Ying was busy helping the movers carrying boxes of belongings into his new house, while Zhan was already inside, unpacking. Though Ying insisted on his pregnant husband to just rest, the latter refused and still loved to offer help, for he knew if he left it to Ying, it would take weeks to be able to find things afterward.

"Ying, you really are a fan of moving, aren't you?" said Ning, an owner of the moving company who had become Ying's acquaintance due to the regular service hire. "It looks like my business is going well even if you're my only customer."

Ying didn't say anything and just laughed at the joke, shaking his head at the tease.

"Seriously, I've been counting your move, you know." Ning lifted his hand and began counting his fingers. "First, it was at the beginning of January. Second, it was in April. The third time was一."

"If you still have enough energy to talk, it'll be more efficient if you use it on moving these things instead. Don't you agree?" Ying interrupted, putting his hand on Ning's shoulder to cut him off. "It looks to me that you can do it without my help." He smirked and walked back inside the house to where his husband was, ignoring the complaint behind his back.

"Hey babe, need any help in here?" Ying stepped in and hugged his husband from behind. His arms snaked around the hip and the round, protruding tummy in its five-month pregnancy before leaning down to steal a smooch on the rosy, plump lips as the latter turned his head.

Zhan put down the clothes he was folding and rested his hand atop the father of his child. "No, I'm doing fine here. It's Ning who needs your help. Why are you leaving him alone?"

"He's doing well enough even without my help, given how his talkativeness is still going strong." Ying said as he nuzzled his face into the crook of Zhan's neck, breathing in his favorite sandalwood scent.

Zhan chuckled and tilted his head to the side to give Ying access to imprint his neck's side with several red marks. They quietly stayed in that position for a short moment before Ying broke the silence with a sentence that made Zhan frowned in solicitude.

"I'm sorry," muttered Ying softly into his husband's ear.

Zhan squeezed Ying's hand in assurance before turning his body over to face his husband and let the eyes make the conversation. The two had developed telepathy that was able to understand each other without having to utter a sound. Though words weren't necessarily needed, Zhan still breathed them out to solace his husband's heart after a few minutes of silence.

"Don't be sorry. It isn't bad to have new neighbors often. Besides, packing and unpacking are parts of exercises too," he chuckled, hoping Ying would mimic his gesture and let go of the uneasiness that was tightening his chest.

It was a relief to see what he had hoped come true, for Ying did give a soft laugh at the joke. Only then did he decide to continue.

"Still, you know you can't avoid him forever, sweetheart. It won't be long for us to be found again. Instead of constantly running away, why don't you meet up with your dad and talk things out?"

Withdrawing his arms with a sigh, Ying walked away to face the window, leaving his husband to stare at his broad back with a sigh.

"I don't have a dad, Zhan. I became an orphan the day my mom was gone." His tone was full of anger, yet if one were paying close attention, they would notice there was also despair and pain embedded within that fury.

Zhan took the cue that it wasn't the right time to bring this topic up. He knew even if he were to explain, Ying wouldn't be able to listen. With a slight shake of his head, he walked out of the room and headed to the bathroom, leaving Ying to sort out his emotion by himself.

*******

Life in the new neighborhood was going well for a few months, making Ying drop down his guard. However, one evening, when he took Zhan out for a stroll, a black Lexus rx350 came to a stop in front of the gate, blocking his path.

Even without looking at the driver, Ying knew exactly whose car it belonged to. The sight of this made his eyebrows drawn together, hands balled up into fists as his whole body was trembling in rage. He would have leaped to strangle the person who was coming out of the car if it weren't for Zhan, who was holding and squeezing his hand to remind him to stay calm.

Taking a deep breath, he suppressed his murderous intent, yet he couldn't tell his deadly glare to back off as his eyes landed on the approaching person in a black suit.

"Why are you here again? Looks like finding a person's whereabouts is a piece of cake for you."

Just like usual, the man handled Ying's temper with silence. However, the unusual thing this time was his expression. A grim countenance appeared on his face as he finally revealed the reason why he was here, making Zhan cover his mouth and gasp.

"Mr. Ren is admitted to the hospital?" asked Zhan with genuine concern.

"Yes," the man answered, looking down at the ground.

"Ying, you have to go to him now." Zhan turned to Ying, holding his arm. His eyes begged his husband to drop his pride and go to see his dad, for who knew this might be the last time.

Nevertheless, the answers that escaped from Ying's lips were cold and emotionless, just as his face. "Why? Who is he to me? Why should I care?"

Ying found his body jerked forward in a blink of an eye as his collars were grabbed tightly that it almost choked the air out of him.

"You don't care? He's your father!" growled Cheng, eyes shooting dagger at Ying.

"I. Don't. Have. A. Father!" Ying enunciated, making sure each word was spat out clearly. Shaking his hand free from Zhan's, he grabbed Cheng's collar back with both hands. "I've told you this countless times."

"It is irrelevant how many times you told me," Cheng replied, maintaining his eye contact. "No matter how much you try to deny, the blood running in your veins is his. He's your dad, and you're his son. This is one fact that can't be changed."

"Stop it, you two!" Zhan tried his best to break the two apart, but he couldn't do so, given how his pregnancy drained him. To make it worse, the two men showed no intention of listening, muting his weak voice out as if he wasn't presented.

Once again, he tried prying the two hands away from each other's necks while shouting to get their attention, only to stop dead on his track due to the contraction.

"Arh!" Zhan yelped in pain, bending down and placing his hand on his stomach.

"Zhan?"

"Babe?"

Finally, the two snapped out of their warzone and turned around; their faces were full of worry. Each was on either side of Zhan, holding him up as a support.

"Babe, what's wrong? Are you okay?" Ying asked with his brows furrowed in concern.

"I'm okay. Just the babies. They kicked me, I think," Zhan said through gritted teeth. Taking a deep breath, he slowly stood back up straight when the pain subsided. He smiled and rubbed his tummy as if to calm the babies down. "Don't kick so hard, babies."

Ying and Cheng breathed a sigh of relief, knowing nothing serious happened to Zhan. The air was freshened up again, though it was short-lived since Ying began to chase his father's secretary away.

"Go back, Cheng. If you put my husband and kids in danger, I'll let you say hello to h*ll early. Leave us."

Ying helped Zhan back inside the house, but before he closed the gate, he said one last sentence that wasn't all that surprising to Cheng.

"And don't bother coming back. We'll move out tomorrow. Again. All thanks to you and him."

That night, Ying lay awake on his bed, thrashing and turning around, yet he was careful enough not to wake the sleeping Zhan next to him. Despite his stubborn mouth, after hearing such news about his father, he couldn't help but worry. Still, his anger just wouldn't let him drop his ego and admitted this.

After a few deep breaths, Zhan couldn't ignore it anymore, for he too was still awake and had counted the number of times that his husband had been tossing and sighing till he forgot the algorithm. Opening his eyes, he turned to face Ying and brought up the topic again.

"Ying, at first, I thought I shouldn't interfere with your family's matters. However, you're my legal husband, and that makes Mr. Ren my father-in-law. In short, we are family. And family sticks together."

Before Ying could make any protest, Zhan hurried to continue.

"It's been thirty years since that happened. I believe your dad has been reflecting on his action. If he weren't, he wouldn't have tried to search for you persistently. It's time for you to let go of your stubbornness, and fury, Ying. Just like Cheng said, no matter what happened, you can't deny the fact that you two are blood-related."

"Zhan, I..." Ying trailed off, not knowing what he should say.

Lifting his hand to place on his husband's cheek and stroking it, Zhan smiled. "Go to him, Babe. Don't let the anger consume you. You're too old for that." He trailed his hand down until it reached Ying's left side of the chest. "Let your heart guide you. Don't live your life full of 'what if' the way your father does."

Ying placed his hand on top of Zhan's before moving closer to bring his angelic husband's face into a heart-melting kiss. The two spent their night within each other's warmth, with Ying spooning behind Zhan and stroking his rounded belly affectionately until they both drifted off to sleep.

<TO BE CONTINUED>