HongPiri - The Month of Sorrow -part 5-

Here I am with a new chapter! Sorry I took too long, I had writer's block for a while. Plus I've started a prologue of a new fan fiction. Anyways, please enjoy!

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-Chapter 5 ~ Blossoming Feelings-

|Hong Kong’s POV|

The shopping district was already bustling with people of various ages and in many different groups as well as cars getting in and out of parking lots by the time Hong Kong and Iceland arrived there via a taxi. After they got out and paid the fare to the driver, Hong Kong got his Blackberry phone out and checked the time. It was 11:27, around nearly fifteen minutes since he and Iceland left the hotel, followed by slowed traffic that lasted another five or so.

“I think we’re here on time,” he told his Icelandic bestie as he placed his Blackberry back in his pants pocket.

“Ohh, thank the gods,” Iceland breathed in relief. “I figured with all this traffic, we’d be late.”

“Yeah, I was kinda worried, too,” Hong Kong agreed. “It’s a miracle that we got here three minutes early.”

“Charice said 11:30, right?”

“Yeah, she did. We have to find her, though.”

“She’s waiting outside a clothes shop?”

Hong Kong scoffed. “Well, maybe she is maybe she isn’t.”

Iceland let out an irritable grow and placed a hand on his hip. “Come on, admit it: you agreed with Charice just ‘cuz you want to go clothes shopping with her.”

“But didn’t you want to go clothes shopping, too? I mean, there might, like, be a sale on shirts and cargo pants…”

“Well, whatever, we have to go find her, we’re wasting time.”

Hong Kong held up his hands defensively. “Okay, okay; just take a chill pill, dude.”

To speak of the devil Hong Kong’s phone vibrated and upon instinct, he pulled it out of his pocket once again to see a text message from Philia saying, “at american eagle right now. meet u there! ”

“And Charice is aaaaat?” Iceland started while raising a brow.
The Hongkonger then put his phone back. “At American Eagle, wherever that is.”

“You mean that’s like, only a couple stores down?” Iceland asked as he pointed towards a store with the American Eagle logo.

Hong Kong turned into his direction and to his surprise, there actually is an American Eagle store just near them. Frowning just a little, the Cantonese teen boy could spot a medium-skinned figure with black hair and appears to be wearing pink and white.

That must be Philia. “There she is,” Hong Kong said, and jogged up to her without a second thought with Iceland just simply walking behind.

Philia seemed to notice the brunette Asian and waved to him with a big smile on her face. “Li Xiao, HIIII~~!”

Hong Kong stopped in his tracks and smiled. “Hi there, Charice.”

“Wait, where’s your Icelander friend?”

Hong Kong blinked only once and turned around to see his Northern Europe counterpart just walking with a blank look on his face (as usual whenever people walk just past him). “The heck took you so long?”

“You jogged, I chose to walk. It’s that simple,” Iceland replied with a slight tone of defense in his voice.

Hong Kong just shrugged, as he is accustomed to his best friend’s somewhat mysterious behavior. “Eh, you just didn’t knock her down and started a platonic connection with her.”

“Well, I’m just glad he didn’t,” said Philia. “If he were this close up to me, I’d shriek because his skin is so pale with his white hair and--” Philia then stopped and walked up to Iceland with curiosity in her eyes, “Is your hair and eye color natural?”

Iceland’s eyes widened when asked that. Hong Kong knows his friend has been asked that rarely, if ever, so even been asked right now would be surprising. “Y-yeah,” Iceland replied. “I was just born with it.”

“Ohhhhhh.” Philia giggled, in which Hong Kong though it sounded like little Chinese bells (for some bizarre reason). “You know, when I first looked at you, I thought you were just a teenage counterpart of Gilbert because he has silver-white hair as well.”

“Was that even necessary to compare me with that sorry-excuse-of-a-former-nation-slash-micronation narcissistic prick?” asked Iceland with a hint of irritability.

I was thinking the same thing, thought Hong Kong, although Iceland being compared to Prussia isn’t their all-time favorite thing.

“And you have purple eyes,” Philia continued. “Are you albino just like him?”

“Well, sort of,” Iceland replied as he rubbed his neck in modesty. “You said I only have purple eyes, so…”

Hong Kong just walked up to Iceland with a chill smirk on his face and put his elbow on his shoulder (he stood on tiptoes slightly due to the fact that he is one inch shorter than him, even though his biker boots have a one-inch heel to them*). “Icey, Icey, Icey, the least you could do is take a compliment. Besides, Charice here is the only other person than Lin Yi to think that you’re such a cutie-patootie!”

That remark made Iceland’s face turn many shades of red, in which made Philia burst into laughter. “Oh, Emil, I didn’t know you had a huge crush on Li Xiao’s sister!”

“I do NOT!” Iceland barked.

Hong Kong chuckled. “Oh, my God, you’re like, totally blushing!”

“Enough about that, though,” Philia spoke up. “To American Eagle we go!”

“Yes!”

With those declarations, the two walked off with Iceland having to jog up to them mumbling, about how Hong Kong didn’t have to bring up his huge secret crush on Taiwan even in public.

Meanwhile, as the trio walked into the American Eagle store, the unfamiliar light-headed feeling returned to Hong Kong once again, the same type of feeling from when he once hung out with Philia at the park yesterday. It always baffled him that whenever he was nearest to the Filipina, that feeling would always be there inside him. That feeling which makes him feel freer (though honestly, he had to restrain himself mentally), with an additional unfamiliar desire of an unknown kind. Just what is it about Philia that makes Hong Kong feel like this? This is barely like when he first met Iceland.

“...iiiii! Earth to Liiiii Xiaaaaooooo Chuuuun!”

Hong Kong suddenly snapped back into reality when Iceland snapped his fingers in front of his face.

“Li Xiao Chun, I said twice let’s go to the men’s area to browse around!” said Iceland, agitated.

The Cantonese teen realized that he was spacing out while going with Philia somewhere else contrary to where Iceland is and his face heated up in embarrassment. “Uh… S-sorry… Ch-Charice suggested I go with her to look around and…”

Iceland simply rolled his eyes and grabbed Hong Kong’s wrist. “Frick no, you’re coming with me!” With that Iceland pulled his best friend toward the men’s clothing section.

Hong Kong set himself free from Iceland’s grip (then again, Iceland wasn’t really putting all his strength in it) and mentally scolded himself for spacing out just like that. Whatever that feeling is, it’s most likely Iceland is irritated about it. Suppose if he’ll notice that Hong Kong himself has been acting strangely sooner or later?

It wasn’t particularly five minutes in when Hong Kong was looking through some black skinny jeans, trying to find his size. Awhile, his mind immediately went back to his and Philia’s time at the park yesterday and when he was walking right next Philia on the way to American Eagle. There’s just something about her that makes Hong Kong feel...somewhat steadily increasingly attracted to her. For some bizarre reason that Hong Kong really can’t pinpoint. And it wasn’t just being directly next to Philia that’s making him feel like this. Her voice and laughter keeps echoing inside his head. He thought that her voice and laughter was like that of an angel.

Hong Kong smiled softly at that. The voice and laughter of an angel. A beautiful yet fragile-looking angel with skin the color of muddy sand and hair black as a crow’s feather…

Suddenly, he felt someone tap on his shoulder twice. “Li?”

Hong Kong wasn’t initially surprised when it was Iceland who did it when he turned his head to him. “Huh?

“You’re spacing out again,” said Iceland. At least he didn’t enter an agitated mode this time around.

“Sorry,” said Hong Kong in a monotone. “I was just looking at these pants and--”

“Uh, newsflash, you’ve been staring at it for five minutes,” Iceland interrupted. “Usually, knowing you, you’d just pick it up, try it on and buy it without a second thought. Are you seriously all right?”

“I am, I am, I just think I’m coming down with something, that’s all.”

Iceland bit his lower lip in thought. “Do you feel feverish?”

Hong Kong blinked in confusion. “No. No, I don’t think so.”

Iceland then put whatever clothing items he has (though he only has two or three) on a nearby shelf, split his and Hong Kong’s hair aside, cupped the latter’s cheeks and brought his forehead to the other, skin touching. Hong Kong doesn’t think that he has a fever, as he’s not getting any chills as of right now.

After a few moments, Iceland parted foreheads with Hong Kong. “You don’t have a fever, I think. Though your cheeks are a little rosy…”

“Ice, it’s just the summer heat,” said Hong Kong. “The air conditioning in the store would make it go away.”

Iceland removed his hands from Hong Kong’s face. “Yeah, I really hope so.”

“Hey, you guys!”

Both the besties turned to see Philia with two armfuls of junior women’s clothing smiling brightly. Hong Kong thought it was beautiful, to say the least. Although admittedly, his eyes were widened with confusion as to why Philia has that many clothes, and judging from Iceland’s expression, he was probably thinking the same thing.

Needless to say, Hong Kong plastered an amused smile and put a hand on his hip. “You trying all these on?”

“Yep!” Philia replied cheerfully. “I’ll just be mixing and matching! Usually whenever I clothes shop with Alfred we do a mini-fashion show.”

“Seriously? So Ice and I aren’t alone in this!”

“Although it isn’t my all-time favorite thing,” said Iceland in a monotone (though it sounds like “I just said something random and I am hoping that everybody and nobody will notice””).

“Saying wrong stuff at the wrong time, Icey?” Hong Kong teased.

Iceland didn’t particularly say anything hereafter.

Philia just giggled, which made Hong Kong’s heart beat a little faster (and let’s hope to God he doesn’t enter a cardiac arrest or suffer a heart attack). “Well, I’m gonna go try all these on. Let’s go!”

The Filipina went off to the women’s changing room with Hong Kong and Iceland following along (though Hong Kong had to take Iceland’s hand and pull him to the direction where Philia’s walking).

“Let’s see…” Philia pondered. “Which of these tops and bottoms should I pick…?”

“You’d actually look great in all of them depending on if you mix and match,” Hong Kong suggested, smiling.

Iceland smiled as well. “Yeah, Li Xiao and I do that all the time whenever we go shopping. Minus his teasing.”

Philia immediately beamed. “That’s not too bad of an idea, you guys are the best!”

And with that, Philia instantly ran into one of the fitting rooms, quickly shutting the door behind her.

Meanwhile, Hong Kong took out his Blackberry and opened the camera app.

Iceland took notice of this and asked, “What are you doing?”

“Doing what we usually do every time we go clothes shopping,” Hong Kong replied in an as-of-matter-of-factly tone. “Taking pictures and posting them on my Tumblr.”

Iceland raised a brow. “You sure that’s a good idea?
“It is, as long as we ask Charice’s permission for it.”

Just then, Philia emerged from the closet wearing her normal wedges, but donning a white canvas miniskirt and baby blue tunic with pink and pastel yellow heart patterns with the hem tucked in under her skirt. There was a lack of visible cleavage due to her small breast area. “So what do you think?”

“Cute~!” said Hong Kong as he aimed his phone at his Filipina friend (if you call it that way). “So gonna take this and upload this on my Tumblr! If that’s like, totally alright with you.”

Philia shrugged. “It is, really.”

“Awesome!” Hong Kong took a snap and it was immediately on his phone. “Go in different outfits and I’ll snap one of each.”

“Sweet!”

For nearly ten minutes, for every time Philia walked out of the fitting room, she would always be in different outfits, mixing and matching, and Hong Kong would always snap pictures, though he would save them for when he goes back to his and Iceland’s hotel room so that he could transfer them to his laptop and upload them on his Tumblr and Instagram accounts. For every picture Hong Kong took on his phone, despite its usual standard quality, he would just stare at Philia’s small figure, stare at her beautiful brown-orange eyes and her sunlit smile. And her peppy and sunny and cheerful personality that might or might not be giving Hong Kong the tingling shivers on the inside.

It was a little past noon that Philia bought all the clothes that fit her and that she, Hong Kong, and Iceland exited out of the American Eagle store. Iceland suggested that they stop by for lunch and both Hong Kong and Philia agreed unanimously. There was an Arby’s nearest to where they currently are, so the trio decide to there. While both Philia and Iceland got the regular meals, Hong Kong only ordered a diet Pepsi to “settle his stomach,” he said, with Iceland teasingly rubbing his ab-sculpted belly asking if his stomach is hurting again and Hong Kong would reply “no” with a tint of blush on his cheeks. Though Philia seemed confused about it, she just went along with it and they all sat down at a table next to a large window.

“So,” Philia started the conversation. “Why did you just want a Pepsi, Li Xiao?”

Hong Kong just shrugged as he took a sip from his drink. “I’m just not a huge fan of fast food as Alfred is. I’m more into Chinese and Cantonese cuisine.”

“Oh! Kuya and I make Chinese cuisine sometimes!”

“You do?” asked Iceland, surprised.

This time Hong Kong smiled and leaned forward. “Have you tried Cantonese?”

Philia simply blinked. “I don’t think so…”

“Well, there’s just an abundance of Cantonese food, my most prized is dim sum and mooncakes.”

“What’s dim sum?”

“Dim sum are Chinese buns filled with wide varieties of meat. Usually, it’s pork or beef, other times chicken.”

“Interesting! I’ll have to look up the recipe online and probably persuade kuya into making it with me.”

Hong Kong let out a snicker in amusement. “Your brother’s not a huge fan of Chinese food, is he?”

Philia just shrugged. “Well, both our countries’ diplomatic relations are a little tense right now, but hey, that doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy them!”

“You are so right.” Hong Kong then noticed the Filipina crane her neck down, a salmon pink blush creeping across her medium-skinned face. He thought it was cute, to say the least. “Something wrong?”

Philia immediately snapped her head back up. “Nothing, it’s nothing!”

Hong Kong was confused about this ordeal, but decided to let it slide as he took another sip of his drink. “I like your necklace, Charice.”

“Thanks,” said the Filipina as she lifted up the thin chain with a curious blue gem dangling from it. “It’s a moonstone. It’s a type of birthstone that’s associated with my birth month, June.”

Hong Kong’s eyes widened with surprise. “Really, June? Iceland’s birthday is on the same month!”

“And I am just older than him by three weeks, no less,” said Iceland in a moody voice. “Besides, Huey Lewis and the News has been playing since we came in.”

“It’s ‘Hip to be Square,’ isn’t it?” asked Hong Kong.

“It is.”

“I honestly don’t care much for whatever music comes from Alfred, except for Ke$ha and Katy Perry,” said Philia.

“Well, I’m more into 80’s music than anybody else,” Hong Kong explained. “Also Touhou music, but I’m more into the rock genre. As well as some dubstep.”

“I’m also a fan of Touhou Project just like Li is, though not as much as him,” Iceland spoke up.

Now the tables turn to Philia for her eyes to widen. “Seriously, you are?”

“Well, like I said, not as much as him.”

As Iceland and Philia conversed on, Hong Kong looked out of the window, watching the cars pass by, though not very swiftly. Then his eyes darted to the sky. Today the sky is clear, albeit a few cirrus clouds floating by, the sun bright and its light shining onto his face. Though that reminds him… “Hey, Charice?”

Philia stopped talking with Iceland and looked at the Hongkonger. “What is it?”

“How do you say ‘sky’ in Filipino?”

Hong Kong did not take his eyes away from the window, waiting for the black-haired girl to answer. When she didn’t after a few moments, he looked straight at her, “You know, our language lesson; have you like, forgotten?”

Philia blinked once and mouthed an “Oh” and chuckled in amusement. “Of course I haven’t forgotten, Li Xiao! The Filipino word for ‘sky’ is ‘langit’.”

Hong Kong smiled and nodded. “And ‘cloud’?”

“‘Ulap’.”

“You know,” began Iceland as he set his half-eaten roast beef sandwich on his tray. “The Icelandic words for ‘sky’ and ‘cloud’ are ‘himinn’ and ‘skýið’.”

Both Philia and Hong Kong looked at him weirdly until the latter broke the silence, “Any particular reason why you’re bringing that up?”

Iceland said nothing as he continued eating, though Hong Kong could see a few negative emotions in his berry-colored eyes.

The Cantonese city-state then shrugged and said, facing Philia, “And, um… what’s the Filipino word for ‘sun’?”

This time Philia let out a giggle, smiling cutely. “It’s ‘araw’. How do you say ‘sun’ in Cantonese?”

“‘Taai yeung’,” Hong Kong replied, smiling back. He found himself admiring Philia’s smile. It was the most beautiful thing he’s ever seen.

“Taai yeung,” Philia repeated. “That sounds pretty.”

“It is, isn’t it?” Almost… pretty as your smile, though…

“In Icelandic it’s ‘sólin,’” Iceland spoke up again.

“That sounds pretty gloomy,” said Philia.

“Not really,” said Hong Kong. “I mean, to me, it sounds like a Scandinavian god or something along those lines.”

Philia pressed her lips together in thought. “I don’t think I can picture it.”

“Ehh, I pretty much can and cannot at the same time,” Hong Kong admitted.

“Aaahhhhh~ Li, Li, Li, Li~!” Iceland said erratically, so suddenly, which made Hong Kong and Philia snap their heads to the white-haired Icelander. “It’s playing, it’s playing right now!”

“What, what’s playing?” asked the now-confused Hongkonger boy.

“‘Waiting For You’ by Richard Marx!” Iceland replied.

“Haaaaahhhhh~ I like that song!” said Philia excitedly. “It’s really romantic!”

“I even made a lyrics parody of it on my Tumblr!” said Iceland next.

The black-haired Filipina looked at the Icelander, confused and shocked at the same time. “You write parodies on Tumblr? You also have a Tumblr like Li Xiao?”

“Yes, we do,” Hong Kong replied. “Ice here also writes parodies of a variety of existing songs and posts them on Tumblr.”

“I also write poetry,” Iceland added.

“That is so awesome!” said Philia.

“Yep, and my first-ever parody I’ve written is ‘We’ll Meet Again.’”

“‘We’ll Meet Again’... that sounds vaguely familiar…”

“‘We’ll Meet Again’ is an old wartime song by Vera Lynn,” Hong Kong explained. “And Ice is like, a huge huge fan of the Veraverse.”

“Veraverse?”

“It’s a World War II AU on FanFiction.net by George DeValier**,” Iceland explained next. “His works are awesome~!”

“He’s a fan fiction junkie,” said Hong Kong.

“Now back to the parody. I first wrote this back in 2008, sampling lyrics from ‘We’ll Meet Again’ and ‘Waiting For You’ with some original stuff.”

“Ahhh, cool!” said Philia, mesmerized. “Can you sing it, though?”

Iceland just blinked at her. “Sing what, my parody or ‘We’ll Meet Again’ by Ms. Lynn?”

“The one by Vera Lynn,” Philia replied.

“He’s a great singer, you know that,” said Hong Kong with a wink.

“Well, if you want me to sing, I’ll gladly do it.” Iceland then cleared his throat and started singing softly, but loud enough for Philia to hear.
Let's say goodbye with a smile dear,
Just for awhile dear, we must part
Don't let this parting upset you,
I'll not forget you, sweetheart,

We'll meet again,
Don't know where,don't know when.
But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day.

Admittedly, it has been far too long since Hong Kong heard Iceland sing. He always comments on how good his singing is though the latter would always say that he wishes he could sing like Lee Brotherton.*** Though the former would always assure the latter that his singing’s fine.

But before he could think anymore, he noticed a familiar-looking figure with platinum blond hair approach and stand beside Iceland while he’s singing and started to sing along with him.

Keep smiling through ,
Just like you always do,
Till the blue skies chase those dark clouds, far away.


Iceland appeared completely oblivious to the figure, but when Hong Kong looked up, his eyes widened in surprise on who’s just arrived. Norway.

Hong Kong had to resist laughing. Just then, he heard a whimper from Philia. He turned around and she looked paralyzed in fear, her orange-brown eyes widened, scared and frantic. Suddenly, Hong Kong felt protective of her, believing that he would shield her from any danger.

And I will just say hello,
To the folks that you know,
Tell them you won't be long,
They'll be happy to know that as I saw you go
You were singing this song

Just when Philia was about to say something, Hong Kong held up his hand to silence her, just for him to wait for the big moment. Wait for it…

We'll meet again, don't know where,don't know when,

Wait for it…
But I know we'll meet again, some sunny day…

Wait for it…

Just as Iceland was about to sing the next line, his eyes unintentionally darted to Norway, who was apparently singing along with him.

We'll meet again, don't know where, don't know when,
but I know we'll meet again--

From this moment, Iceland screamed murder and backed up against Hong Kong, who was about to laugh from Norway sneaking up on Iceland unnoticed, as far as sandwiching him between the window pane and the white-haired Icelander. He could hear Philia laughing hard. Although Hong Kong can’t deny that her laugh is angelic, he did get embarrassed being squished between the window glass and his best friend, whom he can hear panting to catch his breath. He subconsciously imagined the look on Norway’s face from this whole ordeal, though in hindsight, Norway would look at least apologetic for sneaking up on Iceland, as it is wasn’t his intention to do so. (Okay, granted, Norway barely shows any emotion, but anybody could tell from his blue-purple eyes.)

“Lukas, do not sneak up on me like that!” said Iceland through his pants.

“Sorry,” Hong Kong heard Norway say. “I heard you singing, so I came over. Your singing is still quite good.”

If Hong Kong is sandwiched any longer, he would suffocate. It didn’t really help that Iceland pressed him so far up against the window glass that his cheek is pressed against the cold surface and had to close his eye in order to prevent his brunette hair from brushing against his eyeball.

“Well, you didn’t have to sneak up on me!” Iceland yelled. “You almost scared me to death!”

“Sorry, little brother,” said Lukas.

“Don’t call me that, we’re in public!”

“Issh, get off me, you’re crushing me to death!” said Hong Kong.

Iceland instantly got off of Hong Kong, giving him some breathing space once again.
“Um…” Philia began, having recovered recently from her burst of laughter. “Who-who is this…?!”

Iceland got his breath back and replied, in an unenthusiastic monotone, “This is Lukas Bondevik, the Kingdom of Norway. He’s my…” He finished with a whisper. “Older brother.”

Philia didn’t quite catch what Iceland said, “He’s you’re what?”

“Older/Big brother,” both Hong Kong and Norway said at the same time.

The Filipina’s eyes widened and let out a melodramatic gasp. “No!”

Hong Kong snickered. “They actually are, though they don’t look it.”

“Well,” Phila said as she got up. “I’m Philia, the Outer Islands of the Republic of the Philippines! Human name is Charice Pacquiao, like the singer and the boxer~!”

“Whoa, whoa, slow down,” said Hong Kong. “Like what singer and boxer?”

“The singer Charice Pempengco and the boxer Manny Pacquiao!” Philia replied cheerfully.

“Well, that makes sense,” Iceland commented.

“Wait,” said Norway. “You said Outer Islands of the Philippines… but you’re supposed to be male, aren’t you?”

“Male…?” Philia repeated, confused. “Oh! You’re talking about my kuya, Rizal. He represents the Inner Islands, Manila, generally.”

“Kuya…?”

“It’s Filipino for brother,” Hong Kong explained.

“I see…” Norway lowered his head in thought. “Though… you were involved with the Manila tour bus incident, weren’t you?”

The Manila tour bus incident. Those words sent a tingling pain through Hong Kong’s chest where his scar lays. He felt a tightness within his chest and felt a dreaded nausea, images flashing of the crazed gunmen shooting at his people and himself, blood spritzing out, the sound of the multiple gunshots, screams of terror and pain, and worse, his struggling to breathe when he felt the bullet pierce through his chest and buried itself in his heart. The blurriness of the environment around him, salty tears streaming from his eyes from the pain and being scared to die, the doctors removing the bullet from his chest and put into a six-month vegetative state with machines keeping his heart healthy and beating.

Am I… going to have another heart attack? Hong Kong thought fearfully. Or a cardiac arrest?

“Eh, I wouldn’t worry too much about it,” said Philia casually. “The incident was three years ago, so it’s all in the past.”

Hearing those words lifted the weight off of Hong Kong’s chest and discreetly breathed a sigh of relief. So Philia is easygoing. And what’s better, the tour bus incident didn’t matter to her or himself. It doesn’t matter. As long as he and Philia can be together in the end…****

“Are you sure?” Norway asked with concern in his voice. “Because I can’t help but think that…”

“But think that what?”

“...Nothing.”

“Okaaaayyyy, it is really nice seeing you again, Lukas, now will you please leave before you embarrass me any further?” asked Iceland quickly in a frantic tone.

“Careful, Icey, he’ll just like, totally pressure you to call him ‘onii-chan!’” said Hong Kong teasingly.

“Don’t encourage him, Li!”

“Onii-chan~” said Norway in a teasing tone.

“See?! See what you made him do?!”

“Call me onii-chan, little brother, and I’ll take my leave.”

Hong Kong just simply laughed and Philia giggled watching Iceland getting pressured by Norway to call him “onii-chan” for a few minutes before the irritated and embarrassed Icelander caved and called him “onii-chan.” Hong Kong was dying slightly when Norway kissed Iceland on the cheek, leaving him red-faced and flustered and then he left.

After their lunch at Arby’s, Philia announced that she’s going to the flower shop to get a pot of flowers for herself and Hong Kong and Iceland agreed to wait. Finally, after more than five minutes, Philia came back with a bag full of the flowers she needed as well as a few packets of seeds and the trio then decided that it’s time to go back to the hotel, since the clock read 1:47, indicating that they’ve been out for around three hours and ten minutes.

When approaching the elevator, Philia stopped behind Hong Kong and Iceland and says that she has to make a phone call to her younger brother. Though Hong Kong became suspicious about this, he and Iceland nonetheless agreed and went into the elevator doors.

After Hong Kong pressed the button that says fourth floor, Iceland asked him, “What did Charice have to call her brother for?”

Hong Kong just shrugged. “Who knows?”

Iceland exhaled and bit his lip. After a few seconds, he said, “Charice is pretty easygoing isn’t she?”

“Yep,” replied Hong Kong, agreeingly. “Also somewhat likable. Though it really perplexed me that she became frightened upon seeing your brother.”

“Lukas doesn’t generally mean to be scary,” said Iceland. “He just can’t help it sometimes. It’s like Berwald, Mr. Russia and Mr. Germany.”

“I thought you said that you couldn’t help but suspect Russia even though after he help you with your illness and economy.”

“I know, it’s what Miss Ukraine said to me.”

Hong Kong’s throat vibrated in thought, and the two said nothing for the rest of the elevator ride and even walking to their hotel room.

After arriving that the door numbered 714, Hong Kong unlocked said door and entered. He took off his leather jacket (despite the fact that it’s summer), walked up to his bed and plopped on it, letting out a sigh.

“You’re just gonna plop down on your bed and be done with it?” asked Iceland.
Hong Kong lifted up his a little to look at his best friend. “I just need to relax a little, Ice. We like, haven’t been out all day, you know.”

Iceland opened his mouth to say something, but immediately shut it and frowned, turning away and pouting.

Hong Kong then sat up. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s nothing,” replied Iceland.

“Doesn’t look like nothing.”

Iceland didn’t say anything.

Hong Kong knitted his thick eyebrows together in thought. Today, Iceland called out three times while he was exchanging Filipino and Cantonese words with Philia. During the ride back to the hotel and the elevator up to their room… “You’re jealous, aren’t you?”

This time Iceland faced him his ivory face red with blush. “I-I am not jealous!”

“You know you are, Ice!” Hong Kong scoffed. “Hence your behavior was somewhat surprising!”

“I am not jealous, okay!?”

“And yet you said so yourself that Charice is easygoing.”

“You also added that she’s also likable!”

“That’s just my opinion of her.”

“Oh yeah, then what else do you think of her, then?!”

“Well…” Hong Kong reached under his bed and pulled out his black messenger bag. “If you really must know…” He then pulled out his sketchbook***** and pencil, set the bag down and propped himself against the bedframe. “Charice herself is actually a very nice girl.”

Iceland snorted. “Well, in Lukas’s defense, you could have hated her for the tour bus incident!”

Hong Kong ignored the tingles going through his scar. “No, I could not have, wingding.” He then opened his sketchbook to a blank page and started drawing. “The tour bus incident wasn’t her and her brother’s fault, anyway. They had nothing to do with this. So anyway, as I was saying, Charice is pretty nice, and I think she’s likable…” His voice became a little dreamy and softer. “She’s also very pretty and cute, with medium skin and black hair… with eyes the colors of an early morning sunrise and twilight sunset…” He could feel his eyes soften and blur slightly as he was sketching out a bust of Philia, perfectly getting every detail of her hair, her face, and her eyes. He then finished his sentence, his voice barely above a whisper, “I’ve… never seen such beautiful eyes like hers.”

Hong Kong lifted the pencil from the paper and gaze at his newest drawing of Philia. He colored and shaded her soot black hair and captured the likeness of her eyes.

Just suddenly, his sketchbook got snatched out of his hands, which apparently snapped him back into reality, and his eyes suddenly met Iceland’s, with a disapproving frown on his face.

“Li Xiao Chun, I think it’s time you get your head out of the clouds and back on your neck and shoulder where it belongs,” said Iceland sternly.

Hong Kong just smirked, trying to hide the dreamy and lovestruck look on his face. “Like you always do when you’re daydreaming about Lin Yi.”

Iceland blushed once again and shoved Hong Kong on his back. “I-I do not have a fucking crush on your sister, dumbass!”

Hong Kong swiftly got up and pressed Iceland down on his bed, pinning down his forearms with a playful smirk on his face. “You know you do~”

Iceland struggled to move, but it was really hard due to his best friend’s strong hands pinning him down on the soft bedsheets. Sure, Hong Kong is just one inch shorter than him, but jeez, why in the world must he be so damn strong?! “I do not!”

Hong Kong lifted a hand from Iceland’s arm and grabbed an end of the bedsheet. “You know, if you and Lin Yi would be dating right now, she would be able to do this.”

Just then, he quickly lifted it up and covered himself and Iceland as he put himself on top of him. Underneath, Iceland then gathered whatever strength he has to get out from under there, but Hong Kong’s strong arms around his waist prevented him from doing so, leading for the two boys to wrestle with each other under the bedsheets. Eventually the two were laughing hysterically during their friendly, brotherly wrestling match under the covers, with Hong Kong tickling Iceland on occasion and with Iceland yelling out “No!”, “Li, let me go!” and “Gyahh, stop it!!”

However, their roughhousing was cut short with a sudden knock on their door. Upon stopping, they both toppled off the bed to the floor, unintentionally dragging the covers down along with them, hidden underneath them. Both of them froze in anxiety, like two children caught doing something naughty by their parents.

“Did someone knock just now?” Hong Kong asked finally.

“Yeah, I heard it, too,” replied Iceland.

“Do you think it’s one of the people next door or else from the floor above or below us?”

“I really hope not.”

Silence for a good few moments.

“I get dibs on not answering the door.”

Another long silence before Iceland caved with an annoyed sigh. “Fine.”

Iceland then dug his way out of the covers with Hong Kong getting out of the way and walked to the door as the latter popped out and stood up, his brunette hair messed up from wrestling with Iceland.

The Cantonese city-state then quickly picked up the bed covers and tried to neatly lay them on the bed as Iceland opened up the door. He braced himself for the scolding they were about to receive from one tenant that could possibly have heard them roughhousing.

But then it was silence, though to Hong Kong, it was just as tense as he and Iceland was waiting. He turned around to see Iceland standing at the doorway. Though relieved that no one was there, Iceland appeared to be holding something. “What’s going on?”

Iceland closed the door and walked towards him, holding what appears to be a flower pot, which is wrapped in light purple foil, and in it is wisteria, white lilies, pink carnations and pink roses.
The smell of the wisteria entered Hong Kong’s nostrils immediately. Who in the world could have delivered this in front of their door?

“Looks like one of us has a secret admirer,” Iceland commented. “With an odd combination of flowers, no less.”

“I think it looks pretty enough to be a bouquet for a wedding, honestly,” Hong Kong gave his opinion.

Iceland just shrugged. “Yeah, well. Oh, and there’s a note in it.” He took a white card that’s placed between the green stems and read it out loud. “‘hola de nuevo, mi querido amor.******’ Whatever the heck that means.”

“It’s probably Spanish,” said Hong Kong.

“It is Spanish. Though who could have sent this to either one of us, or else both, one of the Latin American nations?”

“I doubt that. Though I wouldn’t be all too surprised if one of the Latin nations fell in love with me at first sight during one of our meetings. Though in hindsight, I would be disturbed if said Latin nation would be in his or her 20’s and then I would be like, totally disturbed out of my wits.”

“Yeah, I would be, too.”

Iceland then looked at the flowers and then at Hong Kong. “Sooooo… where you think this should go…?”

Hong Kong knitted his thick eyebrows again in thought, until his head turned to his nightstand. “Maybe here?”

“You sure about that?”

“Why not? I mean, we could just like, move the lamp a bit and it will be fine. Besides, I kinda like the smell of the wisteria…”

“All right, then.”

Iceland then walked up to his best friend’s night stand moved the vintage-looking lamp to the side, but not too close to the edge, and carefully placed the pot of beautiful flowers on the surface.

“At least the smell of the wisteria would help me sleep a little better,” said Hong Kong.”

“Yep,” said Iceland as well.

*********************************************

Hong Kong laid in his bed, staring at the ceiling in the pitch black darkness. His mind kept on wandering back to the words Norway said to Philia, and the words Iceland said to him this afternoon, though he tried not to remember the incident three years ago. Granted, it’s all in the past, like Philia said, but could Hong Kong have really blamed her and Luzon for the incident?

Of course not. Of course he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t blame them both for this. He never will. All three of them should forget about the past and move on. Right?

Hong Kong then remembered that he read a few articles online and in the newspaper that his city-state and the country of Philippines (particularly Manila) is having a diplomatic spat right now, so it’s no doubt that his people would hate theirs for the tour bus incident. Especially in particular that China forbade him to see both the Philippine twins ever again hereafter. And Hong Kong has already vowed to rebel against this rule and see them as many times as he want.

But then his thoughts reverted back to those unfamiliar feelings within him. Could those feelings blossoming would help settle the tensions between both their countries? It might not be enough, but it is worth a try. Although him having those kinds of feelings for Philia would be confusing for him, it would be no doubt that they would be given the scorn and disapproval by their own people, and then both their bosses would take matters into their own hands by forcibly cutting off their contact to each other completely.

Hong Kong then let out a yawn and turned to lay on his side. Now that he calculated the risks of being with Philia, he decided to take them. If she isn’t worth those risks then nothing is.