Souls (A Beautiful Love Story)

Singlet

Xiao Zhan's POV:

I quickly walk out of the dressing room with a thundering heart. What the fuck just happened? One moment he was yelling for Akio and the next moment I wandered inside because Akio wasn't around, but Yibo standing in front of me, looking back with those wide innocent eyes, something tugged within me to just take him into my arms. Feeling his breath against the crook of my neck, makes me shiver with an unknown feeling.

"Are you alright Mr. Xiao?" Sizhui questions and I nod without much thought. "Have you seen Yibo anywhere?" He probes further and my mind wanders to a place of pure sin.

See? Yes. I just saw his chiseled abs, white pectoral and pink... Stop it Zhan!

Clearing my throat I point out towards the changing room and leave them all behind. This is too much for me.

Once their shopping was done, it's Akio who turns around and suggests "How about we have lunch? With Mr. Lan and Sizhui here, they need to experience our finest cuisine." Placing his arm around Akio, Yibo ruffles his hair and teases "Brat, just say you want to eat some junk." The younger one pokes his tongue out and I watch Sizhui smiling at them fondly. "Hanguang-Jun, they remind me of Elder Patriarch" his voice is solemn and Wangji's eyes shift subtly.

"Why do we remind you of Elder Patriarch?" Akio enquires and Sizhui grins "He like you loves to trouble Hanguang-Jun. Often child like innocence executed by him makes him appear sweet and adorable."

"I thought with a name like Elder Patriarch, he would be formidable, but here he sounds like such a cute soul" Akio grins and Sizhui chuckles "My apologise Akio, if it sounded like I was painting a picture of an innocent soul" shaking his head he continues "for the truth is Elder Patriarch is such a formidable opponent, he's the scariest of them all."

"Oh? Didn't you just say he's sweet and adorable?" Akio probes and Sizhui nods his head "With us disciples he's always jovial and fun but only with Hanguang-Jun he's sweet and adorable, at times too much even for our innocent minds." At that comment my eyes meets Yibo's and immediately I look away.

"Wow, I definitely would love to meet your Elder Patriarch." Akio walks towards a restaurant and we all follow him. "Why?" Sizhui questions and Akio winks "I could learn a thing or two from him on how to woo my lover." I laugh and in my peripheral Yibo grins.

"Brat, why did you choose an Italian place?" Yibo raises his eyebrows and Akio smiles "Sizhui informed that he and Mr. Lan prefer bland food. With that in mind I thought they might prefer cheesy food." With sheer luck Yibo takes a seat in front of me and when our eyes meet, it was then we realised our predicament. Everyone were already seated and requesting to change seats now would sound extremely rude.

Wangji was sitting next to me with Sizhui opposite to him and Akio next to Sizhui. A young waitress walks to our table and with a flirty wink at Yibo, she places the menu card on the table. We let the kids order and I watch with a smile as Yibo indulges the youngsters with some mild pranks and our table is filled with laughter. As for Wangji, he was quiet and it seemed his mind was elsewhere. Perhaps with his husband?

"Mr. Xiao," Wangji's voice is extremely calm and low, seemingly only for my ears "have you heard from my Wei?"

So I was right.

Shaking my head, I look at his pale eyes "Nothing for now, Wangji." His sigh is sublte and they held weight of a lover who cared for his soulmate. Just as I was to open my mouth to say something, a young boy of about 12 years old rushes towards our table and his entire face is fixated on Yibo "It's you!" He screams with excitement "I saw you from far and knew, just knew it had to be you!!!" He fishes out a phone from his pocket "I am such a huge fan of yours. You're an inspiration to young boys like me. I have recorded all your races and watch them diligently. Do you you mind if we can have a picture together?"