He felt a hand running through his hair. He smiled and reached for his face.

“Knock it off, I’m tired!” The hand ruffled his hair, and slid down his face.

“Pbbbtthh! Knock it off!” he hit him in the face with a pillow.

“Why are you so mean to me?” he chided.

“You kept me up all night! I’m tired! Let me sleep!” he turned over, placing the pillow over his head.

“That pillow won’t protect you from my love,” he tackled him, landing the both of them on the floor in a heap.

Jiaheng laughed. As Tao began to speak, a ringing sound emitted from his mouth. Jiaheng cocked his head.

“What?” Tao opened his mouth to speak again, but it began ringing again.

Jiaheng shook his head and sat up.

He was on the floor, alone. His phone, sitting on the end table next to his bed, was ringing. He stood up and answered it.

“Hello?” he asked.

“Jiaheng, is that you?” he asked. It was Jong In. “Have you started looking yet?” he asked. Jiaheng sighed.

“Sorry, I just woke up.” He explained. He heard Jong In sigh on the other end of the line.

“Well, I’m coming over.”

“Wait, I thought you-”

“You’re going to end up losing everything if I don’t help, so I might as well come over. I’ll be there in about twenty minutes.” He hung up the phone. Jiaheng stood there for a moment, before looking down, and realizing, that he ought to put on some clothes if he was going to have company.

*****

Luhan told Jiaheng he was going to go shopping, and didn’t know when he’d be back, because he might meet a friend or two later. Jiaheng waved to him as he closed the door.

He sighed, running his hands through his hair. He adjusted his shirt, fiddling with the buttons until he heard a knock.

He rushed over and opened the door. Jong In stepped in, surveying the foyer. “Well, let’s get started, shall we?” he ed his shirt sleeves, rolling them up to his elbows. Jiaheng looked away and blushed as he examined walls.

Jong In scoffed. “I doubt there are any secret panels here.” He said. He looked around. “He’ll probably have hidden the notes in places worth remembering. Something like a first meeting, perhaps?” he looked over at Jiaheng.

“His…study?” Jong In shrugged.

“Then let’s go.”

*****

They were going through his paperwork and ransacking his desk drawers, when Kai began looking beneath the chair.

“What are you doing? There’s nothing under there.” Jiaheng said, looking at the floor. Jong In smiled.

“Well, what if he tucked something underneath the furniture? Better to be safe than sorry.” He said. Jiaheng nodded and joined him.

While Jong In was looking under Tao’s chair and desk, Jiaheng bent underneath the chair he had sat in during his first interview.

There, he found a note. He unfolded it.

‘Dear Jiaheng, I assume that you’ve found this well? If not, I’m sorry it was so difficult. But I know you’ve found it, you’re smart, Jiaheng. You can find all the pieces.

As I’ve said in my will, there are things that I haven’t told you, that I was too cowardly to tell you in life. In each piece, I’ll reveal more.

My first confession, is that I cheated on you. Not the time at the party, but many times after.’

Jiaheng sank down onto his knees. What? Zitao, Zitao had cheated on him? After all the he took, after all they had been through, he had cheated? He read on. He needed to know who, and why.

‘It’s not something I thought about. It was automatic. Every time I thought of you, he would come to mind. Every time I kissed you, every time I held you, every time we made love, he’s who I thought of. I couldn’t get him out of my mind, even if I tried.

It’s not that I didn’t love you, I loved you, Jiaheng. As I write to you now, as surely as I will pass, I love you. I will always love you, but they say you never forget your first love. Over and over again, every time I was with you, he was there, in the back of my mind, in my every thought.

I just couldn’t stop thinking about him. Luhan was always there.’

Luhan. Every moment he spent with Zitao, he couldn’t stop thinking of Luhan. He didn’t know if it hurt more that he thought of Luhan so often, or the fact that he knew that Zitao never could stop loving Luhan, no matter what he did.

Tears fell from his eyes and slid down his cheeks. If this was painful, could he take any more secrets? He felt a hand on his shoulder. Jong In held up another note.

“Do you need time?” he asked, his eyes full of concern. Jiaheng nodded, wiping away his tears.

“Yeah, yeah I do.”

END OF PART 5

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