Are We Too Late or Am I Too Soon? (Completed ☑️)

CHAPTER 07

As New watched Tay sleeps, he brushed the other's hair softly with his right hand. He can't help but worry about him.

You're going to wash your own clothes now. Please don't leave the closet disorganized for too long. You're the one who always panics when you can't find things. I won't be here anymore to help you search. Who will remind you to buy groceries from now on? I really wish you'd eat breakfast before you leave for work. I know you don't, even when you say you do while I'm out of town. You have to cook for yourself now. Not just fried dishes, but other healthy dishes as well. New sighed. You do not wake up when you hear your alarm. You just turn it off instead. I wish we have more time to do something about that. Please don't be stubborn and rest if you need to. You get sick easily.

A tear escaped New's left eye but he was quick to wipe it away. He promised himself he won't cry for the next days that he'll spend with his lover.

I trust that you'd still be here when I come back but in case that you won't and the next few days will be the last days I'm going to spend with you, I want it to be the happiest days to remember you by.

---

As he gets ready to leave for work, Tay asked New, "you sure you'll be fine alone today?"

"Of course. How old do you think I am?"

"With a face like yours, I'd say maybe 16? Damn am I dating a minor? I need to check your ID, mister." Tay joked that made the other laugh. Tay loves that laugh. It's been weeks since he last heard that.

"By the way, you and Mint both denied the rumors by order of the management, but months later people are going to notice the baby bump. How are you going to handle that? They're not going to make you claim the baby as yours, right?" Tay joked again, but this time, New didn't laugh. The latter just swallowed hard, feeling uneasy. Good thing Tay is not looking at him since he's fixing the contents of his bag.

"I guess...we'll just cross the bridge when we get there? For now, they just want the issue to quiet down." New lied.

"Oh, okay. I wish they find a permanent solution to this. I don't want you worrying anymore." Tay said as he walked towards the door. He sat up and wore his shoes. When he stood up, he kissed New who's just standing behind him. "Wait for me later before you pack our bags so I can help you."

"That's pretty much the only thing I'm going to do today. I'll be fine." New responded as he accompanied Tay towards the door.

"Okay, I'm leaving now. One last kiss?"

Tay leaned in and kissed New. It lasted for a few seconds before New broke it, "You'll be late."

"They can wait."

"Te!" New lightly slapped Tay's left shoulder.

Tay chuckled. "Fine. I'm going now. Take care. Call me when you need me." New responded with a nod.

He watched as Tay disappeared into the corner where the elevator is located. Once he was out of sight, New closed the door and went to their bedroom.

He has a lot of packing to do especially for himself since he's not just going away for a few days.

---

At around one in the afternoon, while he was in the middle of his chore, he received a call from Mint. When he answered, it took a few seconds before Mint spoke.

"New."

"Hmm, Mint."

"I just want to say thank you for agreeing to do this. I was about to call you yesterday but..." Mint trailed off. Few seconds have passed before she continued. "Are you mad at me, New?" He heard Mint sobbed.

New did not respond immediately. He wants to be mad. His life is getting jeopardized for something that Mint did. But she is pregnant right now and he does not want to add to her worries.

"No, I'm not, Mint. Don't worry."

"Thank you." Mint paused as she tried to calm down. "Anyway, I'm here now at the house. There are two floors with two rooms facing each other upstairs and a bathroom in the far corner. Downstairs we have another room and another bathroom. The kitchen is quite big as well as the living room. It's fully furnished anyway so we just need our personal things. Would you like to go here today and check it out?"

"No, Mint, I can't. I only have today to pack everything. Just choose the bigger room for yourself since you will be sharing it with the baby."

"Okay. Thank you."

"Also, I'll have my things delivered there later. Just leave them be. I'll take care of them once I transfer there next week."

"Okay."

Both became silent for a few seconds until New spoke again.

"I'm not mad, okay? Just take care of yourself and don't stress yourself out. I'm hanging up now."

"Thank you, New, for everything," Mint answered before New ended up the call.

---

New prepared first their luggage for Phuket. Once done, he moved to withdraw his things from their closet and drawers that would be delivered to the new house he would be living in with Mint.

Throughout packing, New can't help but cry. He never expected he would be leaving this apartment without Tay. They used to talk about their plans for the future.

"Let's buy a big house with a big backyard so our pets would have a lot of space to play around," Tay said.
"Yeah, I'd like that. Not just for them but for the kids, too." New answered.
"Imagine, two strapping boys and two beautiful daughters." Tay smiled from ear to ear as he imagined.
New looked at Tay with disbelief. "Seriously, Te? Four kids? Do you even know how hard it is to raise kids?"
Tay looked at New and held his right hand. "I have you. I'm always confident with the things I do when I do them with you."

Add that to the nostalgia while he reminisced when he saw the box of gifts he received from Tay throughout the years that they have been together.

He opened it and picked out the watch Tay gave him on their first anniversary. He turned it around to read the engraved words - My love for you is timeless, Hin. I love you always.

"My love for you is timeless, too, Tay. Please hold onto that while I'm gone." He said through sobs.

Next, he picked out the scrapbook full of his stolen pictures taken by Tay and photos of them together. Each picture has corresponding handwritten notes beside it. There's this one picture that he keeps on telling Tay he hates, but the truth is when he looks at it, it gives him a warm feeling because of the story behind it. 

It was a stolen picture of him with his mouth open about to eat a donut. It was taken during their taping for a series where he and Tay played the roles of best friends. Beside it, Tay wrote "Took it on the day I admitted to myself that I like you already. You were craving sweets that day but P'Jack won't allow you since you have to control your weight, so I bought you two and put them in your bag. When you saw it, you ate it fast so P'Jack won't see 55555". He went through the whole scrapbook before putting it back in the box.

There are several other gifts inside but the next gift he picked out was the white teddy bear dressed in a blue shirt designed with a drawing of an orca whale in front which Tay bought him when the latter was just courting him three years ago. It has a voice recorder inside. When he pressed the middle part of the toy, he heard Tay's voice. "Sorry for being a nuisance, but I just want to say I love you and I'll do my best to make you mine."

After hearing that, New hugged the toy and cried. He kept on chanting 'Sorry, Tay' until he calmed down. Once he did, he went to the kitchen to get the tools, properly tore the toy, and took out the voice recorder. When he did, he recorded a 10-second message for Tay. Once done, he put the recorder inside and put the toy in the corner of the closet.

Every word is true. Please trust in me.

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