Lay spent the evening making plans, although they weren’t exactly the best. He was no secret agent, and the best he could come up with was to just snoop around Tao’s place and hope to find a way inside. Waiting until Joonmyeon was heading to go out with Tao for several hours, Lay pulled on a jacket and left the apartment. He walked to the bus stop and took the next bus to the stop nearest to Tao’s, then hopped off again. Walking up to the gate outside Tao’s estate he peered curiously inside, seeing if anyone was in sight. When he couldn’t see anyone he gave the gate a push, it was definitely locked. He lifted up one leg and placed it as securely as he could on one of the metal bars that made up the gate. Lifting himself up and gripping the top he brought up his other leg. Straddling the gate he swung himself over before dropping to the ground.

Casually walking up the drive and hoping that if he was caught he could explain that he was here to see Tao, Lay approached the building.  Circling the lower floor, he looked for a way inside the building. Spotting an open window near the kitchen he slipped inside and started to look around.

First he went to Tao’s office, hoping to find some incriminating evidence that would prove Tao had lied about Kris’s whereabouts. However he had soon swept the whole room and had come up with nothing.

Heading cautiously back out of the office and into another room he entered a large living area with two grand entrances. He shifted his gaze across the room and soon spotted an address book lying on the table. That must have his grandparents address or phone number in and then Lay could confront her with questions himself. Flipping through the entire address book twice Lay couldn’t find a single reference to a grandparent at all. In fact there wasn’t a single reference to anyone living Jeju either. Lay had just settled the address book back onto the table where it had been before when he heard movements upstairs. He froze on the spot, adrenaline already starting to pump through his veins. He stood there until he no longer heard movement and took a deep breath, deciding now was time to leave. He turned towards the entrance that he hadn’t yet used, assuming that from the layout of the house it would be closer to the door but the sight that met him took his breath away.

The two of them stood there, staring at each other. Lay with his heart beating rapidly in his chest and Kris, with a mug halfway raised to his mouth but he was frozen in surprise.

“K-Kris?” Lay stuttered quietly.

Before Kris could answer there was a beep as the door was unlocked. Lay heard it open from where he was standing but still didn’t respond. He couldn’t take his eyes away from the one he hadn’t seen in months. The one he had wanted to see more than anyone else in the world for the entirety of those months.

“Kris what are you doing?” Tao asked, then he too froze when he saw who was standing in the living room.

“Who’s this?” Kris asked quietly to Tao, nodding his head at Lay. “Do you have a meeting now? I can go upstairs if you need me out of your way.”

Lay’s mouth dropped open. He had heard every word. Tao couldn’t seem to find the words to respond to Kris.

The first thought that Lay managed to form was that Kris must be doing this to hurt Lay, that he was pretending not to know him to get revenge because Lay hadn’t wanted to leave SM with him. But Lay couldn’t believe that. The Kris he knew would never do that, plus his acting skills had never been this good.

The second thought was that Tao must have brain washed him.  Tears threatening to fall from Lay’s eyes and he edged out of the doorway, backing away from Kris like he was an imposter in his boyfriend’s skin. Once he was past them he scurried to the door and ran.

Tao was still completely shocked but then it hit him. He spun around on the spot and wrenched open the door, but no matter where he looked he couldn’t see Lay. Trying not to spill tears himself Tao took out his phone with shaking hands, the image of fear and betrayal that had shown on Lay’s face refusing to leave Tao’s thoughts.

“Joonmyeon… it’s Lay.”

*****

After hearing the news Joonmyeon dropped everything and sped home, hoping that Lay would return there and not go anywhere else. To his relief Lay was there, but he wasn’t in a good state. Sitting on the floor with his back against the kitchen counter and his head in between his knees, Lay was taking in deep wracking breaths.  Noticing Joonmyeon’s presence Lay stood up and wiped his tear stricken face on his sleeve and started towards Joonmyeon.

“You!” He said, although it wasn’t very threatening. It sounded more heart broken. He slapped one weak hand onto Joonmyeon’s chest. “You brain washed him! What did you do? Why is he like that… Why?” Before Lay could do anything else he pulled him forward into a tight embrace and held him so that he wouldn’t move.

“Shh… Yixing.” Lay broke down into more wrenching sobs and Joonmyeon lead him to the couch. Once there he pushed Lay down and sat beside him.

“I’ll tell you everything.” Joonmyeon said. “Just calm down now… take deep breaths.”

Once Lay was a little calmer, Joonmyeon told the whole story from start to end. The true story.

“… and so after everything that had happened and everything that he had done he couldn’t handle himself anymore. He has blocked his own memories because he just couldn’t cope with them. He’s been seeing a therapist for a few weeks and has made improvement. He can talk to people more openly and can accept the troubles with his family now. But his biggest regret ever is leaving you, and then when feeling lonely, depressed and drunk, he did cheat on you. That was what pushed him fully over the edge. He truly hates himself for that. I think he thinks that if he doesn’t know you and what he’s done he’ll be able to cope. It’s his only way of coping.”

Lay sat in silence as he had while Joonmyeon had been speaking. His brain was digesting the information, letting it sink in. To anyone else his thoughts would seem ridiculous but to Lay it was the only way that he could see it. It was his fault that Kris was like this. If he had just left with Kris and trusted him to know what he was doing they wouldn’t have been in this position. It was all his fault.

Another update! *falls asleep* I've spent so many hours working on this story today. The next few chapters are planned out in full and I have streams of ideas bursting from my ears that I'm trying to keep note of so that I don't forget. Also, I had an idea for something. I'm not sure what you'll think, but once I finish Contract to their hearts I have an idea for a prequel to this. Let me know in the comments what you think of that idea as I'm still not sure, and it would be much shorter than this I'm assuming. Love you all my dear dear readers!

-1990stalker-