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Everyone can agree that meeting the in-laws for the first time, especially ones from the paranormal community, is a horror story waiting to happen. Luhan thought he’d skipped that particular hurdle since Jongdae’s wizard parents had died a long time ago. The huge surprise comes when, on the sleepy morning after their engagement party, Jongdae cuddles him close and asks him to meet his parents.
Luhan smiles, surprised at the request, but no less willing to leave some flowers at the graves of his in-laws. “You want me to go to the cemetery, summon them, and say, ‘Hi, I’ve been banging your son for a year now, so I thought it was time to ask him to marry me. He said yes.”
Jongdae blushes and slaps Luhan’s chest. “You better behave or they’ll bite you.”
“Pretty sure ghosts can’t bite.” Luhan summoned more than a few ghosts in the Incorporeal Entities Study class during his last year at the paranormal academy. The field hadn’t interested him though—all the wailing and crying and lame haunting tricks. He hopes his in-laws are well behaved.
“Actually,” Jongdae licks his lips, “they aren’t exactly ghosts.”
Luhan should’ve recognized those four words for what they really were…a declaration of impending doom.
It’s midnight when Luhan and Jongdae drive into the cemetery. They leave the car parked on the road and then set out on foot across the fields of white markers. It’s cold and silent, with the full moon casting a pale hue over everything it touches.
Luhan hurries after his fiancé. “Where exactly are they?”
“There’s a cabin in the woods up ahead,” Jongdae says, breath turning into mist before his lips. “They sort of became the unofficial ground keepers once they reanimated.”
“Oh.” There’s not much else Luhan can say, not after Jongdae revealed his parents are now zombies.
Zombies.
As in brain eating, decaying flesh, reawakened corpses.
Luhan had refused to leave the apartment without at least a dozen fire-spell charms. The little red papers make a slight bulge in his pant’s front pocket which he pats reassuringly once the cabin comes into view.
Jongdae waits for him by the door. His eyes scan over Luhan, a shimmer of worry in them. “Are you ready? Because if you’re not—”
Luhan quickly kisses his fiancé’s lips, a much needed contact that settles them both down. “I’m ready. Don’t let them eat my brains, okay? Remember you love it as much as my cock.”
That earns him a hard punch to the arm, but also another kiss.
The four of them are sitting at table sagging under the weight of a feast. There’s an entire turkey in the middle, surrounded by bowls of sweet potatoes, cobs of corn, garlic bread, homemade gravy, and strawberry salad. A single black pot is set aside, it’s lid on except for when Luhan’s parent take a piece of the brain meat inside. Luhan tries not to look to hard when they do.
Across from Luhan, Jongdae burps into the silence. “Man I’m full.”
Mrs. Kim frowns at him. She’s lovely, in an undead kind of way, her skin gray-ish but flawless even with a few fleshy bits missing or rotten away. “Manners, Jongdae.”
Jongdae grins.
“How is the food, Mr. Han?” Mr. Kim hasn’t said much, but that might be due to his jaw coming unhinged every few minutes.
Luhan smiles at them a bit too wide. “It’s delicious. Thank you so much.”
“We are glad to hear that,” Mrs. Kim says, pushing her white hair behind an ear, but a clump of it simply comes off. She settles the chunk of hair on her lap as if nothing out of the ordinary happened, as if she wasn’t decomposing right before their eyes. “Our taste buds aren’t the same now, so we had to guess at flavor on everything we cooked.”
“Food is delicious, Mom,” Jongdae says, eyes remaining on his mother’s face. “I’m about to burst at the seams here.”
It’s hard to watch. Jongdae refuses to acknowledge any sign that his parents are literally falling apart. He’s trying so hard to make this a cheerful evening, a happy reunion between the people he loves.
Luhan’s heart could just burst. He really found the most awesome person to spend the rest of his life with.
Going along with Jongdae, Luhan pats his belly happily. “I don’t want to alarm anyone, but I might have to pop my jean’s button in a few minutes.”
A roll of laughter unfurls around the table.
Jongdae shoots him a grateful smile, even as his eyes get misty. He sets his napkin down and stands. “B-Bathroom break.” He gives another smile at Luhan. “I’ll be right back, okay?”
Luhan nods and hopes he doesn’t look as panicky as he feels. Jongdae’s parents have already fed, so he should be safe. Unless they dislike the fact that he asked their son to marry him without their blessing? Yikes.
It’s just him and two zombies at the table now. Two eerily quiet zombies. Are they planning his demise? The Kims have sort of frozen on their seats, only their dry eyeballs moving as they shoot each other pointed looks. Then slowly, as if they’ve come to a mutual decision, they turn to Luhan.
Every hair on Luhan’s body stands on end. “So…what do brains taste like?” Luhan wants to smack himself. Great opening line, you moron.
The zombies aren’t offended though, because they both smile.
“You didn’t know about us, did you?” Mr. Kim asks, he head tilting at a way too sharp angle.
Luhan shakes his head.
Mr. Kim lets out a raspy laugh that makes his chest rattle as if more than a few bones were loose. “You’re handling it quite well, son.” The zombie man throws his head back and inhales. “Barely any scent of fear anymore.”
Oh, shit. Luhan had forgotten about the zombie’s weird skill of scenting people’s fear. He must’ve clogged their noses the moment he stepped inside the cabin. “I’m sorry. I know you’re Jongdae’s parents and all, but I can’t help it!”
Mrs. Kim smiles and reaches out to pat his hand. “It’s alright, dear. We aren’t offended.”
“We’re actually glad you’re here,” Mr. Kim says, shooting a loving glance at his wife.
Luhan’s brows shoot to his hairline. “You are?”
“When…we p-passed..ah…away,” Mrs. Kim says her speech a little halted. It’s happened frequently along the night, and it’s a clear sign her systems are failing. Mrs. Kim frowns and waits a few seconds before continuing. “Our Jongdae was so devastated that his love and heartbreak called us back from the light.”
“We came back,” Mr. Kim says, “so he would not follow us.”
Luhan grips the napkin in his lap.
Mrs. Kim nods at her husband and then looks back at Luhan. “The magic powering us will soon fade, letting us find our final rest at last.”
It’s just as he feared, but hearing it confirmed right after the Kims told him how hard Jongdae had taken their first death. Luhan speaks around the knot quickly forming in his throat. “Jongdae…He will be devastated.”
“Yes,” Mrs. Kim says, and the single word holds a horrible inevitability to it.
Mr. Kim’s eyes lock with Luhan’s. ““But you fill his heart now,” he says. “For you, he won’t follow.”
“This is why we’re glad,” Mr. Kim says, her dry eyes looking a bit misty. “Thank you. From the bottom of our shriveled and desiccated hearts, we thank you.”
Luhan closes the car door and buckles in. On the driver side, Jongdae simply sits behind the wheel and stares blankly ahead.
“Dae?” Luhan reaches out and brushes his knuckles over his fiancé’s cheek, finding it wet. “Sweetheart, why are you crying?”
Jongdae sniffles. “They liked you.”
Luhan unbuckles and pulls Jongdae into an awkward hug over the middle console. “Isn’t that a good thing?” he whispers against Jongdae’s hair.
A wobbly chuckle. “It’s the best thing!”
“Then why are you breaking my heart and crying like this?” Luhan continues petting Jongdae’s hair until the other calms down enough to speak again.
Even with tears and snot running down his face, Jongdae’s smile is whole and pure. “I’m crying because I’m so happy,” he says. “They’ll be at peace now.”
Luhan’s heart thumps painfully against his chest. Jongdae knew, he knew what his parents were going through, he knew what coming back had cost them. “What about you? They told me about last time,” Luhan says, carefully wiping more tears off Jongdae’s cheeks.
“I’ll be okay,” Jongdae whispers, gripping Luhan’s hands and squeezing reassuringly. “I have you now.”
Luhan nods, and squeezes back. “You have me. Always. Forever.”