Lu Han

An Angel, he could not believe it.

They existed, and here was living evidence right in front of him! If... If he published this newfound discovery together with the reports on the meteor strike, he could not be more successful.

But something in Ianthe’s sky-blue gemstones-maybe the evident fear-stopped his train of thoughts. He couldn’t do it. Lu Han wasn’t a damn paparazzi; he had no rights to publish something about Ianthe if she disallowed it. Plus, he would very much prefer it kept a secret…For now, at least. Maybe he could tell Lay; he was sure it would be safe with him.

“Lu Han.”

His name was pleasant sounding from her rich voice with that tinge of Eurasian accent, and he whipped around to blink at the sight before him. His tee shirt reached Ianthe’s mid thighs, which was then continued by his sweat pants all the way to the floor, so long that she was stepping and stumbling a little over it. At least she wore it correctly, for an Angel. It was obvious now, why she didn’t know what a spoon was, or how humans used it to eat, or what to do when you were supposed take a shower. Ianthe was really, truly from another world different from his, and he was shocked he'd come to accept that fact so comfortably. Perhaps he's always sort of believed in these sort of things...

“Ianthe.”

They held each other’s stare in silence. Ianthe fidgeted and stopped when it brought her another wave of pain across her quickly healing back. Her bandages have come lose, Lu Han noted, and reminded himself mentally to help her redress her wounds later before bed.

“Don’t do it, please.” She was begging him, eyes big and innocent, like kittens. Lu Han’s heart melted.

“I won’t, I promise. You should stay here and rest while your wounds heal. I’ll help you reapply the medicine.” He offered her a convincing smile when she eased up, her small frame no longer as tense. She blinked at him with those clear blue eyes and cocked her head slightly to one side.

“Stay?” She tested the word. The thought had never crossed Ianthe’s mind. Angels never stayed on Human's territory.

“It means to live here in my house and eat, sleep…whatever.” Lu Han himself was surprised that he had allowed her to lodge in with him temporarily so easily. She was an Angel, and a girl, after all.

Shaking his head, he picked up the first aid kit from his glass table and motioned for Ianthe to sit on the sofa beside him. She complied without complaint, her back to him. “I’d have to, um, peel the shirt off a bit so at to dress your wounds at your shoulders. It’ll hurt a bit…” Lu Han reconsidered it, “no, it’s gonna hurt real bad.”

Ianthe didn’t reply verbally, but nodded once bravely. She didn’t know what to expect, but if her savior said it was going to be painful, it probably will be. “Ah!” Searing pain lanced through her body as she bit her tongue hard and shuddered. Lu Han was right; it hurt, maybe like Hell.

Lu Han gritted his teeth. Hearing her sharp cry of pain made him worry unnecessarily for her. He knew the feeling of alcohol on ripped skin, and he didn’t relish in recounting it. “Hang on, it’ll just hurt for a bit and be gone within seconds,” he murmured distractedly, running the brownish cotton wool swiftly across her cuts on her milky legs. “Done.” Ianthe heaved a sigh of relief.

“Thank you.” She simpered.

Lu Han waved her gratitude away casually and stood up to rearrange the first aid kit. “Go to sleep. You’ll need as much rest as you can get to heal.” Lu Han pointed his chin towards the bed further down the steps in his one room flat.

Ianthe rubbed her uninjured forearm. “We heal quickly; much faster than humans. You don’t have to worry so much. It’d be gone by the end of this week.” Lu Han coughed behind his fist with mock indignance.

“I’m not worried!” He pretended not to see Ianthe laughing at him.

“What else do you Angels differ from us?” She was silent. The awkward stillness stretched between them, and just as Lu Han thought she wasn’t ready to answer yet, Ianthe spoke.

“Quite a lot. I…I’ll tell you some other day, maybe…” He detected the hint of hesitation in her tone.

“It’s okay; you don’t have to tell me if you’re uncomfortable with it. I apologize; it’s my reporter I-want-to-know-it-all hormones raging.” Ianthe blessed him with her girlish, amused giggle. It was a tinkling sound, one the reporter with his raging whatever hormones instantly loved. She shook her head, her shorter auburn curls bouncing off her shoulders.

“I’ll go to sleep.”

“Take the bed.” Lu Han offered immediately, like a perfect gentleman. “No arguments.” He broke Ianthe off before she could say anything in protest, sternly. Ianthe held his gaze, and then shrugged. She made her way to the bed, tripping carelessly over the too-long sleeves of her-actually, his-pants.

“Whoa, wait!” Lu Han leapt forward to catch her, taking extra care to be as soft and gentle as possible. He helped her down the four steps of a stairs and dropped to a knee before Ianthe. He plucked the excess fabric from under her feet and rolled it up for her so that it would not be a hindrance to her moving about. “Okay, you’re free to go now.”

Ianthe grinned with her pearly teeth flashing before she shuffled over to the bed and slowly, deliberately, laid herself down on her side on the queen-sized bed. “Goodnight,” she called as Lu Han turned to leave for the sofa, fatigue overcoming him from his previous lack of sleep. He casted a sleepy glance back behind him.

“Night, Angel. Sweet dreams.”

Despite the seemingly growing weight of his eyelids, Lu Han didn’t succumb to sleep immediately after he could hear Ianthe’s steady, deep breathing, informing him she was sound asleep. He watched her in quiet awe, admiring her lavish curve from the waist to the hip, the way her hair cascaded around her sweet yet elegant face.

Lu Han found himself typing away at his ever handy laptop on the oak desk in front of him. His eyes followed the letters that appeared one by one on the screen at a decent speed, not exactly sure what he was writing until he stopped the rapid flying of his long fingers across the keyboard to read.

 She lies, auburn tresses fanning out around her smooth, fair face. There’s a steady rhythm to her breathing as she inhales, exhales, inhales again… Never seen a prettier natural beauty in my life, in that one moment, I would have assumed she was an Angel descended on Earth with or without knowing her true identity: She was one. Great, pure, snow white feathery wings that span out about two to three meters in length, a single feather could have been nearly the size of my hand; they resemble those that have floated down to our world along with the black mass of meteor rock yesterday. I have no idea if she really was inside, or was part of that rock fallen from space. But then, we know so little of the world, of things beyond our Earth.

Ianthe enchants me, in one way or another which I, myself, am unsure of. Sworn to secrecy, her secret I shall not tell a soul until she herself allows it. But, so, so many mysteries I wish to know about her… What’s this? Love at first sight...?

Lu Han laid back into his chair, an arm thrown over his eyes. What on Earth was he writing? Or thinking? She was an Angel, an immortal from books. She didn’t match a human.

Lu Han’s fingers hovered above the delete key on his keyboard. One hit, and all would be gone. He bit his lip tentatively, then another button and sighed.

Document saved.

Lu Han then let sleep rob him of his consciousness.