To the Start of a New World

3.8

Three weeks before the apocalypse, the villa's renovations were finally done. Lu Hao and Hong Sheng moved back, not forgetting to bring along the garden plants Hong Sheng had raised. They transplanted the garden into a sunny plot overlooked by one of the remaining bay windows, so that whenever Hong Sheng wanted to relax, he could curl up in the protruding windowsill and look out at the greenery.

The villa had fully transformed into a proto-version of the SG base. It wasn't as large as the base had grown to be, but the core was there.

And alongside it was the laboratory.

Lu Hao had secretly ordered the construction of the lab, and had negotiated with his father to find the scientific instruments the researchers might need later on. These kinds of specialized tools were extremely expensive, in the millions of yuan range; no matter how much money Lu Hao made on his own, he wouldn't be able to afford them without Father Lu's help.

With the research station set up, and the defenses built and ready, the SG base was now primed to be an even better stronghold against the zombie onslaught. This time, they would be ready to find the cure to the zombie virus.

There was only one loose end left.

At present, Lu Hao was curled around Hong Sheng in bed.

Sunlight streamed over them from an open window, the protective shutters rolled up. Hong Sheng hadn't moved for a while, a little vacant, like his soul had gone somewhere else to escape the memories in his mind.

At times like this, Lu Hao hated himself more than anything.

But even when he blamed himself for Hong Sheng's trauma, he couldn't let Hong Sheng go. All he could do was gently wrap himself around Hong Sheng, share his warmth with him, and hold him close. Sometimes he'd selfishly press his lips against the back of Hong Sheng's neck, desperate to let a sliver of his love pass into Hong Sheng's cognition.

Hong Sheng wouldn't react until hours later, when he finally grew aware again. By then, he would act like nothing had happened—but once, Lu Hao saw Hong Sheng duck his head, fingers pressed against the back of his neck, his ears completely blushing red.

So cute.

Every action Hong Sheng did was like a little mallet tapping on Lu Hao's heart.

He wanted so much to run his hands over Hong Sheng's body, to press his lips against Hong Sheng's and hear the shy, cut-off groans he'd make. He wanted to bite Hong Sheng's skin and fill it with marks. He wanted to feel Hong Sheng completely and utterly given to him, relaxed and pliant, knowing that Lu Hao held him safely in his embrace.

But Lu Hao buried that side of him, reminding himself, not yet. Not until Hong Sheng felt safe enough to let him closer. Not until he'd earned Hong Sheng's trust. Once the apocalypse came, and all of the ghosts of their past came to stay, Lu Hao would show Hong Sheng that he'd changed. He'd be by Hong Sheng's side as Hong Sheng took steps toward a happier life, one with friends, with people he could trust. People who weren't just Lu Hao.

Hong Sheng's world would grow wider, and the end of the apocalypse would come.

This time, things would change for the better.

Later that day, a package arrived at the villa.

It was a small box that barely weighed a thing. Lu Hao took it away without Hong Sheng even knowing it was there. He brought the package to a secure vault in the laboratory wing and tore it open.