It's the same dream. With the knife, and two exceptions. One, the knife is around his neck. Two, it's not really around his neck, but around Tao's neck. Sehun has no idea why he's watching this happen to Tao, why Tao's even in his dream. He can't understand why this isn't happening to him like last time, but he recognizes the hand grasping the knife. The man's other hand is around Tao's waist, holding the boy to him. Tao looks lifeless in his arms; dull eyes and emotionless face. He looks up to meet Sehun's stare of horror. 

The worst part is when Tao smiles, his eyebrows scrunched just a little. A trickle of dark red blood runs down his throat as he whispers, "For you."

Those are his last words.

The doorbell rings, jarring Sehun upright and wide-awake. He feels sick, like he's about to throw up. He thanks his lucky stars as he hears someone run downstairs and open the door so that he wouldn't have to. He stands up, his legs shaking and wobbling, as he limps to the bathroom, just in case. After some deep breaths, he calms his stomach just in time to hear a familiar voice yell, "Sehun?" Tao's morning voice is raspy and deep.

He coughs a couple times. "I'm coming!"

He walks slowly down the stairs in his pajamas, not wanting to revive that ill feeling from before. He's mildly surprised to see Luhan at the door. When the older boy spots him in his worn, old t-shirt and pajama pants, his cheeks turn a deep pink, which Sehun doesn't fail to notice. "Good morning, Luhan. Sorry I'm not better prepared." He looks down at his clothes.

"It's- it's okay! I'll wait in the lounge!" Luhan scurries away, the back of his hand against his face.

Sehun turns to Tao to say something when suddenly a wave of nausea hits him. He starts to sway, and he covers his forehead with a groan. He doesn't even realize he was about to fall until he feels Tao catch him in his arms, and the older boy says in surprise, "Sehun, what's wrong?"

Sehun's breathing starts to come out heavy. He drops himself out of Tao's arms to fall onto his knees and hold his chest, head down. He breathes in. Out. In. Out. "I'm fine..." He says. "I had a dream...okay?"

"What kind of dream makes you like this?" Tao feels a knot of worry as he looks down at the other boy. "Do I need to get the medicine box?"

"I'm fine." Sehun stands up unsteadily and starts towards the stairs. "Tell...Luhan... I'll be right there..."

Tao watches him climb up the stairs and disappear around the corner. He does not go to the lounge to tell Luhan, instead going up the stairs after Sehun and waiting outside the door of his room as he changes out of his sleeping attire. He bites his tongue and waits for Sehun to finish, hoping that nothing happens to him in there. Sehun almost bumps into him when he's walking out a few minutes later. He says nothing, just sighs and goes back downstairs with Tao following after him. 

Luhan appears a lot more calm when Sehun sees him in the lounge. He looks up from his notes when the two boys walk in. Sehun had forgotten about the lesson today, which meant he'd forgotten to set any alarm -- the reason why he'd slept till Luhan had arrived. 

"Sehun, I hope you're feeling better."

"I am." He lies easily. A straight face is natural for him anyway. Tao gives him a look. 

"How was your first day back?"

"Good, thank you." He takes a seat across from his tutor, with Tao on his left. The lounge had been rearranged for the lesson -- couches moved around, tables shifted, some furniture had been brought in to make it seem more like a learning environment. He doesn't mind much, but it still felt bizarre to him. He certainly doesn't feel like he's back in school. Why try to hide the fact that it's just a regular old lounge with something like a whiteboard or a bookcase? How pointless.

"That's good." Luhan smiles at him. "Should we get started then?"

"Sure." Sehun flips open his books and out of the corner of his eye, Tao watches over him, uneasy.

Luhan leaves three hours later for a lunch break, and once the front door closes behind him, Sehun lets his head fall back on the chair. At least private lessons with Luhan and Tao feel better than going to school, in his opinion, but it still takes a toll on his brain to suddenly start taking classes again after weeks of resting in a hospital bed. 

"Are you alright, Sehun?" Tao gives him that look again -- sharp eyes filled with a concern that doesn't quite fit in with the rest of his facial features. Like he isn't meant to pity Sehun, isn't meant to worry about others at all.

Sehun nods and regrets it instantly. His head seems to swirl and swirl, dizziness overcoming him for a second. He lets out an "ugh..." and rubs his temples.

"Maybe we should tell Luhan to make-up lessons another day?" Tao offers. When Sehun stands up, intending to get some food, Tao reaches out to steady him, just in case. His hands hover around Sehun's body, not wanting to actually touch him just in case he's feeling his usual irritability.

It sounds tempting, but Sehun mutters, "No..." When he reaches the kitchen, he pulls open a cabinet with one swift motion, and takes out a small bottle of pills. Twisting open the top, he tips one out and throws his head back. He swallows it in one go. The nausea seeps away from him slowly and he heats up some left-overs from yesterday. All the while, Tao watches him from afar, lingering over Sehun as he brings the plate back to the lounge. 

"Do you have medicine everywhere?"

"Pretty much." He's about to take a bite, but he stops his arm midair and his mouth hangs open. "Um, do you want anything to eat?"

Tao leans down, picks the fork out of Sehun's hand, and takes the bite. "Hey!" Sehun yells, but Tao's already given him back the expensive silverware and is walking towards the kitchen.

"I'll get something myself, don't you worry." He takes long, lazy strides away from the gaping boy and is gone from view in just moments.

Sehun takes a second to let himself process. He takes another bite, and finds himself flushing at the thought of the fork having been in Tao's mouth. "I..." He grumbles to himself. "I'm not worried...."

Luhan comes back for the continuation of their lessons, and leaves another three hours later. Tao and Sehun clean up the lounge: putting the books back on the shelves, pens and pencils returned to desks, etc. It doesn't take long, however, and the two find themselves on the couch again.

Tao stands and paces around the room, unable to keep himself in one place after sitting for so many hours. "What do you do in this house, anyway?"

"I don't." Tao stops pacing and gives him a questioning look. "Like," Sehun explains. "I don't stay in this house if I have the choice. I do work. I go to Jongin's place. I walk around. A.K.A. I hate this place."

Tao nods and glances at the clock. "Well, we can't really leave. And it's getting dark outside already."

"Yeah."

Winter is fast approaching. The dip in temperature of the air outside is painfully obvious, and the night comes quicker than ever. Frost coats the lawn in the mornings and the trees have been bare for a while now. The only reason Sehun isn't wearing long sleeve sweaters and puffy winter jackets is because of the mansion's heater, always turned up to a promising seventy-five degrees in cold times. He can still manage with his t-shirts and light pants or shorts. He'd always thought he was the one who dressed rather lightly, but with Tao's newly found presence in the house, he is now in second place. Tao is often wearing wife-beaters and shorts around the house when not in his school uniform, or going out. Not that he did either anymore, deciding that staying with Sehun in his house arrest is more suited to his less-than-sociable tastes.

The both of them sigh and look at each, and Sehun suddenly gets an idea.

"You've played video games before, yeah?" Sehun asks.

"Nope." Tao shakes his head passively.

"What!?" He jolts himself upright and widens his eyes. "Seriously? You're kidding, right? Tell me you're ing kidding."

"Didn't have time for that."

"Oh God, you missed out. Come on." He stands, stretches, and waves his hand at Tao as if to pull him up. When Tao doesn't even shift, he said, "I said, c'mon! You need a life, and I'm handing it to you on a flat-screen TV and plastic controller."

He laughs and grabs Sehun's hand (who hadn't really been expecting him to take it, but drags him off his nonetheless). "All right, well I don't see any impending doom coming so I guess it's alright." Sehun leads him to the game room (after letting go of his hand in embarrassment) and Tao trails not too far behind.

He's not sure why he's reaching out to Tao suddenly. Boredom, maybe. Sehun feels a bit like he's in a state of euphoria. He feels strange. A little weird. A bit like, who cares? Who cares if he's lonely? Who cares if he's nice to Tao? He gave up, didn't he?

So that's the feeling. For the first time in so many years, Sehun just doesn't give a what he looks like to other people. And it feels amazing.

In Tao's mind, there are two ways to think about this situation. One: Sehun is genuinely trying to get closer to him, and is taking initiative with this whole video game thing. Two is that he's hopped up on something and has no idea what he's doing. He's pretty sure the Ohs don't have drugs in their house (he checked everything during security measures) and Sehun doesn't drink, so it must be the former.

Oh, and there's also the third way. Three is that Tao is getting terribly side-tracked with things and he really needs to go back to his room now. But he can't help it. In truth, he has missed out on a lot in his childhood. He never got to try toys, or video games, or a typical public education, or even dating when he was too busy training for that. Face it, he's distracted. He'll get in trouble. But in this moment, he doesn't mind so much. So he allows himself be lead to this huge room, with a ridiculously massive flat-screen TV that covers an entire wall and just about every game system one can think of. 

"Let's start simple." Sehun hands him a long, rectangular white remote. It has the standard controls: A button on the front, B button on the back, up, down, left, right, minus and plus buttons, etc. It has a white strap around it, which he sticks his wrist in, a movement based on intuition and guesswork.

"What's this?" He asks.

"This," Sehun points to the remote in his hand, "is a Wii remote. Which no one really uses that often anymore but that's pretty much why we're starting with this." Sehun realizes that he's talking to Tao like how he would to Jongin. It's not exactly uncomfortable, but it certainly isn't normal. He takes out the disc in the Wii and puts in the disc for Super Smash Bros Brawl. It's a game he played when he was younger, and one of his old favorites. Not exactly a game a boy his age would usually play, but Tao doesn't know that and he likes it, so why not?

"O-kay..."

He starts the game and does regular battle mode to teach Tao the basics. He catches on quickly, to Sehun's surprise, and they move on to using CPUs and then to Adventure Mode. After playing for a while, they switch games. And, eventually, even game systems. Tao gets the hang of everything in just moments, with Sehun is pleasantly surprised like before, and he even loses after two hours of playing.

"Wow." Is all he can say when the words YOU LOSE show up on his half of the screen. "You've never played before?"

"Nope." Tao grins at him. "But it's really fun. Go again?"

"Definitely. And you are not winning this time."

"Whatever you say." To which, Tao beats him again and Sehun almost throws the controller at him. In the back of his mind, however, he's wondering if Tao can help him beat Jongin, which he's always trying to do. 

"Having fun, sir?" A voice says from the doorway. Sehun jumps at the sudden arrival of Wu Yi Fan, and Tao widens his eyes at him, which Sehun reckons is for the same reason. 

"Yes. Thank you." Sehun replies calmly. Tao's eyes are still wide, and Sehun starts to wonder if he's just bad after shock? Maybe we should play a horror game next time, he ponders to himself, thinking it'd be fun to see the overly-serious bodyguard get scared by a ghost or zombie.

"Do you want me to get you two anything to drink?" Yi Fan's eyes scan right over Sehun's and stops at Tao's, who looks more composed now. Sehun thinks he sees Tao gulp, but passes it off as a trick of the light or his imagination.

"No thank you." He looks at Tao, who turns to look at him. "Do you want something, Tao?" He feels weird again. He'd just offered Tao something. After having hated him for so long, he never realized he'd do anything nice to the other boy.

"Actually, sir," Tao says, suddenly transforming back into the bodyguard he was before, and not the boy who's amazingly good at video games and can joke around. "I need to be going to my room to check with the...agency. My apologies." 

Sehun nods, confused, and dismisses him from the room. Wu Yi Fan gives him a bow and parts, leaving Sehun alone in the game room. He turns off the TV and puts everything back by himself. 

Somehow the absence of both bodyguard and butler makes the room awfully quiet and he can't stand it. He flicks the light switch and leaves with a churning feeling in his stomach and a new mentality. I cannot get attached to others. 

The phone rings once. Twice. Tao taps his fingertips against his thighs, impatient and slightly nervous. 

"Hello?" The man picks up. 

"It's me." 

"Your report is early." Tao can hear the smirk in his voice.

"I know my goal, okay? I know it. I promise."

"I know you do, dear."

Tao wants to tell him not to call him that again, but this is a bad time. "I swear. I know." His voice comes out in frustrated sighs. 

"I'm sure you do. Don't worry about it, alright? I'll hear from you again." The man chuckles and hangs up. 

Tao sits there, taking breaths, the phone still in his hand. He sets it down gently. It had been a close call, but he's excused. His alarm clock tells him it's 6:33 PM. He stands and smooths his shirt and pants. Dinner time. He has a promise to fulfill.

He descends the stairs and finds Sehun already seated at table, his head in his hand and his elbow on the table. His eyes are closed and his long lashes flutter against his high cheekbone. It's a nice scene. Tao remains still before sitting down and awakening him, just to keep looking. 

"Hey." Sehun says, rubbing his eye. "You're here again."

"Didn't I tell you 'anytime'?"

"Yeah." Sehun doesn't look up from his plate. "Where are my parents today?"

"They have business trips. They didn't say?" Tao is taken aback by the lack of communication between Sehun and his parents. 

"Nah. It's okay. It's happened before."

It's happened before? Now he feels more than taken aback. This boy is neglected. Deprived of parental love. "Well... Then don't mind them, alright? They'll be back." He has no idea what he's saying. He's spouting out whatever comes to his mind, his honest opinion. "I'll accompany you when they can't."

"I don't need that." There he is again, the easily-irritable Sehun. The one who doesn't want to be with people, because they all leave, don't they? 

Tao sighs. He tried, and that's really all he can do with this kid. But right as he's bringing his fork up to his mouth, he hears a mutter from across the table.

"Thank you..."

He smiles to himself. Sehun won't meet his eyes, but he had heard it clearly. "No problem." 

After dinner, the two of them leave the dishes on the table for the staff to clean later and head back to the lounge to finish the homework Luhan had given them. Sehun finishes first, in forty-five minutes, and Tao not far behind in fifty-minutes. If they'd been back at school and taken the exams, Sehun guesses that Tao would have placed in the Top 20 with him and Jongin. They checked their work with each other, on account of Sehun who wanted to know if his guess was correct or not, and they've both gotten everything right. Sehun's impressed.

They call it a day and return to their own rooms. Because, after all, Sehun still can't stand being with someone for too long. It starts to hurt him. Old habits die hard.

Hi everyone! This chapter is kinda...full and weird, I guess? I don't know if it's too much for one chapter, so I made the percentage bigger so it makes more sense :) 

Thank you so so SO much for reading, subscribing, voting, commenting! I'm honored and for me, this story is sorta like one step closer to my ultimate dream of being an author >w< So if people like it, then it makes me feel ridiculously happy >///w///< If you like the story, then comment/subscribe/vote and it'd really encourage me to update faster! I love you guys <3