Epilogue

Life as the owner of one of Shanghai's highest-ranking bars isn't an easy one, but Draco lived it well enough. He's used to stumbling home at two in the morning. He's used to dealing with random emergencies. And god bless his soul for the paperwork he had to do about government regulations or maintenance or whatever the fuck that needed to be dealt with.

But honestly? He wasn't complaining. Life wasn't easy, but compared to two years ago? This was nothing.

Draco had always known that the exorbitant amounts of caffeine he consumed on a daily basis was sure to give him a heart attack eventually, but he was young, and his reckoning was sure to come in his forties. However, to his immense surprise, the day came much sooner rather than later. After spending one rather terrifying day in the ER and another even more terrifying day with doctors raving at him about his awful lifestyle, Draco came to the conclusion that they were right. Cardiac arrest was certainly a rather unpleasant experience, and making it to his seventies wasn't a bad idea.

Thus, he sold his bars. He sold his clubs. Managers and investors were more than eager to pay his rather outrageous prices, and within a month, they were no longer his responsibility. However, he kept CIRCLE to himself. In part because he was still needed a source of income. But mostly because of sentimental reasons.

Life was good. He managed the bar with Hyun, and their ratings were higher than ever. He finally developed a somewhat more regular sleeping schedule. He finally stopped putting himself through unnecessary amounts of stress. He spent his free time painting, and even managed to sell a few pieces. The restrictions on his caffeine consumption would have been rather annoying… if it weren't for the fact that he blatantly ignored them. Coffee was simply just too important.

Draco glanced out his window, watching the view as he sipped his oat milk latte. It was a really beautiful spring day. The sky was in a beautiful shade of blue, certainly a welcome change from the winter gloom, and delicate cherry blossoms bloomed after the bout of warm spring rain. Shanghai was the most beautiful in autumn, but spring was just as lovely.

His phone rang. Draco glanced at it, frowning when he saw that it was an unknown caller. It was probably a scammer, but he picked it up regardless.

"Hello?" he said lazily.

"Hello! Draco, right?"

Draco stilled. He'd recognize this voice anywhere.

"This better be the right fucking number," the voice continued. "If not, just hang up. Don't yell at me. Unless if you're Draco. Then, please, don't hang up. I've suffered too much getting your number. Least you could do is to listen."

Despite himself, Draco found his lips quirking into a smile.

"Hey, Potter."

"Oh, thank god," Harry sounded relieved. "Why the fuck did you change your number? What was wrong with your old number? Do you know how annoying it was to track you down? Oh. Wait. You didn't want to be found after the... uh… Dragon Killer incident. Sorry, shouldn't have asked."

Draco laughed. "Don't worry about it. I actually changed my phone number because of work reasons. I sold my clubs, actually, and I wasn't too interested in having my old suppliers call me in the middle of the night."

"Oh!" Harry was astonished. "Well, that's good to hear. Hopefully everything's been less stressful for you so far?"

"Definitely," Draco agreed. He took another sip of coffee. "What's the occasion? Why'd you call?"

"Well, turns out that I have a little surprise for you," Harry said. Draco wasn't sure if he heard it correctly, but did Harry sound a little… nervous? "Do you have your computer with you? Can you check your email?"

"Yeah, I got it," Draco took a seat at his dining table and powered on his laptop. He opened his inbox, and sure enough, there was a new email. He clicked into it, and… "Did you just send me airplane tickets?"

"Yep," Harry confirmed. "Turns out that my superiors have been really impressed by my work lately, and they got me two free tickets to Buenos Aires! I'm evidently going, since god knows I need a break, but as for the second ticket..."

"Potter…" Draco hesitated.

"If you're busy, or if you don't want to, I can totally understand. I can always just… go alone, I guess. But it's been two years, and I'd love to see you…"

A vacation. In a tropical city and sunshine. Just him and Harry. A part of him faltered at the idea. But at the same time, another part of him couldn't help but to feel excited… and perhaps even a little hopeful.

"Why the hell not?" Draco decided. He was still young, and he might as well see the world and risk it all before his second heart attack sure to come sometime in the near future put an end to it all. "It's not every day I get offered first-class tickets. I'll be coming!"

"Really?" Harry sounded delighted. "Great! Damn, I actually got a little worried there for a moment. But yes! The details should all be in the email, and let me know if we need to move the dates or anything."

"Will do," Draco confirmed.

"Perfect," Harry said. He hesitated for a moment, and when he spoke again, there was nothing but sincerity in his voice. "I really can't wait to see you soon, Draco."

"Likewise, Harry," Draco smiled. He meant every word as well. "I can't wait to see you too."