Eric didn't wake up until over twenty minutes later. He didn't feel ill but was badly exhausted out of John's "passionate torture" last night.

Standing at the doorway to the kitchen, Eric was watching John cooking silently. What a valuable chance to enjoy such sweet and peaceful days! Perfectly shaped, John indeed looked gorgeous and masculine when he focused on cooking with his thick eyebrows knitted and his sleeves half rolled up.

John was slightly surprised as he caught Eric. "Woke up?" He said with a smile, his tone quite gentle without the slightest rudeness and impatience. "High time for lunch."

With a response, Eric came up to bring the tableware to the dining room after submissively tasting the dish brought to his mouth. "It's a little bland, but okay. Eating so much salt does harm to health." Eric froze after finishing speaking. Why did he, such a self-disciplinary man, suffer cancer in the end? How ironical!

Seemingly much happier during the meal, Eric, with his eyes colored by delight, tried every dish in a little amount before speaking well of John's cooking skill. Though the delight gradually gave way to strong grievance, he still tried hard to keep smiling, a dimple finding its way on his lean cheek. "John, how come you didn't treat me that well before..."

Having not accompanied him for a long time, John made sure that Eric was merely playing a coquetry. "Have some more. I promise to stay with you for several more days after finishing the project." John took some dishes into Eric's bowl.

Instead of following his words, Eric swept John's slender hands before blurting out, "Where is your ring?"

John froze. A sense of guilt surged inside him. "Where is it on earth..." He murmured subconsciously. It was the birthday present Eric sent to him nine years ago. Though sparing no effort to work overtime, Eric could only afford the two cheapest silver rings without any patterns on them in the end. To make them decent, Eric began making inscriptions on the frosting surfaces in his spare time, his hand full of bleeding blisters due to the hard work. Greatly touched by Eric's dedication, John always cherished it the most as he did to his life.

Support the creativity of authors by visiting the original site for this novel and more.

How did he lose the ring then? John was a little confused. He was totally drunk when he slept with Kyson for the first time. Since that guy couldn't wait to make love with him, John indeed mistook Kyson for Eric that night. That young man did look like Eric in his late teens. With black, soft hair and clear, innocent eyes, Kyson would also play a coquetry by calling him Brother John when he needed help. The ring was nowhere to be found after that night. Kyson didn't see it, either. Perhaps, it just fell after John got drunk.

It indeed felt painful that the ring he had worn for seven years went missing without warning. Yet, since Eric didn't notice it at all, he almost forgot it after such a long time. John intended to have two diamond rings customized for them but put them aside due to his busy work and dating Kyson from time to time.

He was at a loss for words facing Eric's question. Fortunately, rather than embarrassing him, Eric merely lowered his eyes to blow the soup in the spoon cool. "It's not something valuable. Forget it..." Just like you would forget me someday. Eric didn't finish the second half. Getting used to enduring silently, he even could hold back his tears when it wasn't a suitable time to whimper.

As if something got stuck in his throat, John forced a smile. "I must have left it somewhere. It can't get lost. Why not have two rings customized then to celebrate our fifteenth, perhaps, the twentieth anniversary?"

Producing a smile in silence, Eric put down the chopsticks to wash his hands. "Go on enjoying the meal. I'll go boil the water. Tell me if you need help."

John frowned at Eric's figure. He merely dated other men for fun, a good way to get through those empty days. How come he suddenly felt Eric had changed a lot? Originally thinking that he was fed up with Eric during fooling around with other men, John knew for sure at the moment that it wasn't true at all. How exhausted! John couldn't help letting out a sigh.