Universal Love - Scenes of YuZhou

Acting Our Age (R-18)

"How's your grandfather doing?"

JingYu jumped slightly at the inquiry. It wasn't the question itself that had startled him, but the sound of WeiZhou's voice breaking the silence that had lingered around them for the last ten minutes.

"He's good," JingYu answered, turning his gaze back to the sky above. "Well, he's the same. He hasn't gotten any better, but he hasn't gotten any worse, so..."

"That's good," WeiZhou said, a hint of relief obvious in his voice, as he leaned to brush his shoulder lightly against JingYu's.

JingYu hummed in agreement, but didn't say anything else. Raising his phone up before him, JingYu focused on the sky and captured a picture of the scene above. The evening sun had fallen behind the mountains in the west, but the sky was still illuminated and the wispy clouds floating above the summit blazed red and orange. The tendrils of color faded into the dark blue expanse the sun's rays no longer touched, as though pointing toward the moon that was just peeking over the dark mountains in the east.

With a satisfied nod of his head, JingYu set his phone back inside one of the shoes sitting next to him. He would post the picture to his Weibo or Instagram account at some point, but not right now. Probably in a month or two, when he and WeiZhou were both busy and unable to do more than send a text or voice message to each other. When he was feeling low and missing his other half, then JingYu would think of some cryptic message only WeiZhou would understand and remind them both of this moment.

Sitting together at the end of a small wooden pier, their feet dangled in the cool water of a calm, clear lake as the night descended around them. Though a part of JingYu would have preferred to be walking along a beach, his toes curling into the sand as the sea washed against his legs, this somewhat rustic setting a couple of hours drive outside of Shanghai wasn't too bad either. It was quiet and remote and afforded the two men the privacy they craved.

JingYu felt the corners of his lips tug up when WeiZhou reached over and grabbed his hand, pulling it over onto his own lap to play with JingYu's fingers.

"You should have gone home."

WeiZhou spoke so softly that JingYu wasn't sure if he had been meant to hear. But he had.

"I wanted to," he admitted. "I really thought about it, but when I checked flight schedules and all, I would've spent more time traveling than with my family. Three days just isn't enough time."

WeiZhou gave a light squeeze to the hand he held. JingYu squeezed back before continuing.

"My family deserves more than just a few hours. I've got a couple of weeks coming up soon that I'm trying to keep clear to get home and really spend some time with them."

"They'd be happy with any amount of time you could be there."

"I know," JingYu sighed, feeling a bit chastised. WeiZhou wasn't scolding him, but it still wasn't a good feeling. "I just don't want to be...rushed, I guess. I want to be able to let go of everything and really be with my family, just let myself be their 'little JingYu' for a few days. Before having to come back and be 'Huang JingYu' again."

Nodding his head, WeiZhou let out a short chuckle to try to lighten the tension he felt rolling off of the man beside him.

By now the sun had completely disappeared, but the full moon that hung above the hills shone brightly across the water. It was enough light for them to see each other. For JingYu to see the uncertain look in WeiZhou's gaze, and for WeiZhou to see the conflict in JingYu's eyes.

WeiZhou wanted to say something to ease JingYu's thoughts, but nothing came to mind. They had talked about it before, of course, but he honestly couldn't imagine how JingYu must feel, not seeing his family but once or twice a year. WeiZhou felt spoiled with how easy it was for him to get time with his own family and childhood friends. Yet, knowing how hard it was for JingYu made WeiZhou appreciate his family, and JingYu, even more.