Tao

The campground was littered with tents. The plain brown cloths were propped up with metal rods and sprawled everywhere. People weaved in and out of the little space inbetween, talking with others and gathering supplies. Some were practicing their swordplay with sticks, and a few were cooking dead animals over a fire. Most of them looked content, but there was a tension in the air underneath the serenity.

No one paid any attention to Tao and the other soldier as they walked through. He matched well enough with their clothes; his military uniform was as plain and as theirs. The biggest difference was the brown color he had instead of their light tan.

The lean soldier stopped at one of the tents and opened a flap, ducking inside. Tao didn't get how he could tell which patch of cloth was his; they all looked exactly the same.

He hesitated going in. He was surrounded by infantry and about to enter a tent. He wouldn't be able to run if he was discovered, not unless he used his powers.

And Tao wouldn't use them on other living beings if he could help it.

"Hey, what're you waiting for? Come in already."

Before he could argue or come up with an excuse, the other soldier took his wrist and pulled him in.

The inside looked as small as it did on the outside. A tarp was laid out over the ground. A few rolls of blankets and pillows were stacked in a corner, and there was a small pot on the opposite side.

"Take off your shoes," the soldier said, setting his shoes and sword just inside the tent flap corner.

Tao did so and placed them next to the soldier's. He motioned for him to sit on the floor, pulled out a ball of white from the pot, and held it out to him.

"Hungry?" he asked.

Tao had heard of the word before. Something about the stomach's contraction of itself because of the brain's signal for food and energy, and that was why humans ate. Tao had eaten once before. Suho had requested for food to try, and their commander surprisingly approved. They ate 'buns,' as Suho called them, and roasted them over the campfire once. Tao smiled, remembering how Baekhyun had made the comparison of its roundness with Xiumin's face, which earned him the nickname.

But Tao didn't need to eat. He never felt hungry. None of them did.

"No, thanks," Tao said, watching as the other soldier nodded and opened the paper around the ball.

He took a bite and chewed it slowly, staring at Tao as he did. There was something about his staring that made Tao on edge. Not like an anxiousness on the battlefield, but a jittery feeling that made him look at everywhere but the other soldier. It wasn't bad, just strange.

"Am I making you feel awkward?" he asked.

"Awkward?" Tao hadn't heard of the word before.

"Yeah, awkward. Kinda uncomfortable but not necessarily in a bad way."

That was an extremely accurate description. Tao nodded.

"Then let's make it not-awkward." He stuck out his hand. "The name's Kim Jongdae."

Tao stared at his hand for a moment, wondering why he was just letting it hover in the air like that, then he remembered that it was an introduction method for interaction. 'Shaking hands,' according to Suho's books.

He stuck out his own hand and gripped the soldier's palm. His hands were rough.

As Kim Jongdae pulled his hand away and took another bite of white ball, he looked at Tao again. "And you are?"

Tao didn't think of that, or even what his cover story was. He could tell him his name at least, right? No one knew of their unit or who was in it.

"Tao," he said.

Kim Jongdae was still staring, as if he was expecting more. "Just Tao?"

He nodded.

"Is that a nickname?"

"No, it's my name, like how yours is Kim Jongdae."

"Yeah, but that's my full name. Family name, given name," he said, holding his hands out as if he was sectioning off his words.

"Family name, given name?" Tao said, copying his same gestures.

"Yeah."

He thought for a moment. Tao knew of the family concept. He considered his unit as his family, but they didn't have a collective name each of them shared. He could have said his unit's secret name, Excogi Organisms, or E.X.O., but somehow that didn't sound as good as Kim Jongdae's name.

"So what's your family name?"

"I don't have one."

He looked surprised and shifted in his seat. "You don't have a family?"

"I do, but not one with mothers and fathers."

"Oh," he said. He looked uncomfortable, or awkward, as he described before.

"Kim Jongdae, you said that we shouldn't make it awkward, so don't look like it."

His eyes widened, and Tao thought he might have said something unacceptable. Or worse, that he was discovered. But then the soldier laughed, the corners of his mouth curling up again.

"It's been a long time since I heard someone get me like that. You're good." He gave him a light punch on the shoulder. "Everybody here is either a muscle head or has the personality of a chair."

He laughed again, and Tao laughed too. It was a nice sound, because it sounded genuine, gentle, and carefree. How he treated Tao had been far too kind, and it made Tao feel a little guilty.

"Okay, next question. How old are you?"

"Twenty-two." He knew that one at least.

"Ooh, we're the same age, so no honourifics. Got it?"

He nodded.

"Hmm, what else? Oh, are you younger or older than your friend?"

Tao froze. There was no other person he could have been referring to. He knew he let Kai escape and that Tao wasn't suppose to be there.

He lunged forward and grabbed his throat, pinning him to the ground. He gasped and clutched at Tao's wrists, trying to pry them off.

Tao didn't want to do it. He didn't want to kill Kim Jongdae. He was too kind, too soft. He was someone who could live outside of the military. He didn't deserve to die here just because Tao couldn't keep his existence secret.

If he couldn't kill him, then he had no other choice.

Tao let go of him and pulled out a knife, turning the blade to his own chest. But before he could stab himself, Kim Jongdae kicked him in the gut and wrenched the knife out of his hand. He slipped behind him and brought an elbow down his shoulder, slamming Tao face-first into the tarp.

"Are you crazy?" He half-shouted, half whispered. "Do you WANT everyone to find out that you don't belong here?"

Tao stopped struggling and turned his face so that he could see him. He was out of breath and glaring at him. He rolled off him and took the knife from the floor.

"If you try to pull a stunt like that again, I swear I will personally smack you upside the head with the forging hammer myself."

Getting to his knees, Tao watched as he threw the knife into the pot and scooped up the white ball that had fallen to the floor. He blew on it, sat back in his seat, and ate another bite, as if he wasn't just attacked by the person in front of him.

"I'm not going to tell anyone. Relax."

"How did you know?" Tao asked.

"Well, you made it obvious when I asked about your friend, and you attacked me. But mainly because he turned back for you instead of jumping down the cliff. No one would do that unless they were friends or allies."

He was observant. Grut certainly missed that detail.

"Why aren't you going to tell? You could get a promotion if you turn in a spy."

He shrugged and finished the last of the white ball. "I don't need a promotion."

Tao didn't understand him. Even the slightest promotion could get him better barracks than a tent. He could have better food and clothes. He could at least be in a higher rank than Grut.

"You look confused," Kim Jongdae laughed. "I promise I won't turn you in. I'm not a tattletale."

"But I just tried to kill you."

"And then you tried to kill yourself. If you were really a spy or whatever, one of us would be dead or you would've run away."

As true as that was, Tao still wasn't convinced. Mostly because he couldn't believe that he wouldn't turn him in. It was hard to meet anyone in the military outside of his unit that wasn't grabbing for every chance at power.

"Come on. Sit. Let's just talk," He said, patting the tarp in front of him.

When Tao didn't move, Kim Jongdae reached into the pot and pulled out the knife. "I'll give this back to you if you sit with me," he sang.

Tao sighed and sat again. It seemed he really did just want to talk, and he promised he wouldn't turn him in. That wasn't the best reasoning, but Tao found himself believing that promise. He wanted to talk with Kim Jongdae.

"I'm sorry for almost killing you, and thank you for stopping me from killing myself and promising not to report me," Tao said, bowing his head. "I am in your debt, Kim Jongdae."

"Hey, I said no honourifics, which includes no formalities." He took his shoulders and set him back upright. "And just Jongdae is fine. Most people don't go around calling people by their full name." He hel