The cool air of the early morning hit Kris' bare body as he stripped himself , his clothes crumpled and dumped on the towel rack in a heap. Once all the pieces of article on Kris' body was removed, the male promptly stepped into the shower stall and pulled out the shower head after closing the glass door. Kris directed the shower head away from himself as he pulled up the faucet, water splashing out from the device in his hand while his other hand released its hold on the faucet. 

          With the free hand, Kris tested the water temperature by hovering it under the shower head, letting the water splash onto his pale hand. The water was so cold that it almost felt like Kris had just dumped his entire hand into a bucket of cold water plus ice, pulling his hand away immediately once the chilly water contracted with his skin. Kris adjusted the temperature of the water by manoeuvring the faucet to the left, testing the water from time to time to find the temperature that he wanted. 

          Once Kris got the right temperature — not too cold until his teeth would chatter, and not too hot that his skin would be red and burned — he placed the shower head back to its holder and let the water freely splash onto his body, the warm water protecting him from the chilly morning and wrapping his body in its warmth. The water that landed on Kris' body became mini waterfalls on him, rolling from his neck down to his collarbone and to his chest before pooling on the ground the further it went down the male's tall figure. The drain in the corner of the shower stall was like a magnet for the streaming water — the water flowing towards the drain and falling through its tiny holes. 

          Kris stood under the shower head with his head lowered, wetting his dark hair and letting the strands fall into his face and cover his eyes. Kris had his eyes closed so as to not let any droplets to get into his eyes, letting out a soft sigh and pulling away from underneath the shower head once his black locks were thoroughly soaked. Kris turned off the water and reached for the bottle of shampoo on the rack in front of him, uncapping it and squeezing some of the thick smooth substance into his other hand. 

          Kris closed the cap of the shampoo bottle and placed it back on the rack, using both of his hands to rub and spread the shampoo until foam started to form. Then, Kris tangled his hands into his hair and started massaging his scalp, coating his hair with the shampoo foam. After a while, Kris was done shampooing his hair and turned the faucet back on, closing his eyes as the water from the shower head splashed down and washed away the shampoo from his hair. 

          Kris washed for a little bit longer before turning off the water altogether and stepping out from the shower stall, quickly pulling off the towel that he hung on a nearby rack and drying his body with it. Kris walked over to the rack where his crumpled sleepwear laid in a heap beside his neatly folded clothes on the rack, dumping the towel on the counter in favour of the clothes. Kris could feel a few more drops of water dripping from the ends of his hair, but he ignored them. 

          Kris put on his elbow length sleeved shirt and a pair of jeans before stepping out from the bathroom — the towel already hung back on the rack near the shower stall to dry off while he exited with his sleepwear in his arm. The steam rolled out from the bathroom like waves, visible due to the morning light that had started to shine into the slowly heating up bedroom. The steam did not last long and only stayed for a few seconds before dissipating into thin air. 

          The bed was already made with the plain white coloured blanket folded and placed in front of the equally pure white coloured pillow. The white translucent curtains were pulled back to reveal the dark red framed window, the glass allowing the sunlight to beam into the room and light it up with its natural glow. The wooden tiled floor had uneven temperatures, with the parts where the sunlight touched being slightly hotter than the areas where the shadow consumed. The room was rather empty with only the bed near the window and the wardrobe somewhere in the corner as the only furniture placed in the bedroom, otherwise the room was spacious. The floor had a fluffy carpet placed between the bed and the door — a luggage was on it in the middle of the room and it was ped with a few clothing articles lying inside. 

          Kris placed his sleepwear on his bed before plopping down on the ground in front of the luggage, pulling it towards himself as he gave it a check over one last time. Kris made sure that his toothbrush and toothpaste was inside — he remembered putting them into his luggage after he was done brushing his teeth, but it's still best that he checked again and make sure they were really there in the pocket — and that his clothes were enough for the one week trip — but then again, there wasn't any need for him to pack too many clothes since they'll be staying the night at his place, which meant he would still have clothes to wear even if he didn't pack any. Kris secured his stacks of clothes once he was done checking and closed the luggage altogether, zipping it up and putting on the lock before pulling it up so it was standing upright instead of lying. 

          Kris got up from the floor with a huff, turning to his bed and grabbing his sleepwear before making his way towards the door. Kris turned off the fan that was still moving — he didn't turn it off when he went to take a shower — before opening the bedroom door and stepping out into the hallway, closing the door behind him and making his way to the stairs. Kris got down to the living room and went straight for the laundry room, adding his sleepwear onto the pile of unwashed clothes in the laundry basket before going to the dining room. 

          To say that Kris didn't notice the silence coming from the usually rowdy dining room would be a big fat total lie — the dining room was uncharacteristically quiet, so much that the silence can be easily broken by a pin dropping to the ground. However, with the few days that passed recently, the silence was something that Kris had somewhat grown accustomed to now. It wasn't difficult for Kris to guess either just why the dining room was so silent this early in the morning. 

          When Kris crossed the threshold into the dining room, he was greeted by the sight of his gang members eating their food silently. There was Ta-Lu who looked even more quiet than he usually was — sure, he had always been quiet, but today was different with that weird air surrounding him — as he kept on glancing upwards at Zhixiang who sat opposite of him. Even though Kris couldn't see Zhixiang from where he stood — since the latter was back facing the former — he could feel the worry coming from the elder as he shrugged his shoulder at Ta-Lu before turning over to the people sitting beside him, a look of worry on his face as he bit his bottom lip. 

          Kris followed Zhixiang's gaze to the people sitting beside him, landing his eyes on Jinfu and Wu Lei. Jinfu had his head turned as he kept looking worriedly at the youngest, his lips pressed tightly into a thin line as he made no move to continue on with his meal. Wu Lei on the other hand had his head lowered so much that it could practically disappear in between his shoulders, his hand moving his fork and using it to poke at his food with disinterest — the sight seemed to break Kris's heart even more. 

          Kris took in a deep breath before walking over to the chair opposite of Wu Lei, pulling it out and taking his seat. Everyone at the table except for Wu Lei turned to Kris and he offered them all a small smile, earning sad smiles back from them before they turned their attentions back on the youngest in the room. Kris also looked at Wu Lei like the rest and now that he was directly facing the younger instead of looking at his back, he could now clearly see the sad look on his younger brother's face and he could feel his own breath hitching at the heartbreaking sight. 

          Wu Lei had always been known to be a nice boy with a kind heart and cheerful personality, coming along with these traits was an emotional mindset which made him able to feel empathy for the people around him. Due to this, it wasn't just Kris who treats Wu Lei like he's a baby — everyone in the gang babied Wu Lei, treating him like a rare gem and also a fragile China piece. So, to see the usually upbeat and talkative Wu Lei being so down and quiet — let's just say it would be an understatement to say everyone was just sad, they were freaking heartbroken at the sight of their ball of sunshine being a puddle of depression. 

          It doesn't take a genius to know just why Wu Lei was acting this way though, since there was only one person who would be able to have such a large impact on Wu Lei recently. It was clear ever since they brought him to their hideout that Wu Lei was fond of the male, always sticking to his side like a leech would. The feelings and action could easily passed off as a puppy love, but unlike puppy love this affection was happily returned — no one could deny Wu Lei, no matter how hard they try. 

          That person went by the name of Huang Zitao. 

          The news about Tao's parents was no secret among them — everyone already knew about it and the details, courtesy of a certain friend of Tao's by the name of Jiang Jinfu. Tao had never been acting the same ever since his parents died — which was three nights ago — he was quieter and more distant after what happened. Sure, Tao seemed like the kind of person who preferred solitary over being in groups and he didn't talk a lot, but he never stopped himself from letting people go near him and also replied whenever he was talked to — this time was different because he was distancing himself from others for real and he was being real quiet by not talking to anyone and only humming whenever he had to give his reply, sometimes he just stayed quiet and gave absolutely no reaction at all. 

          Kris sighed as he thought back to the night when all of this happened, stretching his arm out so he could fill his bowl with soup. 

Tao opened the car door before Jinfu had even fully park it, stumbling out from the passenger seat and not bothering to close the door as he ran up to the crowd that had surrounded his house to watch the scene. Tao squeezed his way through the crowd, not bothering how many people he had hit shoulders with or stepped feet on and whether or not he had muttered words of apology to these people — there was only one thing going on in his mind, the rest could sod off for all he cared. Tao managed to get to the front of the crowd where some police officers were standing and blocking the crowd, making sure that no witnesses would get pass them and into the crime scene. 

          Tao held his breath at the sight before him — fire greedily at thin air while smoke arose from it all and into the cold night sky, tainting the midnight black sky with its whitish grey smoke. The glaring red and blue lights coming from the police cars, ambulance and fire truck lit up the already bright area, painting the place with flashes of crimson and azure. While there were indeed some police who were holding the crowd back, there were also some police officers standing in front of the burning house — probably already carrying out their investigation — with firefighters trying to put out the fire some metres in front.  

          Tao was not in his right mind when he pushed pass the very few people left in front of him in the crowd, ducking his head as he ran pass the police officers too who were trying to subdue the horde. Tao was not deaf and he definitely heard the police officers' yells, but he could barely bother about them right now, especially when his house was just burning right in front of his eyes at this moment. Tao noticed the police officers who were not holding back the crowd looking up at him, their eyes widening when they saw him charging towards the burning house and mouths moving in yells that he didn't pay attention to either. 

          Tao's focus and eyes were on the burning house this whole time, so he didn't notice when some police officers rushed towards him to stop him. Tao faintly felt himself being pounced on from the side and landing on the ground, faintly hearing the officer that was holding him down yelling at him. Tao did not catch anything the officer said though, his mind in a haze and his eyes unable to tear away from the fire before him. 

          "Let him go," he distantly heard Jinfu yelling, "This is his house! His parents might be in there!" 

          The police officer did not seem to have heard Jinfu and he instead continued to press down on Tao, forcing some pressure onto the back of his neck where a forearm was digging itself so much into the flesh that it might form a bruise. Tao was not sure if he had hissed at the force that the police officer had put on him, his mind too concentrated on the burning house to process anything else around him. All Tao could see right now was fire, the house he lived in ever since he came to Korea at the age of thirteen and flashes of his parents behind his lids. 

          Where were they? 

          "Officer Jungkook," a voice called from the side and Tao felt the officer above him moving slightly, like he was turning to look at the officer that had called his name. 

          "Officer Hoseok?" The police officer — Jungkook, his name was — addressed with a nod, "What's wrong?" 

          "Let him go," the familiar voice told Jungkook, a stern tone lacing the voice. 

          Jungkook widened his eyes at Hoseok, mouth hanging open just the slightest bit before he snapped back at the senior officer, "But, sir! He is interfering a crime scene!" 

          "Have you not heard what the man said?" Hoseok growled out the question and jerked his head to the crowd. 

          Jungkook followed the direction where Hoseok had nodded to, landing his eyes on the crowd that had gathered around at the entrance to watch the commotion — nosy people, the mere thought of them could already make Jungkook feel the bile coming, though he refrained himself from vomitting it out. Jungkook wondered who was 'the man' Hoseok was implying as he scanned through the crowd, hoping to possibly a face that might stand out among the sea of busybodies. Jungkook soon saw a familiar looking male sticking out of the crowd like a sore thumb — big round dark eyes and slightly tanned skin, short tousled hair and lean built. 

          It was Jiang Jinfu from Kris Wu's gang. 

          Jungkook didn't actually think that 'the man' Hoseok was referring to would be Jinfu, wondering what connection could the latter have with the male that he was holding down on the ground under him. But then again, on normal occasions, Hoseok wouldn't stop Jungkook from taking down a person at the sideline if they decided to be too nosy and pass the police officers that were busy subduing the horde of onlookers, even if somebody from the sideline said something about the person. So, to have Hoseok wanting Jungkook to release the man under him even after witnessing what said man did — deliberately passing the police officers that were busy fending off the onlookers and intruding the whole crime scene like it was a normal thing to do — not only meant there was a relation between Jinfu and this man, but also that Hoseok knew this man enough to let him go. 

          With a defeated sigh, Jungkook begrudgingly released his strong hold against the male under him, leaning back so he wasn't putting his weight on the male. Before Jungkook could process what was going on though, he heard the man under him grunting and all of a sudden, he was falling backwards and hitting back first on the ground. Jungkook gasped out in surprise at the sudden move, scrambling into a sitting position and watching as the man easily shrugged him off and got onto his two feet. 

          Jungkook noticed that the man was still staring at the burning house and he frowned, looking between the burning house and the man as he tried to piece together an invisible puzzle. Jungkook thought back about Jinfu's yells, squinting his eyes as he tried to recall the exact words that left the latter's mouth not long ago — Jungkook heard Jinfu yelling, but he wasn't paying attention so he didn't really hear what Jinfu said. Jungkook remembered hearing 'parents' somewhere along the line, but he wasn't too sure about that. 

          Hoseok walked up to Tao who looked to be in a trance with the burning house, placing a hand on the latter's shoulder gently and shaking him with very little force as he asked, "Hey, are you okay?" 

          Unlike Jungkook, Hoseok heard what Jinfu said and he was sure that the answer to his stupid question was a big fat 'no'. This burning house in front of Tao was his house after all and if that wasn't bad enough, his parents were in there according to what Jinfu said. Although the claim, the fire fighters had already entered the burning house after arriving couple of minutes ago in search for survivors — the results when they came out from the flaming house were empty hands. This could either mean Tao's parents weren't at home or something happened to them, and Hoseok was hoping that it was the former. Asking a person who was worrying over their loved ones 'Are you okay' was definitely not ideal, and Hoseok couldn't help the cringe that came over his features at the thought. 

          Hoseok expected Tao to either ignore his question — considering how lost he looked right now — or retort with a snarky answer — since the question was a stupid one. Instead of either of the two, Tao surprised Hoseok by slowly turning his head around so he was looking at the officer. Hoseok could feel his throat going dry when he saw the look on Tao's face after the latter was fully facing him. 

          Sorrow was evident on every corner of Tao's face — from those eyes that brimmed with unshed tears to the nose that was starting to grow red, his lips bitten so much because of his nervousness until it became swollen and his brows furrowed together to form a crease on his glabella. The heartbreaking sight had Hoseok hitching his breath, the carbon dioxide flowing out of his body getting stuck in his throat due to a lump that had suddenly formed there. No words could describe how much pity Hoseok was feeling for Tao — this man standing before him. 

          Tao stared silently at Hoseok for one full minute — eyes unblinking and tears not escaping — before choking out after swallowing down his saliva, "Are they in there?" 

          It wasn't exactly the reaction Hoseok was looking for, but it's at least better than a snide remark or silence. 

          Gulping down the lump in his throat, Hoseok answered, "The firefighters couldn't find anyone." 

          Maybe Hoseok was imagining things but he thought he saw Tao's tan skin — which was now a paler shade, like a bit of the colour had drained from him already — turning the palest shade of skin colour after he said that. The next thing Hoseok knew, Tao had dropped to his knees on the ground with his head hung and his fingers digging into the soil underneath him. The move was so sudden that Hoseok jumped back in shock, staring wide eyed at Tao. 

          Not long after that, Hoseok spied something glistening rolling down Tao's cheek and falling from his chin, landing on the ground and turning that small patch where it landed into a dark shade — like when you water the plants and the soil will change colour after being soaked by water. Hoseok didn't need to have the brain of Albert Einstein in order to know what that was — the thing that rolled down Tao's cheek and fell to the ground — and in a blink of an eye, the officer was kneeling in front of Tao and cradling his face in his hands like the latter was some sort of China doll. Hoseok slowly lifted Tao's face up — making sure to be gentle so as to not startle the currently fragile man before him — and he took in a sharp breath at the sight of more tears falling from Tao's eyes, following after the steps of the first tear. 

          Tao looked so lost and although the sadness in his eyes and the tears that were falling, his lips only quivered and made no sounds — making it seem like Tao had lost his voice in his immense sadness. Tao's fingers twitched from time to time, as if they were itching to grab onto something for support; dirt stuck in his fingernails due to his digging seconds ago. Tao's body was shaking, not too harshly though which was why it was difficult to tell whether he was trembling or not — Hoseok could tell that Tao was shaking because not only was he crouching in front of him, but also he could feel it through his hands that were holding Tao's face in place. 

          After some thought, Hoseok voiced softly, "Let's get you somewhere to sit." 

          Tao stared at Hoseok as he registered the question, slowly nodding his head and giving the officer the permission he needed. Hoseok carefully pulled Tao up to his feet, catching the latter's forearm when the former saw him tumbling forward after getting up. Hoseok let Tao lean against him as he draped an arm over his shoulder and placed one hand on the latter's waist, basically dragging Tao to the ambulance since he wasn't moving his legs. 

          Hoseok requested for the nurses to prepare a warm towel as he set Tao down onto the floor of the ambulance, taking the towel that he had requested for and helping Tao to drape it over his body. Hoseok could see Tao slightly relaxing with the warm towel around him and even though the tears didn't look like they were going to stop anytime soon — nor did Tao's soul look to be coming back into his body either — it was still better than anything. Hoseok patted Tao on the shoulder and shot him a reassuring smile, squeezing Tao's shoulder in support before turning to the firefighters that were putting out the slowly dimming house. 

          Half an hour or so later, the fire was finally put out and the police officers along with the firefighters took this as their cue to search the burnt house for any corpses — as terrible as it may sound, there was no way they would leave the corpses to decay like that without proper burial. Tao watched from where he sat at the ambulance, one hand clutching onto the towel while the other was tucked under it along with his barely shivering body — feeling relaxed due to the warmth from the towel. The nurses were standing by Tao's side, face decorated with worry and anticipation as they waited for the police officers and firefighters to be done with their search. 

          At some point during it all, Jinfu managed to get pass the police officers and was now sitting beside Tao on the ambulance floor, rubbing the back of his younger friend as he hummed out a song softly beside his ear to calm his nerves down. Tao barely acknowledge Jinfu's presence as he stared anxiously at the door of the house, not noticing that he had stopped breathing while doing so. Jinfu on the other hand noticed this which was why he was trying his best to calm Tao down — rubbing soothing circles on his back and humming songs that he likes. 

          There was no result for another few more minutes but around the time of quarter pass eleven, the police officers and firefighters finally started coming out from the rubbles — all covered in ashes, face smeared with char while clothes dirtied with patches of black colour. The first few came out empty handed and Tao started to wonder whether there was really anyone in the house when the fire started, hoping in his mind that his parents weren't actually caught up in this whole mess and were in fact actually still alive and well. The police officers and firefighters gathered around at the entrance, waiting for the remaining few. 

          Just as Tao thought that his parents were out and okay, the last of the police officers and firefighters exited from the fallen house — and Tao's heart dropped when he saw them carrying something in their arms. 

          Two firefighters and two police officers were carrying something each — one of them carrying one side of the thing while the other one held onto the other end. The things that they were holding were long in length but short in width, probably not a furniture due to how easily they carried them but also probably something fragile due to how careful and gentle they were while holding them. Tao could make out two long 'branches' hanging from both sides of the things, swaying as it was moved. 

          Tao thought he choked when he saw the end of those long 'branches' that swayed by the charred things' sides — thin and short, like they were twigs. 

          Tao could not believe that he didn't recognise what the things were when he first laid his eyes on them, feeling the tears burning behind his eyelids and hearing the whimpers and chokes that were slipping from between his lips. Maybe it was because he was so lost in his own thoughts that he didn't process what those things were when he first saw them, or maybe it was because he was hoping so desperately that his parents were not harmed in the fire that his eyes were starting to do tricks on him. Whatever the reason might be, Tao was definitely not ready for the reality to hit him like a truck. 

          Those two things were bodies. 

          It was like a broken dam as tears suddenly bursted out and rolled down from Tao's eyes to his cheeks like waterfalls, big fat drops after drops of tears falling from his chin and staining his denim jeans. The hand that had been clutching onto the towel tightened its hold so much that the knuckles were already turning white, and the skin was pressing down onto the bones so much that it almost looked like the bones will pop out at any given time. A hand shot up to cover Tao's mouth in a futile attempt to silence the sounds that were spilling out from his mouth — heartbreaking cries, pitiful sobs, pathetic whimpers and short gasps of airs wracked poor Tao's weak and fragile body. 

          Jinfu panicked upon seeing the tears that fell from Tao's eyes, trying but failing miserably at calming his crying friend down. Jinfu was also shocked when he saw the dead — and burnt — bodies of Tao's parents, feeling a small ache in his heart since the two adults had basically been like Jinfu's second parents after he came to