SOAVE

Soave: smooth, gentle.

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"Welcome to my humble residence!" Zhou Yongliang exclaimed as he opened the door to his small place.

He led the way to enter his rent house, and Yang Liu hesitantly followed behind.

It was still not the time for them to work, so they decided to wait for their shift in Zhou Yongliang's place.

That was not quite right to say that they made the decision, though. It was originally Zhou Yongliang's idea to force Yang Liu to come to his place. The latter rejected the idea at first, but the shorter boy kept pestering him that he had no other choice than to comply with the wish.

Zhou Yongliang's place was small. It was not comparable to his own place. Yang Liu couldn't help but glance around the small house.

"Please take a seat. I'll change for a bit," the brown-haired student spoke again as he hurriedly took out a t-shirt and pants from his wardrobe and rushed to a room that looked like a bathroom.

Yang Liu was still silent, but he immediately sat down on the only couch in that room. It was a bedroom, but at the same time, it was also a living room.

He peered at Zhou Yongliang's single bed on the floor. It was covered by sky blue bed cover. There were a pillow and a bolster on top of the bed. They were arranged neatly by the owner.

The place was small, but it was quite neat. There were no many things in the room, and none of them was out of place. Yang Liu had to admit that Zhou Yongliang was a tidy person.

"Sorry for making you wait," Zhou Yongliang apologized as he walked out of the bathroom. He wore a bright yellow t-shirt with a pair of blue jeans.

Yang Liu frowned when his eyes caught such a bright appearance, but he said nothing.

"What do you want to drink? I only have mineral water, though."

The taller guy facepalmed hearing the offer. "If you only have mineral water, then what's the point of asking me what I want?" He asked coldly.

Zhou Yongliang turned his head to him and blinked innocently. "You have a point," he said. "I just want to be polite to my guest." He then took two bottles of mineral water from a box near his bed and brought them to the couch. "Drink this for now." He handed one of the bottles to his guest.

Yang Liu stared blankly at the bottle, then he shifted his gaze to the one who handed the bottle. "I'm not thirsty," he replied without intending to accept the other boy's offer.

The owner of the place sighed and sat down next to his guest. "We just traveled a long way from Haidian to Tongzhou. You need a drink so you won't dehydrate," he said.

Yang Liu's eyes turned cold after hearing the words. "Didn't you hear what I say? I'm not thirsty!" He yelled harshly.

The shorter boy was quite taken aback by the shout. Unconsciously, he leaned back to add the distance between them.

Yang Liu was breathing heavily after the shout. He ran his hand to his hair and rubbed it violently. "Just don't force me to do anything I don't want to do," he said with a softer tone than before.

Zhou Yongliang finally nodded. It seemed that he realized he was the one in the wrong for forcing the taller boy. Without saying anything, he opened the cap of the mineral water and drank it slowly.

Yang Liu silently peered at the guy beside him. He stared at the guy's adam apple that moved slowly when the transparent liquid entered the guy's throat. He unconsciously gulped at the sight.

"Let's go to the store now," Zhou Yongliang said after he finished drinking his water.

He then got up from his seat and took a small black bag from a desk. He put his wallet and walked to the door. Yang Liu sighed and followed the guy.

When they were already outside the house, Zhou Yongliang locked the door and put the key to his bag. He then started walking to leave his house. Yang Liu followed behind him.

"Don't you want to walk beside me?" Zhou Yongliang asked while glancing at his back.

Yang Liu looked up at him and answered, "I'm fine walking like this."

Zhou Yongliang rolled his eyes and slowed down a bit to wait for Yang Liu. But, to his dismay, the latter was also slowing down his pace to maintain their distance.

"Am I pest, Yang Liu?" He asked. "When we walked from the station to my house, you also walked behind me. Am I a monster so you're scared to walk beside me?"

Yang Liu was stunned. 'I'm the monster here, not you,' he answered in his heart.

"Just keep walking," the black-haired student said in a low voice.

Zhou Yongliang could only sigh but didn't pester the taller guy again. He still remembered how Yang Liu shouted at him when he kept pestering the latter.

"That's my candy, gege! Give it back to me!"

A crisp tone made the two students turned their heads to the source. They found two kids argued near the convenience store.

Zhou Yongliang frowned when he saw the sight. He then paced faster to approach the kids. Yang Liu just followed him silently.

"What are you two doing here?" Zhou Yongliang asked the two kids when he reached them.

Yang Liu chose to keep a distance and stood ten feet behind the shorter boy.

"My gege stole my candy!" The smaller kid answered his question as his tiny finger pointed at the bigger kid.

"I'm not stealing! I just want to borrow this candy! I will buy you another candy tomorrow!" The bigger kid denied the accusation.

Zhou Yongliang frowned as he placed his hands on his hips. "What do you mean by borrowing a candy?" He asked the bigger kid.

The bigger kid looked up at Zhou Yongliang and answered, "I want to eat the candy now, and tomorrow I will buy Ah-Xiang another candy with mom's money. I'm just borrowing it!"

Zhou Yongliang shook his head helplessly. "That's not borrowing," he said. "You two are brothers, right? It's not good to fight. If you want something, then you have to ask politely. And, if your brother doesn't want to give you that something, then you can't force him."

Zhou Yongliang patiently lectured the two kids.

"But, I want to eat the candy, gege!" The bigger kid still argued with him.

"Your brother also wants to eat the candy," Zhou Yongliang replied sternly.

The kids could only lower their heads and didn't say anything again.

The teenager sighed, and he spoke again, "Let's go to the store. I'll buy you some candies."

Zhou Yongliang's words made the two kids look up at him. Their eyes twinkled so brightly like diamonds. They excitedly nodded and grabbed Zhou Yongliang's hands. They dragged the older boy to enter the convenience store. Zhou Yongliang couldn't help but giggle amusedly.

Yang Liu was still there. He was still standing in his position, but his eyes kept following Zhou Yongliang's movement. He could see how gentle the other boy was, and the sight made him smile slightly.

But, there was something more important than that. The two kids... their ages were probably around 6 to 8 years old. They reminded him of 'that' kid. They reminded him of his unforgivable sin.