“Hello, my little flower,” Zitao paused to rub the little girl’s head, smiling as her hair was ruffled, “Are you full?” He asked, though, he got no response, her attention solely focused on her drawing. Shaking his head, he took her empty dishes from dinner and moved them to the kitchen, though he was in no mood to wash them. Simply setting them down without a second thought, he decided he would force Sehun to wash them, as punishment for all his secrets.

It had been a couple of days now since he had been caught going through his lover’s things and though he has kept to his promise of no more snooping, he still found himself curious. What exactly was Sehun hiding from him? Why was everything important locked away from him? And most importantly, what did he do all day? It obviously brought in enough money to live extremely well, especially with Zitao’s added money, but what could it be? Sighing at the thought of his money, he was forced to remember where it had come from.

His feet carried him to the table, his mind lost in thought as always. Sitting down next to his little flower, he began to think about his own parents. He remembered the days very well, they would never leave his memory. Zitao had met this nice, handsome young Korean man. He had been visiting China for a family business trip, free to roam so long as he ‘didn’t get in the way of family affairs’; or so he had said. That was the day that they had met, it was the first time for a lot of things, for the both of them. The day had been simple, sweet and tender; Zitao felt alive that day. He hadn’t yet realized that the feelings he already felt was love. The young man made a promise to return to see him and him alone.

Zitao held him to that promise, and thankfully, after what felt like years of waiting, he came back for the first time. In his hands, he held a singular flower. It was not the traditional iconic symbol of romance, it was a simple lotus flower; he looked pleased when he had presented it.

“It’s the most beautiful flower, don’t you think?” He had asked, his smile warm and innocent, full of happiness and excitement as he offered the flower to him. Zitao remembered taking the flower with a smile, he hadn’t thought much of the lotus, but that day, it really did become the most beautiful flower. But alas, just like his flower, the man’s time there did not last. He had to leave once again, leaving Zitao alone with his thoughts of lotuses and better days. Thankfully, the man never stayed gone for long.

Over the years, Zitao had watched the man blossom into a wonderful and handsome prince like character. They had both grown close to one another, leaving little to no room for many other thoughts. They could resist the loving thoughts of each other, Zitao especially enchanted by his prince. When the man left once again for Korea, he promised that he would arrive again, declaring that he would be with him if only Zitao would allow him to. Without much thought, he agreed. That day when he left, was the most important of them all. This was the day that he confessed to his parents of their long standing affairs and ualities, about how they intended to live together; they were appalled. Zitao remembered their disgusted and horrified faces, after all, they were rich and had a high standing in their community. A gay son would only ruin it all. They paid him off to leave the house, the city, and included extra if he went so far as to leave the country.

He had no choice, having been banished from his home, he took the money to survive. But his prince was gone, out of the country yet again; Zitao only worried that he would never be able to find him again. But his this moment was straight from a fairytale, just mere weeks later, his prince found him.

“I’ve been looking for you! Come with me, okay? Let’s just be together, alright?” Those words were the best things to have ever been spoken to him, bringing him here, to this place. That prince was his precious Sehun, and though the man had changed over the years, he was still the most important person in his life. He would never stop loving Sehun, he was simply worried about the secrets kept in the dark.

“MeiLien, beautiful lotus.” He spoke softly, his eyes having trailed to his daughter, a girl who sat drawing wonderful things. She looked up at him, blinking as if to respond to his words. “You’re my beautiful flower, right?” He asked softly, smiling at her, the name he had just spoken already seemed sunken into the girl.

“Yes!” She shouted, her eyes large and beautiful, as usual.

“How do you like MeiLien?” He questioned, a little hesitantly. But before he could get an answer, there was a knock on the door, clear and consistent. Sighing slightly, he stood and ruffled the hair of the little girl once more before making his way to the door. Opening it slightly, he was greeted by the smile of a man.

His appearance said many things, he was as tall as Zitao, if not perhaps a mere centimeter shorter than him. But it wasn’t his height that caught him off guard, but the shirt. It was made of black silk, it was simple yet elegant; the buttons were made of an opaque white material. It was quite a lovely shirt.

“Hello, I am sorry to disturb. But is Oh Sehun perhaps home?” He spoke in a formal manner, his smile alive with warmth. Zitao could not help but to smile in return, opening the door wider to greet the stranger. He did not have time to analyze any other part of him, his mind automatically registering him as the man with the black silk shirt.

“He went to go run some errands, but he should be back soon. Can I ask what you need him for?” Zitao questioned gently, wondering if the man was a business associate of his; he thought this might be his chance to snoop a little more. But this time, it wouldn’t be his fault, not necessarily.

“Ah, I am currently under his employment, but we still have a few business concerns and legalities to get out of the way.” He spoke warmly, his smile quite infectious. Zitao knew that he probably shouldn’t, but he trusted the man. After all, he worked for Sehun, how bad could he be?

“He should be back soon enough, if you’d like to wait for him here?” Zitao opened the door further, gesturing towards the inside of their home, welcoming him. The man looked rather excited and bowed, thanking him before entering.

“What business do you have with Sehun, like, what are you doing for him?” Zitao asked casually, keeping his eyes on the table as he sat; he only looked up when the man sat down as well. This was another childish spy like moment for Zitao. Questioning the enemy, he was undercover for top secret information. He could taste the victory now.

“I do not know a lot about you or your family, but my boss told me to speak of nothing to anyone. I am afraid that I cannot tell you.” Sehun smiled politely, though it was obvious by the mischievous look in his eyes that he knew what Zitao was up to. All he could do was sigh in response, slowly sitting back in his chair as he stared at the man.

“So many secrets.” Zitao grumbled, his eyes slightly narrowed as he continued to stare at his guest, bitter over his lack of willingness to share what he knew.

“It would seem that my boss had many secrets too, I did not know that he had a child.” The man gestured to the little girl, Zitao’s arm unconsciously moving in front of her, blocking her slightly. It wasn’t as though he thought of the man as a threat, but that he did not trust the man knowing about his family. His eyes darted to her before returning to bore into the man once more. His eyes were dark orbs, flat and deep; they reminded him of a bottomless well.

“Yes, we adopted her.” Zitao replied with reluctance, a swallow following his words as he eyed the man sitting before him. His eyebrows suddenly rose in an expression of curiosity and surprise, his black orb like eyes staring only at him now.

“You are together? I would not have guessed him to be the person.” The man spoke quickly before his eyebrows furrowed, a question obviously on the tip of his tongue. Zitao could only roll his eyes and sigh, guessing what could come next. It was always the same routine of questions, the same curiosities of his life as a gay man; the same judgement.

“Yeah well, I guess you don’t know him that well.” He snapped, his tone sarcastic and malicious, his arms crossed as he waited for the retaliation.

“I guess not, I just didn’t think he would be with anyone. I didn’t see him as the family man.” The man shrugged, seeming unruffled by Zitao’s offensive tones and words. He could only narrow his eyes, wondering what the silk shirted man was angling at. ‘What the hell is he trying to say?’ Zitao was beyond curious right now, his arms uncrossing as he leaned forward, placing them slowly on the table. ‘This isn’t normally how these things go.’

“He is actually an amazing father.” His curiosity was slowly tugging at his mind; well, more like shaking and screaming at it. The man’s mouth constantly opened and closed, sighs and careful sounds escaping his chest, as if he had something to say but wasn’t quite sure how to say it. “Oh for the love of everything good in this world, just ask what you want!” His curiosity had finally gotten the better of him, feeling much like a dog drooling as it stared at a bone, just out of reach. He desperately wanted that bone.

“How did you do it?” The question felt weird and rushed, the man’s eyes on the ground as he spat it out; his question was almost as shy as he now appeared. But Zitao wasn’t sure what the question even was, let alone how to answer it. His face distorted into an expression of confusion and slight frustration, his eyes trailing to the still happily drawing girl beside him. She did not seem bothered nor confused by the men’s conversations, her focus entirely at the obviously very important dinosaur drawing at hand.

“Do what?” He snapped, his frustrations expressed in shortened words as he took a deep breath; he wasn’t quite sure where these emotions had came from. They seemed too sudden and random, grasping at his chest and subconscious. He hadn’t taken his medication yet. Feeling a little antsy, he began to worry about what could happen; he was an unstable monster.

“How did you manage to get someone like Sehun? I mean,” He paused, his eyes traveling around the house without pattern or reason, “I don’t know, how do you even figure out how to pursue someone?” His eyes finally, though hesitantly, rested on him; they were scared. Things were finally starting to make sense to Zitao, a slight breath escaping him as he leaned off of the table; he felt uncomfortable in his chair.

“Do you have someone you love?” His question was simple, but the man seemed to take it as a complicated demand.

“No, I mean, I don’t love him. He is cruel, horrible and doesn’t deserve for anyone to love him. I don’t love him.” The man rambled, waving off his question with a rather sassy flick of the wrist. “I haven’t even known him long enough to love him.” He added, with a seeming second thought, his eyes narrowed as if he dared Zitao to challenge his denial. But he could only smile, realizing the man did not judge them for their family, as he was the same as them.

“You know, I only knew Sehun for about a day before I decided I loved him.” Zitao smiled, his feelings flip flopping once more; however, it was for the better this time. He felt amusement and happiness at seeing the man flounder uncomfortably with his obvious feelings of affection; he wouldn’t be able to deny them for very long.

“Sehun isn’t this man, they aren’t alike. This man is a cruel monster, he’s taken a lot away from a lot of people.” The man’s shoulders sunk, his resolve made clear to his own mind. Though Zitao feared this man he described slightly, he could not help but to feel that the man may be exaggerating.

“Do you know why he would do something like that?” He asked simply, shifting in his chair once more. His anxious feelings, though reasonably suppressed through conversation, were getting worse.

“Yes.” The man had shut himself off from the conversation, his arms crossed almost as if he were shielding himself. His eyes had fallen to the floor, his blonde locks cascading over his eyes much like that of a soft blanket; warm and gentle. He was amazingly handsome man.

“Are they good reasons?” Zitao asked, he was not oblivious to man’s obvious struggles with his feelings. It was blatantly clear that he cared for this man, though, simultaneously hating him at the same time.

It was a long pause, a dead silence between the two of them.

“Yes, maybe, I don't know.”

“Can he fix the things he’s done?”

Another long silence.

“No.”

“Can you?”

“Yes.”

“Then fix it and fix him, he can’t hurt anymore if he has a reason not to.” Zitao finalized their conversation, shrugging as the answer seemed simple to him. If the past could be fixed by the man, than there was no reason that the future couldn’t be any better for the both of them.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Sehun’s voice was angry and loud, striking suddenly; Zitao feeling as though he had been tossed into a thunderstorm. “This is my home!” He yelled, slamming a few bags on the table, a few various grocery items spilling out. He had not even noticed the man had entered the house, his hand clutching at his chest as his eyes darted between the man and Sehun. Panic.

“Oh no!” The little girl squeaked, covering her ears with wide eyes; Zitao felt the same way. She looked to him, fear wiggling its way into her expression, her bottom lip trembling. She didn’t like it when they yelled.

“Sehun!” He abruptly stood, demanding the man’s attention before gesturing to the little girl who now sat staring at her drawing with wide eyes; her hands still covered her ears.

“This is a little more important, Tao!” Sehun ignored Zitao’s concerns over their daughter, his eyes focused solely on the man who now stood as well. Every body was tense, vibrating with energy and intense emotions. But Zitao only felt anger now, his blood seeming to turn to water as it pounded mercilessly through his veins; he clenched his fists so hard he was sure his nails had just punctured his palms.

“Nothing should be more important than this family,” He yelled, using one of his clenched fists against Sehun’s shoulder, “if you think someone coming over without permission is more important than this family, we’re going to have very serious problems.” He finished, his breathing heavy as he glared at the man.

“This is not just someone coming over uninvited, this is business! Business has no place in the household just as you have no place in my business.” Sehun snapped in return, his own fists clenched and raised; Zitao flinched. The man had never raised his fists to him, despite the many outbursts Zitao often went through. Sehun had always simply taken it, he understood that he never truly meant it. “Take her upstairs and don’t come back down until we are done here. Go.” Sehun demanded, gesturing to the shivering girl who sat at the table; she was petrified.

Zitao could only stare at Sehun with a hurt and dumbfounded expression, his hands relaxing just enough for him to realize that he really had scratched his palms. They did not bleed, they simply stung, much like Sehun’s words. He could not even comprehend a response, simply turning to take his daughter into his arms; she immediately hugged his neck. They were both hurt.

“Don’t even think about coming anywhere near us, Sehun. Sleep on the couch tonight.” Zitao spoke quietly as he gathered the drawing supplies left scattered on the table, his anger boiling down to nothing. He was simply left with nothing, feeling drained as he made his way to the staircase.

“Can we get to business, now that you’ve made a total of yourself?” He could hear the man ask as he left, his words obviously aimed to hurt Sehun.

‘What sort of business could be more important than us?’ He thought bitterly, his exit rapid and without sound.

Zitao sat in the darkness, the silence was overwhelming as the moonlight turned every object and being into an ethereal being with it's touch. He had waited hours in the guest bedroom, expecting his lover to come and retrieve the two of them at any moment. To tell them that he was sorry, or to give some form of explanation for his behavior. He knew that he had said some hurtful things to him, telling him to leave them be, be he never thought for even a moment that Sehun would so easily discard them. So he continued his wait, his fists balled in the moonlight that pooled into his lap. Tick tock goes the clock, tick tock goes the heart, despite its broken state. But hours passed, the girl having long since fallen asleep on the bed while Zitao sat in hearbroken silence. Sehun never appeared to retrieve them.

The clock felt shattered, his sense of time stopping on a moonglight night of guilt and angry grief.

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When literally everything in the entire world distracts you and you are feeling lazy. Another chapter for you all, hope you enjoyed it and I will be updating again soon enough.

~SnobbyCoffeeAsian