A few hours later, Xiao Yi's fridge was in a dire state as Yang Yutao grabbed the last two cans of beer and walked back to the table, stating. "I shouldn't be drinking the night before a funeral, they probably think I've been kidnapped."
Xiao Yi leaned over with his eyes unfocused. "Funeral?" He opened the can of beer. "Thanks."
"Mm." Yang Yutao tapped the side of his can. "We didn't end up holding a funeral for my cousin, his parents didn't know where to lay him to rest…"
"What about…"
"The graveyard already sold the plaque next to theirs, he also expressed wanting to be brought somewhere beautiful, scattering with the wind. He mentioned this place once. He came here a few years ago and went hiking up along the mountain overlooking the river, and we thought it was a good place."
Xiao Yi lowered his eyes. "I'm sorry for your loss."
Another can was opened, the sound loud in the small apartment. Yang Yutao looked beyond Xiao Yi's shoulder and slowly stated. "My cousin wasn't that clumsy."
Then, he chugged the beer down and let the silence linger.
By saying that, he was insinuating that he didn't believe his cousin's death was an accident. Perhaps his parents hadn't considered it either, since they hadn't buried him or scattered his ashes in so long.
It would have been only a few weeks after the worlds, the same championship in which Xue single-handedly stomped on Solar, a team led by Mu Yichen.
Since Xiao Yi knew he'd be meeting Yang Yutao, he had looked up the news about the man's death. Falling down the stairs, classified as an accident. His death was around the time of the world's, but he wasn't found until a few months later.
Everyone had thought that he had taken a break to find himself after FFS retired, probably relaxing somewhere with beautiful weather.
Yang Yutao continued. "When we were younger, he was the type who could find his balance if someone threw themselves into him. He would study the stairs of new places for the first few times going up them, then it was like he'd memorized the exact placement of the steps. You're telling me that the genius of my family 'accidentally' fell down the stairs that he could walk down with a blindfold on?"
Xiao Yi didn't know Xue, so he couldn't agree or disagree. He could only nod with Yang Yutao's explanation and ask. "Did they look into it?"
"Yeah, they ruled it as an accident even after an investigation." He glanced down, picking at the tab on the can. "Nothing I can do."
Not even a minute later, Xiao Yi quickly reached out his hand to catch the older man's head from hitting his dining room table. He carefully held his head with his fingers wrapped around his jaw and cheek. He couldn't help but to note that his head weighed a lot more than one would think.
Xiao Yi brought his other hand out to poke the man's cheek and only received a light snore as a reply.
"…"
He sighed and used his free hand to grab the beer from Yang Yutao's hand, then lowered his head down gently.
If it was anyone else, he'd probably just let them stay there. However, it was the friend he had made through much effort. Someone who didn't declare to forget him, even though he'd ghosted him for months after they had only met once officially. And, someone who was going through a lot of pain.
Xiao Yi pushed himself up with the help of the table, then staggered toward the man in a way only someone who was about to start seeing doubles of other people could. He leaned down and wrapped Yang Yutao's arm around his neck and tried to stand.
Tried.
This angle was doing nothing for him, though. He pushed the table out of the way and caught Yang Yutao's body before it could fall again, then he sat in front of him and carefully moved each limb to circle his body, whispering. "Hold tight."
Surprisingly, Yang Yutao actually did tighten his grip in his sleep. Once Xiao Yi was able to stand up, everything was easy. He walked over to the bed and stood facing the door, then carefully pried Yang Yutao's hands off his neck and let gravity take the lead.
After he covered Yang Yutao's body with a blanket, he grabbed a blanket from the closet and went to his couch.