To My Youth [BL]

[17] The Light Soaks Through (2/2)

The moment they arrived at the centre of the water park, Lan Yuning's face paled when he saw rides that went in 360-degree loops with translucent fibreglass.

Children were screaming from thrill which Lan Yuning didn't understand how or why. All the raft rides and slides just looked too frightening that he slowly stepped back.

Gu Xiao noticed the fear in his eyes and grabbed his slender wrist with the same foolish smile, dragging him towards the public park area where the water levels only reached halfway to their calves.

"Let's go to that slide. That one's for two people," Gu Xiao beamed and pulled him across the pool.

At this point, Lan Yuning had no more energy to refute and just followed him. The slide didn't have a high-rise fall, so Gu Xiao hoped it wouldn't scare Lan Yuning away, but since the whole slide was set high above the ground, it still might have been too extreme for him.

"It's alright. I'll sit in front," Gu Xiao chuckled.

He had already forgotten he was still holding onto Lan Yuning's wrist the whole time, but none of them said anything about it, so he just subconsciously hung on.

✎✎✎

Letting out a sigh, Lan Yuning just went on the slide. Seeing how happy Gu Xiao was, his mind didn't have any thoughts to refuse and prevent him from doing what he wanted.

It was refreshing to feel the cold water splash on their skin amongst the scorching heat, washing away their sweat.

When they reached back to the ground, Gu Xiao helped Lan Yuning up and held him by his hand instead of his wrist this time.

It was only after a few more rides that he realised Gu Xiao had been basically dragging him everywhere while holding his hand. Sometimes he would shift to only holding four fingers, sometimes even grabbing hold of two.

But the boy didn't cling tightly, letting the water cascade between their fingertips to sometimes loosen their connection.

Strangely, when that happened, Lan Yuning found himself lightly curling his fingers so they wouldn't split apart.

"Hey."

Gu Xiao let out an "Ah?" and turned around with a large grin.

Lan Yuning glanced down. "Do you hold hands with everyone?"

It was only after when he pointed it out did Gu Xiao noticed this. He let out a short laugh, and the other looked at him in confusion.

"I didn't even know. Sorry, it's a habit."

"...A habit?"

"Yeah. Every time I bring our neighbour's kid to parks, I always hold their hand. They always end up lost or falling somewhere."

"But I'm not a kid," he said.

"Yeah, but I feel like you will run away," he laughed and immediately withdrew his arm back. "Sorry, sorry. Let's go over there."

Lan Yuning's lips pursed, and he uttered something, though it was too quiet for Gu Xiao to hear since there was water clogging his ears.

Gu Xiao shook his head and smacked his head twice to get the water out, and finally could listen to the surrounding noises clearer.

When Lan Yuning saw the absence of that water-drenched hand that wrapped around him from the beginning until now, his palm felt empty. It was like something inside of him sunk and left a cold hollowness inside.

"...Hand..."

Gu Xiao turned around and said, "Ah?"

Lan Yuning put his palm out, and without thinking, he said, "...Give me your hand. What if I end up slipping?"