, bowing his head to hide whatever he was feeling.

But Lu Hao didn't want him to hide. Things would be different from here on. All those things that Hong Sheng kept buried in his heart were the treasures Lu Hao wanted to excavate and cherish, marveling in the wonder of their existence.

So he reached out, and grasped Hong Sheng's chin.

"Hong Sheng." He lifted Hong Sheng's face, revealing his stunned, wide-eyed expression. Cute, Lu Hao thought. His eyes couldn't help but grow soft, a warm, tender look coming across him. He murmured, "If you're going to thank me, look at me when you do."

Hong Sheng's face grew bright red. He jerked in Lu Hao's teasing grasp, sputtering, too shy to look. Lu Hao let him go, a light laugh escaping him.

He'd acted the exact same way when they were children, and the same way when they had grown up. Now, in this new future and revisited past, after everything that had happened between them, all the horrible things they had gone through, Hong Sheng was still as he once was. Shy. Easy to tease. Lovable. "You never change," Lu Hao said.

Since Hong Sheng had finished his move-in that morning, Lu Hao decided this was the perfect chance to make Hong Sheng comfortable. For lunch, Lu Hao personally went to cook.

His cooking wasn't as good as his mother's, but he'd helped her around the kitchen, and she'd taught him how to make a few things. At the very least, the nostalgic taste would hopefully help Hong Sheng settle his heart.

It was impossible to leave the apocalypse without feeling on edge. Both of them still felt that rotting scent in the air, even when there was nothing but the bright and lively spring breeze outside. It wouldn't go away, not unless June passed and no signs of change appeared.