Teach Me How To Love [mxmxm]

XXXII

[Third Person]

Between the Triads, silence filled the space among them as they watched Jae run from their eyeline. Somewhere in between shock and disbelief, they watched as Qi and Xunan took off after him, the basket of groceries thrown to the floor as its contents were strewn across the floor.

"I'm...I'm not the only one that saw that, right?" Sheng muttered, his eyes still wide. His eyes flitted up to Jiao whose usual stoic expression morphed into one of disbelief, well about as close as it could to it.

"I guess we know where they've been going every night," Guanlin murmured, one arm still wrapped around his lover's waist.

Jihoon turned to look up at his partner, the skin between his eyebrows wrinkled as his brows crinkled together in a strange mix of confusion, worry, and surprise. "We're just going to ignore the fact that Jae had a panic attack, or something like it, and went to those two for help? Since when was that a thing? He used to run from them."

Walking towards the discarded groceries, Sheng spoke quietly. "There's a lot that can change in a short amount of time. Perhaps its good to know that Jae can open his heart."

Jiao nodded along, bending down alongside Sheng to help pick up the items. "He is healing. It is good."

Once they straightened up, the items now placed back in the grocery basket, Sheng grabbed a carton of eggs that he had seen Jae looking at before he realized they were behind them and added them to the basket.

"I'll go pay for these. It's not right for us to scare him off empty-handed. I'll text Qi and see if I can get these to him." Jiao stuck right by his side, taking the basket from Sheng's grasp, a silent notion telling them he would be following his husband.

Guanlin nodded, sending them off. "Let us know if anything comes up."

Jihoon went to protest Guanlin's decision but he was turned away by his lover before anything else was said. When Sheng and Jiao were out of earshot, Jihoon finally broke the silence.

"You're really going to let them go off like that? You saw how Jae reacted." His concern was split between his family and Jae.

"There's only so much we can meddle in his business, pet. Things are still rough. Give him time to gather his feelings before forcing him to face us." Guanlin squeezed Jihoon's hand. "We can't always fix everything we want to."

Jihoon returned the squeeze, his heart aching for the boy. "Yeah, I know."

Placing a chaste kiss at the crown of Jae's head, Guanlin smiled. "That's my boy. Now, why don't we get you something to eat?"

"On you?"

"When isn't it?"

The echoes of their laughs didn't reach the front of the store where Sheng and Jiao were currently checking out Jae's groceries. Sheng couldn't be more grateful for Jiao and the self-checkout option to get through the haul. The basket was filled with sliced meat, cheese and eggs and Sheng almost laughed when he realized that the items resembled a deconstructed American kid's lunch.

Since his husband was so handy to have, Sheng busied himself with calling Qi. He had to call twice and wait until it nearly went to voicemail again before Qi picked up, breath huffing through the speaker.

"Can't talk, I gotta—"

"Qi! Who the fuck are you on the phone with? He's getting away!" Xunan's voice shouted through the speaker, breathless and agitated. "Jae!"

"What do you need?" Qi nearly shouted through the phone. "Fuck! Hurry up!"

Rolling his eyes, Sheng plastered on the attitude just for his older brother. "Well, if you're not busy, I have the groceries Jae left. So if you ever catch up to him, tell me so I can meet you there and give him his stuff."