Hey, guys! Remember that I said there would be an epilogue? A hundred years ago? Yeah, the time has come finally. So, here it is. I am truly sorry for taking such an awfully long time but many, many things have happened since the last chapter and none of them is good. It's not an excuse; it's the reason behind my delay.

Also, those of you who are waiting for 'Blind' update, it will happen, just give me some time. There is no way I will stop writing, especially, not now.

If you have time read the Author's Note at the end of the chapter.

Hope you enjoy the final chapter of this story. This is the official end. And you have no idea just how much all of you have inspired me through your words and supports. 

I love you.❤

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Chapter-32: Epilogue

"This is-"

Timmy's voice drowned in the booming sound of a plane taking off. He waited a moment and repeated again, "This is it, then."

Park shrugged, his eyes still focussed on him, intensely.

Being subjected to such a piercing stare should have been uncomfortable but Timmy had learnt to speak fluent Park these past months and knew the guy was trying to suppress his emotions.

"Try not to quit your studies. You have worked too hard to botch everything up at this point," was Park's reply to him.

This had been Park's first reaction when Timmy told him he would be going home.

"You're not gonna complete your course?" He had asked indignantly, pinning Timmy with a look that was equivalent to, 'Shouldn't you be locked up in an asylum?'

"Of course, I will," Timmy placated immediately before Park got to chance to start one of his tirades. "I'm not gonna quit and frankly, JingYu would kick me out if I so much as suggested it." He could not help the fond smile that crept up his lips at the memory of JingYu's frantic look when he had suggested going back. "I'll be transferring to Beijing Academy, that's all."

Park had blinked and then began to roast him with questions for hours till Timmy wanted to hammer him to death.

But despite those moments of exasperation, Timmy knew he was blessed to have such people in his life who cared and loved him without any expectation of rewards.

"You're gonna check on me if I'm mucking up my career or being the next big thing in the Chinese music industry in a few months, aren't you? You promised so." Timmy reminded him pointedly. This was their deal. Park would visit him a few months when he goes home to South Korea during the term break.

"And I intend to keep it. After all, I need to see with my own eyes your happy domesticity and," he leaned closer without moving his feet, a salacious grin on his face, "there might be some opportunity for me to play the vamp and blow your love paradise up."

Park's voice was a drawl that he used to rile people up but Timmy knew him too well to detect the dash of longing behind those words.

While he did not return Park's feelings, did not ever thought of Park anything other than his friend, he understood him. After all, who knew the pain of longing better than Timmy?

Instead of shoving the moron away, as was his wont to do, Timmy hugged him tight. Park's body went stiff as a plank immediately but there were some things Timmy had to tell him before leaving. So he said them while holding onto his friend that made it possible for Timmy to get his JingYu back.

"You will find your music too, Park. Until then, hold on to your heart, hold on, hold onto it. Don't give it away just for anybody because then you might miss your 'someone'. Love finds its way, trust me. I have my life to attest to it."

With a gentle pat or two on his back, Park straightened up and looked at him with an open and amused expression, "Look at you! All grown up and disgustingly sappy."

"Oh, sod off!"

He is going to miss his life here but he was going home.

He was going to JingYu.

XOXOXOX

Timmy made himself as comfortable as he could in his window seat. It would be a long journey, the anticipation making it even longer and this was his first time travelling with economic class; that was all his own money could afford at the moment. And he refused to use his father's money; not that Dad had offered to pay for his travel back anyway.

His mind went back to the especially unpleasant phone call he had with his parents earlier this week and the memory made him grimace.

"But...but why now? Why again?!" His mother had wailed, her tinny voice piercing, "You were getting better, so much better, then what happened again?"

"Better? Getting better? Mum, I'm not sick!"Timmy had yelled back, bitterness dripped all over, "Being gay is not a disease, mother. He did not 'turn' me gay! No one can 'become' homosexual. People either born with it or aren't!"

"I'm not having this conversation with you, Timmy. You are going to stay there and finish your course and that's final."

" I doubt you'll have any other chance of having any conversation with me at all, seeing I'm going back to China very soon and I will not be staying with you."

There were gasping, sniffling, motherly pleading, emotional blackmailing but Timmy's resolve did not waver. However, his talk with his father was way more precise.

"I hope you already know but I feel it is my duty to remind you yet again that if you follow through your plan there will be no home to return to. I will disown you the moment you leave London," Was his father's verdict.

"My home and your home are not the same places, Dad. Don't worry, I won't claim your money or the advantages that come with your social status."

"Very well. This ends here, then."

And that was that. His last talk with his parents. He would be lying if he said it did not hurt but it was nothing compared to the pain he had suffered after leaving JingYu.

JingYu...

Just the name was enough to divert and uplift his mood. Grinning like something had unhinged within his head, Timmy looked back to the past months they had been apart since his boyfriend went back home.

Timmy had demanded an awful lot of things that JingYu would have to do while they were apart and predictably, the endearingly gullible man agreed to each one of them, albeit reluctantly. And one of those things was writing letters.

"But- but I'm not good with words, ZhouZhou, you know that!" JingYu had pleaded quite pitifully; face morphing into that of a trapped puppy.

"I don't care. If I said you'd have to write then you'd have to write," ZhouZhou had refused to budge, not that he ever did much of budging in their relationship but that was beside the point. "Be thankful that I am not making you write actual letters. You pour your heart into emails and send them to me, simple!"

"Easier said than done," came a very grumpy mumble.

"I did it, remember? For almost a year; when you kicked me out of your-"

"Okay okay, I'll do it, all right? I'll write to you."

It was a low blow and Timmy knew that but he did not care. He needed as many reassurances as he could manage to convince himself that JingYu would not disappear from his life again.

Timmy shook his head in fond exasperation. Honestly, JingYu really should be a bit stricter with him if he ever wanted to get things done in his way or Timmy might keep taking advantage. But at the same time, having that much power over the man made Timmy aware of his role and responsibility more. He knew he could take advantage but he never did, not often at least.

Well, that was what love was about, no? Knowing that you possessed the power to break someone but never even thought of attempting to try it.

Timmy reclined in his seat, settling down for the nap. His nerves were all jittery, excitement thrumming. Squeezing the earbuds into his ears and shuffling to play the recording that had become his new addiction, his mind went back to the memory behind it.

They had a huge row last month. JingYu was touring with his modelling agency and was at some godforsaken place where having a decent phone signal seemed to be miraculous. They had not spoken properly for almost five days and Timmy was going grey with frustration. Finally, JingYu managed to get a place with a secure connection and they had scheduled a time to video call which was pretty difficult considering their different time zones. Timmy waited with bated breath to get a glimpse of his boyfriend; he had missed JingYu terribly and was counting the seconds for the time to come. But it came and went without even a peep from JingYu. Disappointed beyond words, Timmy's fear got the better of him and he had gone to sleep biting his lips to hold back tears.

The call from JingYu came the next morning and had informed Timmy, with a groggy voice that usually came from a hangover, that there was a party he got invited into, thus missing their video call.

Usually, when they fought it was only Timmy yelling and JingYu trying to make him see reason but this time the later yelled back too, throwing Timmy completely off kilter.

"Did- did you just yell at me?" Timmy's voice was cold with pure fury; the reason for their fight might not have been that much serious but JingYu's raised voice had halted any chance of reconciliation for the foreseeable future. Timmy seethed. "Is that how we are doing these things now? That I get yelled at for wanting to spend some time with my boyfriend? The boyfriend who has been traipsing all over the country with his fancy modelling assignments and rubbing shoulders with pretty little models and ignoring me in general? Too busy to have a fucking twenty minutes video call?" With every accusation, the voice jumped up an octave.

"And I said sorry! I apologized, profusely! I am really sorry that I missed-"

"You missed an entire fucking day, JingYu! That's what you missed!"

"And it was not deliberate, as I have told you time and again! I did not know about the party beforehand and I absolutely lost the track of time-"

"Yeah yeah, spare me the crap, will you? You were busy partying, JingYu! Partying! And guess what? While you were getting smashed I was worrying high and low, giving myself a panic attack! So, I have every right to be pissed off. Do not tell me not to!"

"Don't try to put your words in my mouth, Timmy. I've never accused you for being upset. I knew you were worried and yes, I had a little too much to drink and I'm really, truly sorry. I have missed you too, more than you could think of. But I can't turn back time. What more do you want me to do? Grovel in the mud?"

Not habituated being on the receiving end of that tone from JingYu, Timmy's voice had choked up much to his humiliation and with a gritted out, "Fuck you, Huang JingYu," he had disconnected the call.

Timmy had practiced till he could not feel his fingertips anymore, pouring out all the pain and rage he felt inside. He came back to his room drained and desolate, hardly keeping an upright position. He almost did not open the voicemails he had received but his heart was always a treacherous little bastard.

He still thanked the Almighty till date he did not delete the messages without opening.

"He-hello? Tim-" The first messaged said. Only two words, abruptly cut off. JingYu's voice was slurred.

"Heyyyyy, 'Tis- what? 'ello hello? Hellooooooo?" The second one was not much better but by them Timmy was sitting ramrod straight, eyes wide open.

And then there was the third one.

"Hey- wai'- wha' beep? Beeeeeep beeeeeeep eeeeeep! See, I beeeeped. Can we- can we talk noooow?" There was some shuffling noise and then, "ZhouZhou? ZhouZhoooooooou? 'm so'ry, 'm so soooooooo sowwy!" He sounded so pitiful, on the verge of crying. "I call'd. Ring ring ring. No ZhouZhou. I sai' hellooooo. I'm so sorryyy I missss'd-" There were more shuffling and a pause, "Wha' did I miss?............oh! Ohhhh, yeah!! I miss m' ZhouZhou.....my baby boy, I 'iss his arse too..bu-but shhhhhh don' tell 'im that, 'kay? Shhhhhhhh..all soft an'- and bouncy..his arse..I wanna bop it..shhhhhh..............bop........can we talk now? Zho-" Hiccup- "Zhou? ZhouZhoooou-"

Then the message ended with JingYu mewling his name. Timmy sat there, phone still pressed against his ear, blinking slowly. Gobsmacked.

The laughter that had followed the stunned silent sounded hysterical.

And since that day this had been the most played sound clip on Timmy's playlist. He was actually grateful that they had the fight. JingYu, however, had a very different opinion. But Timmy did not pay heed to his boyfriend's many mumbled pleading, "Please, delete it from the face of humanity".

As the message played out, again and again, Timmy lulled his mind to sleep, dreaming of home.

XOXOXOX

"My peace is snatched away from me once again," was the first thing that left Pip's mouth as Timmy approached him waiting in the airport.

Timmy felt an overwhelming urge of hugging his best friend at that moment and did just that, "I missed you too, you git!"

"God, stop wiping your emotional snot all over me," but despite his words, Pip hugged him back all the same.

No matter how many good friends Timmy had made through the years, the bond between a childhood friend who had seen him at his lowest was something else altogether. There would never be another Pip for Timmy.

"Have you told him that you're coming back today?" Pip asked, tying his seatbelt.

"That's the whole point of the surprise, isn't it?"

"What the hell, dude?!" Pip exclaimed, stopping midway, "You wanna kill the man or something?! He's gonna burst out into spontaneous orgasms getting such a surprise!"

Timmy almost choked on his sudden laughter! Trust Pip to come up with the most bizarre ideas!

"You're just jealous that I'm gonna get the D tonight!" He gave a leering wink.

Pip's face scrunched up, "Too much information, dude! I don't need to know. Keep your D, P, Wee to yourself. I have no interest in your dick story!" He gave a shudder, "Ew!" And started the car hurriedly.

"How is it, JingYu's new flat?" Timmy had mixed feelings about it. On one hand, he was happy that JingYu could afford a better place now and he seemed to like the place, but on the other, Timmy mourned the loss of their previous flat. To him, it was their home. That small room with its peeled off walls and tiny kitchen area, that crack on the bathroom tiles- every imperfection was a part of the happiness they found there. And he was not sure if he could be able to find the same kind of happiness in the new flat.

But then again, JingYu was his happiness. Everything would be all right.

"It's a vast improvement from that rundown building where he used to live," Pip answered, eyes on the road, "And it's near the Academy too."

That bit of information hung between them like a heavy insinuation, both knowing what that meant.

"He never wanted me to go away," Timmy murmured, more to himself than for Pip's ears.

"And you were a fool for thinking he did."

"Love makes all of us fools-" Timmy started, almost defensively, but was cut short.

Pip glanced at him with his most bored expression and said, "Do me a favour, dude. Keep that Shakespearean shit to yourself. You know you fucked up, I know you fucked up, he knows you fucked up. But you are here now and he has taken you back and that's what matters the most. Stop frying my brain."

"You are no fun," Timmy pouted, an effective way to cover up his embarrassment.

"Dude, there is only one thing you consider fun these days and if I even try to make 'fun' to you then that boyfriend of yours will have my balls. And believe it or not, I like my balls and like to keep them where they are attached, thankyouverymuch."

"I really did not need that mental image, dude."

"Now you know my suffering.....dude."

XOXOXOX

JingYu dipped the spoon into the simmering orange sauce and licked clean the sample. Not bad. Despite being dog tired, he still decided to cook tonight. After Timmy left, he had almost stopped cooking. Eating felt redundant at first and then could not make him cook for only himself. But now that would have to change. ZhouZhou was coming home next week and JingYu must brush up his cooking skills again. He could not possibly let the boy eat off take aways and canned foods!

JingYu hummed tunelessly, thinking about the upcoming week. He had taken the entire week off. Seven days were not remotely enough to quench his thirst on ZhouZhou but that was all he could manage at the moment.

The doorbell rang.

JingYu's eyes immediately slid to the wall clock. Who could be knocking at his door at this late? The grannie next door liked to bring him hotpots sometimes but it was way past her bedtime now.

Frowning, JingYu wiped his hands on the kitchen towel, turned off the stove, and headed for the door, opening it just a bit.

ZhouZhou stood on the opposite side, two trolley suitcases on either side, a backpack hanging precariously from his elbow, the guitar secure on one shoulder. Face open, eager........and anxious.

JingYu's hand dropped from the door jamb, making it swing wide open.

None spoke, not even a sound was uttered. Just one pair of wide, surprised eyes colliding with another.

Then Timmy broke the stalemate.

"Can I stay here with you?"

And just like that JingYu was back at his old flat, standing at his doorstep, staring at a ZhouZhou who stood before him with a broken face because he had left his parents and wanted to stay with JingYu.

As though the gruesome, lonely months in between had never happened.

JingYu turned away from the door, face crumbling, pressing the heels of his hands to his eyes to stave off the burning. His body began to tremble from the effort. The onslaught of memories breaking down the dam of emotions within him.

Moments passed before Timmy spoke again.

"JingYu......? I'm sorry for not telling y-"

He could not finish it, JingYu could not let him finish it. He could not go even a second longer without having his ZhouZhou in his arms. So, he spun on his heels, grabbed him, pulled him and squeezed him into an embrace and prayed that it would show ZhouZhou all the emotions he was feeling right now but could not express through legible words.

And ZhouZhou understood. And ZhouZhou hugged him back. And ZhouZhou whispered his name like a prayer.

And they kissed.

It was not the finest of kisses they had shared but it was the best kiss JingYu had ever had. It was sloppy, uncoordinated with too much tongue and saliva and......it tasted like home. Like love. Like a dream that had come true.

It was glorious.

"You are here," JingYu's lips moved against Timmy's neck, "You are home. You are here."

"Yes....yes, I'm here. I'm home. Yes, I'm home."

JingYu was probably hugging Timmy too tight, probably even bruising his sides but for once he did not care. For once he let himself take the fill to his heart's content. Inhaling ZhouZhou's scent, mashing their bodies together, his teeth marking the soft skin of that delicate neck because the inner beast within him, the one that craved ZhouZhou like a drug wanted to mark his territory, reclaim what was his and his alone.

"I need you....I need to have you," JingYu's voice came out in pants, as if running a mile in a minute, "I know I should give you some time and you must be really tired but I need you, I need," his voice shook with the welled up emotion and a primal want and thankfully Timmy stopped him.

"Then take me. Take me right now. Make me yours, make me yours once more, all yours."

Their arms tangled together, grabbing, clutching, squeezing, trying to rip the clothes off each other as JingYu lifted Timmy up who promptly wrapped his legs around JingYu's waist; their lips never parting the other for more than a couple of seconds.

This was not how JingYu had pictured their reunion would go. He had thought of a hundred scenarios, playing the moment in his head in every way and variation but none of them included frantic sex. He always thought there would be happiness, laughter, maybe a bit of tears of joy, a lot of hugging and kissing, soft words spoken in hushed murmurs against skins. But this infernal burning within, this insane, electrifying need to ravish ZhouZhou, to devour him, this was completely unprecedented. And what was more shocking was that he was not capable of stopping it, did not want to stop it.

"Mine."

The growl that escaped from him was dark and possessive but was met with approval when he felt Timmy hardening against his stomach.

"I'm sorry, ZhouZhou but I really, really need to have you right now," JingYu managed to stammer out the words, tongue getting heavier with maddening arousal by each second.

Timmy looked up from where he had been sucking on the back of JingYu's ear and bit his lower lip in that illegally seductive way, "Do you need an engraved invitation? Isn't it enough?" And he pressed his cock more crushingly against JingYu's abdomen. It felt like hot iron.

That was the last straw for JingYu's self control.

In the next instant, they crashed into his bedroom, he flung ZhouZhou on his bed and almost climaxed then and there when Timmy sat back on his elbow, looked at JingYu with smouldering, unfocused eyes and spread his legs.

Spontaneous orgasms indeed.

XOXOXOX

A morning after many, many nights........

Timmy's consciousness slowly seeped in as he woke up; the muted light of the heavily curtained room felt nice on his closed eyelids. Without opening them he turned and pressed his face to the warm chest he knew would be there.

Only, it was damp.

He scowled, lips adjusting to a pout, and mumbled to the cold skin, "You had a shower already? Why are you awake this early?"

The fingers that were playing with the soft hair of his nape slid lower to draw patterns against his back, "Rebecca's call woke me up and I was feeling sort of sticky so..."

Timmy's sore arse throbbed to let him know exactly why his boyfriend was feeling sticky. A grin bloomed on his face and he gave a nip to JingYu's torso, humming self satisfactorily.

Then JingYu's words registered to his still sleep muddled mind. Rebecca called. The emphasis was not on who called but on why did she call so early. Right after his return from England, he had contacted Rebecca on his own and met her to apologise. He was pretty scared as to what her reaction would be. But it turned out her reaction was to give Timmy a hug that positively cut his blood circulation. And just when he began to relax, thinking he had avoided the storm successfully, Rebecca unleashed her, "You Are Such A Moron, Timmy Xu" tornado. Since then, in this past one and half year, their bond only grew to be stronger.

"Did something happen? She doesn't usually wake up herself this early," he asked, looking up at JingYu's face with squinting eyes.

"Mmhm," JingYu hummed non-committally, fingers tickling Timmy's underarm. But he was too piqued to bother about it now.

When he kept looking at JingYu with squinty eyes, demanding him to elaborate, JingYu heaved a dramatic sigh and said, "Remember I auditioned for that web series thing last month?"

Timmy scrambled to position himself better, eyes widening like a saucer. Of course, he remembered. Rebecca one day came up with a proposal of JingYu trying for a role in acting. There was to be an audition and she wanted JingYu to go for it. Predictably, JingYu r had refused without even giving a thought.

"I have absolutely no intention whatsoever to further my career in showbiz. I'm still waiting for my sports career to bloom and when it does I'll stop modelling too," was his response.

It took Rebecca's incessant nagging, Timmy's intervention with a ridiculous amount of pouting, puppy eyes, promises of washing the dishes for a whole year and some mind blowing blowjobs for JingYu to finally concede, albeit grudgingly.

The audition had gone well, according to Rebecca and while JingYu had promptly forgotten all about it, Timmy and Rebecca still hoped for him to get the role, even though the production did not even reveal what the series would be about.

"You got the role?" Timmy asked, back to present, voice rising with excitement.

"I got the role," JingYu agreed, in a very collected, calm manner that was part and parcel of his persona.

"Oh my god." The exclamation came out as a whisper, hand clamming down over his mouth.

"And I'm one of the leads," JingYu maintained his matter-of-tone but that did not lessen Timmy's excitement as he whispered again, "Oh my god."

"And........" JingYu looked at him pointedly, to get his full attention, which was silly because Timmy could not even think of getting diverted at this point.

"And?"

"And it's a gay drama."

"Oh, my- what?" Timmy skidded to a stop, "A what?"

JingYu shrugged.

"G-gay in the sense of queer? Or happy and gay?"

"Queer.'

"And you are one of the leads?"

"Yes."

Timmy's blinked rapidly, "You mean the other lead will be a guy also?"

"Yes, it will be."

"And..........you will be romancing him on screen?"

"Considering it's a romantic drama, yes."

"And you are not bothered about it?"

"Not particularly," JingYu said with another shrug.

Timmy stared at him. His shock was not coming from the fact that JingYu would act in a gay drama. Hell, he was openly gay himself, but JingYu's calmness about the possibility that he would be with another guy and would probably have to do intimate scenes with him was what twisted the knife in his gut.

"Who is he?" He demanded in a quiet voice.

"Don't know. The production has not confirmed the other lead. In fact, Rebecca said they were asking for some suggestion."

Timmy stared at the scar on JingYu ribcage for a few seconds before burying his face into the pillow, biting his lips from yelling out. He should not behave like this. It was he that convinced JingYu to take this role; if anything, he should be happy but.......heart was irrational.

"I have a suggestion for the role."

What? Timmy's head shot up from his slump, "What?"

For some reason, JingYu still looked calm, "For the opposite lead, I have someone in mind."

"You have someone in mind," Timmy repeated slowly, trying to let the words sink in, then added, "someone you would be romancing on camera."

JingYu nodded, not a hint of guilt on his face. As though he was not trying to tear apart Timmy's insides.

"And this person, your suggestion, he has agreed?" Because Timmy had to know whom he would murder next, after murdering this cheat of a boyfriend.

"I haven't asked him yet but I really hope he agrees," JingYu's desire looked genuine but that could not be true. Impossible. JingYu was his and his alone!

'You are having me on, aren't you? Taking the piss out of me?" Timmy's uncertain smile made the pitifully pleading sound of his question worse.

"Why would I?" JingYu asked looking truly surprised, "If I am doing this I do want him with me."

Timmy turned the other way so fast and so hard that the mattress bounced like a waterbed, "Get out."

"Is that some kind of a contradictory invitation?" JingYu voice was tinted with amusement and it made everything a hundred times worse knowing that JingYu found Timmy's misery funny. Was this it? End of their relationship? Would JingYu now ask for an open relationship? Dating other people, pushing Timmy to the backseat? He half turned to glare at JingYu and noticed him eyeing Timmy's naked arse that had somehow stuck out of the sheet in between his turning. He had not bothered to put his boxers on after last night's love making.

Oh, how they had made love last night. Soft and slow and drawing out every little bit of pleasure. Even after almost two years into this relationship, every time they had sex, it was better than the last time. The passion only rose with each time. Last night was no exception either. JingYu was in the mood for slow sex and had taken an awful lot of time to prepare Timmy who, by the end of the foreplay, was sobbing and whimpering in want, almost on the verge of climaxing from JingYu's fingers alone.

Tears rushed into Timmy's eyes. Who knew all the while when they were entangled with each other in love and lust, JingYu had someone else in mind, whom he hoped to be cast opposite him in a romance movie?

Sniffling pitifully but not wanting to give the bastard any satisfaction of seeing him in ruins, he got up, all ready to storm out of the room and hide into the bathroom, his favourite place to sulk.

"I honestly thought your tendency of jumping into the wrong conclusion had diminished with time but guess not," Came JingYu's remark and the bastard had the gall to sound exasperated.

Timmy whirled at him, all naked and red nosed with bedhead but before he could bark, JingYu jumped in.

"How do you feel about acting? With me? In this drama?"

Timmy's mouth opened and closed several times without producing any sound. ".........................What?" His knee trembled with the sudden turn of the tide. "What?" he asked again, blinking dumbly.

"Seriously, ZhouZhou," was all JingYu said and rolled his eyes.

Timmy pounced on him.

"I hate you! I. Fucking. Hate. You, Huang JingYu! You scared the life out of me!"

"I'm not gonna apologize," JingYu grumbled, arms tightening around Timmy's waist, "If you are still not convinced about my commitment then-"

"Shut up!"

"Why should I-"

Timmy pinched his lips with the forefinger and thumb of both of his hands, "I said shut up. You won't talk now. You'd only listen." He bit JingYu's nose to make his point and went on, "I do not doubt your commitment. I'm just a jealous sort, a bit." When JingYu's eyebrows disappeared into his hairline at the 'a bit', Timmy grudgingly conceded, "All right, a lot! Happy now?"

JingYu looked smug, even with his lips all pinched up. The bastard.

"But it's not my fault that I'm possessive about my boyfriend! If anything, you should be happy about it!" Accused Timmy, trying his best to divert the attention from his embarrassment.

JingYu freed his lips from Timmy's grip and linked their fingers instead, "You are a drama queen, that's what you are and trust me, there is nothing to be happy about for having a melodramatic five year old for a boyfriend."

"Then why don't you exchange your boyfriend for a better one?" He made to bite JingYu's nose again but JingYu dodged the attack by tipping his head far backward, out of reach.

"Maybe I will. I'm sure the production will find someone good to cast opposite me and we will be working together for months and have all the time to get close-"

"I'll take the role!"

"You will?"

Timmy straddled JingYu's lap, "Like hell I am going to let someone else get near you! If that role is going to someone it would be me!"

"Thought so," JingYu smirked and Timmy realized that his gentle boyfriend had gotten really really cunning.

"You planned this, didn't you?"

"I did," JingYu said unrepentantly.

Timmy slumped forward and pressed his face to the warm neck in front of him, "I hate you."

"I love you too," came JingYu's usual reply to this 'hate you' statements. He knew Timmy all too well.

They sat like that for a long time, feeling happy and lazy till JingYu spoke again.

"Rebecca also said that the production was looking for a composer-cum-singer for the OST. So, maybe you can try on that category too?"

Even with his degrees, Timmy was still struggling to establish a sound career. It would take time, he knew but could not always keep the hopes up. JingYu did that for him, always boosting him up, encouraging him constantly, rebuking him when he acted problematic, became his anchor when he thought he would lose his mind and drift away.

JingYu was his music, always finding the tune of his life.

And he was right. If he could work in the web series as a musician it would definitely help his career to take off. And maybe, just maybe, they would use one of his compositions too!

"I'd like that," he murmured.

"I'd like that too," JingYu murmured back and kept carding his fingers through Timmy's hair in a soothing manner.

He realized he had dozed off once more when someone jerked him into wakefulness.

"Wha'?" He mumbled, wiping the drool from his mouth, still sitting on JingYu's lap.

"I said, get up. You hadn't eaten much last night. I'll fix you some breakfast."

"Don' wanna," Timmy tried to go back to JingYu's neck again; he was warm and comfortable and JingYu smelt so nice...mmmmmm.

"Oh no, you're not sleeping anymore. Get up, up up."

Not-so-gentle pats rained down on Timmy's bum and he yelped in protest.

"And now that I have decided to take up the role, you have to do the dishes for a whole year, remember?"

And suddenly Timmy was struck with amnesia, "No, I don't remember such a thing!"

JingYu grinned like a shark, "Lucky for you that I had it recorded."

"You-Urgh!" Timmy flopped back on the bed. "I have noodle fingers, see?" He held out his hands in a drooping gesture.

"And how did you get noodle fingers?"

"Because you sucked the bones out of them last night?" Timmy suggested helpfully.

"Oh, I see," JingYu nodded solemnly, deep in thought, "that's a serious problem, hmm. All right, you stay here in bed and don't do anything-" Timmy lit up, too happy to be able to skulk the chores, "-and no sex till your fingers get back to normal."

Timmy should have known.

He got up, yanked his boxers from the floor, put them on, gave JingYu his best stinky eye and stomped out of the room. JingYu followed behind.

"ZhouZhou? Why are you heading towards the kitchen? What about your noodle fingers?"

Timmy showed him just how straight his middle fingers were.

They made breakfast side by side, hips bumping, elbows brushing. And if Timmy smeared orange marmalade all over JingYu's mouth only to lick them clean then no one was complaining,

It took a heartbreak for them to get here but it was all worth it. They were worth it.

It was never too late to come home.

The Beginning...

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A/N:

I am dedicating this story to the loving memories of my parents who were my best friends and the anchors of my life.

To Dad, because he was the reason I started writing in the first place. As a kid, I tried to imitate him in every way possible and that was what motivated me to write my first poem when I was a child. He was my biggest inspiration and my biggest fan but he never get the chance to see me writing stories. He went away too early. Also, my Dad taught me English. So,whatever I write it's because of him.

To Ma, because she was my everything. And she was with me throughout this entire story, always asking me about the progress, wanting to know how the readers' reactions were after I published a chapter, always making sure I had enough time to write. Which is why I really did not want to write this epilogue. I did not want to write another chapter that she would not be able to know about. But I made a promise to you all and I try to keep my promises.

So, if this chapter does not live up to my usual standard, you know the reason. But I really hope it has not disappointed you because when I say you are the reason I publish my writing, I tell the absolute truth.

Thank you for making this journey so memorable. Each one of you, who had ever shown your love and support, have a part of my heart. Thank you.

Also, I might write some tiny follow-ups of this story, like a wedding scene or a random day but I won't post it here. Those will go to my short story collection, 'Home Is Where You Are'.

If you are not a regular reader but like my writing, then, you can check out my other stories. I have written plenty.

As I am taking a bit time to sort my head and emotions out, I am writing tiny ficlets on my Instagram. Let me know if you want them published here as a collection.

Maybe we will meet again. Till then, live and let live.❤❤❤