Epilogue
Kit
Four months later, and I was finally sitting at the Ch?ng family dinner table, wondering why I’d been so bloody terrified.
The banchan spread before me tasted like heaven—kimchi that made my eyes water in the best way, bulgogi that melted on my tongue, and at least six other dishes I couldn’t name but wanted to marry.
I’d actually forgotten my mission of charming Felix’s parents until his mother spoke.
“So, Kit,” Yuna said, her voice carrying that particular tone mothers use when interrogating their children’s partners. “Min-jun said you met through an app?”
Internally, I cringed. I hadn’t the first clue how dating apps worked. No matter how many times Rory had secretly installed them on my phone, I’d refused to open them.
“That’s right,” I said, hoping I sounded casual. “I um… superliked him.”
Lily burst into laughter, nearly choking on her rice. “That’s seriously uncool, Kit. You know that, right?”
I winked at her. She grinned back—we’d hung out enough times now that she knew exactly how out of my depth I was with technology.
Felix rolled his eyes at his sister. “You’re uncool.”
“And remind me what you do for a living?” Yuna continued, pleasant enough. She definitely already knew—Felix had told her multiple times.
“I’m ex-military, working in private security now.” The rehearsed line rolled off my tongue. “Though it’s top-secret stuff.”
“Very important stuff?” Lily asked, her eyes twinkling with mischief.
Felix’s father, Simon, snorted into his soup.
“Very important stuff,” I confirmed solemnly.
Yuna nodded approvingly. “That’s good to hear. Perhaps you’ll help inspire Min-jun.”
Beside me, Felix’s gaze dropped miserably to his food. The bond between us pulsed with his sudden shame, hitting me like a punch to the gut.
I hooked my leg around his under the table.
“What do you mean?” I asked, keeping my voice carefully neutral.
She blustered slightly, then launched into a speech about Felix’s brilliance, his masters degree success, how proud she was of his achievements, how she knew he was better than most people twice his age.
I nodded along enthusiastically, agreeing wholeheartedly about how amazing Felix was. Every word was true.
Then Yuna delivered the blow. “I just wish he was now utilising those skills properly in the workplace. Doing some good with them.”
I stared at her as Felix’s humiliation crashed into me like a tidal wave. He was cowering into himself, shrinking smaller with each passing second.
Something fierce and protective roared to life inside me.
I set my cutlery down with a deliberate clack.
“Felix lied to you.”
Felix choked, dropping his chopsticks with a messy clatter.
“We didn’t meet on an app.”
Lily gasped like she was watching her favourite soap opera.
“We met at work.”
A sharp inhalation beside me. I clamped my hand down on my boyfriend’s thigh and squeezed hard.
Simon glanced between us, confused. “You work at Barcode and Beyond?”
I shook my head. “Felix works there. I know he loves it. They’d be lost without him. But so would we.”
Yuna’s chopsticks paused halfway to her mouth. “What do you mean?”
“Felix also works part time at my firm. Has done for a while.”
The silence stretched like a taut wire. Yuna turned to Felix, her expression shifting from confusion to annoyance.
“Min-jun? Why on earth didn’t you tell us this?”
“It’s obvious, Eomma!” Lily bounced in her seat, eyes bright with excitement. “If he told us, he’d have had to kill us!”
I grinned at her. “That’s right. We could both get in serious trouble for telling you this. But I figure you’ve got a right to know just how brilliant your son is.” I addressed Yuna directly, letting my voice carry the weight of absolute conviction.
“I know how brilliant he is,” she said softly, her gaze never leaving Felix’s face. “I raised him.”
“Then it won’t surprise you to hear that four months ago, Felix prevented a cyberattack that would have taken down half of London’s financial district.
The hackers had compromised the Underground’s control systems—they were planning to cause collisions during rush hour to create panic while they emptied bank accounts. ”
Felix stared at me, mouth slightly open, his shock bleeding through our bond.
“Felix traced the intrusion back through seventeen proxy servers across four countries. Worked for thirty-six hours straight without sleep to build countermeasures. The authorities estimate he saved over a hundred lives that day.”
I reached for my water, buying myself time to think. The invented scenario had slipped from my tongue, as close to reality as I could make it.
“The encryption they were using was military-grade. Felix cracked it in four hours. Four hours for something that should have taken weeks.”
Yuna’s expression had transformed completely. Pride warred with concern across her features. “I… didn’t know the Met outsourced such work to private security firms.”
“Of course they do,” I said. “They know the best talent is in the private sector.”
“This is amazing, Felix!” Simon said, beaming from ear to ear.
Felix found his voice at last, though it came out strangled. “Thank you.”
“My firm was desperate to recruit him,” I continued, the lies flowing easier now. “Headhunted him, actually. Had been tracking him since university.”
Felix’s emotions churned—gratitude, terror, love, panic, all swirling together in a dizzying cocktail.
Lily leaned forward, fascinated. “So you two are like, proper spies?”
“Something like that,” I said carefully.
“This job,” Yuna continued, her tone growing sharp, “the one where you apparently save hundreds of lives—is it dangerous?”
The question hung in the air like smoke.
“Very,” I said honestly, sliding my arm around Felix’s shoulders and pressing a kiss to his forehead. “But I’d die before I let anything happen to him.”
Felix relaxed against me, his relief flooding through.
Yuna studied us both for a long moment, her gaze taking in the protective way I held her son, the way Felix melted into my touch.
“Thank you,” she said finally. “Thank you for telling me. We’re very proud of Min-jun.”
“Thank you for raising such an amazing man,” I replied, meaning every word.
Lily cleared her throat dramatically. “Right, well, now that we’ve established that my brother is basically James Bond—Kit, is your brother single yet?”
I nearly choked on my bulgogi. “Rory? God, no. But you don’t want him. He’s only got eyes for a zombie ferret.”
“A what now?”
“It’s complicated.”
Simon laughed, the sound rich and warm. “I like this one, Felix.”
Felix buried his face in his hands. “We have to go now,” he suddenly declared. “Remember I said we had evening plans tonight?”
“Yes, yes,” Yuna said. “I remember. Will you join us again next week, Kit?”
“With pleasure.”
Ten metres down the street, Felix stopped walking and turned to face me.
I grimaced. “How much trouble am I in?”
Felix burst into laughter, the sound echoing off the narrow, terraced houses. “God, I love you. So bloody much.”
I blinked, caught off guard. “You’re not mad at me?”
“Are you joking? That was fantastic!” He shook his head, still grinning.
“Come here.” I drew him close, cuddling him against my chest. The familiar scent of vanilla and coffee clung to his hoodie, grounding me after the minefield of that family dinner.
“You can come to dinner every week from now on,” he said, his voice muffled against my shirt. “I was running out of stories about printer errors to tell them. This will be much better.”
I kissed the top of his head, breathing him in. “We’d better walk quickly.”
Felix sobered and nodded, pulling back to meet my eyes, the weight of what we were walking towards remembered.
It was finally the day of Issac’s memorial event. Three years since his death.
We marched through the darkening streets, our footsteps echoing in unison.
“What was he like?” Felix asked.
I blinked. I often forgot that Felix had never met Issac. Our necromancer had died a month before Felix accidentally hacked into our systems.
“Well. Imagine Rory, but five times worse.”
“You’re joking.”
“You’re right, that’s impossible. But three times worse, at least. God, they made a right pair. Seb had to stop teaming them up—they caused too much carnage.”
Felix snorted. “I can only imagine.”
An hour later, we reached Killigrew Street, slipping through the bookcase entrance, Felix agreeing to brave the tunnels since I was with him.
We burst into the basement, where everyone else had already gathered. They cheered as we appeared.
“Sorry we’re late,” Felix said, slightly breathless. “Kit was convincing my mother she doesn’t need to disown me for being an embarrassment.”
“Cheers to that,” Priya called out, raising her glass. Behind her, our corkboard had been decorated with photos of Issac. “Now come get some wine.”
“Is it normal to get absolutely trashed at a memorial event?” mumbled Felix, eyeing the collection of alcohol across the coffee table and side table.
“For this lot? Aye, absolutely.”
Flynn spotted us and immediately vacated his spot on the sofa, gesturing dramatically. “Your throne awaits, Your Majesties.”
Felix rolled his eyes but settled beside me without argument.
I wrapped my arm around him, pulling him against my side.
It had become automatic—this need to touch him, to confirm he was still there, still safe, still mine.
Four months since Switzerland, and the separation anxiety hadn’t budged an inch.
The others had stopped commenting on it months ago. They’d had to adjust.
Even Rory had only cracked two point five jokes about our sex life so far, point five because Priya had whacked him on the head with a heavy book midway through the last one.
“Right,” Rory said, raising his glass. “To Issac. Who would absolutely hate this sentimental bollocks.”
We all drank. The wine was good—probably something expensive Seb had been hoarding. Felix screwed up his nose at the taste, and I suppressed a laugh.