Chapter 15  

Timeline: 30th September 2012  

A dark-haired boy felt something foreboding was about to happen as he and his partner entered the eerie forest. He made slow steps, deeper and deeper into the forest, carefully avoiding roots and small trees. His partner followed closely behind him, in fear that he may get lost if he ever loose sight of him. After all, who knows the forests better than D.O?  

The shorter male touched one of the taller trees lightly, taking a deep breath. Without any warning, his stomach was pulled inwards and his body was into a portal.  

D.O landed with a thud, wincing even though there was no pain in any part of his body. Standing up, he brushed his trousers from imaginary dust. Finally looking around him, he took in the scenery around him. Everything was totally unfamiliar to him.  

He reached out his hands to touch the walls on both of his sides, only realising that his hand was near transparent. He gasped, almost falling backwards on his back but caught himself, steadying himself against a wall with his hands.  

A voice from nowhere shouted, "Run! Run!" Hurried footsteps could be heard.  

It was Kris' voice but it was rougher than usual. Judging from what he had heard a few seconds ago, the cause must have been from the lack of water.  

He hid himself against one of the walls and saw people running. It was Kris and the others! He wanted to scream for them that he was there too but then, he saw himself. An older version of himself, running frantically in search of somewhere to hide. His older self turned into the alley that he was in with Kai in tow. They continued to run while younger D.O just stood there, dumbly as he watched everyone escape.  

What made his heart race was the members from the Red Forces, fully-armed with guns. Not just any gun from the military force but guns specialised for each and every one of them. They were all sorts of sizes and colours and he could see not all shoot bullets but the others were equally just as dangerous as the bullet-filled ones.  

D.O held his breath as one of them looked his way. His gun was aimed towards his chest. He was caught!  

Just then, the gun was placed by the person's side. He let out his breath slowly, not making any more noise while clutching his chest. He was not going to die today. Thank Goddess for that.  

The Red Forces moved on, not taking a single step into the alley. Thinking their actions were strange, D.O took the risk to stand in front of one of them and waved. The other did not response to him. Instead, they passed his figure like he was a ghost. Peculiar indeed!  

D.O scratched his head, pondering about what had happened a few minutes ago.  

"Hey, you okay there? For a moment, you just spaced out and your eyes turned glassy like your soul had fled elsewhere." Kai's voice reached his mind and he blinked his eyes rapidly in confusion.  

He was back in the forest again with Kai looking at him in concern. Not wanting to worry his friend, he smiled and said nothing.  

The two of them continued their journey with D.O placing his feathery touches on as many trees as possible, wanting to understand the previous incident. The feeling of being back in scared D.O but his curiosity was peaked as high as the Mount Everest. In the end, he chose to find out rather than acting as if nothing had happened. As if the incident in the unknown location was all a fake. He almost wanted to do that but thought better of it.  

Kai almost tripped over a root, pushing D.O forward. Trying to gain back his balance, the elder male looked for a tree as a support.  

Like the first time, he was into a portal without being able to process what was going on.   This time, he recognised his surroundings.  

It was his old home, the one before the orphanage.  

He stood there, frozen, willing the bad memories to go away. He shut his eyes and buried the memories, shoving them harshly into the corner of his brain.  

A boy about thirteen years old ran past him like the wind, picking up the ringing phone which D.O did not realise it has been going on like a screaming banshee.  

He watched as his younger self persuaded his parents to come back as early as possible.  

What occurred next was what D.O dreaded.  

The scene changed to a hospital setting. He saw himself crying by a bed. A person was lying in it with the blanket fully drawn till above the head, which only meant one thing. That person on the bed was dead.  

He heard himself screaming for his parents before realising that he was crying along his kid self.  

He was pulled back to whatever reality again and he touched his wet face. How he wished he did not have to see that again. Not in a lifetime. If not for him, his parents would not have sped up just to return home to celebrate his birthday.  

They were once a happy family. Now it was only him and himself.  

He blamed the Red Forces for everything. He hated them with a passion. If only his parents were late, the Red Forces would have missed them. They would not be able to shoot his parents down.  

Most of all, he blamed himself. His Special Ability had gone to waste when he was unable to use them to defend and protect his parents.  

His parents were all supportive of his Ability. They still loved him for who he was even though he was a total freak of nature.  

Kai placed his hand on one of his shoulders, shaking him lightly.  

"Are you really alright? You're crying and you looked pale." Kai commented as he wiped the tears away from his loved one's face. He was tempted to the salty tears away. Sounds cheesy, eh?  

D.O nodded slowly, assuring Kai that he really was okay. That he was just crying sorrowfully for the trees. Thankfully, Kai believed him fully.  

As he moved on from tree to tree, he saw memories of the past and future. More precisely, his past and his future. His eyes widened. Those future memories of his elder self was what happened if Tao did not return to the past which in his case was, coming to the present. He realised each and every memory did not include a Tao who was about his age right now. There were a few which involved baby Tao but there were none that showed his teenage years in the present.  

"What is this place?" He questioned to no one in particular. Since there was only Kai and himself, Kai thought that he was asking him.  

"Urm... A forest?" Kai wanted to bang his head on a tree for the stupid answer he gave D.O. He wanted to look intelligent and wise in front of him but he had ended up telling him the obvious answer like an idiot.  

D.O looked at him with his pretty twinkly eyes and tilted his head adorably, still thinking hard.  

Yes. This is a forest. So, why were all these memories contained in some of the trees? What was the reason for them to be here to be found out by him?  

An idea came to him just when Kai was about to say something.  

"That's right! Ohmigosh! Why didn't I think of that? You're a genius, Kai. Thank you!" The shorter male went and hugged the younger of the two.  

All of a sudden, Kai brightened up as he processed what the elder had said. D.O had just said he was a genius. He beamed proudly to himself.  

"This is a forest! Not just any forest. This is the rumored Lost Forest, where fragments of memories, no matter from the past and the future, can be found."  

Kai looked at him in askance. D.O leaped excitedly, explaining to the other what he had read about the Lost Forest in the past like a History teacher.  

"They say, most of the people either get lost in their own memories and never get out or they become insane once they've found their way out. No wonder. All these precious memories..."  

D.O became addicted to the memories the trees showed him. He studied them carefully and analysing them, occasionally frowning then smiling gleefully.  

Kai got bored a little while watching D.O running around, caressing trees as he passed. He would never get bored fully with D.O's numerous expressions but you get bored if you just stared at them for more than an hour with nothing better to do.  

Just as D.O was about to study another fragment of memory, both of their opposite hands came into contact, linking their minds momentarily. It felt as though electric current was passed between them.  

One of the larger trees showed them something Kai would never forget throughout his life.  

They saw a beach and the sun setting soon. They spotted two figures playing in the water, enjoying the cooling effect the water brought.  

The two silhouettes fell together on the sandy beach, laughing merrily with the breeze.  

One of them climbed on the other's stomach and supported his upper body's weight with his hands. He leaned forward and both of their lips touched. They kissed like there was no tomorrow.  

Kai and D.O watched them, fascinated. So, they approached and what they saw surprised them, in a good way, of course.  

The elder version of Kai was kissing the elder version of D.O. They looked really blissful.  

The two of them blushed hotly after they were pulled back to reality. They would never face each other the same again after that.

To be continued...  

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I apologise for the delay and I blame it on the Chinese New Year celebrations. Too busy with celebrating, partying and playing lots of games with my cousins and friends which led to no time to write.

And I had to rewrite this chapter a few times because I couldn't accept the way it went previously. So, this one came out fine.

Lame excuses, I know.

Thank you to my lovely readers, reviewers, subscribers and voters. You are truly amazing on so many degrees.