“I want to show those two curious eyes of yours more. Right here, you and me, let’s stop time. Follow me.” -EXO, "Run"

“Do you want to stay here for the night?” Zitao begrudgingly looked away from the sky to glance at Yifan when the man began to speak. “It’s going to take at least a week to get home on foot.”

Zitao just nodded. Not wanting to leave so soon anyways. While he still could he wanted to live in these new colors for as long as he could. And he was tired. Still partially dizzy from the poison rushing through his veins. His hands were no longer swollen, but they still retained their unnatural purplish hue.

“Kyungsoo only packed one blanket; you can use it.”

All the older got in return was a slight nod and he sighed inwardly, wondering if Tao would ever open up. All Yifan had gotten to see of him since that first night was a shell of his broken resolve. He wandered what had happened to make him give up, all he knew about the Angels was that they were required to serve the purpose of the Dancers. He wished he could say more, but the Fifty-Seventh encampment was fairly new, so not much was known about it. Each encampment was different, the only other one he had been to before was one he had been stationed at for years, and they had kept the Workers as entertainment in fights to the death between them and wild animals. They had been trained, but most of the time the creatures would win and human blood would sink into the dirt floor of the arena.

This one was obviously different though, he was surprised Luhan had told him anything. He had guessed it was because Luhan was a firm believer in doing things alone, but something was different this time around. They were practically brothers, but as soon as Yifan had begun to ask questions Luhan would clam up and ignore him as best he could. There was something about Encampment Fifty-Seven that had changed Luhan, and Yifan didn’t know if he’d ever figure out what it was.

Besides that there was the case of how to get Tao back to how he had been when he first saw him. Whatever the Dancers had done to him it had broken him, nowhere to be seen was the man that had brought up the courage of all of the other Workers. He had no more spirit. Yifan wished he could say otherwise, but all he saw now were broken shards of glass spread across Zitao’s body.

“Is the sky always this beautiful?”

“Most of the time,” Yifan responded with a slight grin at the panda’s curiosity.

“Most of the time?” Tao repeated, taking a second to glance at the older as he sat down next to Tao on the forest floor as well.

“Weather changes,” Yifan shrugged. He looked over at the younger when he looked back up at the sky. Tao didn’t say anything more to him.

He looked at the sky, feeling Yifan’s gaze on him but refusing to look over. He didn’t want to interact with the man more than he had already. He kept telling himself that he had only found comfort in the older because he was weak, but the more he sat with the other the more he wanted get closer to him.

“Tao-”

“Zitao,” Tao corrected him. As close as he had already gotten to the rebel, he didn’t want to get any closer. Yifan to him would only be someone to take him away. “Call me Zitao,” the panda repeated uncomfortably. He spared a glance at the other and saw questions in his eyes, questions that Tao himself didn’t have complete answers to.

Yifan would be all that he has now. Luhan had left him, Sehun had him, and he would probably never see anyone from the Halo ever again, he couldn’t afford to get close to anyone else. He kept telling himself that if he just stopped now, and treated Yifan like nothing other than a guide or acquaintance he wouldn’t get too close. He didn’t want to get close, but there was a part of him that was already chasing the man; Tao just refused to admit it.

 “Okay,” Yifan drawled, giving him one last look before going to pick up the bag from where it was and fishing out some granola for the two of them to eat, there were rations that they could eat on the way, but there wasn’t enough to be healthy, so Yifan told him that he’d have to hunt at some point.

There wasn’t much to talk about between the two of them, whatever had drawn the two so close together in the Caverns had been swallowed whole by an awkward and uncomfortable silence. Yifan was resting, his eyes closed as he laid against a tree, the sun was beginning to fall behind the horizon and Tao was still enthralled with everything around him. He had been simply picking at the grass, for what seemed like hours, feeling each blade between his fingers as if it was some kind of fabric sample to play with. When he finally rolled over onto his back he gasped, sitting up immediately.

“Yifan! Yifan, wake up!” He yelled, not even looking at him or bothering to go over and shake him awake. Kris was alert and on his feet as soon as he heard Tao calling his name but sided, his shoulders relaxing as he let his body sag when he saw the panda looking up with a smile on his face. His eyes crinkled gleefully, and Yifan laughed to himself.

“Beautiful isn’t it?”

The day had fallen leaving way to stars that shone in the sky like diamonds in a field of nothingness. The moon outshone them all but Tao wasn’t concerned with the giant orb in the sky. He nodded happily. Questions came tumbling from his mouth, contrasting what he had been trying to do earlier as he was now talking to Yifan casually.

The stars above him gave him hope that he hadn’t felt before. Kris had talked about the stars on his first day as a Worker, but Tao had heard them and everything had been left to his imagination. Now though, he could see them, they were completely different. He wasn’t lying when he said there was a different place where everything was better. Tao smiled to himself and looked at the older.

He hadn’t been lying to him at all, since Tao had met him, he hadn’t spoken a single lie. Sure the first words Tao heard from him were rude, but that didn’t mean they were entirely false. The more Tao thought on it, the more he thought he had been wrong to tell Kris off that first night. There was nothing he had done that should have had enough reason to spark that kind of response. Guilt crawled up his throat as he fought with himself to decipher exactly why Tao had hated him from the spot.

He was arrogant.

He was rude.

He was new and ignorant.

But he had been strong…

Tao pulled his knees to his chest and wrapped his arms around them, looking from the stars, to Yifan, and then to the ground.

He’s stronger than me, Tao realized. Tao wanted to hit himself as he came to a realization that he was simply jealous of the rebel. He was stronger than Tao and it made Zitao feel weak. So weak that he just wanted to curl up in a ball and lay there resenting himself.

“Yifan,” Tao started, still looking at the ground. Kris hummed still looking at the twinkling lights in the night sky. “I want to apologize.”

Yifan didn’t say anything, and Tao looked over at him wanting to gauge any reaction but he was only met with the silence of a still figure. Heavenly light outlined his frame and illuminated his face, but there was no emotion in it. “For what?” he asked blankly.

“For being a jerk to you.” Yifan finally turned to look at him but when he did, Tao couldn’t help but look away. “I was wrong, that first night. I shouldn’t have been so angry when you didn’t do anything wrong to me. I-”

“Take it back, Zitao.”

Tao looked up and his eyes met with Yifan’s.

“Take your apology back, you said nothing wrong.”

“No, it was wrong of me. I need to-”

“Zitao I was trying to piss you off, if anyone should apologize it should be me.”

Tao was frozen. “What?”

“I just wanted to see how far I could push you. From the moment I saw you sit down with Luhan,” Tao flinched at the name, “I knew that you were different than everyone else there. I was trying to find out if you had what it would take to get out of there. If you actually wanted to get out of there. So I don’t want your apology, but I’m not going to say that I’m sorry either.”

“Okay.”

Tao dragged his eyes away from the older, regaining his composure and looking up to the stars. The air between them was stiff, but Tao wasn’t done talking.

“Okay, but can I ask something of you?”

“Of course.” Tao felt his heart speed up, and any resentment he had felt towards the man earlier that day left him. He wanted that to always be the response when he asked Yifan that question. It made him feel at peace- as if Kris was saying he would always be there.

“Next time, I’m a jerk, tell me.” Kris nodded, and Tao hoped that he understood that it was also his apology for being rude just earlier as well.

“Does that mean I don’t have to call you Zitao?”

Tao grinned. “Only if you agree to tell me everything you know about the stars.”

By the time Tao woke up in the morning, he was ready to leave and start on their way to the rebel camp. Glancing at Yifan, he saw that the older was still asleep. Tao had told him that he could have the blanket, and at first Kris had argued, but gave in when Zitao told him that it was the least he could do for him.

Tao crawled closer to him, admiring the way his hair fell over his forehead and into his eyes. He flinched when Tao gently moved it out of his face, but otherwise didn’t wake up. Tao hadn’t ever taken his time to look closely at him, but up close he realized just how handsome Tao was. His breath was slow but steady and Tao leaned in close to his face. Wanting to get closer for some reason. Yifan’s lips looked soft. He slept with them slightly parted and Tao couldn’t help but smile. “Cute,” he whispered.

He wondered for how long the older was going to keep sleeping and laid down next to him. Staring for what seemed like forever until eventually Kris’s eyes fluttered open. Tao’s eyes widened, suddenly realizing how close he had scooted to the other. Face flush, words stumbled over each other in his mind.

“Good morning,” Yifan said.

“Good morning.”

Butterflies raced around in is stomach, but he wasn’t nervous. A wave of warmth had washed over him, calming his nerves, when Yifan didn’t ask what Tao was doing laying practically against his body.

Their day started off with a small container of nuts and berries that Kyungsoo had packed for them. Tao ate them contentedly as they trekked through the trees. There was no path out here, but Yifan still managed to navigate using the trees, the sun and such.

He explained that it was actually easier for him to navigate in the wilderness at night, which confused Tao at first but Kris was quick to explain.

“The stars are more reliable than the plants. Not only that, but I just happen to know more about stars in general. They’re more interesting to me, so I remembered more.”

“How? The stars move don’t they?”

“Yes,” Yifan sighed. “Their correlations with each other however don’t. The constellations will move, but they’ll always stay the same.” Tao nodded, not completely understanding how that would help, but getting his point. “And the North Star never moves, so at the least I’ll always be able to tell what direction I’m going in.”

Everything was lush around them and Tao smiled when he heard the song of birds and the wind whistling through the trees. He recognized a lot of it from some of the movies Minseok had let him watch, but found that they sound much better in real life than through some speakers. Every now and then Tao would step on a branch and the sound was loud in the quiet of the forest. The shoes on his feet however made him grateful and although he was sweating profusely he refused to take his shirt off because the further north they went the colder it got.

A small river crossed their path at some point, and Yifan had smiled in recognition, telling him that if the followed it upstream, it would take them in the general direction that they needed to go for the majority of their trek. Before they followed it though, they both washed off in it, and sighed as they sunk into the water bare both far apart and turned away from each other. Tao let the water soak into his skin until his fingers were wrinkled (the purple color was finally fading from his fingers). They were both refreshed afterwards and continued upstream, bare feet sinking into the soft grass as they walked.

They didn’t talk much aside from the occasional question of whether or not they were hungry, tired, or thirsty. Other than that, Tao stayed silent, and just walked behind Kris without question. The rebel took strong steps, confident in where he put the feet, while Tao found himself tripping, and nearly fell into the river and Kris made him walk closer to the tree line rather than the water.

Smile on his lips, Zitao kept walking, his head up as he admired the sunlight flittering through the tree limbs which left uneven, patterned shadows crossing his face, and gave him a sore neck, but it was more than enjoyable since the two had absolutely nothing to do other than walk.

When the sun was its highest in the sky a low grumble came from Tao stomach and heat rushed to his cheeks when Kris laughed. “Hungry?”

Tao just nodded shyly, not even five minutes he had claimed that he wasn’t the least bit hungry- a stark lie on the his part. It was only midday and Kris told him they would walk until the sun had completely given way to darkness, so they needed to upkeep their energy. Flipping the bag he had on his back to his chest, Yifan pulled out a water bottle and an apple and tossed it to Tao who caught it with ease, murmuring a thanks.

The next day went on much like the last. It began with a good morning to each other and ended with sore feet and grilled fish that Yifan had caught and cooked over a fire. They talked more the second day however, Tao asking what it was like at the rebel camp and Kris explaining to him.

Tao wanted to see it for himself. Kris said it was an abandoned encampment that only had farming land and buildings inside the mountains to the far west of it. There wasn’t a place like Halo and there wasn’t a special place for anyone to do forced labor as everything was organized voluntarily unless there were dire needs that needed to be taken care of. Only then would the rebels actually force everyone to work, but even then, the people were only simply given tasks in order for everyone to fully contribute to the situation.

The buildings in the mounts, Yifan told him, were similar to the Caverns of Encampment Fifty-Seven with far less extravagance. What Zitao would probably consider the Halo had been turned into housing units for anyone who was constantly in and out of the camp and those who might be brought in on short notice. In other words, it was where Tao would be staying if he planned on living with the rebels and was where Yifan would be until he was sent away on another mission. Yifan said that he would be happy there, and Tao couldn’t help but believe his promise.

The finally stopped for their second night, the stars high in the air, by the side of the river, going a little further back into the depth of the trees and set up for the night.

“Five more days, Tao.”

“Five more days,” the younger mumbled back.

There was still an awkward silence as the two laid there. They had become more social with each other but that didn’t mean they weren’t walking on a tight rope around each other anymore. Getting closer seemed easier now though. Yifan made Tao curious, he was strange. Perhaps it was because everything seemed strange to him now. It was strange being outside the encampment, and even stranger that the person who got him out was the man he had thought he hated.

“Yifan?”

The rebel hummed in response to let the younger know that he was listening.

“Why did you save me?” Zitao asked, looking over at him as he asked the question.

Tao was surprised when the man answered immediately. “I don’t know.”

“Oh,” Tao said dejectedly, looking away again.

“There was just something about you,” he continued, “that made me want to help you.” The older seemed to flush, and if Tao could hear his heart beat he would have heard it beating quickly. The panda wouldn’t admit it, but he had wished the older had a different reason. A more personal reason to have helped him.

Zitao had gotten used to the nature around him. To the unnatural green leaves and the soft grass. He sat in awe at the stars most nights but had accepted them as normal along with the moon and the clear skies. There were always birds flittering about in the treetops and Tao would always smile when he saw them, wondering when exactly he had started realizing that everything around him was normal.

Well… Almost everything.

Tao looked over at Yifan, who had his eyes closed as he laid on his back, arms crossed under his head, chest rising and falling steadily. The two still argued over who got the blanket every night and they had decided to switch it every night. Yifan had it tonight, even if it wasn’t his turn, Tao would’ve given it to him; the older was practically allergic to the cold.

“Yifan?”

“Yes, Tao?”

“I’m cold,” Zitao lied blatantly. The words had come out of his mouth without a second thought, and he blushed when he realized he just wanted closer to the older. He was tired of sleeping alone. As a Worker, Luhan had been curled up against him, and in the Halo when Mimi and Taera weren’t laying with him, he had pillows and blankets to tuck around himself, but out here all he had were his own cold limbs to tangle around his body as a weak defense against the night.

“Here,” Yifan said, taking the blanket off of him and handing it out to Tao, if the younger wanted to take it, he could just reach his hand out and take it but instead he shook his head, causing Kris to frown. “Tao you said your cold, just take it.”

“No,” Tao shook his head again. “Can we just… share… it?” Even the crickets seemed to stop chirping. Words came rushing out of Tao’s mouth as he tried to explain himself. “Look you need it too, but I’m really cold and I’m tired of being alone, it’s not the same. A blanket would be enough, but you get cold really easily so I just thought-”

Yifan just huffed and pulled the blanket back over him, holding one side of it up with his arm, almost as if he was giving Tao an invitation to sleep beside him. Tao sighed in relief, and smiled as he quickly got under the blanket head and all, his face beet red. “Thank you,” he whispered, hoping that the older would hear him. Yifan just hummed again, not saying anything, but letting Tao know that he understood.

Tao was quick to fall asleep, not even comprehending how close he was to the older. The blanket covered them, Tao on his side, hands together at his chest, and Yifan still laying on is back using his own hands as a pillow.

Kris was the one to wake up first the next morning, almost coughing as heat rose to his cheeks upon seeing how close Tao was to him. Their bodies flush against each other, with Tao holding on to his shirt for dear life. The younger looked cute, a slight pout on his lips as he slept with his knees bent and in between their bodies. He didn’t know how long he laid there, just staring at the younger until he yawned and Kris quickly jumped away.

“G’ m’rning, Kris,” the younger mumbled his eyes still closed and the words not completely comprehendible.

“Good, you’re finally up, we need to get moving, the sooner we get to the camp the better,” Yifan coughed, and Tao sat up eyes widening as he looked at the older who was already leaving, backpack hanging from one shoulder, his clothes still the same ones he had worn yesterday. He eyed the man curiously for a moment before getting to his feet and rushing to catch up with him, blanket balled up in his arms. The older was obviously flustered and Tao just watched him all morning until they stopped for lunch and Kris finally spoke.

“You look like a five year old.”

Tao frowned, glaring at the other. And hour after they had started walking Tao had gotten tired of carrying the blanket in his arms and had tied two ends of it around his neck like a cape. He sat down with a huff and the blanket splayed out around him; he had thought it was cute, and it sure as heck made walking more fun as he could run and it would fly up behind him.

“And you look like some old grandpa, walking around stiff all day, not saying anything.”

Yifan didn’t respond, but silently pulled out some fruit from the backpack and handed some over to Tao. The day went on like this, as did the next, and the one after that. Mostly in silence, the only time Yifan would let the younger close to him was at night, when they shared the blanket, but Yifan always fell asleep with his back turned to Tao. The only time they talked was when necessary or the occasionally childish insult Yifan would throw his way. They were beginning to run out of food by the sixth day. They had stopped following the river just yesterday so they couldn’t fish. Tao had offered to help him hunt but the Yifan told him that he would only get in the way.

“What is your problem?” Tao finally asked, his face red. “All I want is to help, and if you were going to be this annoyed by me, why’d you even bring me in the first place?” he asked angrily, stomping his foot, and grabbing Yifan’s shoulder to turn him around.

“I’m not annoyed by you, Zitao, I just-“

“You just what, Yifan?” Tao argued coldly.

“I just don’t know how to act around you anymore,” Kris whispered and the grass beneath their feet seemed to be a whole lot more interesting to him.

“What do you mean?”

“I just- I don’t know, Tao,” he sighed, turning away. “I’m going to get us some food.”

“No!” Tao yelled at him, and charged up behind him, grabbing his shoulder again. “You aren’t going anywhere until you explain to me what the hell is going on. We were fine just a few days ago! I don’t under-”

Yifan spun around abruptly and held Tao’s face between his hands. For a split second he seemed to hesitate, but before Tao knew it, Yifan’s lips were on his own. Tao’s eyes widened, and he stood stiffly, wondering why it was that he was so frozen while the older was kissing him.

He wondered why Kris was kissing him.

Yifan’s lips moved against his slowly, as if asking him to relax.

Tao wanted to pull away, but against his better judgement, he found himself angling his head to get a better feel of the man that confused him so much. Closing his eyes, he let himself relax into the warmth of the one who had saved him from so much.

a/n: heeeeey guys, two updates in a week, yeah I know, it;s weird. Anyways, for those of you who don't know, I wrote the bonus chapter that I've been talking about forever, its up after the third chapter, and I do plan on making more, so look forward to those^^

anyways thank you to any new subscribers! I hope you enjoy this story. ^_^

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