•| Day 4

When Tao woke up that morning, his first instinct was to kick someone so far away from him that the other ended up of rolling off the bed before landing on the carpeted floor with a loud thud.

"What the !" The poor lad groaned out loud while rubbing the sore spot with his eyes half-closed. He struggled to sit up into an upright position, still too sleepy to process his surrounding. "What was that all about?" He whined in a lazy manner.

"That was for hugging me in your sleep!" Tao replied with a huff. His arms folded into his chest as he squinted shrewdly in the direction of the other.

Kris stopped rubbing his arm at once. "Say again?"

"That was for hugging me in your sleep!"

"Excuse me, but who was the one clinging onto me like a koala last night and refusing to fall asleep if I even as much as move an inch from my spot?" Kris no longer looked sleepy by now. In fact, the look on Kris' face clearly implicated that he was thoroughly offended by the other's blatant accusation.

Tao blinked innocently. "Who could that be?"

Kris raised a brow, amused that the other even had the nerve to ask. "Who do you think?" He said, his eyes staring directly into Tao's soul. That alone speaks even louder than words.

"Me?" Tao questioned while pointing a finger at himself. He had disbelief written all over his sharp features as if the other had just accused him of burning a limited edition Gucci pants. (He had accidentally done it before, but that's another story for another time.)

"Do you see anybody else here?" Kris asked back, glancing around in a mocking manner.

"Yes."

"Exactly—wait, what?" Kris' eyes trembled in uncertainty as he did a quick scan around the room all over again. "You're joking, right?"

"No." Tao replied while tilting his head to the side slightly. "I just saw Siwon walking into our bathroom a few minutes ago."

"Seriously?" Kris furrowed his brows. There was a brief, thoughtful look crossing his face before he abruptly stood up and made his way to the said bathroom. 

Tao's eyes trailed after Kris' every movement as the latter knocked the door several times while calling out Siwon's name. Not receiving anything in response, they exchanged a brief look with each other before Kris decided to push the door open and peer into the room. A minute or two ticked by in silence before he backed away from his previous spot while slowly closing the door back. 

"Are you sure that's what you saw just now?" Kris asked while taking a seat on the edge of the bed. The hint of hesitation in his voice didn't go unnoticed by Tao.

"Are you indirectly telling me that I've been hallucinating s, Wu?" Tao snapped, one hand automatically going to his chest to express just how insulted he was feeling at the moment. "You are trying to paint me as a crackhead or something?"

"Not really?" It came out more like a question than Kris intended simply because he was surprised how the other had even come to that conclusion in the first place. "I just thought maybe you're a little bit of groggy and disoriented after sleep. I definitely never mention anything about drugs." Kris' eyes twinkled with humor and the slightest suggestion of a smile played at the corners of his mouth.

Needless to say, Tao immediately looked like a thief being caught red-handed. But, this is Tao we're talking about and the boy never ever let anything get to him even when he was in an embarrassing situation like this. His ultimate solution to this kind of situation? Changing the topic obviously.

"Anyway, did you see Siwon in there? What is he doing here when he has his own bathroom in his room?"

"There is.. nobody in there." Kris stated, frowning. "Which is why I'm asking you if that's what you really saw just now."

"Oh, hell no!" Tao shrieked out loud as he suddenly tried to get out of bed in panic. "You've got to be kidding me! Even in broad daylight like this? God must really hate me."

"W-Wha—What do you mean..?" Kris watched as Tao made a beeline to the closet and pulled some random articles of clothing from his side of the closet. After gathering all of it in his arms, he grabbed a towel as well and marched out of the room without a word.

"What.. What just happened?" Kris asked to himself.

~~X~~

"Am I tripping or is that really your friend, Tao out there taking a bath in the middle of the freaking swimming pool?" Jongdae questioned while making his way towards the dining table. His hand was pointing in the direction of the glass wall overlooking the swimming pool at the side of the house, where he had witnessed the bizarre event just now.

"Yepp, it's him." Baekhyun said without batting an eye.

"Do I get to know why?"

"He saw a ghost in his bathroom this morning."

Jongdae blinked, not sure if the other was being serious or not especially since he didn't even bother looking up from his phone, too caught up with reading the tabloid news on the Internet.

"Hey! Did you guys see—"

"—the panda boy taking a bath in the swimming pool." Jongdae helped resuming Chanyeol's words before he even get to finish. "Apparently, it's because a ghost appeared in his bathroom and he was too shy to strip in front of it this morning." Jongdae added the last few words jokingly.

"Oh, poor boy." Chanyeol said with a symphathetic look. Jongdae raised one eyebrow, noticing the weird choice of words for the response but he didn't get to dwell on the matter because they were joined by Luhan and Sehun next.

"Holy cow, did—"

"Tao. Swimming pool. Yes, we saw it." Jongdae cut off, his reply almost resembling one coming from an automaton at this point.

Chanyeol instantly chirped in. "It was because he tripped in his bathroom this morning."

"Yeah, wait what no—"

"Good morning."

"Check it out. Tao is bathing in the swimming pool because he couldn't find the pipe in his bathroom." Luhan relayed towards Kyungsoo, who was more busy eyeing all of the faces in the room instead. 

"What, no that's not right—" Jongdae attempted to intervene with Chanyeol nodding in agreement. Alas, he was interrupted yet again by another new arrival of more of his housemates.

"Wow, that looks fun." Yixing whistled, clearly having seen Tao's antic on his way to the dining room.

"Tao bathing in the pool this early in the morning, why am I not surprised?" Joonmyeon muttered as he joined them.

"He had a bad case of diarrhea and splattered all over his bathroom." Kyungsoo explained absentmindedly, still trying to find that one particular face among them.

"No, he's not—" 

"Who had what?" 

"Oh, hey Kris." Yixing greeted. "I'm surprised you're not there with him."

"There?" Kris asked in confusion. "Where? And with who?"

"Tao obviously! I heard he splattered your bathroom with because of his bad case of diarrhea. I would've expected for you to join him in the pool since you can't use your bathroom." Yixing replied animatedly.

"Tao has a bad case of diarrhea? Who told you that?" 

Starting with Yixing and Joonmyeon, they started pointing at each other according to the order of their arrival until the last finger finally ended up pointing at Jongdae, who had been denied the freedom of speech up until now.

"I never said that!" Jongdae exploded at last, looking exasperated and wildly annoyed at the same time. "Damn, this is like watching a whole bunch of kids doing a horrible job at playing broken telephone game!"

"Ooh, that sounds fun too." Yixing interrupted with his eyes sparkling in excitement. "I don't know we are playing it right now. How about a 2nd round?"

"With Chanyeol, Yixing and all the way to Barbie here in the picture, what were you expecting?" Sehun sniggered while he casually grabbed a slice of toast and began slathering it with jam and butter. Luhan, who was never one to let anybody calling him Barbie, immediately grabbed a toast as well before it went flying across the air and landing on top of Sehun's hair. Needless to say, that didn't sit well with the latter. He quickly seized the offending object on top of his precious hair before flicking it away, sending it catapulting across the room before it disappeared from sight.

"You got food in my hair!"

"You called me Barbie!"

"How about that? Can we play that too?" Yixing asked in the background. 

"And, here we go yet again." Siwon commented as he arrived amidst the imminent chaos. "By the way, did you guys see—"

"Tao in the swimming pool," All of them simultaneously said in unison, producing a loud synchronised sound that echoed off the walls. "WE KNOW!"

"O.. kay." Siwon muttered cautiously, his eyes widening in fear as he backed away slowly from the group of teenagers. "I guess I will have to go get drive-thru breakfast again today. McDonald's, here I come." Just seconds later, the older guy was already halfway across the room heading towards the main door with hurried steps. He didn't even bother looking back, afraid that someone was going to come after him with a butter knife or something. 

"What's up with him?" Tao asked as he suddenly made his appearance, casually walking up to them while drying his hair with a towel. He clearly meant Siwon in his question since his gaze was fixed on Siwon's disappearing back.

"Oh hey, Tao." Baekhyun greeted, looking up from his phone at last. "Did you finish bathing already?"

"Yeah." Tao replied while taking a seat next to Chanyeol. "It's quite chilly out there but better than that wretched bathroom."

"What's happening here?" Kris interfered, sensing that something was wrong from the reactions of the others. "Why is everybody looking at you as if you just committed an unforgivable sin?"

Tao furrowed his brows and took a quick glance at everybody in the room, failing to notice that he was being stared at earlier. 

"Technically, he was indeed committing an unforgivable sin when he decided to taint the poor water with his filthy body." Luhan quipped. "Not to mention, all of those foam from the shampoo and body wash. You bet your sweet that it will not be cheap to clean that up since I'm pretty sure we'll have to drain the entire pool first."

"Pool? Shampoo and body wash?" It took a mere five seconds for Kris' brain to process the words and connect the dots before he was finally able to see the glaring situation. "YOU TOOK A BATH IN THE SWIMMING POOL?"

"Yeah?" Tao clearly didn't see what's the big deal with his action. "It's pretty refreshing actually. You guys should try it sometimes."

"That swimming pool is like 30 feet long!" Kris said, looking wildly in disbelief.

"So?"

"You're not supposed to take a bath in there! Unlike a river with a constant current to carry all of the dirts and foreign things away, a swimming pool will have to be drained entirely if it ever gets dirty because all of the water will be fully tainted!"

"See? I said it first." Luhan whispered to whoever's listening.

"Oh." Tao blinked, taking in the information. Then, he shrugged and waved his hand dismissively. "Mehh, whatever. Siwon will handle it when he gets back or we can just let nature do its job. I'm sure the rain can help or something."

"But—"

"Okay, that's enough." Joonmyeon cut off before Kris was able to say any further. "Just sit down already so we can have breakfast in peace or we are so going to be late for school."

Kris frowned, but he sat down nevertheless. 

"Where's Minseok?" 

"In his room." Luhan and Jongdae answered almost in unison. Then, Luhan furrowed his brows while training his eyes on Jongdae, wondering why on earth does the other even think that the question was directed towards him. It was a common knowledge after all, at least among his circle of friends, that he was the one to ask when you want to know anything regarding Minseok. Since Baekhyun was the one asking, the question was clearly meant for Luhan. The rest of his friends shared this sentiment as well as they openly stared at Jongdae with a quizzical look.  

Ignoring Jongdae, Baekhyun kept his eyes on Luhan and prodded further. "Is he alright?"

"Of course." "No, he's not."

There he goes again and this time, Luhan's first instinct was to glare at the other with a look that clearly screamed back-off-.

"You do know that he's not talking to you, right?" Luhan asked with annoyance. I guess you could say that he was getting a tad bit too worked up over such a small matter, but he had always been a little bit protective when it came to Minseok. 

"Oh, really?' Jongdae blinked, just realising this now. "I thought he was asking me since I was the one looking after Minseok all day long yesterday."

This instantly had a certain effect on Luhan and it didn't go unnoticed by Sehun. "Excuse me? You? Taking care of Minseok? please, it was only for a few short hours during my detention. I relieved you of that duty as soon as I get home!"

"Well yeah, but still, you weren't there during that 'few short hours'." Jongdae was positively provoking Luhan now, whether he realised it or not. 

"It's not like I wanted to leave in the first place!" Luhan argued.

"What does that matter? I'm the one looking after Minseok yesterday and that's that." Jongdae concluded, partly confused why was Luhan even mad at him for stating the truth. The latter was the one putting him in charge yesterday after all. 

"No, you did not just—"

"Luhan, calm down." Joonmyeon said uneasily. He knew just how sensitive Luhan can get when it comes to Minseok, but he also knew that it wasn't fair that Luhan was getting mad at Jongdae when the poor guy didn't even know the full story.

"What's wrong with Minseok anyway?" One question from Sehun instantly made the room fell silent. Baekhyun and Tao exchanged a look with each other while Joonmyeon looked troubled. Meanwhile, Kyungsoo didn't look particularly interested in the situation since he was more occupied with his own thought while Luhan narrowed his eyes darkly at the owner of the question. Sehun raised a brow, curious with the unexpected reaction.

"None of your bloody business." Luhan growled in a non-threatening way, but still the message was clear as day. 

Sehun folded his arms while leaning forward in his seat, squinting his eyes at the other. "Is that so?"

"Best not to know, dude." Tao muttered under his breath. "Or you're going to end up on the babysitter list."

"The unpaid babysitter list." Baekhyun added with voice not above a whisper. Tao quickly extended his hand under the table to do a quick high five with Baekhyun before they ended up of giggling to each other quietly.

"You know what, I'm done here." Luhan snapped while pushing back the chair and standing up. He forcefully grabbed his bag before marching away from the dining table, heading towards the stairs.

"Luhan, where are you going?" Joonmyeon asked in alarm. "Aren't you going to school?"

Luhan didn't answer as he was already out of earshot. The one left at the dining table was left staring at his previous spot. 

"I guess that's one big fat no." Baekhyun commented.

"It sure as hell is." Tao said, supporting the latter's statement while sipping his tea.

Joonmyeon massaged his temples. "Let's just go to school already."

~~X~~

", hide, hide!"

"What? What are you—"

"Just get over here, you little onion!"

"Onion? Did you just called me onion??"

"Yes, I did. Now, get over here and stay down!"

Begrudgingly, Chanyeol stayed down as instructed. He tried his best to hide his 6-feet tall giant body, but he wasn't having much of a luck with it quite honestly. The bush that Baekhyun had picked randomly turned out to be quite low for someone as tall as Chanyeol. 

"Are you seeing what I'm seeing right now?" Baekhyun asked without looking. His eyes were fixed on two distant figures. 

"No?" Chanyeol said while still trying to fit his body behind the low bush. It wasn't exactly an easy feat after all. 

"It's Siwon!" Baekhyun exclaimed in hushed voice. "And who's that guy next to him? Do you think that could be our testator?"

Chanyeol stopped any of his attempt to hide at once and looked up almost immedietely. "Really? Where?"

"There." Baekhyun answered while pointing at the said male standing a few miles away from their hiding spot. "Wait, he seems familiar." He muttered to himself when the guy talking to Siwon finally moved, revealing part of his face. 

"Oh, that's our principal."

"Our what now?"

"Principal..?"

"They know each other?" Baekhyun shrieked as he turned to stare at Chanyeol with disbelief. Then, he returned his attention back to the unaware males to scrunitize the shorter of the two, trying to see if Chanyeol was really speaking the truth or he was just spouting lies through his filthy mouth as always. "What? How? Where the did they even met each other?"

"Coffee shop maybe?"

"Does he looks like someone who frequently go to a coffee shop?" Baekhyun deadpanned while gesturing towards the principal.

Chanyeol scratched the back of his head. "Not really but don't judge a book by its cover I guess?"

Baekhyun facepalmed himself. 

"It's quite plausible." Chanyeol defended himself, totally not seeing what is wrong with his suggestion. "Perhaps his dead wife used to be the bartender at the coffee shop and she will always make coffee for him whenever he stops by and now he still goes there out of habit."

"His wife is still perfectly alive, idiot. I just saw her shopping at the supermarket last week."

"Oh, his dead lover from college then?"

Baekhyun threw his hands in the air exasperatedly. "What's with you and the whole dead partner story?"

"It's romantic." Chanyeol shrugged. "Besides, it's one of the most common movie tropes."

Baekhyun instinctively rolled his eyes. He couldn't believe that the other just gave a dumb reason simply because you can commonly see it in movies. But then again, Chanyeol is not exactly known for his smart brain.

"Look, they are moving. Let's go." Baekhyun announced while hurrying to stand to his feet.

"What? But, what about school?"

"Screw school." Baekhyun responded while making a face. "You're coming or what? It won't hurt your pretty little empty head if you skip one day of school."

"My head is pretty?" Chanyeol's eyes lit up like it's Christmas morning.

"I'm leaving you here." Baekhyun threatened.

"Wait, alright, alright, let's go then."

They quickly followed the two men ahead of them while trying their best to be discrete. Baekhyun was half-expecting for them to head to a coffee shop or something. (Screw Chanyeol for his bad influence on his poor, easily tricked mind.) However, he was far from being right. The principal got into his car instead and drove away, leaving Siwon behind to stare at the moving vehicle. Then, Siwon began walking as well but instead of heading to his car, he dodged into an alley and made his way to a nearby columbarium instead. 

Inside, the pair hid themselves behind a giant vase since that's the closest place they can find that will enable them to continue keeping an eye on Siwon. Meanwhile, the latter halted in front of the many columbarium niches before reaching out his hand to touch the urn situated at his eye level. Baekhyun struggled to see the the name inscribed on the small plaque next to the urn due to his height. Desperate, he attempted to climb the vase only to end up of getting his eyes poked by one of the many braches of the tree in the vase before unceremoniously landing on his .

"What are you doing?" Chanyeol asked while blinking.

Baekhyun rubbed his eyes to ease the pain. "Trying to see the name on the plaque of course!"

 "Oh, it's Kim Kibum."

There was a pregnant silence for approximately two seconds. 

"You couldn't have tell me that before?!"

"You didn't ask!"

"Baekhyun? Chanyeol?"

"Oh , run! Move, move! Get your moving, dude!"

Realising that their unintentional loud voices just attracted the attention of Siwon, thus accidently revealing themselves, Baekhyun stood up in record time before he quickly grabbed Chanyeol's hands without thinking and led them out of there. The two disappeared before Siwon even managed to take his first step, gone like the wind.