Wu Fan woke up feeling that something was wrong. He opened his eyes and saw that Tao wasn't sleeping next to him, so he sat up and looked at the room. Tao wasn't there, either. He quickly got up and got out of the room.

Near the living room he heard some voices. "I searched everywhere, I couldn't find him anywhere!" He opened the door with a stern gaze; he felt worried, usually he would wake up with Tao next to him, but he wasn't there. The group looked up, worried. "Wu Fan!" Luhan cried. The taller man almost run and glared at the group. "What happened to Tao?!" He snarled. Sehun flinched at his angry tone and stared at the ground.

"He… run away." He mumbled. "There's no message left… nothing." Wu Fan growled and walked away, without looking at the young men. He was way too worried to think of them. He run outside and shuddered when he felt the cold air on his skin. He glanced around, but there was nothing; as he begun to search for Tao, Jong In called him.

"Wu Fan! You can't do anything, if you're all alone." The tall man turned around and frowned. "I'm worried. Why did he leave? What if they'll try to kill him?" He muttered. He was far too nervous to think of anything else. "Come on, I'll help you. I think he went to the city. There's no way you'll find him without me." Jong In said. He walked to the van and motioned Wu Fan to follow him.

"Here, take this coat and your scarf." Jong mumbled. The taller man got in the van and wore the coat, since he was freezing. The other boy started driving immediately, and stole a glance at Wu Fan who was looking at the horizon, where there was the gray city. "Why did he leave without me? Does he hate me?" He whispered with a sad tone. Jong In just sighed and continued to drive, as fast as possible.

They arrived at the city in a few minutes; they didn't have much time, Tao was in danger and alone, and Wu Fan couldn't stay still. He felt hopeless. What if Tao left because of something he did the previous night? What if Tao was injured? It was his fault, he shouldn't have been like that.

He had asked too many questions, had wanted too many kissed. He had wanted too much from Tao. That's why he ran away, because he couldn't stand seeing him anymore.

Jong In tugged him and dragged him away from the van. Wu Fan was far too engrossed in his thoughts to see where they were going, and he continued to stay in silence even when they entered in a shop. "Jongdae! Minseok!" Jong In shouted. In a second, two young men arrived. Both of them had a gentle smile and they looked really happy to see the younger man. "What a surprise! Why are you paying a visit?" One of them asked while glancing curiously at Wu Fan. "Is he a new friend?"

Jong In shrugged. "It's not the right time to ask. I need to know if Tao was here. Minseok, I'm sure you saw him…" Minseok nodded. "Well, yeah, he asked me about that new shop in the marketplace… He looked worried, almost scared." He explained. "New shop?" Jong In said, frowning.

Jongdae chuckled. "Yeah, this guy, Kyungsoo, opened a shop… he sells old stuff." The young man nodded with a slight smile. "Did you hear? Probably he's not far from here. Don't worry too much, Wu Fan." Jong In reassured the taller man; he hummed and looked outside the shop. "Let's go." He mumbled.

Wu Fan easily dragged Jong In out of the shop, and didn't even say a thing when he tried to free himself from his grip. Just as they arrived at the marketplace, they saw Tao standing in the middle of the crowd, holding a metal box.

"Tao!" Wu Fan shouted with a wide smile. The young man looked up, surprised to see his friends, and gasped when they hugged him tightly. Jong In started talking, glad to see that he was still okay. "We were so worried! You weren't at home and you didn't leave a message, we thought you—" Tao whimpered loudly and started coughing. "Okay, I get it, but you're choking me!"

Jong In backed away, but Wu Fan continued hugging his mate. He hid his face on the crook of Tao's neck and sighed. His heart was still beating fast and he was terribly scared that Tao could run away from him. He was breathing heavily, and Wu Fan started to calm down only when the boy wrapped his arms around his neck.

"Hey, it's okay, I'm safe." Tao whispered in his ear. Wu Fan nodded and shifted slightly. "What are you doing here, all alone? We were really worried." The taller man replied, his voice a bit shaky. Tao looked at the box in his hands. It wasn't really big, it was a simple metal and plain box. The only thing that caught Wu Fan's attention was an inscription.

It was written 'to our son, Tao' and under that there was a date: 'May 2, 2013'. It was clearly old, but the odd thing was that the box looked newly bought. There wasn't a single scrap on the metal. Wu Fan touched carefully the smooth surface, his fingers lingered on the date.

"It's old." He mumbled. Tao shook his head. "It's new." He said. Wu Fan frowned, feeling even more worried than before. "Is it fake?" The young man just smiled. "No." He answered quickly. Jong In stared at the box and sighed. "I don't understand why you don't want our help… let's go home."

They walked to the van in complete silence. Tao kept his gaze on the ground and Wu Fan guided him through the streets. The young man clutched the box tightly, scared to lose it. He leant on Wu Fan's arms, and once in the van, he closed his eyes and rested his head on his shoulder.

Tao had a guilty look and Jong In seemed angry. Obviously, since he found out that his friend only wanted to buy a stupid box. Tao opened it and took out some papers. Wu Fan looked at them, curious. "What are those?" He asked; his mate sighed and looked outside. They were in the middle of nothing, and with glassy eyes, Tao spoke.

"Jong In, stop here. I need to do something." He whispered. Fortunately his friend heard him and stopped driving, although he couldn't understand why. Tao stepped out of the van with the papers and the other two young men followed him.

Tao took a lighter from his pocket and burnt the papers. He stared silently at the fire and tossed away the papers. Wu Fan walked till he was next to him, followed by Jong In. "Why did you do that?" He asked quietly. His mate gulped, and stared at the horizon.

"Time is just like the horizon." He started; he shifted slightly and leant on Wu Fan's arms, searching for comfort. "You can't know exactly what's there. Even if you travelled in that direction… once you've returned, you just see a thin line of nothing." He whispered; he closed his eyes and sighed.

"Those were projects for a machine." He explained with a pained gaze when he opened his eyes once again. "The same one I used to arrive here, months ago." Jong In gasped, but he didn't say anything; he knew that Tao was suffering in silence, and that he had to wait to ask him some questions about his past.

"The project must stay a secret. I remember every single line on those papers… And I'll be the only one that knows what I have to do to make the machine working." Tao turned around as the papers disappeared, transforming into ashes. He got quietly in the van and as they drove back to their home, he slept in Wu Fan's lap, the box lying next to him.
Wu Fan, looking at Tao, couldn't do anything but worry even more that before. Sure, he was safe and they were going home together. But Tao sometimes seemed more than just sad. Sometimes he looked depressed, and Wu Fan knew that it was only his past that was tormenting him; his theories were confirmed thanks to that little box. The date, in particular, and the fact that Tao said clearly that it was new and that the inscriptions weren't fake.

There was only one thing that he needed to help him: Tao had to talk to him about his problem and about his past, and he had to do that quickly.

A/N:
Sorry, I was late... but here's the chapter! ^O^;
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