There is an end to every story.

Even if it’s not perfect, even if he could have done better, all this madness has to end.

Wu Yi Fan, already his his forties, already halfway through his luxurious life, has to make a choice tonight. One, he can walk through that door, take back what’s his, and make amends for all the wrongs he has committed for the past twenty-two years of bad decisions. Or two, he can walk away and never look back.

Through that translucent windows, Yifan sees the light. He sees the family that he never has, he sees himself smiling over Thanksgiving dinner, his son’s giggles filling the air, and his partner, with his beautiful smile, giving him a small peck on the lips.

Looks like you’ve moved on...Yifan looks away. The sight of Junmyun and his new life make his eyes sting. But I can’t move on, Junmyun ah. I can’t lose you again. So I will wait here. I will wait until you come back into my life. Yifan refused to let a single tear fall, but his chest tightens and it’s hard not to wince out of pain.

“This time, I’m not letting you leave.”

With heavy footsteps, Yifan drags his lethargic body up the thresholds and into Junmyun’s life again. Will he ruin it twice? His fingers tremble, ice cold.

Yes, he abandoned the boys. For four years he has been running, away from himself, away from the desperate look in Shixun’s eyes when the boy enquires him about his health. He gave up his company. He gave up the wealth, the parties and the alcohol. He’s living in a hotel. The clothes he’s wearing are from the hotel gift shop. The food he eats is made by the hotel restaurant. Yifan has nowhere else to go. Junmyun wasn’t there when he needed someone to sew a button on his shirt. Junmyun wasn’t there when his stomach craved for a hot, homemade meal. All Yifan wanted was a family, but even a family was a luxury that money couldn’t get.

“Y-Yifan?”

The Chinese businessman feels his legs going weak. Twenty years and he still feels nervous about the boy he fell in love with when he was eighteen years old, in that bar, under those flashing lights. Twenty years of built up courage and lost opportunities leave him little to say. Junmyun stares, unmoving, hands shaking from anxiety.

Junmyun is beautiful, as always.

His hair is shorter. He must have gotten rid of his bangs. And a lot of weight. Yifan sees the younger’s collar-bones protruding from his low-cut sweater, his once delicate hands too boney that it hurts to look at. Junmyun got older. They both got older, and things are different now.

“Gege, you’re here!” A mass of brown hair emerges from behind Junmyun’s shoulder, and he’s just how Yifan remembers him. Cute dimples, boyish smile, and eyes that know more than they ever should. Yifan shouldn’t have accepted his offer for dinner tonight. He should have walked away when he could. Now that he’s standing in front of the love of his life and the cousin he loves to hate, there is no turning back.

“Yixing.” Zhang Yi Xing is more or less an enemy, but Yifan is willing to play along as long as there is the slightest chance of getting Junmyun back.

“Come in! We’ve been waiting for you!” Yixing chirps enthusiastically, but Junmyun doesn’t seem to share the excitement. He avoids Yifan’s gaze as he scurries into the kitchen, muttering something along the lines of “Food’s ready” and “Be right back”.

This is all just a goddamn movie. Junmyun’s the angel, Yifan’s the devil, and Yixing...Yixing’s just one of those stuntmen that goes out there, takes the bullet, and fakes his shameful death.

Yifan makes himself comfortable on the couch. Yixing sits across from him, with his fraudulent smile yet again, acting as if he doesn’t want to punch his cousin in the stomach. It’s understandable, really, after all they’ve been through. What doesn’t make sense is how Yixing snatches what’s not his right when Yifan loses his grip on Junmyun.

Yifan grits his teeth.

It goes way back, back to when things start to go wrong.

That day when Yifan let himself be fooled by that fox, Kwon Yuri, Yixing disappeared. There was no trace of him. There was no tracking him down. It was as if Yixing never existed, along with Junmyun. Yifan knew Yixing had a thing for his lover all this time, but it never crossed his mind that Yixing would do anything to make Junmyun his. And days later, Yixing was found dead, stabbed numerous times by a dagger with Yifan’s initials engraved on the hilt. Yifan became the immediate suspect.

And now, Yixing’s suddenly alive and breathing, with a laughing Junmyun by his side. And now, Yixing has won the race. The things Yifan wished he could have, the things Yifan lived up to this day to achieve, are now in Yixing’s hands.

The worst thing about this, is that Yifan knows he ing deserves it.

When Junmyun returns to the dining table, he returns with a little kid in tow. He’s a mischievous little boy, looking to be four years of age, with a radiant grin and sparkles in his eyes. The extent to which the boy resembles Luhan when he was a kid astonishes him. They look oddly alike. Realization strikes and soon Yifan finds it hard to breathe once again.

Dinner is awkward. The fragrance of turkey that was roasted till deliciously brown and covered in amorous spices, is like a slap to Yifan’s face. He can hardly chew the food in his mouth, savouring the taste until he knows it by heart. The food Junmyun cooks. The food Junmyun is supposed to cook for him, only him. Yifan has to engrain it in his memory before he leaves tonight. He may never go back to see him smile again.

“I’m going to leave you two alone.” Yixing suddenly stands up, and Junmyun sends him a pleading look. Yixing’s smile doesn’t waver as he scoops Jinho up by his arms, “Jinho-yah, bedtime! Appa will read you a bedtime story!”

Silence.

What is there to say, otherwise?

What is there to salvage. Isn’t their love already dead, diminished, destroyed?

“Why are you here?” Junmyun asks, his voice void of concern.

Yifan almost forgets that it’s Thanksgiving.

“Yixing asked me to. I never wanted to be here.” He tries to divert his gaze from the younger boy, but even so, his chest tightens. It’s uncomfortable. Yifan thinks his mind is about to burst at the sight of Junmyun, eyebrow furrowed, lips sealed tight in a thin line. “How are you doing?”

Yifan knows how he’s been doing. Yifan doesn’t ing want to know the details. It already hurts too much.

“I’m fine. I’m perfectly fine. I got a perfect job, a perfect family. Please, leave us alone. You have what you want. I gave you Sehun already...I...isn’t that enough? What else could you possibly want?” Junmyun is on the verge of tears by the time Yifan finishes chewing on the last bit of mashed potato.

“But are you happy?” Yifan can’t help but ask. He can’t help but wonder if Junmyun has been hurting the same way he did.

“I...” He stammers. Yifan thinks this is saying something, that he might have a chance. “It’s none of your concern, Yifan. It stopped being your concern since you left me that day.”

Somewhere. Somehow. Someone...

“It was a mistake! It was a plot, set up by Yuri, to tear us apart! I was wrong, I was stupid, to believe her. I shouldn’t have ran away from the truth. But...Don’t you see that I still love you?”

Yifan has Junmyun cornered, trapping the younger between his strong arms. He doesn’t realize that his own shirt is already soaking wet with hot tears.

“I only need you. I can’t live without you, Junmyun ah. All these years I have been looking for you...I...I can’t go on anymore. This is not a game anymore. It’s alright if you hate me. Just say it, and I will go. I will get out of your life. But if there is any chance that you still want me, then I will stay until you’re mine.”

///

“Why crying again, Sehun? Don’t you want to play games with ge?”

“Ge...please...let go...I can’t breathe...”

a/n: late chapter because i was busy panicking over my grades yes I am a senior. yes I am applying for college. life is just hard right now and everyone around me is depressing and yeah...i really freaking need to get accepted to a freaking school T_______T

rant aside, I actually cut down 2/3 of this chapter becasue...well, don't we all love CLIFFHANGERS //evil laugh/ //gets bricked/