The sound of clattering dishes and splashing water aggressively attacked the tension filled air; Zitao’s water wrinkled hands held no mercy for the filth covered dishes. He refused to look up, his eyes focused solely on his hands; however, he was entirely aware of his blonde lover leaning against the doorframe. He still had not yet forgiven the man and judging by the crossed arms and hardened eyes, the man had not forgiven Zitao either. But it had been far too easy to avoid each other and the problems at hand. Sehun had to work while Zitao had a child to take care of. By himself.

The huffing sigh that escaped the man caught his attention, a bowl slipping out of his wet fingers and clattering back into the sink. His chest released a deep sigh as well, his still wet fingers rising to pinch the bridge of his nose before pushing himself away from the sink. He felt as though he should say something in that moment, to make a speech about his growing anger and lay down the metaphorical smack down of the century. And yet, he could say nothing as he turned around and retrieved the dinner dishes from last night off of the counter. He had been so concerned with his apparently unwelcomed guest and his banishment upstairs that he had not gotten around to cleaning just yet.

“What’s for breakfast?” Sehun asked rather coldly, his jaw set as his lips were drawn into the straightest line Zitao had ever seen. He could have easily listed off what he had in mind for his breakfast plans, but instead he clenched his teeth; he had no intentions of letting his generally weak tongue speak to the man. He felt bad though, for the dishes that got to feel the brunt of his anger through fast and heavy scrubbing. The sharp sounds of clattering ceramic dishes screaming in the sinks as he tossed them about. He was surprised that they had not yet met their deaths with the sounds of shrieking shards and echoing waterfalls.

“You’re not going to answer me?” Sehun sounded almost surprised whilst simultaneously furious, “You cannot possibly still be-”  

“My daughter and I plan to go out for breakfast, what you plan to do for food is of no concern to me.” Zitao cut him off, his growling hands finally scrubbing the last of the dirty dishes, freeing them from his torture. His lips fell into a straight line, his teeth grinding against one another as he snatched up the dish towel. ‘Dammit.’ He thought rather bitterly, his nose scrunching up in disgust. With a few spoken words, he would be forced to release more. He shouldn’t have spoken at all.

“Your daughter?” Sehun’s loud and offended tone could have been heard even by the deaf, his words high pitched and furious. The blonde had pushed himself off of the wall, his hands on his hips; his entire body looked tense. Zitao was reminded of a bull, nostrils flaring, a few scrapes of hooves on the ground before a bellowing charge. It would have been an amusing thought if not for his own anger.

“Yes, my daughter,” Zitao barked at the man without giving him another glance, his eyes focused on drying the last of the dishes so that he could escape to breakfast, “and I would appreciate it if you could refrain from yelling. I don’t want you waking her up.” He finished, snatching up a plate before practically throwing it back into the cupboard where it belonged. Desperately hoping that his weak tongue would give up on its quest to destroy his silent rebellion against the man. But it would seem that it had far more to say than he had originally anticipated.

“Since when did she become just your daughter and not ours?” Sehun’s tone had lowered, yet the bull like anger behind it remained. The snorting creature was moments away from charging, but then again, so was Zitao. Spinning around his heels, fluid and smooth like a dancer, he met Sehun’s glare with one of his own. His neck twitched with tension as his teeth felt as though they’d shatter under the strength of his jaw closing down.

“Oh, I’m sorry, my bad, I thought that since you had no time for us with your busy secret work schedule, I just assumed. My bad.” Zitao barked sarcastically, throwing his hands up in an aggressive surrendering position. He was feeling particularly sarcastic today, giving Sehun one last anger laced smile before whirling around to face the cupboards once more. He was all over the place, his anger attacking his mind while his betrayal attacked his chest. There was not an inch of space left for rationality or feelings of sympathy.

“Did you take your medication this morning?” Sehun snapped, the words merely throw fuel into the fire that raged in his mind. Whirling around, he felt as though even his eyes were crazy with anger as he bared his teeth at the man.

“Not everything I do or say is because of the medication or lack thereof!” He shouted, whipping the towel in Sehun’s direction as he threw his arm down in a mere show of frustration. Yes, it was true that he suffered from severe anxiety and suicidal tendencies. But his actions and life are not entirely dictated by his medication, he was still himself.

“Well, Tao, half the time I can’t even tell. You pretty much act the same regardless.” Sehun threw his own arms out, shaking his head a little with a rather crazed expression. It would appear that both men felt the same in this moment.

“Because you make me absolutely insane! You always have, you always will! With all your secrets and your constant dodging and hiding! There has never once been a moment where you did not leave me or keep secrets from me! What the hell are you doing all the time? I need to know!” Zitao nearly bit his tongue twice in his rather foam inducing rant, his throat feeling strained from his deep yelling. Sehun even looked surprised by Zitao’s blow up. He was generally a quiet man, while very emotional, he was not one to yell frequently much less in an argument.

“Look,” Sehun made made a wiping gesture with his hand in the air, his eyes almost rolling as he angrily sighed, “let's just forget this conversation ever happened, okay?” He snapped, dropping his arms down to this side with a rather large huff. The angry bull had not taken the bait, he had not charged. Instead, it merely trotted off with brooding shoulders into a den of captivity. Zitao wished that Sehun would do the same, wishing that the man could disappear as easily as his anger.

Zitao made no effort at a response, his lips regaining their flat lined expression as he crossed his arms with the dish towel still in hand. He stared at the countertop, regaining his sense of rationality as his fingers gently fiddled with the somewhat pleasing texture of the ridged towel. Letting out a breath, he felt a mere fraction of his anger float out with it; however, it did not stay gone long.

“Um, did you know she started calling herself MeiLien?” Sehun seemed uncomfortable, returning to his position leaning against the door frame as his eyes remained statue like on the floor. Zitao took another breath and dropped his arms to his sides, his eyes rising to meet the last bowl that still needed to meet its final destination. Snatching it up, his lips twisted in angry thoughts as he gently set it with its kin.

“I may have tried mentioning that to her as a name.” Zitao spoke slowly, careful to avoid yelling as he gently shut the cabinet doors. He could hear Sehun’s anger snort again, the bull stomping at the ground in its den of confinement. The blonde raised one of his arms again, holding up a finger. A long paused burned in the air.

“Without me?” He asked slowly, raising an eyebrow, the bull quieting once more. Zitao threw him a look, a rather stabbing expression of sarcasm and sass all combined.

“You refused to discuss it with me, so I took some initiative. She took to the name really fast.” Zitao shrugged, turning around to rest against the sink, staring at the stove with angry thought. ‘This man thinks that he can actually be mad at me for picking a name for our child, despite him refusing to even talk about it? How long have we had her now? Days? Weeks? Far too long to go without a name.’ His mind rambled on, almost as if it were a separate entity, agreeing with Zitao himself as he nodded to himself.

“I’ve been busy.” Those words pierced through Zitao’s fog of thought and attacked his mind once again, nestling in to fester and grow his paranoia and anger. Taking in a slow breath, his chest seemed reluctant to release it, nearly wheezing wit anger as his eyes rose to the ceiling. Smacking his lips when he finally opened his mouth, he his bottom lip, contemplating his next words carefully. There was no good way for this conversation to end.

“That’s kind of the problem,” he paused, lowering his gaze to turn and look at the man, “You aren’t around for anything, so I have to take care of what you don’t seem to care about.” Zitao breathed, finally releasing the words after his contemplation could not come up with a safer alternative. What did he care if he hurt the man? The blonde hurt him everyday from the moment that they had met with all his secrets and lies, the charm and occasional prince like nature simply as no longer enough. Zitao had finally had enough of it.

You two are the most important things in my life right now, my entire top priority. How could you even think that I don’t care?” Sehun honestly seemed surprised and hurt, Zitao pushing himself off of the countertop as he raised a finger, just as Sehun had done. He was completely dumbfounded as to how the man could be sincere and still say that. How could he not know why Zitao felt that way? How could he not possibly see what he was doing to this family?

“Really? Top priority?” He breathed out, his own snorting bull stomping its feet, ready to charge. He slammed the dish towel down on the countertop, the innocent marble beneath it snapping. His raised finger balled, slamming down to his side as he took a step closer to the man; he had to hold his bull back by the horns, allowing it to kick and toss him in order to save the blonde who seemed to wear red in bulk.

“Tao-”

“No! I get to talk,” Zitao cut him off, shaking his head rather insanely, “If we are such top priority, then why is work so much more important to you? Why are you always keeping secrets, hiding away in your office? Casting off your employees so insanely when they come near here? Or on the-”

“It is my job, Tao,” it was Sehun’s turn to cut him off, charging towards him so they stood nose to nose, “What do you really expect me to do? Quit my job?” Sehun bellowed, seeming just as angry and frustrated as Zitao in that moment. It became a contest to see who could yell the loudest, their bodies tense and tall as their gestures became increasingly violent.

“I don’t even know what the hell your job is! I don’t know what you do, where you go, what makes you so busy, or even what kind of people you work with!” Zitao bellowed, jabbing his finger hard enough into the man’s chest that he felt pain spike into his knuckle and down his wrist. Letting out a slip shudder, he shook his hand and clasped it behind his back. He would not so easily give up this argument due to what was most likely a small finger injury. Though, admittedly to his delicate self, it hurt quite a bit. The pain began to stretch up his arm.

“Why does it matter who I work with, Tao? What are you implying here? That I’m cheating on you or something?” Sehun bellowed, his hands slamming onto his hips as he cocked his head rather aggressively. His chest seemed to explode and collapse with every breath, taking over a large portion of his body’s movement. Zitao rolled his eyes, knowing that the man’s ideas as to where Zitao’s paranoia came from were entirely wrong. Though rapidly, the words ‘cheating on you’ had sunk into his mind. Yet another thing for him to worry and stress about.

“No, I don’t think you’re cheating on me,” he nearly spat in the man’s face, a part of him wishing he had the courage to do so, “but it matters when an employee of yours comes here without you and value your business more so than this family!” Zitao had had enough, he had reached his wits ends and it was only nine in the morning. It was obvious by the number of days that each man’s angers had lasted, that they were not going anywhere anytime soon. Throwing his hands up in air, he let out a frustrated bellow and charged past the man. He and MeiLien were going to breakfast, without Sehun.

“That is not fair, that is not what happened.” Sehun growled, whipping around to follow Zitao before grabbing his shoulder and turning him around again. Zitao had to resist the urge to raise his hand against the man, but he swore that he would never hit the man out of anger. He swore to remain as peaceful as he could. His promises were being heavily tested.

“Really? Then what did happen? Because from what I remember you said, and I quote, this is more important. Then what, Sehun? What could be more important than scaring MeiLien like you did? Or banishing us upstairs? Yelling? We are your family, you can not so easily discard us, even in business affairs.” Zitao spat in the man’s face, gaining the courage to rip his shoulder free from the man before storming away.

“I’m sorry, Tao. I really am.” The remorse was real, real enough to spark a slight feeling of sadness in Zitao’s heart. On the night that he sat bathed in moonlight, waiting for the man to retrieve them from their exile, he swore he would not feel that sadness again. It was painful and stopped his heart a million different ways, his cries sounding the death tolls. He would not let the man’s words of apologies destroy his protective barrier of anger. If his anger were to leave, he would be left with nothing but doubt, pain, sadness and distrust. He did not wish to feel that, throwing the heaviest cloak of denial he could over his pile of weakness, hoping to hide it from the world.

“I will find everything out, Sehun. I will not stop until I know what you do, where you go, and who you are with whether you want me to or not. I promise you that, this has got to end.” Zitao breathed out, feeling as though the only way to stop this was to go to the source of it all. He was going to find out Sehun’s secrets, all of them. His words had sounded the death toll to the squirming and weak Zitao that sat in the corner twiddling his thumbs; this was the death of the man that did nothing against fate. However, with the tolls of death, began the ticking clock of life. He was a new man, the man who would obtain what he wanted and spat in the face of fate. He was to let go of the horns of his angry bull, to release it against life.

The time for secrets and pain was over.

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Ever have that moment where you read something/watch something that is super boring, but is leading up to something so you keep reading/watching? I feel like that is this chapter. But as the author, I get to sit here and jump around like "I KNOW WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN, OH YES YES YES. I KNOOOOOOW EVERYTHING.", so I get to sit here and giggle maniacally all the time. 

Anyways, the next TaoHun is insanely eventful and will probably be like, 16 pages long, oops. Spy Tao makes another appearance~. 

ON TO THE NEXT CHAPTER. -rolls out-

~SnobbyCoffeeAsian