“So, I didn’t see you after school,” Kris says from the doorway of your room.

You look up from your homework briefly. “Oh. That.” You say, staring at your textbook in confusion. 

“Argh, that’s not even allowed!” You say, frustratedly slamming the book shut. 

You notice Kris watching you with a pleasantly amused expression on his face. You avoid direct eye-contact with him.

“I…uh, got a warning. I guess.”

Kris is suddenly alarmed. He straightens up, “Who was it? If Soo-Hee-!” 

“No,” you quickly interrupt him, not wanting for him to get the wrong idea.

You think quickly. If Kris wasn’t as dangerous as everybody said, maybe Tao was okay too.

“So,” you start, “Is Tao dangerous?” You finish bluntly, then cringe at how obvious you sounded.

“Tao?!” Kris repeats incredulously. “Tao wouldn’t hurt a fly! Why? What happened to him?” He was visibly agitated, worried that something might’ve happened to Tao.

You wondered what kind of relationship they really had.

“No, nothing happened. Just…if Tao says ‘Or else’, what does it mean?” You ask cautiously.

Kris holds back a laugh, “Did Tao warn you?” 

You nod once.

Kris suddenly bursts out laughing, holding onto the door frame for balance.

You stare at him, torn between watching him and getting your camera out to snap a picture. In all your time you had known Kris, you had seen him genuinely smile once, let alone laugh like this. It seemed only people from his past let him truly be free with his emotions.

“Tao!” He gasps between laughs. Kris finally stops laughing, a huge grin on his face. “Tao-,” he pauses to catch his breath, “What did Tao say exactly?”

You blink twice, realizing you were still staring at Kris. You quickly look back down at your books. “No he just said…that I should stay away from you. ‘Or else’.” You say slowly, letting your eyes trace back up Kris’ body to his face.
You had all the reason to look him in the eye, even more so because he didn’t love you.

Kris laughs lightly, “He probably didn’t mean that. Tao is totally harmless. He’s…actually really cute if you get to know him.” He nods to himself. “He’s just a bit over-protective of me ever since-…hey, did you still want to know about Krystal, then?” 

You nod eagerly. “You’ll still tell me?”

Kris smiles wryly. “Yeah, sure. Do you know how to get on top of your roof without a ladder?”

Which, of course, is how you came to be perched on your roof, secretly gripping the tiles with your sweaty palms, half an hour later.

“Shall I start with Tao today?” Kris asked. 

For a guy who seemed to be sensitive about his past, he sure seemed to like telling his stories.

“Uh, what about Krystal?” You wondered how big of an impression she left on Kris. “How long did you know her?”

“Oh, I would start before that -how I ended up meeting her is a pretty entertaining story- but I knew her for about a year…? Mind you,” Kris laughs lightly, “She didn’t really warm up to the idea of us being lovers right away.”

Sighing deeply, Kris put his hands down behind him, making himself comfortable on the shingles.

“I- oh, man this is a long story- but, long story short, I ran away from home when I was young…about 11 or so?” Kris pauses for a moment, and you seize the chance to ask a question.

“So, why did you leave home?”

Kris ignores you. 

“Anyways, I had enough money to get along alright for a couple years, then I had to resort to drastic measures. Nobody wanted to hire a scrawny 13 year-old who had absolutely zero work experience. Even if he looked significantly older than 13.” Kris rolled his eyes. “I did what I could, but it wasn’t enough. I would’ve starved to death. But I realized there seemed to be…a high-demand…for other things.” Kris bit his lip, deeply absorbed in his memories. “The area I resided in wasn’t the sunniest place around; we had a lot of shady people doing shady business. I ended up as one of them.” He pauses again, and there was a long silence before he spoke again.

“I started selling myself.”

You nearly fall off the roof.

The truth is out! Hope you guys enjoyed this quick (long) chapter! 

And now me: Truthfully, I'm going on holiday for a week or so, and I don't think I'll be able to update this, but I'll have a double update when I get  back! [It's 4 in the morning, guys! I decided to update right before leaving...just...a random...fact...]

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