may day eve
may day eve | girl!luhan/sehun ; broken wufan/luhan | pg-13
disclaimer: I don’t even own anything. Not even the title, nope.
summary: Luhan is never up for what is right, but eventually, she will.
a/n: I did this out of boredom, in 2 hours, don't judge me.
Thick and heavy summer air, the night is dark and young - twinkling stars above are like distant diamonds, and the moon, biggest of it all. All of this doesn’t stop the cheers and the singing and the dancing. Peking is a place where the kids are all pushed away to bed at eight, the women in their cheap silk qipaos are already preparing breakfast and lunch for the next day, men stay with one another with cheap, left-over liquor keeping them talking and laughing and laughing more.
Two hours before May Day eve, the celebration is at its peak.
Lu Han is a young girl of age eighteen - long, straight black hair often tied up to a bun, petite figure, pale white skin, delicately pointy chin, button-nose, soft, pink lips with a little scar at the bottom of it, doe eyes and shapely eyebrows. Nobody denies that she’s one of the most beautiful young ladies the town can offer.
Lu Han is helping her mother, Song Qian, in peeling ginger that night. She finishes and bothers herself for tomorrow morning’s tea and her father’s morning medication, all knowing that he will be too drunk once he wakes up.
Song Qian sighs, deep. “He just never stops,” is all she says. Lu Han looks at her mother with pity as she hears her father’s boisterous laughter from outside, ringing all over their neighborhood along with the endless laughter of his peers.
She puts away the last slices of ginger and neatly places them on the shelf when the neighborhood is partly filled with noises of horses and moving rickshaws. At this hour, only the noises of laughing men can fill the silence.
Lu Han hurries down their house and runs to the side of the road, clad only in her night qipao - a thin, white garment, its slits are impossibly high going up her pale thighs -- Song Qian doesn’t bother mending it - and her hair flutters gracefully as she runs. Song Qian calls for Lu Han who stubbornly stays where she is, waiting for the rickshaws to pass by her, curious as to who can be visiting their little town at this time of the night.
She can hear the horses neigh and the sound of wheels against rocky road going closer and closer. Lu Han squints and sees young men clad in foreign clothing she’s never seen before, young men with white skin and light brown or yellow hair peeking out of their hats. Visitors in Peking are never like them. The last rickshaw out of the four (as Lu Han counted) passes by and now, it only carries three young men unlike the others who seem to be carrying a little less than ten people. One of them catches Lu Han’s attention - a young man looking different from the others with small, sleepy yet tantalizing eyes and black hair, looking just like them - someone Eastern. They lock eyes, and from that moment on, everything including time seemed to have stopped.
“Lu Han!” She hears her mother call and that breaks her from reverie. The last rickshaw leaves her vision. She found it hard to sleep that night.
At age twenty three, Lu Han is already living in the city away from her family. She works as a singer in Peking’s most prestigious night club, patrons visiting every night to hear her sing; effortlessly bolting out melodies that leave the customers satisfied and delighted. They pay good amount, Lu Han sings a different song every night, but she still enchants them with her voice like it’s the first time they’ve ever heard her sing over and over again. It’s a fair trade.
Two hours before May Day eve, Lu Han sees small, sleepy eyes from the corner of her eyes as she sings. Those eyes look a tad bit too familiar, like she had seen them before but she doesn’t remember when. The memory is all a blur.
At the last note of the song, Lu Han gives her best, bolting it out to have all the people clapping for her. At the end of her song, she turns her head to the direction of those eyes.
It’s him. It’s the young man in the rickshaw that passed by their town five years ago. It has to be him.
She hurries down the stage, surprised, the hem of her pale pink qipao fluttering elegantly behind her as she walks briskly.
She halts when an obscenely huge man blocks her. He stinks of wine and Lu Han covers her nose.
“If you’ll excuse me, mister, I need to go-“
“Not yet, miss. My table is quite big and I need company-“
“She’s not going anywhere but with me in my table.” Lu Han looks behind her and sees very familiar eyes. “Come on, Lu Han.” The man takes her hand, mentally noting how soft and delicate her fingers are.
When the huge man backs away and leaves club, Lu Han is relieved.
“Thank you. For leading me away from him.”
“I need to get you away from him. He seems very…”
“Regular.”
“What?”
“Oh, I mean. I deal with it every night.” Lu Han found herself saying as she sits opposite the man who just saved her from possible harassment. “And I’m sick of it, men like those. They don’t ever give me respect. Sometimes I regret moving here to the city.” There is a moment of silence before Lu Han looks up to the man in front of her. “I-I’m so sorry for telling you all of that-“
“It’s no problem at all, Lu Han.” He reaches out for her hand.
“How did you know my name?”
“Shall I not know the name of the most beautiful girl in China?”
Lu Han is silent as she blushes down to her toes. She suddenly felt too hot even in her thin qipao.
“I know it’s you, the girl I’ve seen in town. It was five years ago.”
Lu Han couldn’t believe that he still remembers. It was five years ago, nobody remembers a brief eye contact from five years ago during May Day eve. Nobody.
He tells that his name is Oh Sehun, born in America from Korean parents who are immigrants. He had the privilege of going to school, though his parents are mere servants. They found a kind American family, fairly well-off enough to even send Sehun to school until College. He tells Lu Han that he’s been traveling back and forth to China as one of the representatives of his university’s Oriental Studies program, learning the local language in the process. They’ve been sending students from America to different Asian countries three times a year for further studies.
As for Oh Sehun, landing in China five years ago and landing eyes on this young lady was the best thing that ever happened to him. When he left China without laying eyes on her again, he felt empty. Now that he’s back and she’s here in front of him, more beautiful that she ever did looked before, he’s not going to let her get away again. He’s waited five years too long.
“I thought you wouldn’t remember me.” Lu Han lowers her head, trying to hide her impossibly red face as Sehun gently traces her knuckles with his thumb.
“Why wouldn’t I?” He smiles softly as he takes her delicate, pointy chin in his hands and leans in slowly for a soft kiss.
Lu Han would think that this is too fast (and Sehun is her first kiss), but as long as she gets to stare at those enchanting eyes for as long as she can, she doesn’t mind.
The sun is high and the weather is humid; the dock is filled with men in crisp, black suits. Among them is Sehun, leaving for America once again. He’s graduating this year in Harvard. Lu Han is there, holding him in her arms until it’s time for him to go. Sehun promised that he’ll be back and he’s staying in China for good.
“Would you still love me?” He asks Lu Han as he looks at her intently. “Because I will still love you even if we’re oceans away.”
“Stop it,” She mock-yells at Sehun as she buries her face in the junction where his neck and shoulders meet. She’s going to have to wait for too long; six months is awfully too long for her to wait. “I’ll still be loving you even if you’re a world away.” Sehun’s grip on her tightens. Lu Han sees his comrades already boarding the ship. “Go. I’ll be here when you get back.”
“You better be. I still have to marry you.” Sehun gives her a charming smile that leaves Lu Han speechless.
He kisses her softly before he steps foot on the ship.
It was just then, when the ship is getting smaller and smaller and the distance between her and Sehun is growing bigger, that Lu Han realized that they’ve only formally met two months ago. It was all too sudden, but she didn’t mind. After they met again for the first time in the night club, Sehun went there every night. They’ve seen each other almost every day, too. Sometimes, Sehun would spend the night in Lu Han’s apartment and they’re going to share shy and sweet kisses until the sun is peeking out of the horizon. She’s going to wait for him no matter what, because Sehun is unlike her father. Sehun is educated. He wouldn’t be worthless to Lu Han like how her father is with her mother. It’s only been two months, but Lu Han felt like she’s known him forever and she knows Sehun feels the same. They’ve spent almost every night talking about themselves, one another, many other things, until the crack of morning.
Wu Fan is a young man back in Lu Han’s old town. Lu Han and he were playmates back then, Wu Fan only a little older than her by months. Their parents know each other; it’s not that hard to arrange a marriage. It’s always been Chinese customs and that’s how Lu Han’s parents knew each other and eventually got married.
On a Saturday, Lu Han travels back to town to visit her family. Her father is ill and she brought some expensive medicine she bought from the city from the money she gets singing in the club. Her mother welcomes her with teary eyes and a hug.
“How is father doing?” She asks as she steps in their house for the first time in months, taking in the smell of aging wood and ginger.
“He’s improving. I’ve been tired from making medicine every day. I’m glad he’s getting better.”
“I brought some medicine from the city. This should help him get better faster, mother.”
“Thank you, my dear.” Song Qian hugs her daughter once more.
That night, when they prepare for bed, Song Qian breaks the news. “Your father and I have decided to have you married with Wu Fan. Remember him? Your old playmate. You’re all grown up now. He’s now studying in the city. Ah! You should meet up with him there. He’d be ideal for you.”
Lu Han doesn’t answer her mother for a while. “Mother, I already have a lover. I already have someone back in the city.”
Song Qian looks betrayed. “What? How come you didn’t tell me! How am I supposed to tell Wu Fan’s parents about this? This is a shame!” She sounds exhausted and Lu Han tries to not pity her own mother. But this is all her fault.
“Sehun will give me a good life ahead.”
Song Qian snaps. “Who?”
“His name is Oh Sehun. He’s Korean but he lives in America. I met him at the night club where I work. He’s smart. He’s educated. He’s not a simple man, mother. He’ll provide me all that I need. He loves me.”
“How can you be so sure of that man? What if leaves you? You can’t be so sure!”
“Mother, I will talk to Wu Fan and his parents tomorrow. I cannot do this! I cannot be married without my own consent!”
“It’s like you don’t know traditions-“
“I do! But I don’t want to live a miserable life married to a man I don’t love at all like you are with father!” Lu Han immediately regrets talking back like that. Song Qian looks hurt and she is unable to speak any more. She forces herself to stay calm.
“You’re a disgrace.” She mutters as she disappears under the sheets beside her ailing husband.
Lu Han spends the night outside in the field. Just her sitting at the middle of endless land and grass as the cold November air passes by. She sits there hugging her knees as she weeps, thinking of Sehun and how will she be able to stand to Wu Fan and his parents the following day. She doesn’t get a wink of sleep. At the crack of dawn, she goes back to their house and gets ready. Today will be the day she defies everything for her love of another man.
The walk to Wu Fan’s house is awfully short. Having been able to drink a cup of tea this morning, Lu Han feels weak, afraid. But Sehun reminds her of life, so she goes on.
“Mr. Wu?” She knocks on their door and an old man greets her.
“Lu Han? Is that you already? My, my! You look beautiful.”
“Yes, it is me. Thank you. I’m-“ Lu Han thinks of Sehun and she thinks of love. “I’m here to speak to you, about marrying your son.”
“Wu Fan?”
“Yes." Lu Han gulps. "Mr. Wu, you see, I have someone back in the city. I have a lover and I cannot marry Wu Fan. I know my parents and you and your wife have already made plans for Wu Fan and I but I just can’t-“ She feels tears rolling down her cheeks. “I can’t marry Wu Fan. I love someone else.”
For a moment, Lu Han thought that the old man in front of her is angry, but he smiles at her surprisingly. “It is not a problem, Lu Han. I understand you.”
She smiles and this time, she really cries. “Thank you, Mr. Wu. Please, do not blame my parents for this. It’s me and I can’t do it. Wu Fan is just someone from my childhood and I already moved on and met many new people. Please tell Wu Fan that I am deeply sorry for causing him trouble, and to you and your wife, Mr. Wu. I’m really sorry.” Lu Han bows as a sign of respect and gives Mr. Wu one last look before departing the town for good, not even bothering to stop by their house to bid her parents a last farewell.
Two weeks after the New Year, when all the celebrations had died down and all is left are firecracker wrappers on the streets, Lu Han hears a knock on her door. She peeks through the small crack on the wooden door and she sees those tantalizing eyes. In one swift opening of the door, Lu Han finds herself in Sehun’s embrace -- the feeling of longing is there and Lu Han feels tears rolling down her pretty cheeks.
“You’re back.” She breathes in Sehun’s ear.
“Like I promised, right?” They stand there for a couple of minutes before Sehun adds, “I’ll always find my way back to you.”
Lu Han feels young and in love all over again. But she doesn’t tell Sehun about Wu Fan. All that matters is that he’s back.
The wedding celebration isn’t festive. Only a man of law to give vows and a few friends were there. As soon as the words of congratulations died down, Lu Han and Sehun retreat to the safety of their now shared apartment that was once Lu Han’s only.
Sehun kisses with intensity and passion and Lu Han does the same. Their lips meet in a soft kiss as soon as Lu Han is discarded from her qipao and Sehun from his suit. Sehun is trailing kisses from Lu Han’s soft, pink lips, to her chin, jaw, and down to her neck. It’s the first time they’re doing this now that they’re one. Lu Han is nervous, but as Sehun holds her close to him, carefully touching her in all places, she is reminded that this man loves her and he came back to her. She shouldn’t be nervous. Sehun is now her husband, a husband she fought for because she loves him that much. As Sehun’s kisses go lower and lower, Lu Han is having a hard time keeping quiet and she moans, long and needy. She pants airy Sehuns and yes and more as Sehun gives her pleasure. After a while, Sehun thrusts in and Lu Han is writhing in both pain and pleasure. That moment on, she is only Sehun’s. Only his.
A year later, two hours before May Day eve, Lu Han gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. He has Sehun’s eyes and Lu Han’s cheeks and lips. He couldn’t be any less perfect.
In the battle of love, Lu Han had given her all and she’s thankful and she met Sehun. Lu Han should’ve known from that fateful night of the last day of April that she will be lucky, now having a husband that will love her in all odds, and a son to bind them together for the rest of their lives. She should have known that every significant moment in her life will happen once upon a May Day eve.
//
- First of all, I’m sorry this is such crap! OTL
- Second, I was bored during my week-off. I was supposed to be doing 2 school papers but then this.
- Got my inspiration from a local short story of the same title. But the story itself from the original one and this one is a lot different from one another so :D
- I think I got all information here wrong so I do apologize but wth this is just fiction, anyway.
- Idk man I’m part Chinese and I already suck in history and my parents and grandparents never imposed such strict Chinese customs as I was growing up and such orz orz. But I do know that Beijing was formerly Peking OTL OK!!
- I hope you don’t puke after you have read this :(