"Xiao Bai!" Su Yan clung to the white Samoyed with tears in his eyes.

The dog waved his tail in response, woofing happily and putting his paws on Su Yan’s shoulders.

Nie Chang rubbed his forehead in exasperation. It had been two years since they adopted Xiao Bai and sometimes, he questioned whether adopting the big, white dog that he had promised Su Yan had really been a good idea. Between this heap of fluff and him … it was hard to say who was more important to Su Yan right now. At the very least, his little darling had never clung to him this way.

"Ah Yan, it’s just one week. And I’m sure that Old Lao will take care of him very well. When we come back you can spend the whole day with Xiao Bai."

Su Yan looked up at his fiance and sniffled. "Can’t we take him with us? It’s not a real wedding anyway if Xiao Bai isn’t there."

Nie Chang sighed and sat down beside his darling. "Ah Yan, don’t be like this. We’ll need fifteen hours to get to Vegas. That’d be torture for Xiao Bai. Isn’t it much better to leave him here? He’ll certainly be with us in his thoughts and we can even call when we’ve arrived and when we’re in the hotel and when we get back from the chapel …"

"But he won’t see the wedding!"

"Alright, alright." Nie Chang reached over the fluffy head between them and rubbed Su Yan’s head. "How about we ask your mother to stream the wedding for him? That shouldn’t be a problem."

Su Yan pursed his lips. "Won’t she be distracted then? I don’t want my mother to miss out on something."

"Then I can ask my mother."

"I don’t want your mother to be distracted either!"

"Then … let’s get a tripod and just have it start streaming before the wedding starts? Xiao Bai certainly wants to see a bit of the chapel as well."

Su Yan continued to purse his lips. That didn’t sound too bad … "I guess … that would be acceptable."

Nie Chang held back a sigh of relief and got up, petting Xiao Bai while he was at it. "Alright, then say goodbye to Xiao Bai now. We need to get going or the plane will leave without us."

Su Yan pouted but still obediently turned to Xiao Bai and kissed his head. "Don’t be sad, Xiao Bai. I’ll be back really soon and then you’ll get a big bone and I’ll play all day with you."

Xiao Bai gave him another happy woof and licked his face, earning himself another hug from Su Yan.

Su Yan grimaced and wiped his cheek clean with his sleeve. He couldn’t work up any anger though. Even though he normally scolded Xiao Bai for licking his face, wasn’t it normal that Xiao Bai didn’t want to let him go? "Ah, I’ll miss you too!" He hugged the dog again, burying his face in the fluffy white fur. "Don’t worry about it though. You heard Ah Chang. We’ll be back soon and you won’t miss out on anything. I’ll take lots of photos and show them to you when we’re back. Alright?"

With yet another woof, Xiao Bai seemed to agree and Su Yan reluctantly let go of him. He looked at the dog with a pitiful expression, not yet ready to leave.

Nie Chang glanced at his phone, his brows furrowing when he saw the time. "Ah Yan, darling …" They wouldn’t really miss the flight, would they?

Su Yan pursed his lips and trudged to his fiance’s side. "I’ll miss him …"

Nie Chang sighed and ruffled his boyfriend’s hair. Normally, he would try to console him for a while longer but they really couldn’t delay any further. Thus he pulled him to the door. Ah, he could only hope that Su Yan would stop worrying about the dog when they got to the airport. He really didn’t want to spend his wedding talking about their Samoyed.

Su Yan glanced over his shoulder. Seeing Xiao Bai’s ears hanging down and the sad expression in his eyes, his guilty conscience rose. Ah, they shouldn’t go to Vegas at all! They should stay and spent time with Xiao Bai! Look at how pitiful he looked! He missed them so much already and they would be gone for a whole week!

He reached out but his very bad boyfriend closed the door in his face.

"Ah Yan, we really have to leave now."

"But Xiao Bai …"

"Old Lao will be here to take care of him in a bit."

"But he isn’t here yet!" Su Yan scrunched up his brow, reaching for the handle.

Nie Chang sighed and plucked the hand off. "He’ll need five minutes at most. We don’t have that time though. How about this? Let’s get in the car and you can call Old Lao and see where he’s at now while I start to drive?"

"But what if he’s very far away? Then Xiao Bai will have to stay alone the whole time!"

"Darling, he’s living in Shanghai as well and I told him when we’d leave. How long could he possibly take to get here? Now, please get in the car."

Su Yan looked from his boyfriend to the door and back again. Finally, he pursed his lips. "Alright. But if anything happens to Xiao Bai, it’ll be your fault!"

Nie Chang heaved a sigh of relief. "Yes! It’s totally my fault! Everything is my fault. I’ll even be responsible for climate change if you want me to. Just get in the car." He pushed his boyfriend to the Raeton CC and opened the door for him.

Su Yan took a last look at their house and finally got into the car with a sigh. He did indeed take out his phone and called Old Lao as soon as his butt hit the seat.

Nie Chang didn’t dare to tarry. He got into the driver’s seat, buckled Su Yan’s seatbelt, as well as his own, and then sped off toward the airport. Ah, please tell him that they would be able to make it in time! He didn’t want to miss out on his wedding because of a dog!