Walk the line

<8>

"Aiya, how come Xiao Zhan, over the years, keeps becoming more handsome?",Grandma Xiao exclaimed happily, scrutinizing him from his head to his toe. 

Then she moved his gaze to Yibo, watching the 15 year old, whose features were getting more  prominent and eye-catching, making Grandma Xiao exclaim out loud, once again, "Oh my, I can't tear my eyes away from Yibo! My grandsons are so handsome! I'm so blessed!"

" Grandma~~", Xiao Zhan whined, feeling his cheeks getting hot at her words, but thankfully his cheeks were already reddened from the cold, and looked at Yibo, who faintly smiled at Xiao Zhan.

" Ah, I'm going inside! Grandma go and greet our parents.", Zhan said as he hooked his arms around Yibo's,  and lightly dragged him inside, trying to escape his grandma who would further embarrass him. He could hear his Grandma chuckle out loud from behind.

They had come to the outskirts of Chongqing to their Grandma's home to celebrate the New Year's Eve with her. Grandma Xiao had demanded her children, her two sons, and their family to return and celebrate with her the new year , and thus here they were.

Xiao Zhan actually loved staying over at his grandma's place, away from the complicated city life, filled with simplicity and he could feel closer to the nature. At first when Yibo started to live with him, and he started caring about him, he couldn't visit his Grandma, but when Yibo was 10 and he had brought him over once, Yibo loved the place too. So during vacations they both would frequently come over. His Grandma really loved the both of them a lot, and didn't have any bias opinion only towards him, for which he was really thankful.

After he kept the bag pack down from his shoulder Zhan looked at Yibo who did the same. "Yibo, let's go and freshen up with warm water. It's only about 12 now, and lunch won't be served till 2 or 3 in the afternoon, so till then we will stay in the warmth of our room, okay?", Zhan said as he selected some warm clothes to change into, and went over to Yibo to help him select some.

Their grandma's home luckily had enough room for everyone, Zhan even ended up having a room to himself which he voluntarily shared with Yibo.

Zhan gently pulled open the gloves from Yibo's hand and then soaked them in the the warm water along with his, the warmth spreading through their fingers made Zhan feel so relaxed already, Yibo chuckled with joy which attracted Zhan's attention. Looking at Yibo laugh  brought an unconscious wide smile on Zhan's face.

After they were done freshen up, and changed into warm comfortable clothes, they went up to their room. As soon as they entered they heard loud shout from two very well known voices before even seeing them.

" Yibo! Zhan!", exclaimed Xiao Lulu and Xiao Li their cousins, children of his second uncle( guess who they are^^). "Finally, you guys are here!!", Lulu said as she went to hug Yibo while Li jumped over Xiao Zhan.

Though Yibo enjoyed Lulu's hug, he looked over at Zhan and pouted seeing his Gege hugging Li.

" Aiya, look at Yibo's pout! And his eyes seem like is accusing Zhan a of cheating on him!", Lulu chuckled out loud, which made everyone laugh. "Yibo, you don't like my hug?", Lulu asked pretending to be sad.

" I do...., but I like Gege's more.", Yibo said with a small bashful smile.

Yibo's honest answer made Lulu and Li chuckle again, while Zhan warmly smiled.

"Aww, every time I hear Yibo's voice I like it even more! How come it's so deep and smooth at this age?! Yibo, please, talk a lot with this sister!", Lu said with a wide smile as she ruffled his hair.

Lulu was currently a second year student of cultural arts at Chongqing University. While Li was about to start high school. They were best cousins Zhan could ask for. They accepted Yibo with open arms since he joined their family. Never bullied him, and even when got consistently ignored by Yibo they never took it to their heart, but slowly tried to reach to him, and now after years Yibo was really comfortable around them as  he brought down the barriers around these two.