Chapter 2


Timeline: 3rd of September 2012

Tao blinked blearily as he took in his surroundings. He had slipped and called out to his Papa. He must be so confused right now. If only he was younger and smaller in size, he would have climbed on his Papa's lap and gave him a hug. Now that he was this big, might as well, keep still on the bed.

His stomach growled in protest and he could not help but blushed as he saw Lay staring at him. Just then, he realised how much alive his Papa was. Tears started to build up and he wept tears of both joy and sorrowfulness. Here, his Papa was still breathing.

Lay patted the younger boy's shoulder awkwardly before deciding to grab some food for the hungry boy. As he made his way towards the door, the boy had grabbed his sleeves and croaked out, "Don't leave."

Lay squeezed those bigger hands in his smaller ones. "I need to get our Umma to cook up something warm for you. You need food and some water. I'll be back in a flash." Tao reluctantly let go and brought both of his hands together to stop himself from pulling his Papa's sleeves again. He nodded an okay to the elder boy.

"By the way, what's your name?" Lay stopped at the doorway, waiting patiently for an answer.

"Tao. My name is Tao and you're my Papa." Somehow, mentioning that Lay was his Papa had seemed very significant to Tao, like he wanted to make sure that Lay knew. All doubts that this was not his kid flew straight out of the window. This Tao was his future, his son. He had come from the future for who knows what reason. Lay just smiled a genuine smile and nodded. "Tao, I'll be back soon so don't you dare get up from the bed." He was stern, as if he had known Tao for years. Fatherly instinct, probably.

Closing the door behind him, his smile faded a little as he saw Kris at the doorway. He looked somewhat angry. D.O was with him, waiting for news about the new boy who had appeared at their front yard out of nowhere. The others were probably asleep right now.

"How is he?" D.O asked with concern written all over his face. D.O Umma mode on again.

"Tired, hungry but fine. Could you cook something simple for him?" At the word 'cook', D.O's eyes twinkled and he rushed towards the kitchen to prepare something at once. Lay could have sworn cooking was always on his mind.

Lay sighed as he turned towards Kris. "Shouldn't you be sleeping?" Kris' mad face melted. He tucked the stray strand of hair behind his ear before opening his mouth to say something.

"Can't help but worry that he might stab you while you were aiding him." Lay was touched by his words but he retorted, "He can't even hurt a fly. Besides, I'm perfectly capable of taking care of myself, Kris." There was a flash of anger but it was gone as soon as it was there a second ago. "Heck. You can't just trust that stranger lightly. I mean, he could be after us. He could be one of them."

Them. No wonder Kris was angry. He thought that the kid was one of the Red Forces. The Red Forces had been targeting people with special abilities. People like him and his 'family'. They had no idea what the heck do they want but rumours had it that the Red Forces tortured those with supernatural powers.

"He's not one of them." Lay said adamantly.

"You can't be sure of that."

"I can feel it. The nature's telling me to trust him, Kris. I can't leave him alone." He's one of us and an important part of me. I don't want to lose him. That was left unsaid.

"Damn it, Lay. Don't regret it later. Hopefully, I won't have to tell you, 'I told you so'."

"You won't," Lay said confidently.

"I'll have Luhan check his mind tomorrow just in case. We can't put the others at risk especially Sehun and Kai." Worrying about everyone again.

"He's the same age as them, you know."

"Really?"

Lay nodded. Before they could continue their conversation, D.O had come back with some porridge and warm milk. Easy to swallow and digest. He took the tray of food from D.O and wished both of them goodnight. Juggling the tray in one hand, he held the door with the other as he entered.

There his little boy was, lying fast asleep in an uncomfortable position. Lay shook him awake and could not help but notice how beautiful his kid was. Tao woke up with a groan and Lay helped him sat up.

"Eat before you go back to sleep." Tao obeyed but his limbs were too tired to move so Lay fed him as best as he could. Almost three quarters of the porridge and half a glass of milk later, Tao was full and quickly falling back into dreamland again.

Lay cleared the dishes up and closed the door silently. He crept downstairs and washed the dishes quickly before going back into his bedroom. A yawn and a blink later, he laid the futon out before slipping into it. Sleep took over him in mere seconds and he drifted into a dream of unicorns, dragons and strangely, pandas.


Timeline: 4th September 2012

Light illuminated the cream-painted room through the windows. Lay moaned, pulling his covers up. Too early. Which cheeky fellow had the courage of a tiger to pull open the curtains? That person would be so honoured when he was fully awake, since he was going to cuff him on the head.

Suddenly remembering a tall boy with an adorable face, he shot out of his futon, only finding himself holding his head, trying to will away the momentary pain from knocking into someone else's head.

"Papa, am sorry! You were sleeping so peacefully that I couldn't stop myself from watching you mutter about unicorns in your sleep. "The other boy had squeaked in panic. Lay held out a hand to stop his son from rambling. Well, gotta get used to calling Tao his son. "It's alright. Let's get you washed up. I'll try to borrow some clothes from Kris or Chanyeol for you." Lay got up and led Tao to a bathroom at the end of the corridor.

"I'll recheck your wounds again after you had cleaned up, k?" Tao nodded enthusiastically and went into the bathroom, shutting the door.

Lay made his way towards Baekhyun and Chanyeol's room since theirs was the closer one of the two and knocked. A half-awake Baekhyun opened the door, scratching his stomach. "Mornin', Lay."

"Good morning to you too, Baekhyun. Is Chanyeol still asleep?" Both of them craned their necks. Yup, definitely still sleeping. His sudden snoring just gave him away. Both of them neared the bed which held a sleeping fire-bird child.

The eldest of them brushed those golden strands of hair sticking up in all directions while Baekhyun climbed onto Chanyeol's bed, getting ready to pounce on the giant. Chanyeol woke up then, kicking Baekhyun out of his bed.

"Trying to sleep here, Baek!" He growled in his deepest voice. Lay laughed at the sight of Chanyeol, looking like a lion at the moment. Chanyeol whipped his head then, finally acknowledging to presence of his elder brother.

"Lay! Morning~" The lion had turned into a loon. One moment he was a caged beast but in the next, he was grinning from ear to ear.

"I'm sorry to wake you but I need to borrow your clothes." Lay looked apologetically at him.

"Aren't mine a little too large for you?"

"It's for Tao."

"Oh. That boy who landed from nowhere? Sure thing. Let me get up and grab something which fits him." Chanyeol climbed out of bed and began searching through his closet. After some time, he threw a black shirt which was a size larger than what he usually wore. "I'm pretty sure he's a lil' wider with all those muscles." He came back with a pair of trousers to pass to Lay.

"Thank you. If he was the same size as me, I wouldn't have to go around borrowing clothes." Chanyeol just smiled. "Another big guy in the house. I think he would be the strongest too if he joins our family."

Lay felt a pang in his chest. Family. Tao had to join them. He would ensure that. But would all of them accept him fully? Especially Kris. Since this must be his kid. Or where would he get those looks and height, right? His mind wandered to how both of them must have got together in the future. That made him felt a little happy. Oh, brother. He was getting ahead of himself already. "You may go back to sleep. I'll get you guys once breakfast is done." With that said, Baekhyun and Chanyeol closed their eyes for a little more sleep.

Lay was sorry he had to wake both of them but all was good since he had gotten some clothes for his son. He walked back to his bedroom to get a towel and a new toothbrush for Tao before returning to stand outside the bathroom.

Tao peeked out with steamy water vapour surrounding him. His hair was wet from shower and he looked so cute. Lay wanted to ruffle his hair. But it would be a little problem there since his son was taller. Not that he was short but his son was just so tall. Had he mentioned that those eyes were really striking? If he did not inherit those from Kris, did he perhaps inherit that from him? That would be like saying his own eyes were striking. "Papa?" He passed the towel, clothes and toothbrush to Tao before pushing the kid back in hurriedly. His kid needed to be dressed decently as soon as possible because he did not want anyone getting any ideas.

He saw Chen and D.O coming out of their bedroom, waiting for their turn in the bathroom which reminded him that he himself had yet taken a bath. He wished them a good morning and waited for a little while. Once Tao came out, both of them went back to his bedroom.

Lay checked his wounds and found most of them had closed up nicely. There was a horrendous scar on his back which stretched from his underarms on the right to the end of his spine. He could heal wounds but not the scars. He touched it lightly, making Tao shudder.

"Do you want to stay in here or do you want to get acquainted with the others while I go and bathe?" Tao pondered before answering, "I think I should go and meet everyone, right?"

"You don't have to go yourself. We could go together later. We'll introduce you to everyone but I have to warn you, Luhan would have to read your mind. Everyone's being cautious even though I trust you." He was not sure that Tao had met the others in the future that he came from.

"Godfather Luhan!" Tao exclaimed joyfully. Seeing Tao's face lit up like Christmas had arrived early stirred up emotions in Lay.

"Hey, mind if I ask what happened to everyone in the future?" That wiped the smile off from Tao's face. It was replaced by the most heart wrenching expression Lay had ever sighted. Never again, would he allow Tao to have that expression, Lay promised to himself.

"Died. Everyone died. All of them left, one by one, Papa. You were the last before I decided to change that. I knew I shouldn't have disobeyed you. If only I had stayed, then you would have a chance of surviving. If only..." If only were usually wishes you could not have. Tears welled up in Tao's eyes. Lay hurriedly gather and embrace Tao in his arms, caressing his back, trying to sooth the sobbing boy.

"You're not alone anymore. You have us right now. You have me." But both of them knew that this was not going to last for long. Soon, they would all be going to war.


To be continued...

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Another chapter up! Did you guys enjoy it? I hope so.
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