To the Start of a New World

3.16

Author's Note

Here's the finale! For those who've read the oneshot, I've changed a few details to fit the expansion of the world. The timeline of the party has been shifted by one year, and because Yu Qiu shows up several years later in the sequel, the girl that Lu Hao interacts with is a different character.

Thank you!!

—

A joyous atmosphere uplifted everyone's spirits in the Survivor Guard base. Tables filled with food lined the open field near the villa, along with sodas and beers scavenged from the city.

Everyone knew that the researchers had found a major breakthrough, and hope for the end of the apocalypse filled the base.

Wandering around the base, Lu Hao clinked glasses and shared in the celebration with all of the SG members he came across. This success could never have come without all of the people who'd believed in his cause and joined the SG, and he knew to cherish each of the lives of the people who followed him.

Lu Hao chatted with everyone, checking in on person after person, and cheerfully made his way over to where Hong Sheng was.

Hong Sheng had picked a corner in the villa to stand. He held a cup full of soda and stared dully at the things around him. Lu Hao couldn't help but smile at the sight of him. Even if Hong Sheng wasn't a fan of parties, he was still here to participate.

On his way over to Hong Sheng, a girl tripped and fell on Lu Hao. Lu Hao grabbed her on instinct, and saw that it was a woman who'd joined the SG fairly recently. Her name was Meng Wei, if he remembered right. She was heavily drunk, but even then, she still smiled and raised up her cup while howling, "Yeah! Let's drink some more!"

"..." Was this the same cold-faced, ice beauty-looking girl that he'd seen a few months ago? Lu Hao smiled politely and looked at the group of people she'd been drinking with. Her teammates were split between putting their faces in their hands and laughing uproariously at her.

One of them heckled, "Watch out, Meng Meng! You're getting too close to the boss! His little boyfriend's looking at you!" Glancing at the corner where Hong Sheng stood, it was true: Hong Sheng was looking at them like a little sour lemon.

Seeing this, Lu Hao felt a little joy bubble up in his heart. He wanted Hong Sheng to be possessive of him. In fact, if Hong Sheng wanted to cling to him and say, 'Go away! He's mine!', that would be all the better. Well, though something like that would never happen.

"Oh, crap!" Meng Wei tried to get up, but she was too unsteady on her feet, and ended up falling over Lu Hao again. "He's going to get mad and—and not make those grenades I asked him for!"

Once he parsed what Meng Wei was saying through her slurred, drunken words, Lu Hao let out an amused sigh. "It's fine, he's not going to get mad at you for being drunk." He watched her continue to fall over and felt a little concerned. "Come on, I think you've had enough. I'll take her to her room," he said to Meng Wei's teammates. They all raised their glasses and cheered, and both sides waved goodbye.

Meng Wei was already passing out, so Lu Hao just hauled her upstairs. Since she didn't have a room here, Lu Hao put her up in his own room. He dropped her on the bed and set her sideways so that she wouldn't choke if she vomited in the night, then found a glass of water to set on the nightstand.

By now, things were getting pretty late. Lu Hao thought that Hong Sheng would be getting tired around now. An idea flashed in his mind, and he decided to act on it.

Lu Hao went to Hong Sheng's room, and with a playful little smirk, he laid on Hong Sheng's bed. Once Hong Sheng came back to see Lu Hao here, Lu Hao could tease him, and maybe even seduce him.