The feeling of Yibo's lips on his own almost made Zhan faint, so overwhelmed was he. He didn't dare to open his eyes to make sure that Yibo was really kissing him. But then, he didn't have to. Because he could feel Yibo's breath from his nose on his upper lip. He also detected the taste of peppermint. And Yibo had eaten a peppermint candy!

Since this was Zhan's first kiss and he had no idea how to behave or what to do, because it could hardly be like in the movies, he just stood there and let it happen. But Yibo didn't move an inch either. And as suddenly as Zhan had felt the kiss on his lips, it ended just as suddenly. To Zhan, the moment seemed much longer than it had lasted. Because the kiss only lasted three seconds. And Zhan knows that it didn't have to mean anything. They had a great evening, drank a lot of alcohol and were in an exuberant mood. Yibo had also hugged him tightly and thanked him several times for the lovely evening. So was this kiss just a thank-you kiss?

Zhan slowly opened his eyes as Yibo released his embrace. "Thank you again." Yibo said and then wished him a good night. He retreated to the guest room, leaving Zhan speechless. But Zhan didn't take it personally. Because Yibo was really drunk and had almost fallen asleep in the cab. And Zhan was also so tired that he just wanted to go to bed.

When Zhan had hung up his jacket and put his two pairs of shoes to the side, he walked in the direction of his bedroom and then suddenly stopped when he saw his answering machine displaying a new message. As drunk as Zhan was, it took him four attempts before he finally managed to press the play button.

"Good evening Mr. Xiao. Please excuse the late call. My name is Lao Tomas. I am a lawyer. I would have liked to have contacted you sooner, but I've just heard about it. That is, about the death of my client, Mrs. Isla Isari. I'm calling you to ask you to call me tomorrow. It's about her will. My number is..." Zhan stared at the answering machine and quickly made a note of the phone number. Suddenly Yibo was back and standing next to Zhan.

"Did I just hear correctly that a lawyer called you about the will?" He asked Zhan.

Zhan nodded. "Yes, that's what he said. But how can that be? Her lawyer is dead."

"Maybe Mrs. Isari had an intuition of what might happen. We have to call him tomorrow, no, later."

"By all means. But now we should go to sleep, Yibo. It's four o'clock in the morning."

"Sure. Good night." Yibo said and disappeared back into the guest room. Zhan saved the call and then went to bed as well.

When Zhan woke up, it was already 2 pm and he had a bitter taste in his mouth, which he feared would make him vomit. But after a glass of water, he felt better. He took a shower, got dressed and went to see if Yibo was already awake. But he was still asleep, so Zhan actually wanted to do some work. But then he saw the note with the phone number next to the answering machine and remembered the message. He listened to it again and then checked the phone number he had written down. He had twisted two numbers.

He took his home phone into the living room, dialed the number and called the lawyer. After the second ring, a friendly-sounding voice answered: "Hello, Lao and Partners Law Office. How can I help you?"

Zhan cleared his throat and explained: "Good afternoon. My name is Xiao Zhan. I would like to speak to lawyer Lao, please. He left a message on my answering machine last night."

"Oh yes. He's expecting your call. I'll put you through." She said and again Zhan heard the typical "Tuuut" in the receiver until the lawyer finally answered the call after the fourth ring.

"Hello?" The lawyer asked. Zhan explained who he was and the lawyer sounded relieved. "Thank you for calling me back. I've been waiting for it."

"I only got home that night and was asleep until just now. You said something about a will from Mrs. Isari?" Zhan replied.

"Yes, exactly. Unfortunately, I only found out about her death yesterday through a colleague. She had only recently become my client."

"Ah, I wanted to ask about that. Because she actually had a different lawyer."

"The lawyer who was killed."

"Um, yes."

"As far as I know, she had divided her affairs between him and me. Actually, she wanted to run everything through me. But well, she died before she could realize it."

"I understand. Well, I didn't know anything about it anyway."

"As I said, she had only been my client for a short time. To be precise, she only instructed me to take care of her will affairs a week before she died."

"Okay. And what exactly does that mean for me now? Sorry, but I'm not familiar with this sort of thing."

"You need to come to my office with a death certificate and your identity card. We'll make an appointment now, but as I always like to have a notary with me, it can't be done straight away. And as soon as your identity and the death certificate are confirmed, I'll read the will."

"Oh okay. I can manage that."

"Oh yes. Do you know someone called Isko Isari? I wanted to call him too, but his cell phone number no longer exists and I don't have his address."

"I know him. He's staying with my neighbor at the moment. I can inform him." On the same evening of the day that Zhan was kidnapped by Agent Lee, Wen Rouhan picked Isko up from the hospital and put him up in his apartment, as his son wouldn't be there for a few weeks anyway and so the room was free. They had actually wanted to take Isko to Zhan's parents' house. But Isko asked to stay in Wen Rouhan's apartment so that he could process what he had experienced in peace. Wen Rouhan allowed him to do so and called him every evening to check whether he was still there and how he was doing.

"Yes, that would be very good. Tell him to come to the appointment."

"Good, I'll tell him that."

"Okay, then we'll make the appointment. What time is best for you?"

"Since I'm working from home at the moment, the time doesn't really matter."

"Good, then how about Friday at 11 a.m.?"

"That works perfectly."

"Very good. Then I'll see you on Friday at 11 am. And please remember your death certificate and ID card."

"I'll do that."

"Thank you. Goodbye."

"Goodbye." Zhan said and ended the call. Zhan put the wireless home phone back on the charger and at that moment Yibo came out of his room. He greeted Zhan quietly with a good morning and hurried into the bathroom. Zhan went into the kitchen to prepare something to eat.

As they sat at the table and ate together, Zhan's eyes fell on Yibo's lips and remembered the kiss. He immediately averted his eyes. Too late! Because Yibo had noticed his gaze. "About last night, about the kiss..." Yibo began and looked at Zhan, helplessly searching for words.

"Yes? What about that? Are you telling me that it just happened on a whim and you regret it now?"

"Regret? No, not at all. It's true, it happened on a whim at that moment. While I was hugging you, I had the urge to kiss you. I liked the kiss and wanted to."

"But?"

"But I know I was being a bit stupid. However, in my defense, I have to say that it was my first kiss and I don't know how to do it properly."

"It was my first kiss too, Yibo. And I was just as clueless as you were."

"But you're not mad at me for that, are you?"

"Absolutely not."

"Good, I'm being honest. I'm very attracted to you. But at the moment, these feelings are still a little overwhelming. I'm trying to figure out how to deal with it. But I want you to know that I definitely want to get closer to you. If that's what you want too." Yibo said, looking at Zhan questioningly as he gently placed his hand on Zhan's hand.

"Sure, I feel the same way about you. I don't have to figure out how to deal with it though."

"Well, Zhan. It's like this. I never thought about whether I was into women, men or both. I was never interested in anything like love or relationships. It's only now that I have these feelings for you that I'm starting to think about it. And coming to terms with the fact that I'm into a man. I... Wow, I don't know how to explain this. It's not easy for me..."

Now Zhan put his hand on Yibo's. He smiled and said: "I know these feelings and thoughts. That's how I felt when I realized that I was gay. I found it incredibly difficult to accept it at the time. I even told myself that it was just a phase. I was even angry because I of all people had to become gay, while all my classmates were completely normal. It really took me a while to accept it for myself."

"Yes, that's how I feel at the moment. But most of all I think about my parents and how they must feel when I tell them that I will probably never marry a woman and have a child."

"I can understand all that."

"But still. As much as it scares me to be gay, I still want to get closer to you."

"Let's take this slowly Yibo. We have time, okay? First, become aware of who you are, what you are into and how you want and should deal with it. And everything else will fall into place."

Yibo nodded, leaned over the table and gave Zhan a kiss on the cheek. "I hope you can wait for me until I'm ready."

"I'll wait." Replied Zhan. A firework of emotions raged inside Zhan, which he tried to suppress as best he could. He actually knew how Yibo was feeling right now. Because he had been through all of this too. And he knew that Yibo needed time and that he shouldn't rush him. Even though it will be hard for him to wait, he will be patient until Yibo is ready.

After dinner, they went over to Wen Rouhan's apartment, where they told him and Isko about the lawyer's call. Isko was also surprised, as he did not know that Ms. Isari had contacted a new lawyer. However, he also admitted that she had changed lawyers several times over the years that he had worked for her as an assistant.

Isko also stated that he would like to go back to the Philippines after the appointment with the lawyer. He wants to meet his sister and get to know her. He wants to find out if his parents are still alive and how they are doing. And he wants to find John, his first love, and see if the feelings from back then are still there and they might have a real chance as a couple.

Zhan told him that he would transfer money to him. Money that he was entitled to and that Mrs. Isari had asked him for. He had already applied for a passport and the police had no further questions for him. Wen Rouhan confirmed that Isko was allowed to leave the country after Isko had told everything he knew, including about Mrs. Isari.

After the conversation with Isko and Wen Rouhan, Yibo and Zhan took a cab to the theater to pick up Yibo's car. They had actually wanted to visit Agent Fang at the agency afterwards. But the big boss was no longer in the office, as Yibo found out during a phone call with his secretary. So they drove to a supermarket, where Zhan and the masked Yibo went shopping.

Back at Zhan's apartment, they put the shopping away and cooked dinner together. Then they retired to the sofa in the living room, where they chose a movie from a streaming service and watched it close together, holding hands. And when the movie was over and Yibo declared that he was tired and wanted to go to bed, Yibo leaned over to Zhan and kissed him gently. This time not just for three seconds, but for almost a minute and much more confidently than during the night.

As Zhan was far too emotional from his feelings to sleep, he sat down at his laptop and did some more work. He read his business emails, answered a few and then sat on the balcony for another half hour, where a fresh breeze was blowing. He looked up at the stars and listened to music on his cell phone headphones.

Finally, around 1 a.m., Zhan felt tired enough to go to sleep. He lay down in his bed, pulled Yibo's sweater out from under his pillow, where he had hidden it, and cuddled his face against the sweater. And then he fell asleep very softly.