Eric sighed, secretly laughing at his senseless worrying. He cleaned his hands, then headed to pack for John.

Kittens he brought back were exuberant and full of curiosity. They lined up, following Eric up and down, mewing after him sweetly. One by one, they jumped the empty open case Eric put on the ground, playing hide-and-seek in there with each other.

“Alright, out! All of you.” Eric pulled all four of them out, rubbing their soft ears indulgently. “John would go crazy when he sees you…”

Actually, John had been standing by the door frame and watching them for a long while.

He was a little afraid yet lulled by Eric’s gentleness.

Kyson Sheen had a noisy husky. John tried to put up with the dog, then realized he couldn’t stand ubiquitous dog hair.

So, he forced Kyson to send the dog away. Kyson cried for it, but still agreed.

Now, looking at Eric and his kittens, John suddenly had a weird feeling that, although he didn’t like dog hair, he could endure some cat hair.

John always knew no lovers of his could take over Eric’s position. He would never dump Eric. Yes, he was tired of normal daily life with Eric. After all, John Chapman was an ordinary man, and he needed some fun in life.

However, he also spent so many years with Eric. In his mind, Eric was his family.

Families should never leave each other.

John’s thoughts were no doubt childish and selfish. And, he would soon know that life and people were both more capricious than anyone could imagine.

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Eric helped John wearing a scarf. John never liked wearing scarfs. He believed they made him look like a big-headed idiot.

Literally and non-literally.

But John had never refused, because he knew Eric did it for worrying about his well-being.

Looking at Eric, John chuckled: “Such a nice little wife of mine, are you?”

Eric rolled his eyes: “Go, now. You’ll be late.”

Rubbing Eris’s sharp­­—much sharper than before—cheeks, John whispered: “Take care of yourself. You are so skinny. Later, when I come back, let’s go to the hospital, to take more test.”

Eric knew John’s ‘later’ probably would be ‘never’, but he said nothing and nodded obediently.

Looking after John through the window, Eric was surprised by how love could sneak in people’s head and change someone’s view.

In many people’s eyes, John Chapman was just a normal thirty-something businessman. But to Eric Cleese, John was the most special one in the whole world; the one who could always stand out from the crowd.

He wished John could look back before getting on the car. He wished his lover could smile to him one last time before he left.

Yet, his little wishes dashed: John left without looking back.

Slowly walking into the dining room, Eric sat down, finishing his already cold breakfast.

John was rarely calling Eric while on a business trip. Eric didn’t care whether he was too busy to call or just didn’t want to.

He believed it’s unnecessary.

Because you could stop neither a dog returns to its vomit nor fools return to their folly.

To his surprise, chemotherapy didn’t cause Eric sequelae as he expected.

But it’s just a beginning. Eric already prepared for the worst, because now he couldn’t care less about his or their future.

Dr. Idle took his therapy much more serious than Eric himself. He would call Eric several times a day, just to make sure he felt alright.

Eric was amused by his attentiveness and asked once: “Is it alright to make personal calls in working hour?”

The doctor gaped with fake surprise: “These are not personal calls! I’m just taking care of my patients.”

Till now, Eric finally realized that Dr. Idle was not apathetic as he thought when they first met. He was actually a funny, gentle and caring person, who always reminded Eric about a golden retriever raised by his father.

He then stopped his wool-gathering, chiding himself in mind for comparing the doctor with a dog.