Fallen Grace - Kris x Tao - Oneshot (1/2)
Title: Fallen Grace
Chapters: Oneshot
Author: paranoiascreams
Genre: supernatural, romance, angst
Warning: death, unbeta'd, implied smut
Rating: NC-17 (because implied smut)
Pairings/Characters: Kris x Tao
Synopsis: A stranger appears in front of his house, his coming marks the series of strange events in his rather normal life. When Tao fell, Yifan caught him.
Disclaimer: THIS IS ALL BASED ON THE TV SERIES "SUPERNATURAL". I DONT CLAIM SOLE ORIGINALITY FOR THE PLOT. NO INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.
Yifan shifts uncomfortably on his bed. It's been a long day tending to his land and the weather hasn't been that nice either. He turns to his side but he's still not feeling comfortable enough to sleep even if he's too exhausted to function.
Yifan lives in a rural town in Southern China. At a young age of 15, a fairly sized plot of land for farming has been left in his name after his parents died in a horrible accident. With the help of an uncle (the only living relative he has that time) he's able to finish high school before finally taking over the land after deciding to skip college and continue being a farmer with his uncle. Sadly, his uncle died last year and he lives alone in the farm now. He's currently 20 years old.
Their family's house has always been the only house you'd see amongst the land along with a small barn he and his uncle were able to fill with chickens and ducks. Thankfully, his late father and uncle has taught him well in this kind of field and he's fairly successful. He's been able to buy a decent car and he's able to pay for at least 3 other farmers and a butler with his farm's earnings. Needless to say, for 5 years, his farm is still yet to see its bad day.
Yifan turns to his side again and he notices something really bright flash through the small seam outside his closed window. He jumps off the bed and opens the covers to see if something has landed in his farm, but all he sees is a flickering light from a distance. He closes his windows immediately since the weather isn't really nice and the torrents of rain is getting stronger.
"Must be the lightning." He mumbles to himself, "Or a shooting star." He goes back under the cover of his blanket and tries to sleep this time. It may have been just 30-40 minutes since Yifan has started dozing off when Edge, his 3 - year old golden retriever, starts barking and runs out to the front door. The brunet jolts from his sleep, takes the hunting rifle he keeps by his bedside then follows his dog in the living room.
The dog is still barking at him then claws at the space between the front door and the floor. Yifan can hear Edge whimper as if in panic mode. The brunet sighs and tells his dog to back off the door so he can open it. The dog stops whatever he is doing and steps aside, Yifan flings it open then aims the rifle to nobody. The human frowns and is just about to close the door when his dog rushes out of the house and into the front yard.
Yifan slings the rifle over his shoulder then immediately runs after his pet, "Edge! You stupid dog! Get back in here!" He finds his pet by the gate pacing side to side and barking at something on the ground. "You stupid dog, let's head back inside." Yifan grumbles as he marches towards his pet. The dog looks at him and barks louder, it then steps away so that his owner can see what he's barking at.
"Oh my god!" Yifan exclaims as he immediately opens the gate and carries a boy who's lying unconscious in front of his property. Edge follows him frantically and barks continuously as if asking if the stranger is okay.
"He's breathing, Edge. Good dog." Yifan compliments his pet as he walks faster towards his home. Once inside, he lies the stranger onto the carpet near the fireplace. Yifan adds more wood to the furnace to keep the fire going longer well into the night to warm the boy. "Edge, stay here. I'm gonna go get stuff for him." Yifan tells his dog and Edge barks once. Yifan heads to his room first and returns the rifle into his bedside. He rummages his closet for a pair of pajamas and a new pair of boxers. He also grabs a spare towel from one of his drawers. He stops by the bathroom to get the first aid kit before returning to the living room.
Yifan finds his dog by the fireplace still guarding the unconscious boy. He pats the dogs head before sitting next to the boy. This is when he notices that he has strawberry blond hair, a prominent nose and bow-like lips. He also sees dark bags under his eyes and looking over the boy again, Yifan realizes that this boy could almost be as tall as him, it makes him wonder how he's able to carry him all the way here as if he's lightweight.
Yifan takes a deep breath and starts undressing the boy, which is fairly easy since he's wearing something that looks like a white robe and loose white pants - both sullied by mud and rain. Yifan looks at the boy's feet and he isn't wearing any shoes.
"Strange..." He mumbles and starts patting the boy dry. He carefully turns the boy to his side and he furrows his brows to find two prominent burn marks across the boy's shoulder blades, Yifan touches it and it's still warm. "Really strange..." He mumbles again as he pats his back dry and then he reaches for the first aid kit next to him. He starts rubbing burn ointment on the scar and bandages the boy before proceeding to put on a pajama button top on him.
Yifan lets the blond lie on his back again and he takes a deep breath, "For the hard part..." He shakes his head and drapes the boy's robe over his private parts and then pulls off the boy's pants. He decides to just wipe his legs and not move further up. He puts on the boxers and trousers, he sighs to himself after he's done.
Taking care of the stranger by the fireplace has made Yifan's own soaked clothes dry a bit and he thinks it's quite safe to carry the boy without getting him wet again. He first sets up pillows and blankets on the couch before carrying the boy. Yifan almost falls carrying his weight and makes him wonder how the hell he's become heavier from his previous state. "Must be the adrenaline." He tells himself before setting the boy down.
Yifan checks the boy's temperature and he's glad that he seems normal. He makes sure the blond is comfortable before leaving the room and goes to his own bedroom to change. When he returns out, he takes the wet clothes and calls Edge to follow him to the backyard to hang the clothes to dry. Once he's done, he locks his back and front doors, adds more wood to the fire and checks the boy's breathing and temprature again. He's still normal and that's a good sign. "Edge, you stay with him tonight, okay?" Yifan tells his dog, Edge whimpers and lies on the foot of the couch. His owner pets him before the brunet heads back to his bedroom where he immediately falls asleep after hitting his bed.
------
Yifan jolts awake the next morning to his dog barking outside his bedroom's door. He grumpily walks out of the room to find Edge waiting for him. Once the dog sees him, it runs to the living room and Yifan follows it to find the boy from last night sitting up, awake and looking at him.
The brunet sits next to the blond who doesn't flinch from looking at him, Yifan tries his best to sound as pleasant as possible, "Good morning. How are you feeling?"
No reaction.
Looking at the blond's stoic face, Yifan thinks that this boy might be younger than him, 3-4 years his junior, maybe. Yifan clears his throat and tries again, "Do you remembr how you ended up in my property?" As Yifan expects, there's no response. The brunet becomes a little agitated because he was at least expecting any form of gratitude but alas, this boy doesn't react at all. Yifan sighs and places his chin on his palm, "Do you even speak? Do you have a name?" He asks and he's already expecting silence when finally,
"Tao."
"Tao?" Yifan verifies and Tao nods his head, that's an improvement and at least he now knows that Tao talks. "Where are you from?" Yifan asks but Tao just shrugs his shoulders, the brunet sighs again because this is becoming harder than he thinks.
"Are you a hospital patient? Did you escape from there? I don't wanna get into trouble. And how did you even get here just in case you're a patient? The hospital is almost 7 KM away from here." Yifan barrages Tao with questions, the blond shrugs his shoulders again, "I don't remember anything."
Great.
Yifan purses his lips as he nods his head, "Alright. Let's just eat breakfast and maybe we can figure things out." He stands from the couch but gets pulled back lightly when Tao grabs his sleeve. "Y-your name, too."
"Wu Yifan. You can call me Yifan. As long as you're nice, you can stay in my house."
Tao nods and smiles. Yifan is almost left breathless because the way the blond smiled is so dazzling to say the least, "C-come on. I'll prepare breakfast." The brunet heads to the kitchen, Tao and Edge follows him quietly.
"Sit there while you wait." Yifan points to the dining chair and Tao does as he's told. The taller - Yifan noticed Tao is only a few inches shorter than him - knows he's being watched as he puts dog food in Edge's bowl. He then proceeds to start brewing the coffee from the coffee machine and when he walks to the fridge to get some eggs and bacon, he finds Tao's curious eyes wandering about in the kitchen. Yifan fries the eggs and bacon, before it's done there's a click on the coffee machine so he pours the drink in two separate mugs. He drinks his coffee and slides the other mug in front of Tao, "It's still quite hot." He warns, the blond smiles and takes a sip, only to childishly spit it all out back into the mug, "I don't like it. It tastes weird."
Yifan would have been grossed out and maybe yell a little because of the attitude but the way Tao scrunched at the taste of coffee is kind of cute so he just ignores the whole incident and asks, "Okay, coffee is out. Do you want orange juice or hot chocolate?"
"I don't know what I like. But I don't like this." Tao tells Yifan as he pushes the mug away and whispers, "Poison." Yifan shakes his head, takes the mug from the table and pours its contents into the sink. He turns back to the stove first and puts the fried food onto a plate then prepares the two drinks for Tao.
The blond doesn't even take a sip after smelling the juice but takes a sip of the other beverage quite happily, "This one I like."
"Enjoy your hot chocolate then." Yifan smiles at the other then turns back to the counter. He puts two slices of bread into the toaster and when it pops out, he hears Tao clap from behind him, "Do it again!" The taller fights back the urge to coo at Tao so he just toasts 2 slices of bread again, and before he knows it, the blond is kneeling next to him, eyeing his old toaster curiously as he waits for the bread to pop out again. When it does, Tao grins excitedly like a 3-year old, and speaking of which, "How old are you?" Yifan asks after putting the 2 breads onto a plate and walks to the table with their breakfast.
Tao pouts and walks back to the dining table to sit across Yifan, "I dunno." The brunet sighs and just motions for Tao to eat. He observes if the blond will reject the food as well, fortunately, he doesn't and Yifan proceeds to eating his own plate of breakfast. "Well, what do you know?"
"Nothing. I know my name, and how to speak, maybe read? That's about it."
"Are you an alien?" Yifan asks, Tao raises a curious brow, "What's an alien?" The taller grins, "You."
Tao pouts sadly, "You mean, I'm not human like you?!"
"I'm kidding. You're human like me, okay? Until further notice, of course." Yifan reaches over Tao's head and ruffles the blond's hair, the latter chuckles happily as he finishes his food.
They're both eating quietly when someone barges in from the back door, "Woah." The intruder exclaims after seeing Yifan having his breakfast already, "You're up rather early."
"Yeah. Oh, by the way, this is Kyungsoo. He cooks for me and cleans the house. Kyungsoo, meet Tao. He'll be living with us for now."
Kyungsoo's eyes widen even more and walks near the dining table, "Yifan, I was only gone the weekends to visit my family and you surprise me with a boyfriend? I didn't even know you have one!"
"He isn't my boyfriend, Kyungsoo."
"Boyfriend?" Tao asks and Yifan shakes his head towards the boy. The brunet then tugs on Kyungsoo's arm, "I made breakfast, so I'd rather you prepare the guest room across mine for Tao. He arrived last night and slept on the couch."
"Okay." Kyungsoo responds then whispers to Kris' ear, "I only asked because he's wearing your clothes and he's got the 'bed' hair, if you know what I mean." The shorter boy grins before walking out of the kitchen to prepare the guest room.
"Kyungsoo?" Yifan calls out and the shorter boy peeks his head out of the guestroom, "Take out the box of my old clothes from last year, he can use it for now."
Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow and motions Yifan to come to him. The taller turns to Tao to excuse himself before walking towards his butler, "What is going on?" The wide-eyed boy asks and Yifan explains how Tao ended up in his home.
"Yifan, he's a stray. You don't know anything about him."
"He doesn't even know anything. Trust me on this."
"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you, okay?"
Yifan waves him off to return to where Tao is, "Take a shower now."
"Ok!" Tao exclaims happily then jumps off his seat. Yifan points him to where the shower is and the brunet goes to his room. The blond looks around and everything is new to him. He reads the bottles on the sink when he accidentally presses his hand on a tube of toothpaste on the counter causing its content to pour out.
"YIFAN!!!"
The door slams open and Yifan comes barging inside frantically, "What happened?!"
"Please don't make me leave! I was nice, right?! I didn't mean it!"
"What did you do?"
Tao points at the toothpaste, eyes brimmed with tears, "I-it was an accident, I didn't mean to do that."
Yifan starts laughing and shakes his head, "It's just the toothpaste, Tao. Uh, do you even know what you're gonna do?"
"Take a shower?" Tao asks and then looks around, "I was reading the bottles and looking for 'shower' so I can take it."
"Oh my god. You're a baby." Yifan facepalms and sighs to himself, "I'm just gonna do this once for you, okay?"
"Okay..." Tao nods his head shyly, Yifan unbuttons the blond's top, "Taking a shower means washing your body, Tao." The brunet then remembers the other's wound as he removes his bandages, Yifan furrows his brows when he touches the wounds and it still emit a certain heat, "You have burn marks, Tao. Did you know? Don't they hurt?"
"I don't feel anything."
Yifan turns Tao around so that his back is facing the mirror, "They're kind of weird, we should have it..." The taller doesn't get to finish his sentence as he watches Tao run his fingers lightly over one of the wound, he looks pensive and deep in thought. "Do you remember anything?" Yifan asks and Tao shakes his head 'no'. "They don't hurt, Yifan. Shower?"
Yifan groans.
He removes Tao's trousers but keeps the boxers on. He then pushes th blond into the shower and when the first splash of water hits the boy's body, he squirms and latches himself tight onto Yifan. "You're making me wet, Tao. Calm down."
"NO! NOOOO!"
"Tao!"
The door opens the 2nd time to a very scandalized Kyungsoo, "What the hell?" The butler's mouth hangs open to find the naked blond clinging onto his boss, "Okay. Sorry. Private kink." The wide-eyed boy walks away, blushing. He remembers to lock the door behind him before he closes it.
"Cold! Cold!!!!" Tao cries out and keeps clawing Yifan's shirt trying to get himself warm, "Okay. Okay, calm down. I'll turn the heat up." Yifan's arm reaches out to the heater to get it warmer, he sighs inwardly because at this rate, he'd have to take a cold shower. "You can let go now, Tao. It's just water, it won't hurt you."
Tao pushes himself off Yifan and tentatively check's the water's temperature by putting himself under it fast only to cling back to Yifan, "TOO HOT!!!"
"What am I gonna do with you...?" Yifan grumbles since he can already tell that the front of his shirt is already soaked. He pushes Tao off him making sure the blond is looking at him, "We have to get you showered now. I have a lot of work to do."
"A-are you mad?" Tao's lower lip quiver, "Are you going to throw me out?"
"I'm not throwing you out, you little baby."
"I don't want to shower anymore if it only makes you mad."
"I'll be mad if you don't take it."
"But I'm scared."
Yifan sighs. It's confirmed, Tao is a 3-year old boy trapped in a 17-year old's body. The brunet taps the boy's head, "Okay, whenever you're scared you come to me and for today, ONLY today, we'll shower together, alright?"
Tao nods with an eager smile on his face. Yifan sheds his clothes but keeps his boxers on as well. This is the first time he's showering with another boy and it's so intimate in his opinion. So intimate, and so hard that he had to think of disgusting things to make it easier, he's thankful Tao is so innocent to take notice of his agony. Once he's calmed down, Yifan joins Tao in the shower and he makes sure that both of them are under the water. "See? It's not so bad." Yifan tells the other who's now unmoving under the water, the taller shampoos his hair and tells Tao to mirror him, he reminds the blond to keep the bubbles away from his eyes too. They rinse their hair once they're done. Next, Yifan hands Tao a brand new loofah and pours shower gel on it, he hands it to the blond then does the same on his own loofah, "You make sure you rub this all over your body so you're clean, okay?" The taller tells Tao and the the latter nods.
Yifan laughs to himself as he watches Tao struggle to reach his back. The blond turns to him with pleading eyes, "I can't reach it, Yifan."
"Give." Yifan extends his hand and Tao hands him the loofah. The older rubs the other's back, careful not to touch the wounds since they still look like they hurt. Once Tao is done, he turns around to extend his hand to Yifan, "Yours. Give." The taller hands him his loofah and Tao starts scrubbing his back, when it gets near his left shoulder, he stops. "What's wrong, Tao?"
The blond doesn't answer and starts scrubbing harshly on his left arm, "Ow, ow! What's wrong?!"
"You have something on your arm!"
"It's a tattoo! It's permanent so don't worry about it." Yifan smiles and turns around again as he lightly pushes Tao under the water so he can finish. The blond moves to the side after so that Yifan himself can rinse away the soap suds too.
Yifan turns off the water and takes his towel while he gives another to Tao. He dries his hair and body, he tells Tao to mirror him too. He wraps the towel on his waist and removes the wet boxers he has on. "Yifan, how do you do that?" Tao asks after seeing how easily the other has removed his boxers without the towel falling off. The taller facepalms, "Okay. Hold on to your towel tight, alright? Don't let it fall off and I'll pull down your boxers."
Tao bites his lip innocently and nods. Yifan kneels in front of the boy and it's hard, really hard, thank goodness for the towel around his waist. He reaches inside the towel and when he touches the hem of Tao's boxer he pulls it off the blond and throws it in the sink with his own. "Let's go outside. We've been here long enough."
Yifan steps out of the bathroom, Tao follows behind him all the while Kyungsoo narrows his eyes towards his boss as he vacuums in the living room. The blond turns his head to the whirring sound and jumps next to Kyungsoo, "What's that? What's that?!!"
"Uhhh, vacuum cleaner?"
"Woooaaaah...." Tao exclaims and claps his hands, his hold on his towel gone, thank goodness for Kyungsoo's reflexes. "This child, you should put on some clothes first and I'll show you around the house." Kyungsoo reprimands the boy with authority in his voice that Tao flinches and pouts. "Go to your room." The butler tells the blond and the said boy runs helplessly towards Yifan (holding on to his towel real tight), "I'm not bad. I'm not bad."
"You're not. Kyungsoo is." Yifan smiles, his butler yelps. "Let's go get dressed." Tao nods and follows the other. Yifan stops in front of his room, "Wait here." He goes inside and when he returns, he hands Tao a pack of new boxers, thankfully he bought 3, "These are yours now. You put these on first, and then Kyungsoo has more clothes for you inside that room." Yifan explains as he points out to the room across his, "That's yours for now. I need to change."
Tao nods and heads inside his room. Yifan goes to his room and rushes to get changed because he's running quite late. When he emerges out his room, he doesn't find Tao in the living room. He knocks on his door and Tao opens it - fully dressed. "At least my clothes fit you. I need to go. I'll see you later tonight."
"W-where are you going?" Tao grabs on Yifan's jacket, "I don't want to be alone here."
Yifan ruffles the other boy's damp hair, "Edge is here. Kyungsoo will help you out. I'll be back by 5."
Tao simply nods and follows Yifan. The other leaves Tao in the living room and looks for Kyungsoo, "Soo, big favor."
"Fine. I already know I'll be his nanny." Kyungsoo crosses his arms over his chest, Yifan smiles, "I'll raise your pay this month."
"Consider him taken care of!" His butler smiles, Yifan rolls his eyes, he's about to turn away before he speaks again, "If Merida comes to pick the laundry today, please tell her I'm sorry that there are wet boxers in the sink. I would have washed them myself but I'm late."
"Just go."
Yifan waves his butler goodbye then turns to Tao, "Ask anything you want from Kyungsoo, okay? Play with Edge. I don't have anything to do tomorrow, so I'll spend the whole day with you. Until then, just keep yourself busy and wait for me."
Tao nods. Yifan walks out to the front door and Tao follows him. The blond watches as Yifan takes his car and drives off. It must have been 20 minutes after Yifan has gone out when Kyungsoo walks to the living room to find Tao sitting by the open door with Edge lying on the front porch with him. "Tao, why don't you come inside?"
"He told me to wait for him." He simply tells Kyungsoo, the butler sighs and sits next to him, "He'll be back later. You don't have to wait for him."
"Where does he go? Does he always leave? If you're not here, then I'll be alone! I don't want to be alone."
Kyungsoo chuckles a little then pats the boy's back, "He just went to town to have a meeting with a possible trader to the city. Most of the time he's here, well, not in the house but in the farm. He makes sure that his workers are doing well, and he personally checks the vegetables."
"He's not gonna throw me out? He said if I'm nice I can stay. Do you think I'm nice?"
Kyungsoo laughs, "You're quite curious, but nice. Let's get inside. You can watch TV or read. Yifan keeps lots of interesting books in his library."
The butler stands, Tao and Edge follows him. Kyungsoo leads the blond to the library that also serves as Yifan's office. "Tao, you can read whatever you want but don't come near this table." The butler pats Yifan's office desk, "Or else." The blond flinches and nods his head vigorously, Kyungsoo smiles, "I'll call you out later for lunch. Edge, stay with him, okay?" The dog barks a happy bark.
Two hours later, Yifan calls Kyungsoo on his cellphone.
"Yes, Yifan?"
'How's he?'
"In the library. I checked 10 minutes ago and he's reading his 2nd novel."
'I might be home a little later. We're going to the city to talk to the manager of that new supermarket opening so we can also send our products there.'
"Alright. I'll tell your boyfriend."
'KYUNGSOO!'
"Fine, fine. I'll call you if something happens."
'Thanks. Watch what he eats, he rejects food he hates.'
"Got it." Kyungsoo tells Yifan who says his thanks before ending the call. The butler serves lunch for Tao and himself before calling the younger.
"Tao?" Kyungsoo peeks through the library door, Tao looks up from where he's seated on the floor. "Time for lunch." Edge wags his tail and runs outside, Tao trails behind the dog and the butler. Kyungsoo observes Tao as the blond checks on his food when they're both seated in the dining area. The wide-eyed boy breathes a sigh of relief when the blond eats his lunch, the butler starts eating too.
"You read quite fast." Kyungsoo starts the conversation and Tao looks up at him, "There's nothing else to do. And I like reading, I learn things."
"What else do you want to learn?" Kyungsoo asks and Tao shrugs, "I don't know. I don't know what I've forgotten, and what I've known."
The butler narrows his eyes a little at Tao, because for the few hours he's stayed inside the library, something about this boy has changed. He sounds a little mature although there's still an air of childishness in him.
Once they're done, Kyungsoo cleans the dishes and Tao watches him, "Don't you want to return to the library?"
The blond shakes his head and sighs, "Maybe later. What are you doing?"
"I'm washing the dishes."
Tao smiles widely, "Can I help?"
"Of course." Kyungsoo smiles and moves to the side. Tao starts helping the butler by wiping the plates dry before putting it to the rack. The blond is quietly wiping a plate dry with a towel when it slips and drops to the floor, "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" Tao yelps and immediately picks up the pieces, Kyungsoo stops him, "It's alright! Don't touch those, you might hurt yourself." The butler squats in front of Tao who's still picking up the shards. "Ah!" The blond yelps when it cuts his finger, Kyungsoo grabs Tao's wrist and puts his hand under the water, "I told you, it's okay. Don't pick it up." The butler tells Tao as he looks at the younger's eyes, the shorter boy then turns his attention to Tao's finger but raises an eyebrow when he notices that the bleeding has stopped and when he places the hand closer to his face, there isn't a trace of any cuts inflicted on his finger. "That's strange..."
"... Please don't throw me out. I have nowhere else to go. I didn't mean it."
"W-we're not throwing you out. J-just go to the living room and wait for me, okay?" Kyungsoo tells the boy and Tao does as he's told. The butler cleans the mess then texts Yifan a message afterwards.
To: Yifan
Sent: 2:12 PM
We have to talk about something when you get home.
Once Kyungsoo is done, he joins Tao in the living room and turns on the TV, "You can use this to change channels, and watch whatever you like." Tao takes the remote and starts clicking continuously, he stops when he catches a rerun of Pororo. Kyungsoo observes intently as Tao watches the said show animatedly. It's halfway into the show when the doorbell rings and Tao almost jumps in surprise, "Is it Yifan?!"
"We'll see." Kyungsoo smiles and stands from his seat, the blond follows him out. When they get to the gate, Tao feels disappointed to find someone who isn't Yifan standing on the other side. The blond decides to walk back to the house.
"Y-yes, Jongin?" Kyungsoo asks one of Yifan's workers who rarely comes to the house.
"Is the boss there?"
"No. What is it?"
"Something strange happened." Jongin tells Kyungsoo as he tries to catch his breath. The butler steps aside and tells the worker to come in. "Who's he?" Jongin asks once he notices a blond boy sitting by the front porch again.
"Tao. He's Yifan's friend and he's living with us." Kyungsoo tells him and the young worker just nods, "I see. Anyway, I was walking around the farm when I noticed something really unusual."
"What is it?"
"You know the old sakura tree near the edge of boss' land?" Jongin asks and Kyungsoo nods, "I was napping under it when a petal fell. Kyungsoo-hyung! It's blooming!"
"That's impossible, Jongin. That tree's been dead even before Yifan's born."
"That's why I said it was strange!" Jongin grabs on Kyungsoo's wrist, "Come with me!"
"I-I can't. I'm taking care of Tao."
"Then take him with us. You must see this! Minseok and Jongdae are baffled as well."
"Wait. I'll ask him." Kyungsoo pulls himself away from Jongin and walks over to Tao, "Hey, Tao. Do you want to come with us?"
"To where?"
"We're gonna go to the farm."
Tao shakes his head, "I don't want to. I want to be here when Yifan comes back."
"Yifan will be here later. It's only 3 o' clock."
Tao shakes his head more vigorously this time, "No! I don't wanna go!" The blond stands and runs inside. Kyungsoo hears a door closing from inside and the butler sighs then turns to Jongin, "Not today, I guess."
"Okay. But do tell Yifan."
"I will. I have something to talk to him about too."
Jongin waves goodbye and heads out. Kyungsoo watches him leave then heads back inside to look for Tao. "Tao?" He calls out when he doesn't find the boy inside the library nor the guest room. Kyungsoo opens Yifan's door to find Tao curled up under the covers, "Tao, what are you doing there?" The blond doesn't answer and curls more if it's even possible, Kyungsoo tentatively walks near him, "Oh, are you crying?"
"I yelled at you... I'm so sorry."
Kyungsoo smiles and runs his hand on Tao's soft hair, "Don't cry. I was bad, too." The blond whimpers, "Let's go back to your room."
"C-can I stay here for a while? I... I like it here. Smells like Yifan."
Kyungsoo smiles, "Okay. I'll call you out for dinner."
Tao nods and closes his eyes. Kyungsoo leaves and send another text message to Yifan.
To: Yifan
Sent: 3:15 PM
Tao is in your room, he says it smells like you. You have a pet waiting for you at home. Are you gonna be here for dinner?
From: Yifan
Sent: 3:18 PM
I'll try and leave immediately. The supervisor of the supermarket isn't even here yet. This bastard. I'll join Tao for dinner. :)
Kyungsoo checks on Tao from time to time and he wonders how the boy with amnesia or whatever ended up here. It's strange because Yifan's property is away from the town, even the workers had to be relocated somewhere nearer and Kyungsoo had to live in the house. Tao obviously isn't from here judging by the natural color of his hair and dark piercing eyes. They should be suspicious but there really is something about the boy that draws them in.
It's around 7 o' clock when Yifan arrives home, exhausted. Kyungsoo greets him, "Welcome home."
"Where's Tao?"
"Still in your room. That boy sure loves to sleep."
"I'll wake him up."
"Wait! Before you do, we have to talk."
"What is it?"
Kyungsoo pulls Yifan to the kitchen and they sit around the table, "Yifan, Tao... There's something about him. Earlier today, he cut his finger when he dropped the plate and picked up the pieces. I only talked to him a bit but when I looked at his finger again, it's completely healed. Yifan, I saw him bleed."
The taller furrows his brows, "That is strange..."
"And Jongin was here earlier too... He-"
"Finally made a move on you?"
"NO!" Kyungsoo blushes and hits Yifan's shoulder, "He was here earlier and told me the old sakura tree is blooming."
"That's impossible."
"I know. But Minseok and Jongdae saw it too, he said."
"I'll check it out tomorrow. For now, I have a blond boy to wake up."
Kyungsoo stands, "I'll serve your dinner."
"Thanks."
Yifan quietly walks inside his bedroom to find Tao bundled like a burrito on his bed. He sits next to the boy and shakes him a little, "Tao, I'm home."
The blond grunts and rubs off sleep from his eyes. "Had a good sleep?" Yifan asks and Tao nods his head. Once Tao sat up, to the older's surprise, the blond starts sobbing, "You took so long to come home!!!"
Yifan is a mixed of emotions because he's flattered that Tao waited for him but he's puzzled by how clingy the blond is - like a duckling who thought he is his mother. Tao continues sob and it pains Yifan to see the blond so helpless like this.
"I'm home now, don't cry." Yifan pats Tao's head and slowly the blond is starting to stop crying. The taller wipes Tao's tears from his face and then smiles, "I bought something for you."
"What is it?"
"Here is Mr. Panda." Yifan gives Tao a stuffed panda he bought from the city. The blond grins and hugs the plushie tight, "Thank you."
"Come on, time for dinner. You can leave Mr. Panda in your room so he doesn't get dirty when we eat."
Tao nods and takes his stuffed toy in his room then joins Yifan in the dining table to eat. "How was your day?" The taller asks and Tao tells him he just spent it waiting and waiting. "I'm sorry about that. Sometimes, I leave because I work."
"Not always?"
"Not always." Yifan smiles and Tao beams. "Take a shower before you sleep." Yifan reminds Tao but the blond protests, "I wasn't dirty! I only slept, I don't want to shower!"
"Tao."
The blond pouts and mumbles an 'okay.' They finish dinner after awhile and Tao reluctantly takes his shower while Kris does the same in another bathroom. Yifan is already drifting to sleep about an hour later when his bedroom door opens, "Tao?"
"Can I sleep here? I'm afraid to sleep alone in a new room. And it's dark." The blond asks, clutching his plushie tight against his chest. Yifan moves to the side and opens his blanket where Tao jumps in and cuddles his panda toy. "Thank you, Yifan. Good night."
"Good night."
-----
Yifan wakes up the next day without Tao on his bed. He leaves the room and checks Tao's, it's empty aside from the panda plushie on the bed. He walks to the living room to find Kyungsoo sweeping the floor, "Where's Tao?"
"Outside, playing with Edge."
"Hmn. I thought he'd wait for me to wake up." Yifan mumbles before going to the bathroom to wash up. When he emerges, Kyungsoo is serving his breakfast, "Tao already ate, by the way." Yifan nods and just reads the paper.
"Your friend is really strange, Yifan." Kyungsoo starts then sits across his boss, "He's like a different person today."
"What do you mean?"
"He's not curious. He took a shower without protest. He seems... To have matured a little."
"I see. He's only been here a day, well, 2. And I don't think he's a bad person. We can still observe."
Kyungsoo puts his chin on his palm and smiles, "I think he does you good, though. He's a nice distraction, I mean, ever since you took over the land, you've been busy."
"I guess..."
"He's good-looking, too."
Yifan furrows his brows and sends a curious look at his butler, Kyungsoo laughs, "You know what I mean Yifan."
"No, I don't."
"When's the last time you went out on a date?"
Yifan gasps in surprise, "Kyungsoo, he's a kid!"
"Doesn't look like one." The butler grins knowingly before standing and taking Yifan's plates. The older is left dumbfounded for a moment, he clears his throat and stands, "I'm gonna take a shower." And he leaves.
-----
"Had a good sleep?"
"Yifan!" Tao throws the ball he's holding then runs up to the taller and jumps on him, Yifan stumbles a little but he's able to keep his ground. The blond is beaming at him, "Good morning!"
"Uh, good morning. You're quite lively."
Tao nods then jumps off Yifan, "Edge and I have been playing for a while now."
The taller leans closer and takes a sniff, "You smell."
"I do? I'll take a shower again!" Tao grins, "You're not going anywhere, right? You're not leaving?"
"Not really."
"Wait for me! I'll freshen up." Tao waves him goodbye then heads inside. Kyungsoo emerges from the front door and finds Yifan sitting on a bench playing fetch with his dog, "Tao's taking a shower again."
"Yeah..."
Kyungsoo beams, "Not joining him this time?"
"Shut up."
Kyungsoo laughs then proceeds to the barn where he's feeding the chickens and the ducks. Yifan plays some games on his phone while he waits for Tao. Minutes later, Tao runs out of the house and jumps on the space next to the taller, "What are we doing today?"
"We'll be checking the farm first. Something concerns my workers since yesterday."
"Okay! Let's go!"
They're walking side by side as Yifan talks about his property. Tao listens and asks question, Yifan is only too glad to answer. They meet Jongdae and Minseok on their way, Yifan stops to talk to them about the plants while Tao squats next to Yifan and plucks two green tomatoes with both hands. "Ah!" Minseok yelps, Tao flinches and drops the tomatoes, the worker screams, "What did you do?!"
Tao gasps and hides behind Yifan, clutching the back of his shirt tight, "Calm down, Minseok. He's curious. Don't mind him."
"But...!"
"Minseok, I said it's okay."
"I don't like him." Tao whispers against Yifan's ear as he presses himself closer against the taller's back. Minseok glares at Tao, even if he had to tiptoe a little so he could instill fear at the blond. Jongdae pushes Minseok down to stop him, "If the boss says it's fine, then it's fine."
"We're going ahead. Remember, okay? We need the tomatoes fresh and ready for delivery as soon as they ripen."
"Alright, boss." Jongdae smiles and starts tending the crops, Minseok sighs and joins the younger. Tao removes himself from Yifan's back and cutely walks next to him, "I just wanted to take it home to Kyungsoo. I'm so sorry."
"About the tomatoes? It's okay. Minseok's just a little too attached. But you shouldn't pick them, they're still green."
They walk quite a bit until they reach their destination - the old sakura tree. Yifan walks forward but Tao stays rooted on the spot a few feet away, "Tao, aren't you coming?"
Tao shakes his head and steps back, "I... I..."
"Tao, it's just a tree."
"NO!" Tao runs away and Yifan follows him. "Tao!" The older takes bigger steps until he can grab on to the blond's wrist, "Don't run away!"
"I don't want to go near that tree! Why can't you understand?!" Tao cries, Yifan notices that the boy is shaking, "Okay, okay. Just wait here. I need to check that tree." The blond nods and sits on the ground. The older walks back to the sakura tree and upon closer inspection, Jongin is right. The tree is starting to bloom, a few little flower buds are scattered through out the branches and leaves are appearing too. Yifan finds it weirder that it's not even the season for a sakura tree to bloom. The brunet walks around the tree and inspects any changes that may have happened but he sees nothing, he looks on the ground and there's something. He kneels down and it seems to be some scorched markings, as if something burning fell on this spot.
"See? It's weird, right?"
Yifan looks up to find Jongin walking to the tree with a pail of water, "I decided to keep it alive now, sir."
The taller stands and nods, "Alright. Keep this a secret for now, we don't want people coming here thinking this is some kind of holy miracle."
"Got it boss. I don't want people coming to my sleeping spot."
"That too. Oh! Have you seen Tao on your way here?"
"Yes. He's sitting there, I told him to come with me to the tree and he started to cry."
"He doesn't like the tree. I'll see you." Yifan waves his youngest worker goodbye then heads to where he left Tao. "Hey."
Tao looks up, dried tears plastered on his cheeks. Yifan takes out a handkerchief and wipes them away, "Let's go home."
Tao nods and stands quietly. Yifan jumps a little when the blond locks his hand with his. The taller tightens his hold when he realizes how cold Tao's hand is, and how the blond is still shaken. "I'm so sorry, Tao. I'll never let you go near the tree."
"I'm so sorry, too. I didn't mean to be like this... I don't know why that tree scares me."
Yifan pulls Tao and hugs him briefly, "You'll be okay."
They make it back to the house in silence, Edge and Kyungsoo greets them excitedly but the butler's face falls into worry when he looks at Tao's dejected state. "What happened?"
"Long story." Yifan smiles and they both head inside. The both of them sits on the couch and Yifan turns on the TV. The blond shifts and lies on the brunet's lap, his hand still holding Yifan's. Kyungsoo walks in on them minutes later, he finds Tao already asleep and Yifan flipping channels lazily. "What do you want for lunch?"
"What do we have?"
"Well, I can cook some meat stew. Looks like your boyfriend's gonna need it."
"He's not--!" Yifan raises his voice but Tao groans, so he whispers, "Not my boyfriend!"
"Whatever you say." Kyungsoo grins cheekily before heading to the kitchen. Yifan sighs and carefully slips out of the couch, careful not to wake up the blond when he removes his hand from Tao's grip. He replaces his lap with a throw pillow and then heads to his office.
Yifan is checking his emails and writing responses to his clients when the door opens, "Y-Yifan?"
The brunet looks up to find Tao peeking through a small opening on the door, "Let's eat?"
"Get inside." Yifan tells the boy and Tao closes the door behind him, "Are you feeling better?"
"Yes. Thank you."
The brunet smiles and saves all his works before turning the computer off, "Are you hungry?"
"Very much." Tao finally beams and it makes the butterflies in Yifan's stomach flutter in different directions.
They eat lunch together with Kyungsoo, they're quite silent because Yifan usually gets his food served in his office and he stays there doing nothing and everything. He looks at the table and he thinks that Kyungsoo is right, Tao is a good distraction to his boring life. It's a little scary to think that he could leave just as fast as he came into his life.
After lunch, the two of them spends it inside Yifan's office - Tao is reading books while Yifan does office work. He's thankful that Tao doesn't distract him much and it's only about 3 hours later that the blond nudges his calf (the boy is sitting on the floor next to him), "Yifan, aren't you bored here? What do you do on your free time?"
"I have a lot of work to do so I'm not really bored. When I'm not too busy I go to the beach."
"The beach?"
Yifan nods, "I have a small beach house further south."
Tao nods, "I see... Take me there?"
"Soon." Yifan assures him and Tao smiles then returns to the 2nd book he's reading.
-----
For days, Yifan and Kyungsoo have observed Tao's maturity grow. He's stopped whining, and crying over the simplest of things. His curiosity from previous days pays off that sometimes Kyungsoo will catch him using the vacuum cleaner on his own. One morning, Kyungsoo woke up to find Tao preparing their breakfast as a way of thanks for letting him stay in the house. Tao also stopped sleeping next to Yifan after the 3rd night of his stay.
It's the 2nd week of Tao staying with them, and the blond is outside feeding the poultry for their afternoon feed when Kyungsoo walks inside Yifan's office for his coffee, "Yifan... Shouldn't you be looking into Tao's identity now?"
"What?"
"There might be people looking for him. Shouldn't you tell the police? It's been two weeks, and still, he doesn't remember anything."
"I already checked for missing persons, Kyungsoo, and nobody's matched him."
The butler is about to argue when they hear a shrill scream coming from outside. Yifan runs out of the house to find Tao curled on the ground, screaming for dear life.
"Make it stop! Make it stop!!!!" Tao screams with his eyes closed as he covers both his ears with his hands. "Tao!" Yifan kneels in front of the blond, he shakes Tao, "Look at me! I'm here! What's going on?!"
"Yifan! Make it stop! Make it stop!!!!" Tao's eyes are wide in fear, "I don't want to hear this!!!!"
"I can't hear anything! Tao! Calm down!"
"STOP IT!!!" Tao screams and a tower of empty apple crates on the side of the house fall harshly to the ground, Kyungsoo gasps and Tao faints.
"Prepare something, Kyungsoo! He's having a fever!" Yifan tells his butler before carrying Tao back inside the house, just in time before the rain falls heavily from the skies. He takes the blond inside the guest room and immediately checks his breathing - it's shallow and short which makes Yifan worry some more. Kyungsoo returns with a bucket of warm water and towel, he gives it to Yifan and tells his boss he's gonna prepare some soup for Tao.
Yifan is still wiping the boy's body with the towel when the blond coughs and opens his eyes, "W-what happened...?" Tao asks as he tries to sit up but Yifan tells him not to.
"You fainted after telling us you're hearing things."
Tao looks away from Yifan's gaze, "It's just a loud, piercing, noise... Enough to break glass. It's too loud, I thought my head will explode."
"You're gonna be fine. I'm here." Yifan tenderly strokes the boy's cheek with the back of his hand, Tao leans into the touch and asks, "You won't leave me alone?"
"I won't." Yifan assures him and Tao faces him. Their eyes linger on each other and Yifan knows he doesn't see a kid anymore, and he can't help but lean in closer to the inviting lips calling out to be claimed.
And claim it, he does.
The kiss is short, but it's enough to assure Tao that whatever happens, Yifan will be there for him. "I won't leave you, Tao. As long as you stay." Tao shyly smiles and nods. He sits up, so Yifan straightens his back a little, Tao looks up tentatively through his lashes and asks, "Kiss me again...?"
Yifan is only happy to oblige. He pulls Tao closer by the neck and presses their lips together, this time more intimately and passionately. He angles his head so he can mold their lips together perfectly. The brunet sucks on the other's lower lip, causing him to gasp, giving entrance to Yifan's tongue to explore the other's mouth. Tao pulls Yifan closer to him, clenching his fists on the latter's shirt, moaning wantonly as the other's tongue expertly explores his mouth. They pull apart for air but they keep their eyes locked into each other's, "I'll stay, Yifan. For as long as you want me, for as long as I can."
There's a knock on the door and Yifan jumps out of bed to open it, Kyungsoo is on the other side pushing a small trolley of food and medicine for Tao. "Glad you're awake." Kyungsoo greets Tao, the blond smiles shyly. "Eat something and take some medicine, Yifan will take good care of you." Kyungsoo tells Tao nonchalantly before leaving the room. Yifan feeds Tao, the blond finishes his food and takes his medicine, he tells Yifan he's tired and he wants to sleep. The brunet kisses the other's cheek before stepping out of the room to take out the trolley.
"...Yifan." Kyungsoo tells him when the older reaches the kitchen, the butler continues when his boss says nothing, "Yifan, you should check at the hospital. He might be a missing mental patient."
"Are you saying he's sick in the head?"
"I'm just trying to help! He's got amnesia and now he says he's hearing things we don't hear!"
"Kyungsoo, he is not sick!"
"Do it, Yifan! I was pushing you into him, yes, but not anymore. You need to let him go before you get too attached, before it's too late."
"It's too late, Kyungsoo!" Yifan raises his voice, his butler flinches, "I don't care anymore, okay? He's staying, and you have to deal with it."
"Yifan! You're harbouring a total stranger!"
"I don't need to know his whole life story to care for him!" They're still arguing when Tao screams from his room again, Yifan runs inside to find the blond screaming and moving his hands in different directions, the cabinet files and paintings fall from their places, the vase breaks and everything in the room is in total chaos, "TAO!"
"YIFAN!!!" Tao cries out, "They're coming to get me!!!!"
Yifan runs to the blond and gathers him into his arms, the latter stops flailing and the chaos dies down. Kyungsoo is left stunned, Edge is barking next to the butler. Tao is crying on Yifan's chest, "I can hear them more clearly now... Looking for... Tao. Allies. For... War? Before the... Rising."
"It's all in your head, Tao. It's gonna go away."
"Make it go away now..."
Yifan carries Tao and lets him rest inside his bedroom, the brunet tells the blond to wait for him a bit so he can talk to Kyungsoo outside. The butler is looking sternly at Yifan when the taller emerges out of the room, "Kyungsoo..."
"Tao is not a normal person, Yifan."
"... I saw it, too." Yifan sighs, "All the more that I can't take him to the hospital where they might do stuff on him."
Kyungsoo crosses his arms over his chest and takes a deep breath before speaking, "I don't know what to say anymore..."
"Take a week off. Take Edge with you, it isn't until two weeks for harvest so the farm will be okay under Minseok's supervision."
"What are you gonna do?"
"I need to focus on Tao until I figure out what's going on. I don't want you to stress yourself out by being here with us, okay?"
"Call me when something comes up. I'll stay about 20 minutes from here so you can call me immediately if something happens." Kyungsoo tells Yifan before he goes to his room to pack what he'll need. The door to Yifan's room opens and Tao emerges out of it, "W-what's going on?"
Yifan turns to the boy, "Kyungsoo and Edge will be gone for a while, okay?"
"Because I'm weird?!"
"Tao, no. Not because of that, okay?"
"I don't know what's happening to me... I don't want them to leave because of this." Tao starts to sob again, Yifan hugs him, "Shhh. It's not because of you, okay? Kyungsoo just wants to give the both of us 'alone' time."
Yifan takes Tao inside, and lets him lie on the bed. He joins the blond, minutes later, Kyungsoo says his goodbye through closed doors. Yifan waits until Tao is asleep and when he hears soft snores coming from the blond, he goes to his office. He starts sending emails to his clients, that every transaction will be dealt with next week due to a personal emergency. He calls Minseok about him taking over for a while, his worker doesn't question Yifan's instructions.
-----
For the days that follow, Tao has been restless. His weight is dropping and it's getting harder for Yifan to feed the blond. It's the 3rd night since Tao's been hearing the voices and it's driving Yifan up the wall. He starts to think about Kyungsoo's offer, maybe the hospital can help. It's late at night and the brunet is currently in his office, looking through whatever possible reasons Tao is acting like this and it all boils down to mental illneses that Yifan denies to be possible.
He's busy browsing through pages and pages on the internet when his door bursts open and Tao runs inside, frantic and scared to death. "They're coming! They're coming!"
"Tao, nobody's coming." Yifan tells him between gritted teeth, because it's been like these for days and he's been losing sleep. Even if he adores the blond, there's only too much he can take.
"YIFAN!!! THEY'RE HERE!!!" Tao screams, and Yifan loses it. "Tao!" The brunet yells but the other boy jumps on him, "DON'T LOOK!"
A piercing sound fills the room and every glass in the household breaks, Yifan screams as he tries to cover his ears. He tries to take a look of what's happening but all he sees is bright light surrounding Tao and him. What felt like forever only lasted a few seconds before everything turns quiet, Tao and Yifan stares at each other in shock. "I..." Yifan starts but they hear something from the living room, the taller of the two grabs Tao's wrist and runs outside.
There they meet 2 guys in black suits, they are quite shorter than Tao and Kris, they have soft features but Yifan doesn't trust them. He pushes Tao behind him, "Who the fuck are you and what are you doing in my house?!"
"I'm Yixing, this is Luhan. We mean you no harm, human. We just need Tao back with us. He needs to come Home."
"He's not going anywhere." Yifan tells Yixing sternly, the other guy in the suit shakes his head, "We do not intend to use force on you, human. Just give him back and you will not remember a thing about him."
"I am not going with you!" Tao screams from behind Yifan, Yixing takes a step forward and Yifan steps back, "Don't you come any closer."
"We need you, brother. With Father gone and He is rising, we need more on our side before another war breaks out. You come with us, we will pardon your disobedience and you will not be killed." Luhan tells Tao, completely ignoring Yifan's threats.
Yixing steps closer again, Yifan releases Tao and pulls the shorter male by the collar, "I said, don't come any closer." Luhan doesn't do anything, Yixing smirks and grabs Yifan's wrist, "You have no idea who you're dealing with, human. Just give us our brother and you won't get hurt."
"He doesn't want to come with you, so leave him alone!" Yifan pushes Yixing to the floor with a thud, Luhan walks over to his fallen brother before turning an angry glare at Yifan, "You are trying our patience, human! We do not need your approval! We will take our brother by force if we need to!" Luhan stands and pushes Yifan by the chest, it's inhumanely strong and the brunet hits his back to the adjacent wall, he knocks over Tao who was just standing behind him when he flew off the ground.
"YIFAN!" Tao screams and runs to Yifan, the latter coughs up blood and clenches his arm around his ribs, "Are you okay?!"
"I'll be fine..." Yifan mumbles in pain, Luhan approaches in steady steps, "You just have to find your Grace so we can go back home, brother."
Yifan covers Tao's body albeit too painfully, "... You aren't leaving, right?" The brunet whispers and Tao shakes his head, "I'm staying..." The blond cranes his neck over Yifan's shoulder, "I don't know who you guys are, but I am staying with him! Leave us alone!" He screams and the bookshelves topple over, Luhan seems unfazed, Yixing is already standing next to him. "We have been looking for you for so many days, brother! Time to come home!" Yixing raises his voice, Tao shakes his head, "This is my home!"
Luhan grunts angrily and produces a short sword in his right hand, "You are trying my patience, brother!" Yixing stops Luhan by the shoulder, Tao leans Yifan against the wall and covers him with his body as he faces the intruders, "What are you trying to do?!"
"We are bringing you home and if this human is what stands between us, he will be dead." Luhan tells Tao with conviction, the blond's eyes widen. When the doe-eyed boy steps forward the blond extends his hand and throws him across the room along with Yixing.
Yifan watches in horror as Tao takes a broken glass shard and cuts his wrist, he tries to stop him but he feels like he's been paralyzed completely. Tao draws a symbol on the floor, mumbles a prayer and Yifan watches as Luhan and Yixing are enveloped in bright light before disappearing. "... What? Tao... Where did they... Go?"
"Far away... But they will look for me again..." Tao whinces as he covers his slit wrist with his other hand. Yifan curses in pain as he crawls over the blond. He removes his shirt and covers Tao's wound, "We're leaving, but we have to fix you."
"You need to get fixed, too." Tao whispers, Yifan nods, "Yeah..." The brunet fishes his phone and calls Kyungsoo, "Come, help us." Are the only words he speaks before leaning against the wall and pushing Tao against his chest. The blond isn't bleeding much anymore and Yifan only feels pain on his rib when he moves, "What was that...?"
"I don't know. I just know how to draw it and what to say to make them leave."
Yifan sighs and leans his head back against the wood, "They're really intent on taking you. They keep calling me human, and I'm sure... You aren't one."
"Would it change anything?" Tao mumbles and Yifan pulls him closer (whincing in pain silently), "It wouldn't."
They stay huddled together in silence as they wait for Kyungsoo to arrive. Yifan's thankful that Kyungsoo decided to stay somewhere near.
"What happened here?!" Kyungsoo runs through the door to find the chaos inside the house, he looks for Yifan and Tao, when he finds them, he panics. "I don't know who to fix first!"
"Tao. He's got a slit wrist..." Yifan mumbles, Kyungsoo takes Tao's arm and removes the shirt, "No, he's not wounded."
Tao's eyes widen, he hasn't realized he's healed and he looks at Yifan, "I'm... I... I could have..."
"Don't." Yifan mumbles, "It's okay."
Kyungsoo looks around the floor so he can find a clear path before he drags Yifan somewhere he can fix him. His eyes widen even more after seeing a symbol drawn in blood on the floor, "Did you draw this?"
Tao nods, "Do you know what that means?"
"No..." Kyungsoo gets Tao to help Yifan up first, they drag him carefully to his room, the shorter steadies Yifan against the blond first before removing the bedsheet to keep the glass shards off the bed then he helps Tao lay Yifan on it.
Tao watches as Kyungsoo checks on Yifan's sides and chest, the butler sighs, "I think you have a broken rib, you need to get it checked."
"I'm gonna be okay." Yifan grumbles as he shifts his position on the bed, Tao silently sits next to him. Kyungsoo bites his lower lip before speaking again, "T-that symbol on the floor... I think my friend can help."
"Call him now." Yifan tells Kyungsoo and his butler leaves the room. Tao lies on the bed and carefully puts his arm around Yifan's waist, "I'm scared. I really am..."
"We'll be okay."
--------
Entry too long. Part two here.
Chapters: Oneshot
Author: paranoiascreams
Genre: supernatural, romance, angst
Warning: death, unbeta'd, implied smut
Rating: NC-17 (because implied smut)
Pairings/Characters: Kris x Tao
Synopsis: A stranger appears in front of his house, his coming marks the series of strange events in his rather normal life. When Tao fell, Yifan caught him.
Disclaimer: THIS IS ALL BASED ON THE TV SERIES "SUPERNATURAL". I DONT CLAIM SOLE ORIGINALITY FOR THE PLOT. NO INFRINGEMENT INTENDED.
Yifan shifts uncomfortably on his bed. It's been a long day tending to his land and the weather hasn't been that nice either. He turns to his side but he's still not feeling comfortable enough to sleep even if he's too exhausted to function.
Yifan lives in a rural town in Southern China. At a young age of 15, a fairly sized plot of land for farming has been left in his name after his parents died in a horrible accident. With the help of an uncle (the only living relative he has that time) he's able to finish high school before finally taking over the land after deciding to skip college and continue being a farmer with his uncle. Sadly, his uncle died last year and he lives alone in the farm now. He's currently 20 years old.
Their family's house has always been the only house you'd see amongst the land along with a small barn he and his uncle were able to fill with chickens and ducks. Thankfully, his late father and uncle has taught him well in this kind of field and he's fairly successful. He's been able to buy a decent car and he's able to pay for at least 3 other farmers and a butler with his farm's earnings. Needless to say, for 5 years, his farm is still yet to see its bad day.
Yifan turns to his side again and he notices something really bright flash through the small seam outside his closed window. He jumps off the bed and opens the covers to see if something has landed in his farm, but all he sees is a flickering light from a distance. He closes his windows immediately since the weather isn't really nice and the torrents of rain is getting stronger.
"Must be the lightning." He mumbles to himself, "Or a shooting star." He goes back under the cover of his blanket and tries to sleep this time. It may have been just 30-40 minutes since Yifan has started dozing off when Edge, his 3 - year old golden retriever, starts barking and runs out to the front door. The brunet jolts from his sleep, takes the hunting rifle he keeps by his bedside then follows his dog in the living room.
The dog is still barking at him then claws at the space between the front door and the floor. Yifan can hear Edge whimper as if in panic mode. The brunet sighs and tells his dog to back off the door so he can open it. The dog stops whatever he is doing and steps aside, Yifan flings it open then aims the rifle to nobody. The human frowns and is just about to close the door when his dog rushes out of the house and into the front yard.
Yifan slings the rifle over his shoulder then immediately runs after his pet, "Edge! You stupid dog! Get back in here!" He finds his pet by the gate pacing side to side and barking at something on the ground. "You stupid dog, let's head back inside." Yifan grumbles as he marches towards his pet. The dog looks at him and barks louder, it then steps away so that his owner can see what he's barking at.
"Oh my god!" Yifan exclaims as he immediately opens the gate and carries a boy who's lying unconscious in front of his property. Edge follows him frantically and barks continuously as if asking if the stranger is okay.
"He's breathing, Edge. Good dog." Yifan compliments his pet as he walks faster towards his home. Once inside, he lies the stranger onto the carpet near the fireplace. Yifan adds more wood to the furnace to keep the fire going longer well into the night to warm the boy. "Edge, stay here. I'm gonna go get stuff for him." Yifan tells his dog and Edge barks once. Yifan heads to his room first and returns the rifle into his bedside. He rummages his closet for a pair of pajamas and a new pair of boxers. He also grabs a spare towel from one of his drawers. He stops by the bathroom to get the first aid kit before returning to the living room.
Yifan finds his dog by the fireplace still guarding the unconscious boy. He pats the dogs head before sitting next to the boy. This is when he notices that he has strawberry blond hair, a prominent nose and bow-like lips. He also sees dark bags under his eyes and looking over the boy again, Yifan realizes that this boy could almost be as tall as him, it makes him wonder how he's able to carry him all the way here as if he's lightweight.
Yifan takes a deep breath and starts undressing the boy, which is fairly easy since he's wearing something that looks like a white robe and loose white pants - both sullied by mud and rain. Yifan looks at the boy's feet and he isn't wearing any shoes.
"Strange..." He mumbles and starts patting the boy dry. He carefully turns the boy to his side and he furrows his brows to find two prominent burn marks across the boy's shoulder blades, Yifan touches it and it's still warm. "Really strange..." He mumbles again as he pats his back dry and then he reaches for the first aid kit next to him. He starts rubbing burn ointment on the scar and bandages the boy before proceeding to put on a pajama button top on him.
Yifan lets the blond lie on his back again and he takes a deep breath, "For the hard part..." He shakes his head and drapes the boy's robe over his private parts and then pulls off the boy's pants. He decides to just wipe his legs and not move further up. He puts on the boxers and trousers, he sighs to himself after he's done.
Taking care of the stranger by the fireplace has made Yifan's own soaked clothes dry a bit and he thinks it's quite safe to carry the boy without getting him wet again. He first sets up pillows and blankets on the couch before carrying the boy. Yifan almost falls carrying his weight and makes him wonder how the hell he's become heavier from his previous state. "Must be the adrenaline." He tells himself before setting the boy down.
Yifan checks the boy's temperature and he's glad that he seems normal. He makes sure the blond is comfortable before leaving the room and goes to his own bedroom to change. When he returns out, he takes the wet clothes and calls Edge to follow him to the backyard to hang the clothes to dry. Once he's done, he locks his back and front doors, adds more wood to the fire and checks the boy's breathing and temprature again. He's still normal and that's a good sign. "Edge, you stay with him tonight, okay?" Yifan tells his dog, Edge whimpers and lies on the foot of the couch. His owner pets him before the brunet heads back to his bedroom where he immediately falls asleep after hitting his bed.
------
Yifan jolts awake the next morning to his dog barking outside his bedroom's door. He grumpily walks out of the room to find Edge waiting for him. Once the dog sees him, it runs to the living room and Yifan follows it to find the boy from last night sitting up, awake and looking at him.
The brunet sits next to the blond who doesn't flinch from looking at him, Yifan tries his best to sound as pleasant as possible, "Good morning. How are you feeling?"
No reaction.
Looking at the blond's stoic face, Yifan thinks that this boy might be younger than him, 3-4 years his junior, maybe. Yifan clears his throat and tries again, "Do you remembr how you ended up in my property?" As Yifan expects, there's no response. The brunet becomes a little agitated because he was at least expecting any form of gratitude but alas, this boy doesn't react at all. Yifan sighs and places his chin on his palm, "Do you even speak? Do you have a name?" He asks and he's already expecting silence when finally,
"Tao."
"Tao?" Yifan verifies and Tao nods his head, that's an improvement and at least he now knows that Tao talks. "Where are you from?" Yifan asks but Tao just shrugs his shoulders, the brunet sighs again because this is becoming harder than he thinks.
"Are you a hospital patient? Did you escape from there? I don't wanna get into trouble. And how did you even get here just in case you're a patient? The hospital is almost 7 KM away from here." Yifan barrages Tao with questions, the blond shrugs his shoulders again, "I don't remember anything."
Great.
Yifan purses his lips as he nods his head, "Alright. Let's just eat breakfast and maybe we can figure things out." He stands from the couch but gets pulled back lightly when Tao grabs his sleeve. "Y-your name, too."
"Wu Yifan. You can call me Yifan. As long as you're nice, you can stay in my house."
Tao nods and smiles. Yifan is almost left breathless because the way the blond smiled is so dazzling to say the least, "C-come on. I'll prepare breakfast." The brunet heads to the kitchen, Tao and Edge follows him quietly.
"Sit there while you wait." Yifan points to the dining chair and Tao does as he's told. The taller - Yifan noticed Tao is only a few inches shorter than him - knows he's being watched as he puts dog food in Edge's bowl. He then proceeds to start brewing the coffee from the coffee machine and when he walks to the fridge to get some eggs and bacon, he finds Tao's curious eyes wandering about in the kitchen. Yifan fries the eggs and bacon, before it's done there's a click on the coffee machine so he pours the drink in two separate mugs. He drinks his coffee and slides the other mug in front of Tao, "It's still quite hot." He warns, the blond smiles and takes a sip, only to childishly spit it all out back into the mug, "I don't like it. It tastes weird."
Yifan would have been grossed out and maybe yell a little because of the attitude but the way Tao scrunched at the taste of coffee is kind of cute so he just ignores the whole incident and asks, "Okay, coffee is out. Do you want orange juice or hot chocolate?"
"I don't know what I like. But I don't like this." Tao tells Yifan as he pushes the mug away and whispers, "Poison." Yifan shakes his head, takes the mug from the table and pours its contents into the sink. He turns back to the stove first and puts the fried food onto a plate then prepares the two drinks for Tao.
The blond doesn't even take a sip after smelling the juice but takes a sip of the other beverage quite happily, "This one I like."
"Enjoy your hot chocolate then." Yifan smiles at the other then turns back to the counter. He puts two slices of bread into the toaster and when it pops out, he hears Tao clap from behind him, "Do it again!" The taller fights back the urge to coo at Tao so he just toasts 2 slices of bread again, and before he knows it, the blond is kneeling next to him, eyeing his old toaster curiously as he waits for the bread to pop out again. When it does, Tao grins excitedly like a 3-year old, and speaking of which, "How old are you?" Yifan asks after putting the 2 breads onto a plate and walks to the table with their breakfast.
Tao pouts and walks back to the dining table to sit across Yifan, "I dunno." The brunet sighs and just motions for Tao to eat. He observes if the blond will reject the food as well, fortunately, he doesn't and Yifan proceeds to eating his own plate of breakfast. "Well, what do you know?"
"Nothing. I know my name, and how to speak, maybe read? That's about it."
"Are you an alien?" Yifan asks, Tao raises a curious brow, "What's an alien?" The taller grins, "You."
Tao pouts sadly, "You mean, I'm not human like you?!"
"I'm kidding. You're human like me, okay? Until further notice, of course." Yifan reaches over Tao's head and ruffles the blond's hair, the latter chuckles happily as he finishes his food.
They're both eating quietly when someone barges in from the back door, "Woah." The intruder exclaims after seeing Yifan having his breakfast already, "You're up rather early."
"Yeah. Oh, by the way, this is Kyungsoo. He cooks for me and cleans the house. Kyungsoo, meet Tao. He'll be living with us for now."
Kyungsoo's eyes widen even more and walks near the dining table, "Yifan, I was only gone the weekends to visit my family and you surprise me with a boyfriend? I didn't even know you have one!"
"He isn't my boyfriend, Kyungsoo."
"Boyfriend?" Tao asks and Yifan shakes his head towards the boy. The brunet then tugs on Kyungsoo's arm, "I made breakfast, so I'd rather you prepare the guest room across mine for Tao. He arrived last night and slept on the couch."
"Okay." Kyungsoo responds then whispers to Kris' ear, "I only asked because he's wearing your clothes and he's got the 'bed' hair, if you know what I mean." The shorter boy grins before walking out of the kitchen to prepare the guest room.
"Kyungsoo?" Yifan calls out and the shorter boy peeks his head out of the guestroom, "Take out the box of my old clothes from last year, he can use it for now."
Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow and motions Yifan to come to him. The taller turns to Tao to excuse himself before walking towards his butler, "What is going on?" The wide-eyed boy asks and Yifan explains how Tao ended up in his home.
"Yifan, he's a stray. You don't know anything about him."
"He doesn't even know anything. Trust me on this."
"Fine. Don't say I didn't warn you, okay?"
Yifan waves him off to return to where Tao is, "Take a shower now."
"Ok!" Tao exclaims happily then jumps off his seat. Yifan points him to where the shower is and the brunet goes to his room. The blond looks around and everything is new to him. He reads the bottles on the sink when he accidentally presses his hand on a tube of toothpaste on the counter causing its content to pour out.
"YIFAN!!!"
The door slams open and Yifan comes barging inside frantically, "What happened?!"
"Please don't make me leave! I was nice, right?! I didn't mean it!"
"What did you do?"
Tao points at the toothpaste, eyes brimmed with tears, "I-it was an accident, I didn't mean to do that."
Yifan starts laughing and shakes his head, "It's just the toothpaste, Tao. Uh, do you even know what you're gonna do?"
"Take a shower?" Tao asks and then looks around, "I was reading the bottles and looking for 'shower' so I can take it."
"Oh my god. You're a baby." Yifan facepalms and sighs to himself, "I'm just gonna do this once for you, okay?"
"Okay..." Tao nods his head shyly, Yifan unbuttons the blond's top, "Taking a shower means washing your body, Tao." The brunet then remembers the other's wound as he removes his bandages, Yifan furrows his brows when he touches the wounds and it still emit a certain heat, "You have burn marks, Tao. Did you know? Don't they hurt?"
"I don't feel anything."
Yifan turns Tao around so that his back is facing the mirror, "They're kind of weird, we should have it..." The taller doesn't get to finish his sentence as he watches Tao run his fingers lightly over one of the wound, he looks pensive and deep in thought. "Do you remember anything?" Yifan asks and Tao shakes his head 'no'. "They don't hurt, Yifan. Shower?"
Yifan groans.
He removes Tao's trousers but keeps the boxers on. He then pushes th blond into the shower and when the first splash of water hits the boy's body, he squirms and latches himself tight onto Yifan. "You're making me wet, Tao. Calm down."
"NO! NOOOO!"
"Tao!"
The door opens the 2nd time to a very scandalized Kyungsoo, "What the hell?" The butler's mouth hangs open to find the naked blond clinging onto his boss, "Okay. Sorry. Private kink." The wide-eyed boy walks away, blushing. He remembers to lock the door behind him before he closes it.
"Cold! Cold!!!!" Tao cries out and keeps clawing Yifan's shirt trying to get himself warm, "Okay. Okay, calm down. I'll turn the heat up." Yifan's arm reaches out to the heater to get it warmer, he sighs inwardly because at this rate, he'd have to take a cold shower. "You can let go now, Tao. It's just water, it won't hurt you."
Tao pushes himself off Yifan and tentatively check's the water's temperature by putting himself under it fast only to cling back to Yifan, "TOO HOT!!!"
"What am I gonna do with you...?" Yifan grumbles since he can already tell that the front of his shirt is already soaked. He pushes Tao off him making sure the blond is looking at him, "We have to get you showered now. I have a lot of work to do."
"A-are you mad?" Tao's lower lip quiver, "Are you going to throw me out?"
"I'm not throwing you out, you little baby."
"I don't want to shower anymore if it only makes you mad."
"I'll be mad if you don't take it."
"But I'm scared."
Yifan sighs. It's confirmed, Tao is a 3-year old boy trapped in a 17-year old's body. The brunet taps the boy's head, "Okay, whenever you're scared you come to me and for today, ONLY today, we'll shower together, alright?"
Tao nods with an eager smile on his face. Yifan sheds his clothes but keeps his boxers on as well. This is the first time he's showering with another boy and it's so intimate in his opinion. So intimate, and so hard that he had to think of disgusting things to make it easier, he's thankful Tao is so innocent to take notice of his agony. Once he's calmed down, Yifan joins Tao in the shower and he makes sure that both of them are under the water. "See? It's not so bad." Yifan tells the other who's now unmoving under the water, the taller shampoos his hair and tells Tao to mirror him, he reminds the blond to keep the bubbles away from his eyes too. They rinse their hair once they're done. Next, Yifan hands Tao a brand new loofah and pours shower gel on it, he hands it to the blond then does the same on his own loofah, "You make sure you rub this all over your body so you're clean, okay?" The taller tells Tao and the the latter nods.
Yifan laughs to himself as he watches Tao struggle to reach his back. The blond turns to him with pleading eyes, "I can't reach it, Yifan."
"Give." Yifan extends his hand and Tao hands him the loofah. The older rubs the other's back, careful not to touch the wounds since they still look like they hurt. Once Tao is done, he turns around to extend his hand to Yifan, "Yours. Give." The taller hands him his loofah and Tao starts scrubbing his back, when it gets near his left shoulder, he stops. "What's wrong, Tao?"
The blond doesn't answer and starts scrubbing harshly on his left arm, "Ow, ow! What's wrong?!"
"You have something on your arm!"
"It's a tattoo! It's permanent so don't worry about it." Yifan smiles and turns around again as he lightly pushes Tao under the water so he can finish. The blond moves to the side after so that Yifan himself can rinse away the soap suds too.
Yifan turns off the water and takes his towel while he gives another to Tao. He dries his hair and body, he tells Tao to mirror him too. He wraps the towel on his waist and removes the wet boxers he has on. "Yifan, how do you do that?" Tao asks after seeing how easily the other has removed his boxers without the towel falling off. The taller facepalms, "Okay. Hold on to your towel tight, alright? Don't let it fall off and I'll pull down your boxers."
Tao bites his lip innocently and nods. Yifan kneels in front of the boy and it's hard, really hard, thank goodness for the towel around his waist. He reaches inside the towel and when he touches the hem of Tao's boxer he pulls it off the blond and throws it in the sink with his own. "Let's go outside. We've been here long enough."
Yifan steps out of the bathroom, Tao follows behind him all the while Kyungsoo narrows his eyes towards his boss as he vacuums in the living room. The blond turns his head to the whirring sound and jumps next to Kyungsoo, "What's that? What's that?!!"
"Uhhh, vacuum cleaner?"
"Woooaaaah...." Tao exclaims and claps his hands, his hold on his towel gone, thank goodness for Kyungsoo's reflexes. "This child, you should put on some clothes first and I'll show you around the house." Kyungsoo reprimands the boy with authority in his voice that Tao flinches and pouts. "Go to your room." The butler tells the blond and the said boy runs helplessly towards Yifan (holding on to his towel real tight), "I'm not bad. I'm not bad."
"You're not. Kyungsoo is." Yifan smiles, his butler yelps. "Let's go get dressed." Tao nods and follows the other. Yifan stops in front of his room, "Wait here." He goes inside and when he returns, he hands Tao a pack of new boxers, thankfully he bought 3, "These are yours now. You put these on first, and then Kyungsoo has more clothes for you inside that room." Yifan explains as he points out to the room across his, "That's yours for now. I need to change."
Tao nods and heads inside his room. Yifan goes to his room and rushes to get changed because he's running quite late. When he emerges out his room, he doesn't find Tao in the living room. He knocks on his door and Tao opens it - fully dressed. "At least my clothes fit you. I need to go. I'll see you later tonight."
"W-where are you going?" Tao grabs on Yifan's jacket, "I don't want to be alone here."
Yifan ruffles the other boy's damp hair, "Edge is here. Kyungsoo will help you out. I'll be back by 5."
Tao simply nods and follows Yifan. The other leaves Tao in the living room and looks for Kyungsoo, "Soo, big favor."
"Fine. I already know I'll be his nanny." Kyungsoo crosses his arms over his chest, Yifan smiles, "I'll raise your pay this month."
"Consider him taken care of!" His butler smiles, Yifan rolls his eyes, he's about to turn away before he speaks again, "If Merida comes to pick the laundry today, please tell her I'm sorry that there are wet boxers in the sink. I would have washed them myself but I'm late."
"Just go."
Yifan waves his butler goodbye then turns to Tao, "Ask anything you want from Kyungsoo, okay? Play with Edge. I don't have anything to do tomorrow, so I'll spend the whole day with you. Until then, just keep yourself busy and wait for me."
Tao nods. Yifan walks out to the front door and Tao follows him. The blond watches as Yifan takes his car and drives off. It must have been 20 minutes after Yifan has gone out when Kyungsoo walks to the living room to find Tao sitting by the open door with Edge lying on the front porch with him. "Tao, why don't you come inside?"
"He told me to wait for him." He simply tells Kyungsoo, the butler sighs and sits next to him, "He'll be back later. You don't have to wait for him."
"Where does he go? Does he always leave? If you're not here, then I'll be alone! I don't want to be alone."
Kyungsoo chuckles a little then pats the boy's back, "He just went to town to have a meeting with a possible trader to the city. Most of the time he's here, well, not in the house but in the farm. He makes sure that his workers are doing well, and he personally checks the vegetables."
"He's not gonna throw me out? He said if I'm nice I can stay. Do you think I'm nice?"
Kyungsoo laughs, "You're quite curious, but nice. Let's get inside. You can watch TV or read. Yifan keeps lots of interesting books in his library."
The butler stands, Tao and Edge follows him. Kyungsoo leads the blond to the library that also serves as Yifan's office. "Tao, you can read whatever you want but don't come near this table." The butler pats Yifan's office desk, "Or else." The blond flinches and nods his head vigorously, Kyungsoo smiles, "I'll call you out later for lunch. Edge, stay with him, okay?" The dog barks a happy bark.
Two hours later, Yifan calls Kyungsoo on his cellphone.
"Yes, Yifan?"
'How's he?'
"In the library. I checked 10 minutes ago and he's reading his 2nd novel."
'I might be home a little later. We're going to the city to talk to the manager of that new supermarket opening so we can also send our products there.'
"Alright. I'll tell your boyfriend."
'KYUNGSOO!'
"Fine, fine. I'll call you if something happens."
'Thanks. Watch what he eats, he rejects food he hates.'
"Got it." Kyungsoo tells Yifan who says his thanks before ending the call. The butler serves lunch for Tao and himself before calling the younger.
"Tao?" Kyungsoo peeks through the library door, Tao looks up from where he's seated on the floor. "Time for lunch." Edge wags his tail and runs outside, Tao trails behind the dog and the butler. Kyungsoo observes Tao as the blond checks on his food when they're both seated in the dining area. The wide-eyed boy breathes a sigh of relief when the blond eats his lunch, the butler starts eating too.
"You read quite fast." Kyungsoo starts the conversation and Tao looks up at him, "There's nothing else to do. And I like reading, I learn things."
"What else do you want to learn?" Kyungsoo asks and Tao shrugs, "I don't know. I don't know what I've forgotten, and what I've known."
The butler narrows his eyes a little at Tao, because for the few hours he's stayed inside the library, something about this boy has changed. He sounds a little mature although there's still an air of childishness in him.
Once they're done, Kyungsoo cleans the dishes and Tao watches him, "Don't you want to return to the library?"
The blond shakes his head and sighs, "Maybe later. What are you doing?"
"I'm washing the dishes."
Tao smiles widely, "Can I help?"
"Of course." Kyungsoo smiles and moves to the side. Tao starts helping the butler by wiping the plates dry before putting it to the rack. The blond is quietly wiping a plate dry with a towel when it slips and drops to the floor, "I'm so sorry! I'm so sorry!" Tao yelps and immediately picks up the pieces, Kyungsoo stops him, "It's alright! Don't touch those, you might hurt yourself." The butler squats in front of Tao who's still picking up the shards. "Ah!" The blond yelps when it cuts his finger, Kyungsoo grabs Tao's wrist and puts his hand under the water, "I told you, it's okay. Don't pick it up." The butler tells Tao as he looks at the younger's eyes, the shorter boy then turns his attention to Tao's finger but raises an eyebrow when he notices that the bleeding has stopped and when he places the hand closer to his face, there isn't a trace of any cuts inflicted on his finger. "That's strange..."
"... Please don't throw me out. I have nowhere else to go. I didn't mean it."
"W-we're not throwing you out. J-just go to the living room and wait for me, okay?" Kyungsoo tells the boy and Tao does as he's told. The butler cleans the mess then texts Yifan a message afterwards.
To: Yifan
Sent: 2:12 PM
We have to talk about something when you get home.
Once Kyungsoo is done, he joins Tao in the living room and turns on the TV, "You can use this to change channels, and watch whatever you like." Tao takes the remote and starts clicking continuously, he stops when he catches a rerun of Pororo. Kyungsoo observes intently as Tao watches the said show animatedly. It's halfway into the show when the doorbell rings and Tao almost jumps in surprise, "Is it Yifan?!"
"We'll see." Kyungsoo smiles and stands from his seat, the blond follows him out. When they get to the gate, Tao feels disappointed to find someone who isn't Yifan standing on the other side. The blond decides to walk back to the house.
"Y-yes, Jongin?" Kyungsoo asks one of Yifan's workers who rarely comes to the house.
"Is the boss there?"
"No. What is it?"
"Something strange happened." Jongin tells Kyungsoo as he tries to catch his breath. The butler steps aside and tells the worker to come in. "Who's he?" Jongin asks once he notices a blond boy sitting by the front porch again.
"Tao. He's Yifan's friend and he's living with us." Kyungsoo tells him and the young worker just nods, "I see. Anyway, I was walking around the farm when I noticed something really unusual."
"What is it?"
"You know the old sakura tree near the edge of boss' land?" Jongin asks and Kyungsoo nods, "I was napping under it when a petal fell. Kyungsoo-hyung! It's blooming!"
"That's impossible, Jongin. That tree's been dead even before Yifan's born."
"That's why I said it was strange!" Jongin grabs on Kyungsoo's wrist, "Come with me!"
"I-I can't. I'm taking care of Tao."
"Then take him with us. You must see this! Minseok and Jongdae are baffled as well."
"Wait. I'll ask him." Kyungsoo pulls himself away from Jongin and walks over to Tao, "Hey, Tao. Do you want to come with us?"
"To where?"
"We're gonna go to the farm."
Tao shakes his head, "I don't want to. I want to be here when Yifan comes back."
"Yifan will be here later. It's only 3 o' clock."
Tao shakes his head more vigorously this time, "No! I don't wanna go!" The blond stands and runs inside. Kyungsoo hears a door closing from inside and the butler sighs then turns to Jongin, "Not today, I guess."
"Okay. But do tell Yifan."
"I will. I have something to talk to him about too."
Jongin waves goodbye and heads out. Kyungsoo watches him leave then heads back inside to look for Tao. "Tao?" He calls out when he doesn't find the boy inside the library nor the guest room. Kyungsoo opens Yifan's door to find Tao curled up under the covers, "Tao, what are you doing there?" The blond doesn't answer and curls more if it's even possible, Kyungsoo tentatively walks near him, "Oh, are you crying?"
"I yelled at you... I'm so sorry."
Kyungsoo smiles and runs his hand on Tao's soft hair, "Don't cry. I was bad, too." The blond whimpers, "Let's go back to your room."
"C-can I stay here for a while? I... I like it here. Smells like Yifan."
Kyungsoo smiles, "Okay. I'll call you out for dinner."
Tao nods and closes his eyes. Kyungsoo leaves and send another text message to Yifan.
To: Yifan
Sent: 3:15 PM
Tao is in your room, he says it smells like you. You have a pet waiting for you at home. Are you gonna be here for dinner?
From: Yifan
Sent: 3:18 PM
I'll try and leave immediately. The supervisor of the supermarket isn't even here yet. This bastard. I'll join Tao for dinner. :)
Kyungsoo checks on Tao from time to time and he wonders how the boy with amnesia or whatever ended up here. It's strange because Yifan's property is away from the town, even the workers had to be relocated somewhere nearer and Kyungsoo had to live in the house. Tao obviously isn't from here judging by the natural color of his hair and dark piercing eyes. They should be suspicious but there really is something about the boy that draws them in.
It's around 7 o' clock when Yifan arrives home, exhausted. Kyungsoo greets him, "Welcome home."
"Where's Tao?"
"Still in your room. That boy sure loves to sleep."
"I'll wake him up."
"Wait! Before you do, we have to talk."
"What is it?"
Kyungsoo pulls Yifan to the kitchen and they sit around the table, "Yifan, Tao... There's something about him. Earlier today, he cut his finger when he dropped the plate and picked up the pieces. I only talked to him a bit but when I looked at his finger again, it's completely healed. Yifan, I saw him bleed."
The taller furrows his brows, "That is strange..."
"And Jongin was here earlier too... He-"
"Finally made a move on you?"
"NO!" Kyungsoo blushes and hits Yifan's shoulder, "He was here earlier and told me the old sakura tree is blooming."
"That's impossible."
"I know. But Minseok and Jongdae saw it too, he said."
"I'll check it out tomorrow. For now, I have a blond boy to wake up."
Kyungsoo stands, "I'll serve your dinner."
"Thanks."
Yifan quietly walks inside his bedroom to find Tao bundled like a burrito on his bed. He sits next to the boy and shakes him a little, "Tao, I'm home."
The blond grunts and rubs off sleep from his eyes. "Had a good sleep?" Yifan asks and Tao nods his head. Once Tao sat up, to the older's surprise, the blond starts sobbing, "You took so long to come home!!!"
Yifan is a mixed of emotions because he's flattered that Tao waited for him but he's puzzled by how clingy the blond is - like a duckling who thought he is his mother. Tao continues sob and it pains Yifan to see the blond so helpless like this.
"I'm home now, don't cry." Yifan pats Tao's head and slowly the blond is starting to stop crying. The taller wipes Tao's tears from his face and then smiles, "I bought something for you."
"What is it?"
"Here is Mr. Panda." Yifan gives Tao a stuffed panda he bought from the city. The blond grins and hugs the plushie tight, "Thank you."
"Come on, time for dinner. You can leave Mr. Panda in your room so he doesn't get dirty when we eat."
Tao nods and takes his stuffed toy in his room then joins Yifan in the dining table to eat. "How was your day?" The taller asks and Tao tells him he just spent it waiting and waiting. "I'm sorry about that. Sometimes, I leave because I work."
"Not always?"
"Not always." Yifan smiles and Tao beams. "Take a shower before you sleep." Yifan reminds Tao but the blond protests, "I wasn't dirty! I only slept, I don't want to shower!"
"Tao."
The blond pouts and mumbles an 'okay.' They finish dinner after awhile and Tao reluctantly takes his shower while Kris does the same in another bathroom. Yifan is already drifting to sleep about an hour later when his bedroom door opens, "Tao?"
"Can I sleep here? I'm afraid to sleep alone in a new room. And it's dark." The blond asks, clutching his plushie tight against his chest. Yifan moves to the side and opens his blanket where Tao jumps in and cuddles his panda toy. "Thank you, Yifan. Good night."
"Good night."
-----
Yifan wakes up the next day without Tao on his bed. He leaves the room and checks Tao's, it's empty aside from the panda plushie on the bed. He walks to the living room to find Kyungsoo sweeping the floor, "Where's Tao?"
"Outside, playing with Edge."
"Hmn. I thought he'd wait for me to wake up." Yifan mumbles before going to the bathroom to wash up. When he emerges, Kyungsoo is serving his breakfast, "Tao already ate, by the way." Yifan nods and just reads the paper.
"Your friend is really strange, Yifan." Kyungsoo starts then sits across his boss, "He's like a different person today."
"What do you mean?"
"He's not curious. He took a shower without protest. He seems... To have matured a little."
"I see. He's only been here a day, well, 2. And I don't think he's a bad person. We can still observe."
Kyungsoo puts his chin on his palm and smiles, "I think he does you good, though. He's a nice distraction, I mean, ever since you took over the land, you've been busy."
"I guess..."
"He's good-looking, too."
Yifan furrows his brows and sends a curious look at his butler, Kyungsoo laughs, "You know what I mean Yifan."
"No, I don't."
"When's the last time you went out on a date?"
Yifan gasps in surprise, "Kyungsoo, he's a kid!"
"Doesn't look like one." The butler grins knowingly before standing and taking Yifan's plates. The older is left dumbfounded for a moment, he clears his throat and stands, "I'm gonna take a shower." And he leaves.
-----
"Had a good sleep?"
"Yifan!" Tao throws the ball he's holding then runs up to the taller and jumps on him, Yifan stumbles a little but he's able to keep his ground. The blond is beaming at him, "Good morning!"
"Uh, good morning. You're quite lively."
Tao nods then jumps off Yifan, "Edge and I have been playing for a while now."
The taller leans closer and takes a sniff, "You smell."
"I do? I'll take a shower again!" Tao grins, "You're not going anywhere, right? You're not leaving?"
"Not really."
"Wait for me! I'll freshen up." Tao waves him goodbye then heads inside. Kyungsoo emerges from the front door and finds Yifan sitting on a bench playing fetch with his dog, "Tao's taking a shower again."
"Yeah..."
Kyungsoo beams, "Not joining him this time?"
"Shut up."
Kyungsoo laughs then proceeds to the barn where he's feeding the chickens and the ducks. Yifan plays some games on his phone while he waits for Tao. Minutes later, Tao runs out of the house and jumps on the space next to the taller, "What are we doing today?"
"We'll be checking the farm first. Something concerns my workers since yesterday."
"Okay! Let's go!"
They're walking side by side as Yifan talks about his property. Tao listens and asks question, Yifan is only too glad to answer. They meet Jongdae and Minseok on their way, Yifan stops to talk to them about the plants while Tao squats next to Yifan and plucks two green tomatoes with both hands. "Ah!" Minseok yelps, Tao flinches and drops the tomatoes, the worker screams, "What did you do?!"
Tao gasps and hides behind Yifan, clutching the back of his shirt tight, "Calm down, Minseok. He's curious. Don't mind him."
"But...!"
"Minseok, I said it's okay."
"I don't like him." Tao whispers against Yifan's ear as he presses himself closer against the taller's back. Minseok glares at Tao, even if he had to tiptoe a little so he could instill fear at the blond. Jongdae pushes Minseok down to stop him, "If the boss says it's fine, then it's fine."
"We're going ahead. Remember, okay? We need the tomatoes fresh and ready for delivery as soon as they ripen."
"Alright, boss." Jongdae smiles and starts tending the crops, Minseok sighs and joins the younger. Tao removes himself from Yifan's back and cutely walks next to him, "I just wanted to take it home to Kyungsoo. I'm so sorry."
"About the tomatoes? It's okay. Minseok's just a little too attached. But you shouldn't pick them, they're still green."
They walk quite a bit until they reach their destination - the old sakura tree. Yifan walks forward but Tao stays rooted on the spot a few feet away, "Tao, aren't you coming?"
Tao shakes his head and steps back, "I... I..."
"Tao, it's just a tree."
"NO!" Tao runs away and Yifan follows him. "Tao!" The older takes bigger steps until he can grab on to the blond's wrist, "Don't run away!"
"I don't want to go near that tree! Why can't you understand?!" Tao cries, Yifan notices that the boy is shaking, "Okay, okay. Just wait here. I need to check that tree." The blond nods and sits on the ground. The older walks back to the sakura tree and upon closer inspection, Jongin is right. The tree is starting to bloom, a few little flower buds are scattered through out the branches and leaves are appearing too. Yifan finds it weirder that it's not even the season for a sakura tree to bloom. The brunet walks around the tree and inspects any changes that may have happened but he sees nothing, he looks on the ground and there's something. He kneels down and it seems to be some scorched markings, as if something burning fell on this spot.
"See? It's weird, right?"
Yifan looks up to find Jongin walking to the tree with a pail of water, "I decided to keep it alive now, sir."
The taller stands and nods, "Alright. Keep this a secret for now, we don't want people coming here thinking this is some kind of holy miracle."
"Got it boss. I don't want people coming to my sleeping spot."
"That too. Oh! Have you seen Tao on your way here?"
"Yes. He's sitting there, I told him to come with me to the tree and he started to cry."
"He doesn't like the tree. I'll see you." Yifan waves his youngest worker goodbye then heads to where he left Tao. "Hey."
Tao looks up, dried tears plastered on his cheeks. Yifan takes out a handkerchief and wipes them away, "Let's go home."
Tao nods and stands quietly. Yifan jumps a little when the blond locks his hand with his. The taller tightens his hold when he realizes how cold Tao's hand is, and how the blond is still shaken. "I'm so sorry, Tao. I'll never let you go near the tree."
"I'm so sorry, too. I didn't mean to be like this... I don't know why that tree scares me."
Yifan pulls Tao and hugs him briefly, "You'll be okay."
They make it back to the house in silence, Edge and Kyungsoo greets them excitedly but the butler's face falls into worry when he looks at Tao's dejected state. "What happened?"
"Long story." Yifan smiles and they both head inside. The both of them sits on the couch and Yifan turns on the TV. The blond shifts and lies on the brunet's lap, his hand still holding Yifan's. Kyungsoo walks in on them minutes later, he finds Tao already asleep and Yifan flipping channels lazily. "What do you want for lunch?"
"What do we have?"
"Well, I can cook some meat stew. Looks like your boyfriend's gonna need it."
"He's not--!" Yifan raises his voice but Tao groans, so he whispers, "Not my boyfriend!"
"Whatever you say." Kyungsoo grins cheekily before heading to the kitchen. Yifan sighs and carefully slips out of the couch, careful not to wake up the blond when he removes his hand from Tao's grip. He replaces his lap with a throw pillow and then heads to his office.
Yifan is checking his emails and writing responses to his clients when the door opens, "Y-Yifan?"
The brunet looks up to find Tao peeking through a small opening on the door, "Let's eat?"
"Get inside." Yifan tells the boy and Tao closes the door behind him, "Are you feeling better?"
"Yes. Thank you."
The brunet smiles and saves all his works before turning the computer off, "Are you hungry?"
"Very much." Tao finally beams and it makes the butterflies in Yifan's stomach flutter in different directions.
They eat lunch together with Kyungsoo, they're quite silent because Yifan usually gets his food served in his office and he stays there doing nothing and everything. He looks at the table and he thinks that Kyungsoo is right, Tao is a good distraction to his boring life. It's a little scary to think that he could leave just as fast as he came into his life.
After lunch, the two of them spends it inside Yifan's office - Tao is reading books while Yifan does office work. He's thankful that Tao doesn't distract him much and it's only about 3 hours later that the blond nudges his calf (the boy is sitting on the floor next to him), "Yifan, aren't you bored here? What do you do on your free time?"
"I have a lot of work to do so I'm not really bored. When I'm not too busy I go to the beach."
"The beach?"
Yifan nods, "I have a small beach house further south."
Tao nods, "I see... Take me there?"
"Soon." Yifan assures him and Tao smiles then returns to the 2nd book he's reading.
-----
For days, Yifan and Kyungsoo have observed Tao's maturity grow. He's stopped whining, and crying over the simplest of things. His curiosity from previous days pays off that sometimes Kyungsoo will catch him using the vacuum cleaner on his own. One morning, Kyungsoo woke up to find Tao preparing their breakfast as a way of thanks for letting him stay in the house. Tao also stopped sleeping next to Yifan after the 3rd night of his stay.
It's the 2nd week of Tao staying with them, and the blond is outside feeding the poultry for their afternoon feed when Kyungsoo walks inside Yifan's office for his coffee, "Yifan... Shouldn't you be looking into Tao's identity now?"
"What?"
"There might be people looking for him. Shouldn't you tell the police? It's been two weeks, and still, he doesn't remember anything."
"I already checked for missing persons, Kyungsoo, and nobody's matched him."
The butler is about to argue when they hear a shrill scream coming from outside. Yifan runs out of the house to find Tao curled on the ground, screaming for dear life.
"Make it stop! Make it stop!!!!" Tao screams with his eyes closed as he covers both his ears with his hands. "Tao!" Yifan kneels in front of the blond, he shakes Tao, "Look at me! I'm here! What's going on?!"
"Yifan! Make it stop! Make it stop!!!!" Tao's eyes are wide in fear, "I don't want to hear this!!!!"
"I can't hear anything! Tao! Calm down!"
"STOP IT!!!" Tao screams and a tower of empty apple crates on the side of the house fall harshly to the ground, Kyungsoo gasps and Tao faints.
"Prepare something, Kyungsoo! He's having a fever!" Yifan tells his butler before carrying Tao back inside the house, just in time before the rain falls heavily from the skies. He takes the blond inside the guest room and immediately checks his breathing - it's shallow and short which makes Yifan worry some more. Kyungsoo returns with a bucket of warm water and towel, he gives it to Yifan and tells his boss he's gonna prepare some soup for Tao.
Yifan is still wiping the boy's body with the towel when the blond coughs and opens his eyes, "W-what happened...?" Tao asks as he tries to sit up but Yifan tells him not to.
"You fainted after telling us you're hearing things."
Tao looks away from Yifan's gaze, "It's just a loud, piercing, noise... Enough to break glass. It's too loud, I thought my head will explode."
"You're gonna be fine. I'm here." Yifan tenderly strokes the boy's cheek with the back of his hand, Tao leans into the touch and asks, "You won't leave me alone?"
"I won't." Yifan assures him and Tao faces him. Their eyes linger on each other and Yifan knows he doesn't see a kid anymore, and he can't help but lean in closer to the inviting lips calling out to be claimed.
And claim it, he does.
The kiss is short, but it's enough to assure Tao that whatever happens, Yifan will be there for him. "I won't leave you, Tao. As long as you stay." Tao shyly smiles and nods. He sits up, so Yifan straightens his back a little, Tao looks up tentatively through his lashes and asks, "Kiss me again...?"
Yifan is only happy to oblige. He pulls Tao closer by the neck and presses their lips together, this time more intimately and passionately. He angles his head so he can mold their lips together perfectly. The brunet sucks on the other's lower lip, causing him to gasp, giving entrance to Yifan's tongue to explore the other's mouth. Tao pulls Yifan closer to him, clenching his fists on the latter's shirt, moaning wantonly as the other's tongue expertly explores his mouth. They pull apart for air but they keep their eyes locked into each other's, "I'll stay, Yifan. For as long as you want me, for as long as I can."
There's a knock on the door and Yifan jumps out of bed to open it, Kyungsoo is on the other side pushing a small trolley of food and medicine for Tao. "Glad you're awake." Kyungsoo greets Tao, the blond smiles shyly. "Eat something and take some medicine, Yifan will take good care of you." Kyungsoo tells Tao nonchalantly before leaving the room. Yifan feeds Tao, the blond finishes his food and takes his medicine, he tells Yifan he's tired and he wants to sleep. The brunet kisses the other's cheek before stepping out of the room to take out the trolley.
"...Yifan." Kyungsoo tells him when the older reaches the kitchen, the butler continues when his boss says nothing, "Yifan, you should check at the hospital. He might be a missing mental patient."
"Are you saying he's sick in the head?"
"I'm just trying to help! He's got amnesia and now he says he's hearing things we don't hear!"
"Kyungsoo, he is not sick!"
"Do it, Yifan! I was pushing you into him, yes, but not anymore. You need to let him go before you get too attached, before it's too late."
"It's too late, Kyungsoo!" Yifan raises his voice, his butler flinches, "I don't care anymore, okay? He's staying, and you have to deal with it."
"Yifan! You're harbouring a total stranger!"
"I don't need to know his whole life story to care for him!" They're still arguing when Tao screams from his room again, Yifan runs inside to find the blond screaming and moving his hands in different directions, the cabinet files and paintings fall from their places, the vase breaks and everything in the room is in total chaos, "TAO!"
"YIFAN!!!" Tao cries out, "They're coming to get me!!!!"
Yifan runs to the blond and gathers him into his arms, the latter stops flailing and the chaos dies down. Kyungsoo is left stunned, Edge is barking next to the butler. Tao is crying on Yifan's chest, "I can hear them more clearly now... Looking for... Tao. Allies. For... War? Before the... Rising."
"It's all in your head, Tao. It's gonna go away."
"Make it go away now..."
Yifan carries Tao and lets him rest inside his bedroom, the brunet tells the blond to wait for him a bit so he can talk to Kyungsoo outside. The butler is looking sternly at Yifan when the taller emerges out of the room, "Kyungsoo..."
"Tao is not a normal person, Yifan."
"... I saw it, too." Yifan sighs, "All the more that I can't take him to the hospital where they might do stuff on him."
Kyungsoo crosses his arms over his chest and takes a deep breath before speaking, "I don't know what to say anymore..."
"Take a week off. Take Edge with you, it isn't until two weeks for harvest so the farm will be okay under Minseok's supervision."
"What are you gonna do?"
"I need to focus on Tao until I figure out what's going on. I don't want you to stress yourself out by being here with us, okay?"
"Call me when something comes up. I'll stay about 20 minutes from here so you can call me immediately if something happens." Kyungsoo tells Yifan before he goes to his room to pack what he'll need. The door to Yifan's room opens and Tao emerges out of it, "W-what's going on?"
Yifan turns to the boy, "Kyungsoo and Edge will be gone for a while, okay?"
"Because I'm weird?!"
"Tao, no. Not because of that, okay?"
"I don't know what's happening to me... I don't want them to leave because of this." Tao starts to sob again, Yifan hugs him, "Shhh. It's not because of you, okay? Kyungsoo just wants to give the both of us 'alone' time."
Yifan takes Tao inside, and lets him lie on the bed. He joins the blond, minutes later, Kyungsoo says his goodbye through closed doors. Yifan waits until Tao is asleep and when he hears soft snores coming from the blond, he goes to his office. He starts sending emails to his clients, that every transaction will be dealt with next week due to a personal emergency. He calls Minseok about him taking over for a while, his worker doesn't question Yifan's instructions.
-----
For the days that follow, Tao has been restless. His weight is dropping and it's getting harder for Yifan to feed the blond. It's the 3rd night since Tao's been hearing the voices and it's driving Yifan up the wall. He starts to think about Kyungsoo's offer, maybe the hospital can help. It's late at night and the brunet is currently in his office, looking through whatever possible reasons Tao is acting like this and it all boils down to mental illneses that Yifan denies to be possible.
He's busy browsing through pages and pages on the internet when his door bursts open and Tao runs inside, frantic and scared to death. "They're coming! They're coming!"
"Tao, nobody's coming." Yifan tells him between gritted teeth, because it's been like these for days and he's been losing sleep. Even if he adores the blond, there's only too much he can take.
"YIFAN!!! THEY'RE HERE!!!" Tao screams, and Yifan loses it. "Tao!" The brunet yells but the other boy jumps on him, "DON'T LOOK!"
A piercing sound fills the room and every glass in the household breaks, Yifan screams as he tries to cover his ears. He tries to take a look of what's happening but all he sees is bright light surrounding Tao and him. What felt like forever only lasted a few seconds before everything turns quiet, Tao and Yifan stares at each other in shock. "I..." Yifan starts but they hear something from the living room, the taller of the two grabs Tao's wrist and runs outside.
There they meet 2 guys in black suits, they are quite shorter than Tao and Kris, they have soft features but Yifan doesn't trust them. He pushes Tao behind him, "Who the fuck are you and what are you doing in my house?!"
"I'm Yixing, this is Luhan. We mean you no harm, human. We just need Tao back with us. He needs to come Home."
"He's not going anywhere." Yifan tells Yixing sternly, the other guy in the suit shakes his head, "We do not intend to use force on you, human. Just give him back and you will not remember a thing about him."
"I am not going with you!" Tao screams from behind Yifan, Yixing takes a step forward and Yifan steps back, "Don't you come any closer."
"We need you, brother. With Father gone and He is rising, we need more on our side before another war breaks out. You come with us, we will pardon your disobedience and you will not be killed." Luhan tells Tao, completely ignoring Yifan's threats.
Yixing steps closer again, Yifan releases Tao and pulls the shorter male by the collar, "I said, don't come any closer." Luhan doesn't do anything, Yixing smirks and grabs Yifan's wrist, "You have no idea who you're dealing with, human. Just give us our brother and you won't get hurt."
"He doesn't want to come with you, so leave him alone!" Yifan pushes Yixing to the floor with a thud, Luhan walks over to his fallen brother before turning an angry glare at Yifan, "You are trying our patience, human! We do not need your approval! We will take our brother by force if we need to!" Luhan stands and pushes Yifan by the chest, it's inhumanely strong and the brunet hits his back to the adjacent wall, he knocks over Tao who was just standing behind him when he flew off the ground.
"YIFAN!" Tao screams and runs to Yifan, the latter coughs up blood and clenches his arm around his ribs, "Are you okay?!"
"I'll be fine..." Yifan mumbles in pain, Luhan approaches in steady steps, "You just have to find your Grace so we can go back home, brother."
Yifan covers Tao's body albeit too painfully, "... You aren't leaving, right?" The brunet whispers and Tao shakes his head, "I'm staying..." The blond cranes his neck over Yifan's shoulder, "I don't know who you guys are, but I am staying with him! Leave us alone!" He screams and the bookshelves topple over, Luhan seems unfazed, Yixing is already standing next to him. "We have been looking for you for so many days, brother! Time to come home!" Yixing raises his voice, Tao shakes his head, "This is my home!"
Luhan grunts angrily and produces a short sword in his right hand, "You are trying my patience, brother!" Yixing stops Luhan by the shoulder, Tao leans Yifan against the wall and covers him with his body as he faces the intruders, "What are you trying to do?!"
"We are bringing you home and if this human is what stands between us, he will be dead." Luhan tells Tao with conviction, the blond's eyes widen. When the doe-eyed boy steps forward the blond extends his hand and throws him across the room along with Yixing.
Yifan watches in horror as Tao takes a broken glass shard and cuts his wrist, he tries to stop him but he feels like he's been paralyzed completely. Tao draws a symbol on the floor, mumbles a prayer and Yifan watches as Luhan and Yixing are enveloped in bright light before disappearing. "... What? Tao... Where did they... Go?"
"Far away... But they will look for me again..." Tao whinces as he covers his slit wrist with his other hand. Yifan curses in pain as he crawls over the blond. He removes his shirt and covers Tao's wound, "We're leaving, but we have to fix you."
"You need to get fixed, too." Tao whispers, Yifan nods, "Yeah..." The brunet fishes his phone and calls Kyungsoo, "Come, help us." Are the only words he speaks before leaning against the wall and pushing Tao against his chest. The blond isn't bleeding much anymore and Yifan only feels pain on his rib when he moves, "What was that...?"
"I don't know. I just know how to draw it and what to say to make them leave."
Yifan sighs and leans his head back against the wood, "They're really intent on taking you. They keep calling me human, and I'm sure... You aren't one."
"Would it change anything?" Tao mumbles and Yifan pulls him closer (whincing in pain silently), "It wouldn't."
They stay huddled together in silence as they wait for Kyungsoo to arrive. Yifan's thankful that Kyungsoo decided to stay somewhere near.
"What happened here?!" Kyungsoo runs through the door to find the chaos inside the house, he looks for Yifan and Tao, when he finds them, he panics. "I don't know who to fix first!"
"Tao. He's got a slit wrist..." Yifan mumbles, Kyungsoo takes Tao's arm and removes the shirt, "No, he's not wounded."
Tao's eyes widen, he hasn't realized he's healed and he looks at Yifan, "I'm... I... I could have..."
"Don't." Yifan mumbles, "It's okay."
Kyungsoo looks around the floor so he can find a clear path before he drags Yifan somewhere he can fix him. His eyes widen even more after seeing a symbol drawn in blood on the floor, "Did you draw this?"
Tao nods, "Do you know what that means?"
"No..." Kyungsoo gets Tao to help Yifan up first, they drag him carefully to his room, the shorter steadies Yifan against the blond first before removing the bedsheet to keep the glass shards off the bed then he helps Tao lay Yifan on it.
Tao watches as Kyungsoo checks on Yifan's sides and chest, the butler sighs, "I think you have a broken rib, you need to get it checked."
"I'm gonna be okay." Yifan grumbles as he shifts his position on the bed, Tao silently sits next to him. Kyungsoo bites his lower lip before speaking again, "T-that symbol on the floor... I think my friend can help."
"Call him now." Yifan tells Kyungsoo and his butler leaves the room. Tao lies on the bed and carefully puts his arm around Yifan's waist, "I'm scared. I really am..."
"We'll be okay."
--------
Entry too long. Part two here.