Chapter 6


Timeline: 10th of September 2012

"Hey, could someone go and buy a list of stuff? We're out of lots of things here." D.O came out of the kitchen in a blue frilly apron with a little frown. His eyes met Kai's and his cheeks went a little red. Luckily, it seemed like everyone in the living room was oblivious to that or D.O would have liked to dig a hole in the Earth and bury himself deep in there.

D.O looked around, waiting for anyone to volunteer to help him. Looks like Luhan and Sehun would not be going. They must have overslept or something, he thought to himself.

"I'll go. I'm going to show Tao around town today anyway," Lay offered with a bright smile. Tao looked at his Papa with a blinding grin. If he were a Pomeranian, his ears would perk up, Kris thought to himself.

"Can we really go? I mean, I grew up in China so being in South Korea is perfectly new to me. I wanna go windowshopping!" The kid was so over the moon right now as if shopping was the next best thing in the world.

Maybe it is to him.

"I'll accompany them. Three is, after all, safer than two." Kris said with an air of finality, daring anyone to object him. If anyone tried, they knew they would be fighting a losing battle for sure.

"Here's a list of groceries. I'm pretty sure there's a sale today. Hopefully, we could get all the cheap stuff." D.O passed Lay a long list which had Lay's eyes almost bulging out.

"You want us to get all these? That's a lot!" Kris said while looking at the piece of paper over Lay's shoulder.

"Of course it is going to be a lot. I'm feeding twelve, not one, you know." D.O said, his hands on his hips.

"Okay, you win," Lay sighed, smiling slightly.

"Wait for me, will you? I need to reload my guns just in case." Tao and Lay nodded while both of them waited at the door. If any one of them were to go out, the non-elemental users would make sure to bring along their weapons and hide them in their coats so as to be prepared for any encounter with the Red Forces. They might be lurking somewhere near the shops. Of course, Lay hoped that they would not attack today since Tao was coming along. Not that Tao could not protect himself but Lay wanted him to stay safe and uninjured.

Their house was situated near the forest so no citizens would dare to near there in fear that there might be wild animals close by. So, their house was quite isolated from others. And there was the fact that the previous owner had laid traps here and there around the house and he had made them study the traps set up so that they would not be the victims themselves. A house which was a very safe haven, if you ask him. The Red Forces would not try to break into their house or they would be so dead.

The three of them made their way to the garage and got into a Ssangyong Rexton. Kris, Luhan and Xiumin had recently obtained their licenses so they decided to buy two cars, well, two Ssangyong Rextons, both lustrous black, so that they could transport themselves.

"Whoa... In my time, this car is really old-fashioned." Tao had commented. Kris rolled his eyes.

"It's during your time. Of course it's going to be old." Lay had chuckled behind his hands when Kris said that.

"Many citizens are using Ssangyong Rexton right now. It's a good and quite affordable car. We can't spend too much money on nice cars," Kris said.

"By the way, where did everyone get the money to spend on things? I haven't seen anyone going out for work. During my time, Papa had to work in a cafe to place food on our dining table."

"You wouldn't believe it. The owner was rich and left us all of his fortunes. But of course, a few of us work too. Like Xiumin, a computer genius, he's been doing who-knows-what business through the Internet. We never ask him and he never told us."

"Cool. I wish I could do that too," Tao told them with a grin.

Finally, they found a parking space in the parking lot and got down from the car.

"We need to go to the groceries first," Lay said and they strolled to the nearest grocery which had a sale going on. Tao stuck to his Papa in case he got lost. This whole place was new to him. If he got lost, he could not contact them. He had no cell phone. Not even during his time. They were too poor for that.

After buying the food stuff, they went to McDonalds to have lunch.

"Papa and I had McDonalds once in a while because I love burgers," Tao told them as he remembered how he persuaded his Papa to buy 10 burgers for his birthday. In the end, both of them could not finish all of the burgers. He smiled at the memory of his Papa laughing along with him when they tried to stuff the remaining ones into their stomachs.

"Then, you can have as much as you want. Even ten of them, if you like," Lay said jokingly.

Tao's expression went even brighter than before when he heard that. It was almost as if his Papa had been viewing the memory with him.

"Why don't you get us a seat, Lay? Tao and I would do the purchasing. What would you like?" Kris asked.

"Anything that you'll have would do. I'm not picky."

"Alright. Come on, Tao."

Lay watched as both his soon-to-be husband and son strode to the counter with their long legs. Both of them were really tall, above the average height of the male population in South Korea so it was no surprise that they would attract lots of attention, especially the females.

A flare of jealousy spread through his body. His mind was screaming, 'Mine!'

Gosh. Possessive much? He glared a few giggling high school girls as if that would help. He was sure if his eyes could burn, they would be a pile of ash in a second. Maybe it was a good thing that he did not possess the Flame Ability like Chanyeol.

Jealousy was not something usual to him so he quickly hid it in the corner of his mind and hopefully, it would not find him again. He slipped into a seat near the window and waited for both of his future family members while playing with his own fingers. What? Fingers can be fascinating when you have nothing better to do. Maybe he should play with his Samsung Galaxy Note or something? That would be a pretty bad idea since his cell phone was only half-charged. He needed it for emergency use.

Meanwhile, Kris and Tao were queueing, waiting for their turn to order. There was a momentary of silence as both had no idea what to talk about. During training was different. There were lots of stuff for Tao to ask and for Kris to teach. They could not possibly speak about their training with all these people around, right?

"Do you know if I get a partner in life or something?" Kris questioned after a some time.

Tao panicked but schooled his features into a blank one. This soon? His heart was not ready for this. Why did school not teach this kind of situation and how to face it? Oh wait, he stopped schooling when the Red Forces decided to kidnap 'special' kids. Even if they taught them in school, there was not a chance for him to learn anyway.

So, should he tell his Daddy the truth? He pondered that question for a while. But his Godfather had advised him to wait out a bit and let both of his parents' relationship develop first.

"If it's difficult for you to say, you don't have to tell me. I won't pressure you."

Thank you, Goddess! Thank Goddess for siding with him. There was no need for him to expose the truth. Maybe Goddess herself decided that this was not the best time yet. He silently cheered to himself.

"Sorry, Uncle Kris but my Papa did not tell me about the relationship between you and your significant other."

"Oh right, I'm dead before you were born. How silly of me to forget." Tao gave him a brief hug.

"Nobody wants to be reminded of their death. So, it's fine to forget and live life with the hope for a better tomorrow."

"Okay. I like your optimistic way of thinking." Kris chortled. He slung his arm over Tao's shoulders and released it only later when it was their turn to make their order.

Finally, they could eat! Tao's stomach had been grumbling as if he had been starved for days. He had a metabolism rate of a Hummingbird!

"Sure is a busy day today." Lay remarked as Kris took a seat opposite him and Tao, beside Lay.

"Here's your burger." Kris passed one of the chicken burgers to Lay and their hands touched lightly for a single second. It left a tingling sensation to Lay but Kris showed no emotion to it. His expression was unreadable. To think that they have known each other for four years and there was an expression of Kris' he had yet seen before.

"This is super tasty!" Tao bit off a crispy nugget happily. Both of his parents turned to look at him.

"Really? Then, eat more. You can finish them if you want," Lay encouraged.

Tao swallowed his nugget quickly and began reaching out for another.

"Seems like any peaceful day. They wouldn't dare to attack with this many people around, would they?" Lay whispered to Kris.

"No, but I've noticed two of them out there." Lay took a glimpse and sure enough, there were two of them stationed opposite to McDonalds. They were dressed casually but both of them knew better. They were probably hiding daggers or guns in their coats.

Kris was on high alert when one of them shifted in his position.

"We need to keep a look out for them. I wonder if they've discovered us."

"I wouldn't put it past them that they hadn't."

Lay sighed softly. Why could not his day be a normal one? They just had to show up, huh?

Tao was oblivious to everything around him when he was eating. He was joyfully enjoying his French fries and soda just when he caught sight of a flashy thing.

"Is that a Gucci bag?" He asked with his mouth full. Both parents turned simultaneously to their son.

"Swallow before you talk, Tao. Yes, that's one. Why?" Lay raised one of his eyebrows.

"I love Gucci bags! I'm going to get one in the future." Either he loved Gucci bags too much to notice the two members of the Red Forces standing close by or he was just oblivious.

Once they had finished their lunch, they quietly slipped away from McDonalds to their car when the members of the Red Forces were looking elsewhere.

"Phew! Successful escape."

Kris had whispered to Tao that they had to sneak out to their car before they step out of the shop.

Lay checked for any GPS tracker which might be hidden under their car before they set off to the hypermarket to windowshop.

They got back home at around four in the evening and was just in time for a little training before dinner.

"Thanks, Papa. Today has been a fun day even though we were unable to do some of the more fun stuff," Tao spoke to Lay that night before they went to sleep.

"We'll do more once everything's over. I promise you."

"Pinky promise?" Tao stuck out his pinky to his Papa.

"Pinky promise." Lay hooked his pinky to Tao's longer one. That night, Tao had a dreamless night.

To be continued...
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Sorry for the delay. Was checking for errors and whatnot. Lame excuse, I know.
Crispy nuggets reminds me of Krispy Lays!
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I hope that this chapter has been an enjoyable read to you guys out there.