New Life : A Second Chance

Xing Han looked at him with his eyebrows raised.

"Me? Pfffffft," he said, while waving his hand in front of his face, "I can take whatever you dish out."

Kyle smirked, "Okay. You said it. Don\'t regret it now."

Xing Han grinned and replied confidently, "You just watch out for yourself. I can give as much as I get."

"Oh really?" Kyle said, his face showing disbelief.

Xing Han brought his face close, "Really."

"Shall we make a bet then?" Kyle proposed.

"What sort of bet?" Xing Han asked curiously.

"The one who cringest first, loses." Kyle said.

"Hah. That isn\'t fun," Xing Han said, "Who gets the most reaction from Rose and Jessica, wins."

Kyle thought about it, "Not bad. You sure about this?"

Xing Han snorted.

He made as if he spit on his hand and offered it for a shake. There was no actual spit involved cuz that was just too icky.

Kyle did the same and they shook hands, both grinning.

? Breakfast ?

At the dining table, breakfast was served.

It was a typical breakfast dish: congee with several types of various condiments that they would add in themselves. The choices were pickled vegetables, fermented tofu, peanuts, eggs, and minced meat (that had been fried).

Zhènlín was at the head of the table, with his wife on his left and Karen on his right. It should have been Xing Han instead of Karen, but he refused to sit there as he wanted to be next to his mother. Kyle sat down next to Xing Han while Rose and Jessica were directly in front of them.

Zhènlín ate quickly, as he had a meeting to go to. Puay Kiow followed him to see him off, after telling the kids to continue eating.

Xing Han missed congee and he liberally sprinkled the pickled vegetables, minced meat, and peanuts. He was busy eating, taking big mouthfuls of congee, smiling contentedly.

Kyle took his own bowl of congee and just added minced meat with pickled vegetables, and started eating. He turned to look at Xing Han then tsked, a gentle look on his face. Putting down his spoon, Kyle reached out towards Xing Han and grabbed his chin.

Xing Han had just taken a spoonful of congee when he felt Kyle take him by the chin, then turn to face him.

"Xing Han," Kyle said with a smile, "What are you? A 3-year old?"

Swallowing the congee that was in his mouth, Xing Han asked, "What?"

With his thumb, Kyle wiped some porridge that was there on Xing Hans lips. He then brought his thumb over to his own lips and licked it, his tongue making one small vertical sweep then twirled the tip of the thumb, before sucking it for a second.

His eyes never left Xing Han.

Xing Han didn\'t break eye contact either, and one could see his Adam\'s apple bobbing up and down as he gulped, his gaze seemingly transfixed on Kyle\'s tongue.

He pointed at Kyle with his spoon and said, his voice slightly hoarse, "Stop that."

Kyle gave a slow smile and licked his lips, running his tongue over the bottom and upper lip, his gaze on Xing Han going lower, pointedly looking at ... that ... which made Xing Han bite his lower lips in response.

Xing Han turned, his eyelids lowered a bit, and he stuffed the congee into his mouth in a hurry.

Once done, he got up and grabbed Kyle by the back of the neck, growling, "Come on."

Kyle quickly finished his own congee and ran off together with Xing Han.

Rose and Jessica were still frozen at the breakfast table, their mouth hanging open with the congee dripping off their spoon. When Kyle and Xing Han disappeared from the dining room, they also gulped and looked at each other.

"That was so hot," Jessica breathed out.

Rose could only nod in agreement.

She didn\'t know why it was so hot, but it just was.

Once Xing Han and Kyle were outside, and away from prying eyes, they started laughing silently. Tears were coming out of their eyes in their attempt not to make too much noise. It took them several minutes to calm down, only to burst out laughing again when they looked at each other.

When they finally quietened down, they headed towards the gazebo in the garden and sat down.

"Man, Kyle," Xing Han said while shaking his head, "I truly did underestimate you on this one."

"Me?" Kyle said, looking at Xing Han, "You carried out the act pretty well yourself."

"You win this round," Xing Han said, "I don\'t believe I have ever seen that sort of expression on their faces before."

"Who knows? You may provoke a more drastic reaction from them later on," Kyle said.

"You think I can top that?" Xing Han asked.

Kyle shrugged, "You never know."

? That night: Gazebo ?

Kyle and Xing Han were lounging at the gazebo, lying back at the huge cushions that were strewn there. Relishing the cool night air, the clear starry night and the peace that it held.

Kyle was sitting on one, patted it and said, "This is certainly a good idea. Rather than chairs, we have these cushions!"

"Yup," Xing Han agreed, lying down on the cushion next to Kyle. It was really comfortable and quite puffy, so it felt like a mini mattress right there.

"I am so glad I thought of it. You think my mother would be upset I did it without telling her?"

Kyle laughed, flinging his head back.

"I doubt it," he answered, "You\'re the Tan Heir, after all. One who is hardly home so she will indulge you in whatever you do, so long as you don\'t go overboard."

"Yes, that is true," Xing Han said smugly, "I am awesome."

"Yes," Kyle agreed, coming closer then looming above him, "Yes indeed."

Xing Han watched as Kyle leaned on one elbow, one hand coming over to caress his cheek. Then, Kyle turned Xing Han\'s face a bit as he brought his face down.

Rose and Jessica, who were watching from their balcony with binoculars, started screaming. They dropped the binoculars, then each shut the other\'s mouth.

Taking their hands off, Rose whispered, "Kyle kissed him, didn\'t he?"

Jessica nodded then took up the binoculars again. As one, they watched again. From their vantage point, they could see that Xing Han now had his hand at the back of Kyle\'s head. Kyle upper half was on top of Xing Han, his arms holding himself up so that he wasn\'t crushing Xing Han.

"Damn, they\'re really going at it now," Jessica said.

"I didn\'t think brother could be so ... so ..." Rose said, fanning herself.

"We\'ve become terrible stalkers," Jessica declared, fanning herself as well.

When Kyle and Xing Han finally separated, Kyle put his forehead on Xing Han before lying down next to him. There was no more movement and they seemed to just be enjoying the night air.

Sighing, they put down the binoculars and wished they could lip-read.

"That didn\'t count," Xing Han said.

"Yeah, we couldn\'t see their expressions," Kyle agreed, "But I\'m sure it was a huge expression."

"How did you know they were watching, anyway?" Xing Han asked curiously.

"They\'d make terrible spies," Kyle said, "Their area was dark, but the night has a full moon. The lenses of their binoculars glinted with the moonlight."

"How did you know it was binoculars anyway? It could have been the window," Xing Han pointed out.

"Nah," Kyle replied, "It will only reflect the moonlight if the lense was at an angle. Rose or Jessica must have been adjusting the positioning, thus causing the glint that I saw when I laughed earlier."

Xing Han shrugged.

"Make sense, I suppose," Xing Han said, "Though warn me next time. Having you loom so close suddenly gave me a mini heart attack."

Kyle laughed, "This, from the guy who said he can give as good as he gets?"

"Fine, you win," Xing Han said, "I now realise that I\'m nowhere near as shameless and thick-skinned as you. Who would have thought that when you put your head at that angle, it gives the impression of kissing?"

Kyle patted Xing Han\'s hand, saying, "Please don\'t ever change. Your innocence is refreshing."

"I am not innocent!!" Xing Han protested, "I\'ll have you know that I\'m quite adept at polishing the staff."*

"Oh, you mean, shaking the tower while taking a shower?" Kyle said with a straight face then, started laughing as he asked, "Is that really something to be proud of?"

"Just saying I\'m not innocent when I have such a skill," Xing Han replied with a huff.

Kyle didn\'t answer that. It didn\'t really need one, did it?

? ? ? ?

Kyle and Xing Han spent about a week at the Tan\'s.

In the first four days, Rose and Jessica were subjected to hidden PDAs between Kyle and Xing Han. It was so obvious to them that those two were deeply in love, but due to the stigma it bore, they had to hide it.

They had thought the breakfast incident was bad, but they were so wrong. The gazebo one was worse. It seemed like as each day that passed, the things they did were getting bolder.

By the end of the fourth day, Rose and Jessica decided that their eyes and brain couldn\'t handle it anymore and they stopped stalking ... er, observing ... the two boys. It also felt like they were intruding on such a private moment.

They noted that whenever their parents were around, Kyle and Xing Han were the epitome of respectable gentlemen. Befitting the title of the Heirs of their respective families. When they thought no one was looking, however, that was a different story.

As they watched Kyle and Xing Han pay their respects to the elders before leaving, Rose and Jessica sighed.

"I knew it was too good to be true," said Rose under her breath, "I mean, how could someone like Kyle be straight? Anytime that there is a \'too-good-to-be-true\' guy, he\'s either taken or gay."

Jessica sighed as well, "Yeah, and I guess that\'s why Xing Han has been losing weight as well? They say love makes one work harder for their beloved."

Rose and Jessica sighed again.