"What... Are you doing?" Kris asked, raising an eyebrow at the scene. It wasn't every night that he'd wake up to get a glass of water and find the maknae chained to the bed.

Tao looked up and smiled, letting out the breath that he didn’t know he was holding, "Ge! Thank goodness you're here!"

"What did you-"

"Shhh!" he hissed, eyes darting to the sleeping form across from him, "He's still sleeping."

Kris didn't say anything and stepped into the room, closing the door slightly behind him. He walked towards Tao's bed and sat at the end, examining the hand cuffs as best he could with the poor lighting.

"What did you do?" he asked in a quiet voice.

"I locked myself up so I wouldn't steal... But I really have to pee. Can you help me?"

"Wouldn't steal?"

"I'll explain later. I dropped the key down the bed crack. Can you get it for me?"

Kris rolled his eyes and leaned over the maknae, reaching his hand down the gap between the bed and the wall to search for the key. Their chests brushed slightly and made the younger stiffen. Kris frowned, even with his long arms he still couldn't fully reach the end of the bed.

"Hang on," he mumbled, adjusting his position so he was hovering over the boy.

Tao's eyes widened when he realized how close they were and quickly looked to the side, his cheeks burning with a slight blush.

Kris smirked when he felt something cold graze his finger tips and grabbed it.

"Found it-... Why is my ring in here?"

"Huh?" Tao turned his head to the other side and saw Kris holding up is EXO ring that all of the band members got, courtesy of the stylist. They had their initials engraved on the back to make the gift more personal, but also to tell them apart in case such a situation like this happened.

"It wasn't me Ge! It was Tao-S!"

"Tao-S?"

The maknae let out a small groan of frustration and wiggled under him, "I said I'd explain later, now hurry! I gotta pee!"

Kris frowned and reached down again, ignoring Tao’s struggling and whimpering to the best of his abilities. He finally found the tiny key and unlocked him, much to the boy’s relief. Tao shot up from his bed, unintentionally knocking the leader backwards before sprinting out of there. Kris mumbled curses under his breath and looked up to see Xiumin sleepily staring at him.

"... Do I want to know?" he asked, yawning.

"Probably not. I don't know much myself."

He nodded and stood up slowly, rocking back and forth to gain balance before grabbed his pillow, "I'm going to sleep in your bed tonight. Something tells me you two will be up for a while."

Kris smiled and nodded, standing up to follow him out, "Try not to wake Jongdae."

"Not guaranteeing anything."

The two went in separate directions; Xiumin to Kris and Jongdae's room down the hall and Kris to the bathroom, where he could faintly hear the toilet flushing.

The door opened and Tao stepped out, rubbing his eyes from the bright light.

"Did you just pee in the dark?"

He nodded, "Don't worry Ge, I have good aim."

Kris ignored the comment and leaned against the wall, "Mind explaining the hand cuffs?"

"Oh right," he blinked a couple of times to adjust his vision and looked at Kris, "I locked myself to the bed so I wouldn't steal anything."

"Yes I heard you, but why steal?"

"Well… it’s not exactly me stealing. Tao-S is the thief."

"...Tao-S?"

"Yes."

"Explain."

"Nope. It's too bright out here, I'll tell you in my room."

The maknae grabbed Kris's hand and dragged him into the next room, switching off the light and closing the door in the process. He noticed Xiumin's bed to be empty and shot the duizhang a questioning look.

"My room."

He nodded and pushed him on that bed, then sat down on his own and the lamp. He grabbed a pillow and held it on his lap before he launched into an explanation, “Jongdae and I were watching a movie early tonight that involved thieves.”

“The one with the murder?”Tao nodded, “I told you not to watch that.”

“It’s not scary, besides I had someone with me.  Anyways, I asked Jongdae why they weren’t wearing gloves and he said it’s because they don’t need too. He told me that thief’s occasionally used some sort of acid to burn their finger prints off so they wouldn’t leave any trace of themselves behind. He told me that every human has a finger print unique to themselves and said the police could use them to identify people. So when we went to bed, I got curious about mine and wanted to look at them…”

“…Go on.”

“Well I tried… but I didn’t see anything there. Ge, I know I’m not an alien because Himchan’s an alien and he told me they adapt themselves to be like humans, so they have finger prints too. I don’t have finger prints, but I’d know if I took something. There’s only one explination to this…”

“And that would be Tao-S?”

“Now you’re catching on Ge. Tao-S is my alter ego, who’s to say he doesn’t take over my body at night and steal things from the members? A lot of their stuff has been going missing lately it ends up in my room most of the time,” Tao hugged his pillow tightly, “I’m telling you Wufan, thinking about all of this stuff in the past… things are starting to prove my claim.”

The duizhang blinked a couple of times and shook his head, "you came to this conclusion because you don't have finger prints?"

"Yup.”

Kris shook his head and stood up, approaching the younger male. He grabbed the lamp and angled it at him, "Hold up your hands."

"Oh, you wanna see them too?" Tao grinned and did what he was told. His smile quickly faded, however, when his eyes scanned his fingers once again and saw the ridges circling like a spiral, "No way... But they weren't there a moment ago!"

"You were looking at them in the dark, there's no way you would have been able to see them," he smiled as he ruffled his black bed head, "Get some sleep now."

The boy shook his head and grabbed Kris’s arm, "What if my fingers change when Tao-S appears?! He'll take everyone's stuff again!"

"No he won't. The only reason why the other member’s stuff ends up here is because Lay at sorting laundry."

"That's one explanation... But how do you explain my shirt on the door?! You remember how I wake up sometimes shirtless and find it hanging there! That only happens when you walk into the handle."

"You seriously think too much," he sighed, "When we were in Korea and you bunked with Hyun Kyun, you woke up without a shirt on right? That's because you strip in your sleep and throw whatever article of clothing you took off across the room."

"B-but this only started recently-"

"It’s summer and the nights are hot. You did this during your trainee days too, only you didn’t pay any attention to it then," Kris sat down besides Tao and rested a hand on his knee, "Listen, you don't steal things, Tao-S isn’t real and it’s not your fault is our stuff ends up in your room. Do you understand?"

"... I understand."

Kris smiled and stood up, "Now get some sleep."

"But Ge..."

"What now?"

"You can’t blame the ring on laundry. W-what if I really do steal something tonight?" Tao looked up at him with wide sad eyes.

Kris rolled his eyes, “It was probably a mix up anyways!”

“WuFan…”

He sighed in defeat and stared at Tao blankly, “Does this really bother you?”

“It does.”

“Then I have a temporary solution. Scoot over,” he motioned the boy to make more space before sliding into bed next to him. He turned off the light and wrapped his arms around Tao’s waist, pulling him closer. The maknae squeaked and hit his chest lightly.

“Duizhang!”

“You are not handcuffing yourself to the bed again,” he stated in a tired voice, “I’ve been told I’m hard to wake up in the morning-”

“You are.”

“-So anything in my grip won’t be able to escape without me knowing. I’ll be acting like your handcuffs for tonight and only tonight. When we wake up tomorrow morning and you see that everything is alright, then you’re going to leave this subject alone. Okay?”

MEH