Lu Han

Maybe, Ianthe’s observation made sense. He did notice her flustered behavior time to time, but had never linked it with the possibility that the Starbucks brunette might actually like him. There wasn’t much to like about him; most girls preferred ‘cool’ guys, and he didn’t exactly fall under that category. Still…

Lu Han sighed and refused to dwell on it further, pushing it dismissively aside. Instead, he focused on what was real: That Ianthe looked much more presentable in public in the torn top and ripped jeans he’d bought for her last Sunday. Her regal curves still showed; slim and y.

He had had the day off again this Sunday. If it had not been for one person, he would have still been typing away at his laptop or looking up the News again, working the weekend away.

“Your hard work paid off; you need a break at times.” Had been what Ianthe said earlier, and made him promise her he would show her Korea.

“Ianthe, have you tried the theme parks?” Lu Han looked up briefly from the scrap of a map at the lady sipping coffee. Ianthe wrinkled her nose at it delicately and met his questioning eyes.

“No,” she echoed, sapphire jewels widening, "never been down to Earth, remember?"

Lu Han grinned. “I’ll bring you to one today, then?”

The Angel’s eyes lit up in glee. “Please, if you could.”

“ ’Course I can. Give me a minute.” Lu Han tossed aside the who-knows-how-many-years-old crumpled map and bounded to his closet, throwing the wood doors wide open.

 

Ianthe’s mouth dropped open in wonder as her eyes took in the whole of the park. Rollercoasters zooming downhill on rails midair, merry-go-rounds spinning a batch of kids on carnival horses, occasional wafts of food…

“Oh, wow.” The Angel fluttered her long lashes in disbelief and awe, speechless. Lu Han winked at her, pleased that his exotic guest seemed to love it. He went to buy the ticket and left Ianthe gaping at the signboard of the theme park by herself.

“Oohhh!” Ianthe screamed piercingly, nearly deafening Lu Han’s ears as they swoosh downhill with increasing velocity, their hair flapping back behind them. The Angel laughed and begged for another few more rides on the coaster, which Lu Han readily agreed to. Finally, he had to drag the ecstatic Immortal away from the queue, or they would never have made it past that station.

“Oh God, this is exhilarating, too!” Her merry giggling rang like wind chimes swaying in the breeze by his ears as they floated down the destined path of water on their boats. She squealed in surprise when a shower of water rained down half way through the trip, missing them by a hair’s breadth and sprinkling them with glistening droplets. “I’m beginning to wonder why my World never had this sort of things.”

“What do you have in your World, exactly?”

“Probably what you see when you look up at the sky through your telescopes, but Angels inhabit all planets, from your Mercury all the way to Neptune, and maybe beyond. Of course, you guys did find out that Neptune is freezing cold,” Ianthe explained as they strolled with cotton candy in their hands. She continued between bites, “In truth, we live just like Mortals do, shops and such, but no theme parks.”

“Wow.” Lu Han breathed. “But we’ve never discovered any of your traces when our people landed on Mars, or moon, or whatever.”

“You can't see us. And we live inside.”

“Inside…? Oh…And you get to fly? And have all sorts of technology stuff?”

Ianthe regarded him with a strange look. “Technology? No. No technology. We communicate either with words, or mind link.”

“You mean, like Telepathy?” Lu Han’s brows shot up underneath his fringe, eyes wide.

His Angel nodded, her lips. “I guess…And yes, we fly as transportation. But, we race horses, too.” Ianthe grinned mysteriously, and then added on, “Unicorns and Pegasus.”

Lu Han was robbed of speech, and could only nod mutely. It was a lot to process. To think all those myths of healing horses and horses with wings existed, only beyond the human power to spot them. This was news, this was news indeed. Lu Han did not doubt that they ceased to exist, and that Ianthe was just babbling rubbish, because the girl was proof itself.

“Can we go on that?” Ianthe nudged him in the ribs enthusiastically, pointing. Lu Han blanched.

Free fall just wasn’t in his list of likes; he had Acrophobia. Lu Han smiled warmly, despite the growing uneasiness.

“Yes, sure, of course. Today’s activities are all yours to decide.”

“Thank you!” Ianthe lunged for him briefly and catered off, a few last wisps of her candy floss snatched by the playful wind. Her glossy hair, tied up in a long ponytail, bounced merrily behind her. Lu Han’s heart quickened its usual pace, whooping occasionally.

The shorter the already-short queue got, the harder his lips pressed together. The open free fall tower rose a good fifteen or over meters off the ground, with the dangerous-looking seat dangling at its peak. What if it fell off with the weight it had to bear?

The bell signaling the end of a ride tolled and the handful of people around him moved in a single file through the painted open gates.

What if it didn’t manage to stop in time?

Ianthe scrambled for a seat at the edge of the eight-seater on the right side and motioned for him to sit beside her. What if I…

Lu Han climbed into the plastic seat and fidgeted. Should I go? Tell her I can’t do it?

The two benches rose swiftly and smoothly, cutting off his thoughts of escape. He couldn’t possibly let Ianthe up here all by herself, and she had seemed so radiant throughout this whole trip, he didn’t want to dash her hopes. Steeling himself for the stomach-dropping sensation which sent chills down his back, he screwed his eyes shut and held on tight.

He couldn’t help it; Lu Han opened a long-lashed eye to peek down below, and his head spun. Oh nonono…

A small, warm hand closed itself around his, and he turned to the Angel beside him instead.

“You’re scared,” she said bluntly, her voice telling him she knew it wasn’t the normal oh!-I’m nervous kind of ‘scared’.

Lu Han’s laugh was evidently strained. “No, no, I’m fine. Just feeling a little dizzy from the height.”

Ianthe pursed her lips and rolled her eyes in exasperation. She hated that he had to endure all these just because of her. She’ll deal with it later. Despite the faint, not-so-convincing reassuring lift of his full lips, Ianthe kept a firm hold on Lu Han’s shaking hand.

They reached the tower’s zenith and stopped, legs flailing in the air. Unable to feel the solid ground beneath his clothed yet cold feet, Lu Han bit down hard on his bottom lip. The pressure of the Angel’s hand originally on his increased, her warmth seeping into his skin. He relaxed a little.

“Arhhhhh-”

Gravity pulled them down to meet the earth, and just seconds from hitting the floor, it shot up again.

“Lu Han, it’s over.” Lu Han only opened his eyes when Ianthe tugged at his hands covering his face. There was still a scream ringing in the air, and he was quick to realize the terrified scream was from his own mouth. Lu Han closed it abashedly, groaning inwardly as others smiled and pointed at him discreetly from beside. Ianthe herself was laughing.

“God, you have to be the most adorable thing alive,” then her expression turned somber as she narrowed her blue eyes at him, “why force yourself when you know you’re scared of heights?”

Lu Han blushed awkwardly again. “Is it that obvious?”

“Are you kidding me?” Ianthe burst, hands on her slim hips. “You were screaming like a madman up there, you know?”

“Okay, okay. I didn’t want you to miss out any fun just because of a silly phobia I have,” Lu Han muttered, more to himself, but Ianthe had excellent hearing. Her eyes softened.

“Deer,” she said gently, “neither do I want you to force yourself because of me.”

Suddenly, the atmosphere between them seemed so much like a bubbling cauldron of emotions refusing to be made known, a possible, deeper, hidden expression behind each of their sentences. Blue eyes and brown met and held the gaze, feeling the invisible crackle of the static passing between them, and wondering why on Earth were they like that.

Lu Han had to acknowledge the fact that his new nickname ever since she arrived: Deer, melted him inside out like chocolate to flame, almost leaving him in a thick, gooey mess. His heart, not for the first time, hammered faster, weighing lesser and lesser at every second that passed in silence between their both unwavering and somewhat passionate stare-down contest.

Ianthe blinked, and the line was cut abruptly. Lu Han withdrew his gaze sheepishly.

Had they really just stared like that at each other in the middle of nowhere filled with random people? Gawd, something was wrong with him. He held back a little, both his steps and his emotions, and tried to sort out the mishmash of sensations towards somebody earlier.

Instead, he was distracted by Ianthe cheerfully breaking a small distance away-never too far-and prancing about like a six year old, big heartedly accepting stares from people-mostly guys their age.

Lu Han sighed, then scowled, then exhaled again.

Like as if he was of any exception.