Yixing puts down the last box on the floor, then wipes the sweat trickling down his forehead with the back of his hand. He heaves a deep sigh and looks around him. Empty halls, white marble floor and concrete walls, and the flight of glass stairs on one side of the wall. He carefully clears each step, fearing that he would slip if he wouldn’t be careful enough. He doesn’t want to end up with a bandage wrapped around his head on their first day of transfer.

When he reaches the second floor, he goes around inspecting the bedrooms. There are three, one of which is the master bedroom. He ignores that one and enters one room. He looks around in awe. There are pictures of animals hanging on the wall across the king-sized bed. On the left side of the bed sits a bedside table while on the other is a small bookshelf. At the foot of the bed lies a chest with elaborate carvings.

Of course, Yixing does not miss the guitar stand on one corner of the room. He instantly walks toward the stand and takes the acoustic guitar on his hand. He strums his fingers through the strings and feels a chain of shivers pass through his body. It’s been a while since the last time he played guitar.

And that makes Yixing wish the truck carrying their grand piano would make it safely to their new house. He couldn’t imagine letting a day pass without playing a song, without touching the keys of his beloved piano. After all, that piano was his beloved grandmother’s gift to him when he was only four years old. And then, she died a month after. Much to young Yixing’s despair.

Oftentimes, his mother would joke if he would bring an orchestra to their home one day, and to which Yixing would only laugh and retort with another hilarious joke.

He returns the guitar to its stand and goes to the other room. Unlike the previous one, this room is empty and the walls are painted in the slightest shade of blue that you would think everything is pristine white until you really spare a moment or two to take a good look at it.

Then, Yixing hears a singing voice.

Whoa, who does it belong to?

Yixing could feel himself humming together with that voice even though he has never heard the song before. What catches his attention is the unique, melodic voice of a male. It’s a voice that lies between a male’s and a female’s. Not that deep, but also not that high. It sounds pleasant, almost making you want to either sleep or feel like you’re being serenaded by the angles of heaven.

If he were a girl, he could have fallen in love with the owner of that voice. At first sight? Haha, that doesn’t seem right though.

He follows the source of the sound and finds himself moving the pink chiffon curtains draped over two glass doors aside. He opens them wide open and lets the summer breeze fill him in.

“Oh!” Yixing gasps, making the voice to stop singing and the boy who owns it to turn around and face him.

“Oh!” the boy exclaims, delight clearly written on his face. He immediately extends a hand to Yixing, saying, “I’m Luhan. Your neighbour.”

Yixing hesitantly takes the hand, and says, “I’m Zhang Yixing. Nice to meet you.”

If you’re just a neighbour, then what are you doing here?

Luhan does not fail to recognize the frown on Yixing’s face. He chuckles softly and scratches the back of his neck. “I just wanted to give you a warm welcome. Wanna be friends?”

“O-Oh!”

“And, I live just... Just right there,” Luhan points to the bigger house across Yixing’s new house. “We can always visit each other if we want to. You know, be like brothers?”

Yixing is starting to find this boy a bit…weird. But Yixing shrugs the thought off, reasoning that he has never been really a sociable person to begin with.

“By the way, did you like your room?” Luhan suddenly asks.

“Y-Yeah. I was wondering why it wasn’t empty.”

“Ah, it’s my welcome present for you, Xing Xing.”

Yixing blinks a lot of times. What did just Luhan call him? Yixing lets out a breath caught in surprise, and says, “Xing xing… It sounds too girly.”

“You don’t like it?”

“No, it’s just…” Unbidden, a memory comes resurfacing in Yixing’s mind.

“You really are rude, Xing Tuo,” Jiaheng says in a sing-song voice.

Yixing flushes, and while quite not the first time around, he sees the genuine mischief and notoriety dancing playfully in Jiaheng’s dark brown eyes, his lips quirked up into his trademark smile.

Yixing bats away Jiaheng’s hand and hisses, “Don’t call me that!”

Jiaheng’s smile only turns into a grin.

“Xing Xing?” Luhan waves a hand in front of Yixing, and that brings him back to reality. “You were saying…?”

“I-I’m sorry. I just remembered someone who used to call me by my real nickname.”

Luhan slyly smiles at Yixing, waving a finger in a no-no gesture and pointing it directly over Yixing’s heart. The whole gesture unnerves Yixing so he unconsciously takes a step backward, trying to distance himself from this creepy doe-eyed boy.

“Is it a girl back home?”

“No!” Yixing replies indignantly, which surprises him.

“Oh? I could’ve been sure it was a girl back home.”

“He’s just a friend. A friend from Canada who forcefully spent his Christmas at home, and then without a word he suddenly vanished. I lost contact with him and—“

“You miss him.”

Yixing gives Luhan a baffled look. Not because Luhan cut him off and finished the sentence for him but because he knows it’s how he feels exactly but doesn’t want to admit it to himself. Now, someone is telling him—no, shoving him the words he doesn't want to hear and making him listen to them without mercy.

Luhan responds with another soft chuckle. “You are interesting, Zhang Yixing. I guess I’d have to stick with you forever.”

“W-What are you saying... That can’t be possible.”

“Ever heard of blood compact? That’s what we’d have to do. Be blood brothers.”

“That’s crazy.”

“I don’t think so. Seriously, I’m having fun talking with you.”

“And so am I, even though you remind me of that friend who ditched me.”

“I do? In what way?”

“Hmm…I don’t even know where to start. I guess you’d have to listen to all my stories.”

“Do I have to ask my parents if we could spend the night together?”

Yixing’s jaw drop. Luhan and Jiaheng are a lot the same all right. They try to make sure they get what they want. And that reminds Yixing…

“You don’t have to go that far. And as what I was saying earlier, what do you mean by welcome present?”

Luhan throws him an all-knowing look, which Yixing hates in a way because he feels like a brat who doesn’t know anything, worse than the worst imbecile living on earth, and because Jiaheng used to look at him that way too. But Luhan’s is more gentle and open.

“Yixing, my parents own a corporation.”

Great, Yixing groans inwardly. Now, another son of a CEO is trying to become my friend. Way to go, Yixing.

“And my father is actually close friends with your father.”

“Really? I didn’t know that,” Yixing scowls. He couldn’t even imagine. The only reason he knows why they’re leaving Changsha is because his father got a better job offer here in Beijing and that his parents would finally be opening their own family restaurant.

“Then, I thought of just giving you a welcome present. I asked for a background inspection.”

“YOU DID WHAT ON ME?”

“Was it too much? What I did?”

“You spied on me?”

“NOT ME!” Luhan defended. “I just asked someone.”

“But that doesn’t change anything. You spied on me.”

“Okay, fine. I spied on you. But do you like it? I made sure your bed would be king-sized so that when I decided to sleep over your house, I wouldn’t have to sleep on the floor. The guitar? I play guitar and I heard you do too. I tried to bribe my father into buying you a grand piano but I heard from your mother that you only play your own piano. So I left that out. The shelf? I heard you read a lot of books. Now, I also chose that room instead of this one so we could do a lot of… naughty things… The interior of this room is 100% visible from my parents’ room and I don’t want them to catch me watching movies with you in the middle of the night. And those—“

Yixing holds up a hand in front of Luhan. Luhan stops abruptly, his upcoming words still hanging in the air, waiting to be said.

“I am so thankful that you are a thoughtful friend, but to let you know,” Yixing says, squinting at Luhan and pointing a warning finger just beneath his nose. “I don’t watch .”

Luhan slaps Yixing’s finger away from his face. “WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? I was just kidding.”

“Good, I’d rather not have a maniac friend.”

Luhan grabs Yixing’s shoulders and leans his head closer to Yixing’s face so that the tips of their noses are only a millimetre apart. Yixing’s heart runs with a lightning speed. The only moment he has been this close with another boy involves Jiaheng threatening him so that he could get a discount. He remembers the feeling back then, and Yixing is so troubled because the feeling is back again.

Luhan whispers, “You’re funny, Zhang Yixing.”

*           *           *

Yixing has put his past behind. He has tried to forget the short-lived friendship he has had with Li Jiaheng, but no matter how much he asks for it he just can’t forget about him. After several months of thinking and worrying, and with Luhan’s help, Yixing finally manages to move on his own and just put everything behind him. He cannot erase those memories, and maybe it’s actually better that he can’t. Yixing might have as well admitted to himself that Li Jiaheng is his first love.

But then, firsts aren’t really meant to be the lasts. Firsts are often mistakes that could give a lot of lessons to be learned or that could lead to even more mistakes. Sometimes, firsts can also be opportunities in disguise that could end after a short while and make you find your second, third, fourth, and so on.

But right now, Yixing is happy with his life. With or without Jiaheng, he cares no more.

He attends a new school. He’s found a new group of friends, a new goal. A completely new and different life.

After two years since he met Li Jiaheng, he has made a new home and a new love. A love that has been reciprocated by Luhan. Scratch that, it’s actually the other way around.

He has done a lot of firsts with Luhan.

Dates. Kisses. Hugs. Movies. Sleep overs.

With everything new to him, he feels like another person. He had bidden his old self a good farewell, leaving him behind along with his lonely past. He’s in Beijing now. What better life can there possibly be?

*           *           *

“Xingie!” Luhan calls his name as he enters through the wooden gate and walks past through the small stone steps of Zhangs’ front garden. “Hurry! We’re gonna late for that concert!”

“You didn’t wake me up,” Yixing replies as he hurriedly ties his shoe laces.

“I did wake you up, but you slept again! Come on!” Luhan says, bending over Yixing, thinking if he should help him tie his shoe laces or if he should just wait.

“Done!” Yixing stands up and plants a kiss on Luhan’s lips, which surprises the older boy. “That’s for scolding me, Lulu.”

Luhan winks at him. “I would’ve done better than that. Now, come one.”

Luhan extends his hand and Yixing takes it with his heart leaping and the butterflies in his stomach swimming in random chaos.

Yup. This is it. This is the life Yixing wants. He wants a future with Luhan in it, and he doesn’t intend to let him go.

I love Luhan.

***___***

[A/N: Annyeong everyone~ Here's another chapter for you. I hope you like it. Now that Li Jiaheng's gone, it's time to give way for the LAYHAN couple. This is probably the last chapter of this fic, but the story ain't over yet. The next story would be about Yixing's encounter (finally) with Wu Yifan (who claims he isn't Li Jiaheng despite Yixing's persistent claims that he is his long lost friend) in Korea. I'll give you more details about the plot of the story in the succeeding updates. 

I hope you liked this fic and I hope you'll still be with me after this. Thank you very much for your support all this time. Thank you, dear subscribers. Thank you for your wonderful comments even though I haven't replied to all of them. Thank you, especially to you, yunjaefor, for your upvote. I've really appreciated everything up until now.

I hope 2012 ends nicely in your homes or wherever you may be. I wish you all a happy and prosperous new year and may God bless you always!!! Saranghae yo~ <3 FIGHTING!!! ^_^