Lay was just about to drift off when he was jolted awake by the doorbell.

Too comfortable to get up, he pulled the covers over his head and prayed for someone else to stop the obnoxious noise. When no one did, he reluctantly padded out and peered through the peephole. Outside, Sehun scowled back at him, arms crossed petulantly over his chest.  

"Do you have any idea what time it is?" Lay muttered as he yanked the door open. Sehun brushed past him, stalked to Luhan's room, and began hammering on the door.

"Open up, !" Sehun called out, giving the door a violent kick. "I know you're in there so pause the ing game and come out."

Moments later, a disgruntled Luhan emerged, back hunched and hair disheveled. An equally slovenly Kai peered over his shoulder, a headset curled around his neck. They appeared a little worse for wear, given that they had started gaming just after dinner. Gamer rage always brought out the best in Luhan and Kai, and Lay was tempted to sit down with a bag of popcorn as he watched the duo tear the maknae apart.  

"What the , kid?" Luhan growled. "We were in the middle of a mob attack and if my Witch Doctor dies you owe me-"

"I don't owe you . Actually, you owe me for slowing down my internet with your stupid game!"

"Diablo 3 is not a stupid game, you noob," Kai snapped, his red-rimmed eyes twitching in a very Chanyeol-like manner. "And the only stupid thing around here is your face."

Sehun narrowed his eyes. "Unlike you two, some of us actually need to use the internet to work."

"Like what, commentating on every detail of your pathetic existence using 140-characters or less?" Kai said sarcastically.

"I do not use Twitter–" 

Luhan cut him off in mid-rant. "We. Don't. Care. Now just go get a better modem and leave us alone. We have a sword to repair and a king to save." With that, he slammed the door in Sehun's face.

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Lay piped up innocently. "I could take a look at your laptop for you if you'd like." The maknae flashed him a dark look that clearly meant none of your business.

"Oh well, worth a shot," Lay shrugged before padding back to his room. 

*****

As he was about to fall asleep for the second time, Lay felt his bladder twinge uncomfortably. With a grunt, he rolled out of bed and stumbled towards the bathroom.

"Gaaahh!!"

Lay jumped and almost crashed into the sink in shock. He had thought the bathroom was unoccupied, but there, sitting on the countertop was Tao.

"Jesus, kid, you scared the hell out of me. Turn the lights on if you're in the bathroom," he muttered as he sleepily made his way to the toilet. It was then that he noticed Tao's shaking shoulders and the tell-tale sound of sniffles.

"Hey, are you okay?"

Tao nodded, wiping his eyes furiously with the back of his arms. "Yeah..." he croaked unconvincingly.

"What's wrong?" The maknae was a notorious crybaby, but he had seemed perfectly fine at dinner. And it wasn't like him to cry in a pitch-black bathroom at two in the morning, his cell phone clutched tightly in his hands...

"Let me see that," Lay said as he swiped the phone from Tao's hands.

The waves washed over my sandy feet. I could barely hear them, drowned as they were by the sound of my heart shattering into irreparable pieces.

"Kris...please don't go," I whispered, my hands reaching out for him. He shook his head, his lips a hard, grim line that held not a trace of the smiles he had once showered upon me, nor the promises of 'forever' that he had once whispered into my ear. With one last sweep of his empty eyes, he his heels and walked away.

It was the last time I ever saw him.

Lay looked up, incredulous. He had assumed Tao's frequent trips to the washroom were the result of indigestion or a rendezvous with his beloved camera. Never would he have guessed the truth.

"Tao, is this...fan fiction?"

The maknae's guilty expression only confirmed his suspicions. "It was an accident, I swear! I was just browsing and I was curious so I clicked on it and..." Tao stammered, sheer panic on his face. "It's not what you think!"

"Uh huh." Lay crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. 

"Okay fine, it is what you think but please, please, please don't tell anyone..." With his wide eyes, runny nose and tear-stained cheeks, Tao looked pretty damn pathetic. Enough to make him reconsider exposing his shameful secret.

Lay ran a hand through his hair. "Fine," he sighed. "I won't say a word so just get out before I piss my pants." Tao wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug and whispered "You're the best!" before tiptoeing out. Lay chuckled. What kind of six-foot-tall nineteen-year-old guy bawls his eyes out over some stupid story? Especially one with a title as cheesy sounding as 'Walking Alone'?

He was filled with a sudden urge to leave a few less-than-polite comments on the author's page. It was kind of their fault that he was now wide awake after discovering Tao's embarrassing addiction. So he quietly his laptop and pulled the covers over his head.

Internet Woes

| Posted on  May 17, 2012  | 5:23 am |

Before I give excuses for being awake at such an ungodly hour, let me emphasize that I can still hear LH and K yelling obscenities next door. Their attempt at finishing the game before our flight has been anything but smooth sailing, and I strongly suspect they'll be stuck on the Nightmare level until morning.  

Unfortunately, I have far less legitimate reasons for staying up so late. It's tempting to hold others accountable for my own actions; T, for putting the idea into my head and Zephyrus, for being such a brilliant writer. But at the end (or is it the beginning?) of the day, it was me who chose to waste the past three hours of my life on fan fiction.

Yes, fan fiction. I kid you not.

In my (lame) defence, the story was an absolute masterpiece, one that made me cry manly tears into my pillow as I neared the tragic end. But enough with the raving. I am clearly suffering from a severe case of sleep deprivation because there's no freaking way I would board the TaoRis ship if I was fully awake.

Tags: fml

| 0 Comments  | ✚ Leave a comment  | ❤ Subscribe to RSS | ★ Laynicorn Project |

BLOGROLL

---