Minghao’s feet dragged along the concrete as he followed his parents in silence. He pulled his hands as far inside Junhui’s hoodie as he could. Somehow it felt comforting to have as much of his body as possible inside the thick black fabric. Finally his mother hailed a taxi from the side of the road and when they climbed in she attempted to tell the driver where to go. Minghao interjected and assisted with his now passable Korean and he directed the driver to the Four Seasons hotel. “Aren’t we going home?” Minghao asked and his mother shook her head. “No, we are going to have a nice family dinner, get a good night’s sleep, and fly out first thing in the morning.” She looked over Minghao’s ripped jeans and homemade muscle top and scrunched her nose.

Minghao sighed heavily. He knew he couldn’t please her. He would never be the son she wanted but he decided the best thing to do was shut his mouth and play along. When they got back to China he would start saving some money, he would get all his personal documents together, he would bide his time and wait until he could come home.

Home.

If they saying was ‘home is where the heart is’ then his home was wherever Junhui was. Three months seemed significant until he realised that it was only three months and then they would have forever. An eternity to be together, their hearts and souls tied with a bond that could never be broken, their bodies connected in a way that transcended the physical.

Patience, Minghao, have patience.

Patience was going to be his mantra, his word to live by, his focus for the next three months of his life. He could get through it, he knew he could, because he had a strength inside him now that made him feel like he could do anything.

The hotel room his parents had booked was nice. It was clean and bright and probably more spacious than his tiny apartment he shared with two other boys. But as he lay dejectedly on the white fluffy bed it felt small and suffocating. But he knew he just had to bear it.

As they headed out for dinner his parents tried to make conversation. “So how have you been?” his Dad asked as they sat. “Happy,” Minghao said dejectedly. His Dad had to believe him. The boy in front of him seemed more like a man now. His skin glowed with good health and his body looked fit and strong. “Those other boys really seem to care about you.” he continued as they ordered soft drinks and Minghao couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah. They do.” And for the first time, after having lost his son for so long, his father felt like he was seeing who he really was. And the son he had raised, the boy he hoped would grow into a man like him, was in fact nothing like him at all.

“I’m good at this.” Minghao spat out randomly into the wall of silence that surrounded the awkward family. “All of this. I’m really good at it.” His mother had to believe him. All his life she had been proud of her son and his achievements. All his life she had collected moments like little trophies, to put on display as an ind