The rain tapped gently against the windows.
In the kitchen, Guo Cheng Yu moved around with practiced ease, sleeves rolled up, collar slightly damp from the shower, hair still messy from Xiao Shuai's fingers earlier that evening.
A rich scent of garlic and sesame oil filled the room.
Xiao Shuai sat cross-legged on the couch, a light blanket over his lap and a dumb grin on his face. He wasn't watching the show on the TV, just watching him. The way Cheng Yu concentrated when chopping vegetables, how his lips twitched at the corners when he thought no one noticed.
He was humming.
And he looked completely at home.
"Don't stare like that," Cheng Yu called without turning around.
"I'm not," Xiao Shuai lied.
"You are. I can feel it on the back of my neck."
"You like it."
"I do."
Later
Dinner was simple. Warm. Familiar.
They ate side by side on the floor, the coffee table pushed forward, Cheng Yu occasionally feeding Xiao Shuai with his chopsticks just to annoy him.
"You're treating me like a baby," Shuai muttered.
"You're my baby," Cheng Yu said flatly.
Xiao Shuai almost choked on his rice.
"Okay. That was awful."
Cheng Yu only smirked and leaned in to kiss the corner of his mouth, fingers brushing a stray grain of rice from his cheek.
Bedtime, Eventually
They didn't rush. There was no urgency anymore. Not like the early days when everything was raw and new and terrifying.
Now there was only the slow comfort of routine, brushing teeth together, picking a playlist, Xiao Shuai stealing all the duvet and Cheng Yu letting him.
"I had a dream about us last night," Xiao Shuai murmured, cheek pressed to Cheng Yu's chest.
"Oh?"
"We were old. You were still annoying."
"And you still hogged the bed?"
"Obviously."
Cheng Yu chuckled, voice low and warm. "What were we doing?"
"Still in this apartment. You were cooking. I was pretending to help. Mochi had a gray snout."
"We should get him a raincoat."
"We're not getting a designer raincoat for a dog."
Cheng Yu smiled. "You say that now."
•••
The lamp glowed soft gold against the rain-streaked window. Outside, the world felt quiet. Inside, Jiang Xiao Shuai was wrapped around the man he used to fight so hard to ignore.
Now, he fought to stay as close as possible.
Fingers laced under the covers, Cheng Yu whispered against his temple:
"Stay with me. Always."
Xiao Shuai blinked slowly, letting his lashes brush Cheng Yu's neck. "I already have."
He tilted his face up, and their lips met, slow, sleepy, sweet.
Not a beginning. Not an end.
Just... home.
THE END
Thank you for falling in love with Guo Cheng Yu & Jiang Xiao Shuai.
Their story ends not with fireworks... but with peace 💙
Mochi is the imaginary dog Xiao Shuai casually mentioned during his playful conversation with Guo Cheng Yu a kind of like a cute, future pet they might adopt together.
Here's the line:
"Mochi had a gray snout."
It was part of Xiao Shuai's dream about their future, an affectionate moment meant to show how deeply he's thinking about growing old with Cheng Yu. Mochi symbolizes domestic life, comfort, and shared dreams.