this is such a beautiful and tender piece! i always enjoy reading different interpretations of love.
a lot of people in the comment section say that they find gene leaving trevor and then losing contact for sixteen years not until nephew gene got in touch with ex-boyfriend gene, unrealistic. did we not read what trevor said when nephew gene asked trevor why he and ex-boyfriend gene had to breakup and lost contact? because trevor wanted gene to meet new people, experience new things, and live his new life without being bound in the life he left in new york. because gene struggled with finding himself and making a place for himself anywhere. gene was young at the time, a 22 year old college graduate compared to trevor who was already an established lawyer in the city—he hadn't seen the world yet. new york was only 300 miles away from his amish village! allowing gene to leave was the last act of love from trevor. he loved gene enough to let him go!
like this is literally "when love arrives" by sarah kay and phil kaye in the flesh if u think about it. love arrives exactly when love is supposed to. and love leaves exactly when love must. and it did! no matter how fleeting their relationship was, it meant something to trevor and gene. gene met trevor during a time when he needed him most, and trevor met gene because he was supposed to. that's it. being in love doesn't mean you should be together. and thats the tragic part of it.
no one loved her as a child her parents were dead beats we get it but i dont get how those relate (AT ALL) to those men's relationship? like i would have understood if by saying that she was 'different' (she related herself to them) she meant that she liked a girl back in seoul and the backwards views on gay relationships in the province that she grew up with affected how she viewed these relationships (hers and otherwise) but noooo her reasoning couldnt have been so more off based