Three weeks after pottery therapy started, Lin Yue cornered Gene at one of her infamous Friday night gatherings.
"You and Steven," she said without preamble, pressing a champagne flute into his hand. "What's happening there?"
"We work together."
"Don't play dumb. I've seen how you look at him." She sipped her own champagne, eyes sparkling with gossip. "Also how he looks at you when you're not paying attention."
Gene's stomach did a flip. "He doesn't—"
"He absolutely does. That man is many things but subtle isn't one of them." Lin Yue leaned closer. "So are you going to do something about it or just pine pathetically?"
"There's nothing to do about. He just lost Diana. I work for him. It's complicated."
"Everything's complicated. That's not an excuse." She waved her glass at the party around them. "You came here to take risks, right? To build something? Well, here's a risk. Tell him how you feel."
"And watch him fire me? No thanks."
"He's not going to fire you. He needs you." Lin Yue's expression turned serious. "Look, I've known Steven for years. He's my friend. And I've never seen him as… unguarded as he is around you. Not even with Diana."
"That's grief. Not attraction."
"Maybe it's both." She squeezed his arm. "Just think about it. Life's too short to not say the things that matter. Diana proved that."
Before Gene could respond, Steven appeared at his elbow.
"Lin Yue's giving you relationship advice?" he asked. "That's a dangerous game."
"Hey, my advice is excellent," Lin Yue protested. "I got three of my friends married last year."
"You set up three of your friends who then got married to other people they met on their own."
"Semantics." She drifted away toward another cluster of guests, leaving Gene and Steven standing together.
"What was she actually saying?" Steven asked.
"Nothing important."
"Gene."
"Really, it was just gossip stuff."
Steven studied him for a moment, then let it drop. "Come on. Mr. Chen wants to talk to us. Something about a new opportunity."
They found Mr. Chen on the balcony, smoking a cigar and looking out over the city. He'd aged since Diana's death—new lines around his eyes, gray in his hair that hadn't been there before.
"Steven. Gene." He gestured for them to join him. "I have a proposal."
"What kind?" Steven asked warily.
"The legitimate kind. A friend in Singapore is looking for investors in a logistics company. Clean business, no rare earths, no minerals. Just moving goods from point A to point B." Mr. Chen tapped his cigar. "But there's a catch. The company needs someone on the ground in Singapore. Full-time. At least six months."
Gene felt something cold settle in his stomach.
"I can go," Steven said immediately.
"No. You can't." Mr. Chen looked at him. "You're too visible. Too connected to the David Koh situation. Even if you're safe, sending you to Singapore raises questions. But Gene?" He turned. "Nobody knows who Gene is. Nobody's looking for him. He's perfect."
"What are you saying?" Gene asked.
"I'm saying take the opportunity. Go to Singapore, run the investment, prove you can handle operations without Steven holding your hand. It's good for your career. Good for the fund. Good for everyone."
Except it meant leaving Taipei. Leaving Steven.
"I need to think about it," Gene said.
"Don't think too long. My friend needs an answer by Monday." Mr. Chen stubbed out his cigar. "This is a good opportunity. The kind that doesn't come around often."
After he left, Gene and Steven stood on the balcony in silence.
"You should go," Steven said finally.
"Just like that?"
"It's a good opportunity. He's right—you need to prove you can handle things independently." Steven wouldn't look at him. "Six months isn't that long."
"It feels long."
"We can do video calls. I'll visit when I can."
Gene wanted to scream. To grab Steven by his expensive shirt and shake him and ask why he was so willing to send Gene away. To ask if the past three months had meant nothing. To ask if Steven felt any of the things Gene felt.
But he didn't. Because that would cross every professional line they had. Because Steven had just lost someone and didn't need Gene's messy feelings dumped on him. Because maybe Lin Yue was wrong and Steven didn't look at him any particular way.
"Yeah," Gene said instead. "I'll think about it."
They stayed at the party another hour but Gene barely registered it. His mind was spinning with possibilities and fears and all the things he wanted to say but couldn't.
Mei found him around midnight, pulled him into a quiet corner.
"Lin Yue told me about Singapore," she said.
"News travels fast."
"Are you going?"
"I don't know. It's a good opportunity."
"That's not what I asked." Mei crossed her arms. "Do you want to go?"
"No. Yes. I don't know." Gene rubbed his face. "It's good for my career. It proves I can handle things alone. It's the smart choice."
"But?"
"But I don't want to leave." The words came out quieter than he intended. "I don't want to leave him."
"Then don't."
"It's not that simple."
"It's exactly that simple. You're choosing career advancement over being where you want to be. With who you want to be with." Mei softened. "Gene, I spent two years making the wrong choice. Don't do what I did."
"What if I tell him how I feel and he doesn't feel the same? What if I blow up everything we've built?"
"Then at least you'll know. And you can make real choices instead of ones based on fear."
Gene's phone buzzed. Steven.
*Where'd you go? Ready to leave?*
*Yeah. Meet you outside*
They caught a taxi together, riding through nighttime Taipei in silence. The city lights blurred past, neon and movement and life happening everywhere around them while Gene sat frozen, words stuck in his throat.
The taxi stopped at Steven's building first.
"Gene," Steven said before getting out. "About Singapore—"
"Yeah?"
"If you don't want to go, don't. We'll figure something else out."
"Mr. Chen seemed pretty set on it."
"My father doesn't get to decide your life." Steven met his eyes. "You get to decide. What you want. Where you go. Who you—" He stopped. "Just decide for yourself, okay? Not what's good for the fund or what makes sense strategically. What you actually want."
He got out before Gene could respond, disappearing into his building, leaving Gene alone with a taxi driver who was definitely judging him.
Gene gave his own address and spent the drive staring out the window.
What did he want?
He wanted to stay in Taipei. He wanted to keep working with Steven. He wanted Friday night pottery sessions with Mei and Lin Yue's ridiculous parties and early morning coffee runs and the feeling of building something that mattered.
He wanted Steven to look at him the way Gene looked at him.
He wanted to stop being afraid of what that meant.
By the time he got home, Gene had made a decision.
He pulled out his phone and texted Mei: *I'm not going to Singapore.*
Her response was immediate: *Good. Now tell Steven.*
*Tomorrow. I need to figure out what to say*
*Don't overthink it. Just be honest*
Gene set his phone down and lay in bed staring at the ceiling, trying to find the words for feelings he'd been avoiding for months.
Tomorrow he'd tell Steven he was staying.
Tomorrow he'd maybe admit why.
Tomorrow he'd take the biggest risk he'd taken since coming to Taipei.
Tonight, he'd let himself feel the terror and excitement of that decision in equal measure.
And hope like hell he wasn't about to destroy the best thing that had happened to him.