He lowered the phone, even more excited than the girl had been. Ning Cheng pressed her lips together, knowing there was no escaping now.
She glanced back at Leo, sitting calmly in the car, one brow raised as he watched her.
The boy had already made his way around to the other side; Leo opened the door and got out.
"Leo?"
"The Leo? The F1 champion Leo?"
By now the girl beside Ning Cheng had caught on too, turning to look.
Leo walked over. The boy pulled out his own phone and asked, just as earnestly, for a photo.
Permission granted, he handed the phone to his girlfriend to shoot the two of them.
After the photos, the girl's eyes flicked back and forth between Leo and Ning Cheng, her smile impossible to suppress.
"Don't worry, Lemon—we won't breathe a word!"
Ning Cheng blinked, confused—then, two seconds later, realized what she meant...
"No, you've got it wrong. We're just friends."
She rushed to explain, but the girl's eyes seemed to see straight through her.
At that moment Leo stepped closer to Ning Cheng, tilting his head toward her, and said with an easy smile:
"She's right. For now, we're friends."
The girl considered this for two seconds, as if catching some hidden meaning, and smiled knowingly.
Tugging her boyfriend back, she waved at the two of them.
"Lemon, post a new video soon, okay!"
"Have a great trip! Bye!"
The couple left, and Ning Cheng and Leo stood where they were.
"What are you daydreaming for? Cold?"
"Back to the car."
Leo glanced at her, saw her staring into space, and bent down to murmur by her ear.
Warm breath seeped through the wool of her knit hat.
She whirled around, yanked the door open, and climbed in. Behind her, Leo looked down at the footprint she'd left in the snow and smiled.
Back in the car, they pulled away and continued north.
The heater was on full, warming Ning Cheng's cheeks pink. She raised her little camera to film the scenery sliding past the window, murmuring the occasional line to the lens.
Leo kept glancing over at her. Whenever they passed somewhere especially beautiful, he pulled over and let her film.
The E10 wound along the fjord: white mountainsides to the left, grey-blue sea to the right.
Outside the window the scenery repeated itself—snowy peaks, red cabins, the occasional bridge.
Ning Cheng sat in the passenger seat, scrolling through the footage and photos she'd already taken.
Leo's hands rested on the wheel, low, slow music playing, the sky outside still a deep, dark blue. Everything felt utterly calm.
"There's a viewing point ahead."
He spoke up suddenly, turning to her. "Want to stop?"
He checked his watch: eleven-thirty in the morning.
"Then stop, yes."
Ning Cheng gazed out the window. When the car came to rest she reached for the door—then stopped herself, turned, and asked softly, "Do you want to get out and walk a bit?"
Leo looked up at her, brow arching. "Sure."
They got out together. The cold hit them like a wall—a good twenty degrees colder than inside the car.
Wind poured in from the fjord, whipping Ning Cheng's hair loose and chilling her neck. Only then did she realize she'd left her scarf in the car.
Shivering, she was about to turn back for it when Leo was somehow already beside her, scarf in hand, wrapping it around her in one quick motion—then carefully sweeping her hair out from under it, behind her back.
Ning Cheng looked up at him, lips curving. "Thank you."
At the viewing point's railing she raised her camera, adjusted the angle, and pressed the shutter.
The frame swung—and Leo's profile appeared in her lens. Her fingertip rested on the button for two seconds, and then she pressed it anyway, keeping the shot.
Leo never noticed. The wind was strong, snapping the hems of their clothes.
He studied the sky for a few seconds—then suddenly turned and stepped close to her, positioning himself squarely between her and the cold wind off the fjord. Ning Cheng looked at him, puzzled.
Then the wind jumped another notch. The deep-blue sky was being smothered under a layer of grey, and now she felt it too—something was wrong.
"Get in the car."
Leo's voice rose slightly, firm and clipped, and he pulled her by the shoulder toward the car at a fast walk.
Once they were both in, he started the engine at once and steered back onto the main road.
"Those clouds are wrong. The wind's pushing down from the north—the snow could hit any minute."
As he spoke, he tapped the console screen and pulled up the weather alert.
Ning Cheng glanced at the rearview mirror. The black cloud from before had already reached the sea, moving unnaturally fast.
Three minutes later, the blizzard arrived.
The sky turned from deep blue to outright black, wind funneling into the valleys on either side of the road, visibility collapsing.
Warm yellow light filled the car, in stark contrast to the world outside.
Ning Cheng's grip tightened on her camera without her thinking. Leo glanced over, caught the small frown on her face, and said quietly, "Don't you have that little camera? The storm's footage too. Want to shoot it?"
She looked up at him at once. Leo flashed her a roguish grin.
The knot in her chest loosened instantly. She nodded, picked up the little camera, adjusted the settings, cracked the window open a slit, and stretched the lens out into the storm.
With her attention diverted, Leo fixed his eyes on the road, sweeping quick glances at the side windows and mirrors, slowing from seventy to forty.
Two minutes later she pulled the camera back in and closed the window.
When she turned her head, she saw his fingers on the steering wheel, knuckles going white.
"Slow down a little," she said softly.
Leo glanced at her. "I'm already slow."
His voice was steady, almost soothing, and a flick of his eyes told her to look outside.
"See the reflector posts along both sides? As long as you can still see the posts, we're still on the road."
Wind hammered the windshield. The snow was coming down thick now.
Ning Cheng remembered what he'd said that morning... The weather in Norway changes in an instant.
The blizzard forecast for the afternoon had arrived before noon.
If she'd been alone out here—yes. It truly wouldn't have been safe.
Five more minutes of driving, wipers going, snow swept off the glass as fast as it landed.
Ning Cheng picked up her phone, opened the map, searched for a moment—then lit up as she tapped a location.
"There's a rest area ahead. About a kilometer."
Leo nodded, eased the speed up slightly. Three more minutes.
Suddenly, something made him brake gently. The car skidded a short distance, then stopped.
Leo drew a deep breath, fingers curling on the wheel and loosening again.
"We can't go any farther."
he said quietly.