26 This day

"Heeey, Chao. Can you open the door? Someone is there and I can't go. I'm cooking." Yitian shouted so that Chao would hear him even through the headphones he had. But it took him another thirty seconds to defeat this 'BurningBeauty'. He was battling him for like five minutes already and Chao was happy and sad at the same time. He found a new rival, that he couldn't defeat easily but at the same time, he was pissed that he wasn't good enough to defeat him quickly.

Chao got up with a quick look in the kitchen on his new cook. For him, Yitian's meals were the best. He always thought up something new and tasty, Yitian could even do a foreign cuisine, so whatever Chao wanted, Yitian would cook it. And today… Chao involuntary swallowed… Today was the time for home-made noodle soup. He was so surprised to learn that Yitian could do hand-pulled noodles. It was so surprising, even more so when he learned it by himself.

Chao passed the kitchen to the entrance hall and opened the door. To his surprise, it was his brother, Lei, alone. He looked tired and unfriendly. Chao hadn't seen him for a long time, since he moved in with Yitian. And Lei's cold face was opposite to Yitian's now smiling face.

"Will you let me inside or should I talk to you in the door?" Lei said and disturbed Chao's flow of thoughts. He nodded and made a step aside to let Lei come in, then he closed the door behind him and went to the kitchen counter, with Lei in his footsteps.

"Wow! You made it your own here, huh?" As soon as Lei came inside he exclaimed while looking around. His look then stopped on the person cooking food and his mouth hung open.

"Is this?" He pointed at Yitian asking Chao, who just nodded. "How it...? Holy… How did this happen during your time together?" Lei never expected this to happen and to be honest now even Chao thought Yitian would grow up a bit more, he lost his chubby cheeks and grew into a fine young lad, as Yixing commented. Everyday work out with Chao refined his build but he still looked younger than he was.

"I don't know, maybe the care and not being beaten up? Maybe the pricey products that are in the bathroom? Or less stress? Choose whatever you want, just don't point it out to him. He is not fond of growing up now. He said he is not a kid anymore to grow up." Chao leaned to whisper this to Lei, who chuckled when he heard it.

"Oh, hello, Lei ge." Yitian noticed their guest and smiled towards the Jin brothers, who blinked with their mouths hung open, both. Lei was at a loss of word just looking at Yitian. Then he collected all the brain cells that he had left inside his brain and greeted back.

"Why are you here, Lei ge? Will you have dinner with us? I'm making noodle soup." Lei just nodded in awe. This wasn't the broken and lost boy that he met before. It was like a totally different person. Cheerful, not afraid, and glowing person. And he was smitten by this cute guy. Lei shook his head, waking up from the trance and turned to his younger brother, who had one brow up, obviously questioning his sanity.

"So? Why are you here?" Chao asked. And Lei was confused, why was he here? This wasn't like him. He went usually straight to the point, not wasting time.

"I just wanted to say that I'll be going to father," he said, guessing the reaction that Chao would have, rage and scream. But he was surprised for the second time today. What was wrong with this day?

"Okay… Have a nice trip and be safe…" he said and looked at Yitian, who was cooking the soup. Lei blinked.

"...Okay. Do you want something in New York?" he asked.

"Yitian?" Chao said and the said person turned to them with a hum. "Do you want something in America?" he continued and smirked.

"Oh, in America? You are going on a business trip?" he turned to Lei and smiled once again. "Have a safe trip then," Yitina wished him and turned back to the stove while talking to Chao. "You know, that I don't need anything. I told you many times, to keep your money. I'm not a charity." Yitian sounded a bit upset.

"Yes, yes, I know. But I'm not buying this. And take it as a trip gift from my brother." Lei was watching this exchange not saying a thing. He was afraid that once Yitian would learn how rich Chao was, he would use him as others. But it looked like he was mistaken. Good.

"Chao is right. It's a thank you gift for taking care of my brother. He would starve to death without you." Lei said to make it easier for Chao, who winked at him. Yitian smiled from ear to ear, blind them with a bright smile.

"Then bring me, whatever hits you first, to your nose…" Lei, stunned, looked at Chao, not getting the meaning.

"He has a habit of watching fairy tales, and this is from a foreign fairy tale Three wishes for Cinderella." Chao just shrugged, he got used to these random sentences Yitian was saying. It was fun sometimes. And because they did all the things together, he knew what Yitian was talking about.

"Just bring him whatever you will like, but if it's expensive, he won't take it. I wanted to buy him a phone but he was pissed at me for a week, saying he can make money for one himself…" Chao sighed and Lei nodded.

"When are you going?" Yitian asked and put bowls in front of those two, who marveled because it looked like from a five-star restaurant, neat, clean, and appealing. Then he took one himself and sat beside Chao.

"Soon. I won't be here for the solstice and Christmas, but I will come back before the New year. We will, father too," Lei said and started to eat.

"Okay, no problem," Chao said and after a long time, he was not mad that he will see his father.