Souls (A Beautiful Love Story)

Heart

Wang Yibo's POV:

For a moment my heart stills as Xiao Zhan's arms embrace me warmly into his body. This one moment shatters my will to remain strong and for once just cry for what we have endured. Involuntarily my arms clasp behind his back and I take a deep breath to compose my thoughts and emotions.

Reminiscing our past I clear my throat and turn to look at his solemn face "Please don't tell Akio for whatever transpired today. We both know what will happen if that poor boy becomes aware of such painful incident." After a slight hesitation, Xiao Zhan nods slowly and I heave a sigh of relief.

Driving us back to his residence, I shut my eyes for some sleep, when my eyes jolt open from the impact of Zane's torture. Biting my lips and trying to hold back my pain, minding that Xiao Zhan is by my side, I let it subside slowly.

"We're here." his voice is gruff and as I turn to open door he stops me "Wait." Watching him walk around the car and open my door, taking a step closer to me, his cool fingers trail on my collar, almost touching my skin and my eyes widen as he covers my new scar. That's when I realised that he didn't want Akio to see my wounds.

"Thank you" I whisper and brush past his body. We enter his house to find Sizhui and Akio watching soccer on TV. Taking a deep breath I call out "Hopefully you've finished your assignments. Your big brother is in no mood to hear any more complaints from your professors."

Turning to give me a grin, his face instantly pales when he looks at me and with one move, he jumps over the couch and clasps my chin "What happened to your lips?"

"Nothing. Got hurt." Fuck.

"You were in the Arcade with Oreo. Where is she? Why are you here with Zhan Zhan? You smell of disinfectant." He sniffs around and I smile brightly, but should have known that a person who is so acquainted with hospital, would easily recognise telltales. With one swift move, he rolls up my shirt only to curse out loud "FUCK!!!"

By now Sizhui and Wangji join us in the main room as Akio staggers back holding his heart. His face blanches with pain and my soul lurches "Akio!"

"No! Fuck! Did they do that?" His voice is filled with anguish. My silence is the answer to his question and the next moment, he sprints towards his room and slams the door.

"Sizhui."

"Yes?" His voice is soft and I muster up a small smile "Could you kindly keep an eye on Akio?" Without any further question he bows and follows my brother.

Unable to meet Xiao Zhan nor Wangji's eyes, leaving them I traverse through the beautiful orchard. Finding a soft spot below one tree, I lean back to close my eyes. A gentle scuffle lets me know of his presence and I shift to make space for him. Without another word, Wangji assumes a lotus position to sit whilst I drown in my own thoughts and unable to bottle all the feelings inside me, I narrate my life's story.

"My own brother tried to kill me today," I chuckle without any mirth "and this isn't the first time I have been at the receiving end."

My soul knew he's listening to me patiently  "My family wasn't always like this. They were sweet, caring and adorable. Akio is the youngest. Between me and Akio there's about 5 years of age difference. Zane is the eldest. He's 4 years elder to me. Akio was the sweetheart of our family. Everyone loved him. My cousin Hans thought of Akio as his own lil' brother. Mom and Dad always said that Akio was a child born out of romance."

I smile bitterly at that thought of how void were their words.

"I left home at the age of 14 to pursue my dreams on tracks. Got a menial job with a race track owner who saw my potential and hired me immediately. At that time Akio was young and we weren't even that close. Life was beautiful until the he turned 13."