“With Krystal gone, I easily fell back into my old habits of not trusting anyone. And of course, with old habits come old ways.”

“Hey, handsome,” purred a voice out of the shadows.
Kris barely jumped. He had become accustomed to it when he had lived in his old neighbourhood, and by some strange calling, he had returned. This was to be expected.
“I haven’t seen you around for awhile,” the woman said in a low voice, already wrapping herself around Kris, “I thought you would never come back.”
Kris pointedly held out his hand.
The lady slapped it away lightly, “Oh, don’t rush me, or I’ll think you’re only here for my money.”
Kris didn’t bother to point out that it hadn’t been him who had found her. Especially not when her hand -wrapped around a thick stack of money- found its way into his pants.
“I had forgotten how well this paid,” Kris smirked against the woman’s skin. 
“Now that’s the spirit,” the woman had murmured.

That night, Kris had found a stack of money by his feet. Glancing furtively at the woman, he dressed quietly, took the money and ran.

“At first I thought it just belonged…to the customers. But I quickly realized that it happened far too often to be coincidence. And then, of course, I found him. The source.”

Kris had been renting a shabby apartment at the time. It had water that ran only half the time and electricity that rarely ever worked. Kris hated it, every last particle of dust. But it was cheap, extremely so, and it was just enough to live in.
One would usually find Kris sulking and pondering the mysteries of life in a corner. Which was how he was found the night he met Tao.

KKSHHK- the sound stopped as abruptly as it had started, outside Kris’ door. (As if the rotting piece of wood could even be called a door.) 
Kris sat up, startled. He had faced many frightening things, but most had been before, when he cared about living. At the moment, he just wanted to know what had been stepping on the awkwardly shaped, creaky steps leading right up to his apartment.
Throwing open the door -with such force that it banged into the wall behind it and fell to the floor-, Kris stuck his head into the hallway. “Hello?” He called, trying hard not to inhale the thick layers of dust on the walls.
He coughed anyways, then strangled off the rest to listen for anyone.
Silence. Followed by hurried footsteps.
”Got you!” Kris thought triumphantly. He ran after the sound, disappointed when the corridor ended, then realized there was a rickety fire escape right in front of him. 
Startled, he automatically pulled himself out the door and pounded down the narrow stairs; a vague voice in the back of his head worried for his safety, but he ignored it.
Once down on the ground, Kris caught a glimpse of a black-haired stranger running across the street. He quickly ran after him. 
When an area is as empty as his was, you don’t think twice about who you run after.
And Kris ran. He ran across the street, down an alleyway, down a busier street, past a couple strip clubs, paused to flip off an off-duty-stripper who he plowed into, and then stopped to catch his breath next to a pub.
“Oh-my-god,” he hissed. “Who the hell are you?”
Sighing in defeat, he half-turned before spotting a familiar head. And when you’ve run after the same head for almost 15 minutes, you’ll remember it.
“Hey-!” Kris cut himself short and walked straight up to the handsome stranger who was unsuccessfully trying to hide himself behind a short girl, which wasn’t very effective considering how tall he was. “Hey, you,” Kris tried for a casual voice, but felt strange having a civil conversation with someone after weeks of not. 
The tall guy continued to frantically ignore Kris, hastily walking away at one point before Kris grabbed his shoulder and wheeled him around.
“Hey, stop ign-,” Kris stopped dead. He was now close enough to study the boy in front of him and confirm his age as only 13 or 14.
“Who…are you?” Kris gaped, astonished. 
The boy looked up nervously, avoiding Kris’ strong gaze by turning his face fully to the side. 
“Come with me,” Kris said, firmly grasping the boy’s wrist and dragging him down the street.

“I…met him in the strangest way. I mean -other people might meet the same way, but I would never have guessed then that we would have the relationship that we do today.”

Kris pulled the frightened boy to the front door of his apartment, pointing accusingly at the lumpy bundle on the ground. 
“That was you, wasn’t it?”
The boy looked down at the package, then up at Kris with a guilty face.
Kris’ eyes widened. “Who are you?” He asked for the third time that night.
The boy shrugged and Kris glared at him. “You do have a name, right?” He shook away any thoughts he had of Krystal and his ‘new name initiation party’.
“Muhnamistao,” the boy mumbled. 
Sighing, Kris picked up the package, looked both ways down the hallway, then ushered Tao into his forlorn ‘apartment’.
“Oh damn,” Kris muttered, kicking aside the door on the ground. “I sure as hell am not paying for that.”
A bubble of laughter burst out from between Tao’s lips.
Kris raised an eyebrow - the laughter immediately ceased.
Kris turned to face the boy, who was frightened into silence again. 
“What did you say your name was again?” 
“T-Tao,” he said. 
Kris felt a flash of recognition, followed by a pang of hurt and longing. “You’re Chinese?” He asked, hoping to sound nonchalant.
“Half,” Tao said, swallowing hard and praying vehemently that he didn’t say anything wrong.
Kris’ heart went out to the boy. As a fellow half-Chinese, half-Korean, he sympathized with how out of place Tao would’ve felt having to live in a place with such a distinguishable name to set him apart from all the other citizens.
“Me too,” Kris admitted before realizing it.
The boy muttered something under his breath. 
“What was that?” Kris asked sharply. He had known all his life not to trust people, and his true character quickly showed through. 
“I- I said ‘I know’,” Tao stammered.
“You know…that I’m half?” Kris’ eyes narrowed, suspicious of the boy. Who was he? Sure, great thanks goes out to him for helping him out financially, but who was Tao really?
Tao nodded once.
Kris’ eyes narrowed even more. “So…Tao… -if that is your real name…who are you really and why are you giving me money? Where are you getting it from?” Kris’ questions spilled out, not knowing how to keep themselves in. “Who do you work for? Do you work for someone? Why are you giving me money if you work for someone? Wait, is this person paying you to give me money? That’s so screwed up, why would someone do that?” Kris rambled on, listening to the sound of his voice clearly after months of barely using it. His own spoken thoughts at the moment reminded him so strongly of Krystal that he felt a passionate urge to see her, hug her, hold her again and tell her that he-
“Uh, are you alright?” Tao was kneeling over Kris, who was sitting cross-legged on the floor and rocking back and forth.
The rocking stopped abruptly.
“I’m fine,” Kris snapped, then was immediately sorry. Human emotions flooded through him like a mental dam had been broken through.
“I-…are-…” Kris pondered what he would say to the boy, but Tao spoke up first. 
“Since we have established that you are alright, I was wondering what you have been doing with the money that was given to you,” Tao spoke with such precision that Kris found himself laughing aloud for the first time in weeks.
“Why - do you talk - like that?” Kris gasped between bouts of laughter.
Tao frowned at him. “It is how I was brought up. It is most respectable to use our beautiful language in the way it was meant to be spoken, and not like a-… a-… a rowdy,” Tao finished in a way that seemed that he was unsure of himself, and that kept Kris in stitches for another round of heavy laughter.
Kris tried not to think of Krystal as he lectured Tao. “If you’re stuck always trying to be perfect and correct in life, you’re not going to get anywhere. And people who think life is all about work and manners and crap probably have some up their .”
[AN: Highlight the blanks...if you want to...(13+?)]

Tao cringed at Kris’ less-than-delicate choice of words.
Kris laughed. “Who the hell are you? I’ve just met you, and yet, I haven’t felt this free in months! Man, let alone free, when was the last time I swore out loud…oh, wait no. I do that everyday.” Kris laughed again.
Tao had a thin smile on his face as Kris repeated, “Who are you?”
"I work for your father," Tao said quickly.
Kris went very quiet. “What?” He asked. 
“I- I work for-,” Tao fumbled for his words, “Your- someone who knows you who works for my-,” Tao spoke very quickly, stumbling over his words. “I mean- my mother works for - someonewhoknowsyou.” He finished on a long string of words mashed into one breath. 
“Uh, do you…want anything to eat?” Kris asked distractedly, suddenly remembering his manners. He didn’t have much in the mini-shack, seeing as he used every chance he got to get out of it, but he had to offer something to the strange -but overly generous- Tao.
“Um,” Tao blinked twice. “Ceylon tea please-,” his eyes darted around the room, and he added quickly, “If you have any.”
Kris smiled weakly, “It’s the only kind I have.”

“We bonded over our love for... tea and our similar cultural backgrounds. We both knew the loss of a loved one, him having lost his sister and of course, me having lost Krystal. Turns out he was the one sending me all this anonymous money. He still won’t tell me who sent him the money, but I’m pretty sure I know who it is.”

Yeah, so I'm slowly starting the sequel, I'll post the link once I'm done the title page requirements things :D
Okay! Seuquel, The Other Side