Kray; The Painter’s Shell 3/?

Under any other circumstances, Baekhyun would have laughed so hard at the anticipation on Kris’s and Chanyeol’s faces, but considering how they were waiting for him to talk, it’s not so laughable at all. Baekhyun shifted nervously on the soft couch. Never once had it ever crossed his mind that he would be this nervous in Chanyeol’ home. He had expected Kris to pursue the subject further, of course, but not this soon. And now that he did, Baekhyun was unsure of how to tell him.

“So?” It was obvious from the impatience in Kris’s deep voice that he wasn’t keen on waiting.

So Baekhyun cleared his throat.

“He was 21 at that time.” His voice wavered. He didn’t like this story, and trying to talk about it wasn’t really something easy to do. “You really won’t believe this, really, so there’s no point in telling.”

“Just get on with it,” Kris shrugged.

“Okay,” His eyes lowered towards the surface of the table. “He was with his wife- Did you know he used to be married?”

Kris shook his head simply.

“She was beautiful, really. Blonde, nearly as tall as him and very, very cheery. Jessica. He loved her a lot, had his eyes on her since school. Fortunately for him, she noticed, and she fell just as quickly.” He paused, looking at both of them before continuing. “Actually, mind if I skip this part? It feels wrong telling you about this, since you’ll be marrying him and all,”

“Fine, just- just- quick,” Kris urged him on.

“Um, so they married. By 22, he got this baby and then they went on a trip. He refused to at first, since he didn’t want to leave his parents by themselves, but they insisted for him to go. It was supposed to be harmless and all, only a vacation on summer but then this thing happened.” He paused, arranging words in his head. “The boat that they were on was robbed, all planned before the boarding. And one of them- one of them liked Jessica.”

He chanced a quick glance to both of them, only to glance back down when he found that both of them were staring at him intently.

“She fought him when he wanted to touch her, and Yixing fought him. But they were armed, and Yixing was nothing against five of them, so at last they caught both of them. And you know what they said?” At this, he met their gaze. “Revenge? Best done through the ones they love most,”

The understanding of the words sank as soon as it was said. Kris lowered his gaze while Chanyeol looked sad, eyes soft and sympathizing. The latter got up from Kris’s side and slid next to his lover on the couch, discreetly snaking an arm around his shoulders comfortingly.

“Revenge? Which part of that is revenge?! He was defending himself!” Understandably, he still felt the anger at them coursing through his veins after all these years, boiling his blood with the memories of his brother’s broken cries. It was still vividly living with him, no matter how much he tried to forget. “They stabbed her. He couldn’t do anything to save her. They held him back, stabbed her right in front of him.”

Chanyeol massaged his arms slowly, trying to soothe the fire still wild in him, making him chuckle bitterly.

“And the baby? They threw him off the boat.”

Kris’s eyes widened in alarm. How could they- He settled back against the couch, slumping when Baekhyun’s story met its end. Explains why Yixing was like that, and why his parents had no guts to face their own son. He felt slightly ashamed when he realised that he had never even tried to ask himself why Yixing is like that.

“Wow.”

“Unbelievable, I know.” Baekhyun leaned into the other’s arms, burying his face into the warmth of the other’s shoulder. “I’ve never seen him smile since.”

“I never would’ve even thought he could smile,” Kris admitted. With how Yixing had been treating him, it wasn’t really a surprise.

“He’s a thousand times prettier when he smiles.” The look on Baekhyun’s eyes were distant, brown orbs locking onto nothing in particular as he reminisced.

Pretty. Kris chuckled softly, not really agreeing with it. Nope, he’s never seen a pretty side of him so might a well just disregard what Baekhyun had said. “Not really,”

At that, Baekhyun had sat up so abruptly that Chanyeol nearly jumped out of the couch, startled.

“Not really?” Baekhyun repeated disbelievingly, as if what Kris had said was a thousand times more offensive than it actually was. “Wait,”

Pulling out his wallet, he quickly went through its contents, finally smiling when he finally found what he was looking for. “Don’t tell him. This is the only one I found after that.” He handed Kris a photograph, which was a bit frayed around the edges, but otherwise perfectly preserved.

In it, was the perfect embodiment of happiness. The picture must have been taken when both of them were younger, judging from Baekhyun’s black hair and Yixing’s short one. From what he could gather from the slightly blurry background, they were probably at a beach somewhere, Yixing’s arm slung around Baekhyun’s shoulders as they smiled at the camera. Looking at the photo, he found that Baekhyun was wrong. Yixing was not pretty.

He was beautiful.

The young face was contorted into a smile, a dimple decorating his right cheek as his eyes crinkled. There was a light in his eyes, one of youthfulness that he just couldn’t find in the Yixing he knows.

That day, Kris promised himself to make the dimple appear again.

--

Moving was not a fun thing to do, not as a kid or an adult and so Kris found himself hating every moment as he lifted boxes of his belongings up the stairs of Yixing’s house. Luckily Chanyeol was there to help him with the lifting, so he didn’t have to ask Baekhyun to help him. The last of the boxes left his back straining and his arms aching, so he decided to just be quick with it.

Yixing had given Kris the room right next to his, rejecting flatly when Kris asked if they should room together. Annoyed and a bit irritated, Kris had just huffed and left, taking out his anger on Chanyeol and Baekhyun instead, ordering them around with his things.

When every box was finally in the room, Kris slumped on his bed lazily, unable to move even a single finger. Baekhyun and Chanyeol only watched him with amusement in their eyes from the corner of the room, both slightly tired from the little ransacking they had done through Kris’s boxes.

“So since you’re going to sleep, we’re going to head back first,” Chanyeol said, pulling Baekhyun behind him.

Kris didn’t even have to answer. Before he can even open an eye, Chanyeol and Baekhyun was already out the door, the heavy oak closing softly behind them. He gave a blissful sigh at the solitude and silence, thanking the gods silently as his eyes drooped, preparing for slumber.

Only to be interrupted by three soft knocks on his door.

The click of the door came before the burst of light, making him groan slightly before the door closed again and footsteps echoed in the room.

“Are you resting?” Came the familiar soft voice.

What do I look like doing? Kris wanted to say but opted for a safer approach instead; a groan.

“Do you want help with your things?”

Kris shook his head slowly, eyes still closed, desperately wishing for Yixing to be gone and for him to get some sleep, even for just a minute.

“Sleep,” Yixing’s soft voice commanded, and Kris obeyed.

It was all he could do anyway.

--

When he woke up, most of his boxes are empty. The ones that hold his clothes, shoes and underwear (Baekhyun cackled when he found it) were nowhere to be found and for a second, Kris wondered where they were, until he saw the open closet doors. In it, his clothes were hung neatly, his shoes arranged neatly at the shelf at the bottom.

An involuntary shiver racked his body suddenly when he felt cold breeze caress his skin, leaving goosebumps all over his skin. Only then did he notice that his skin had turned cold, probably from sleeping without a blanket. Groggily, he pushed himself off the bed, trudging around the room to find his blanket. Where the hell did he put it?

Finally giving up, he decided to head downstairs, though he was not sure why. His head spun a bit when he descended down the stairs, almost tripping at the bottom one before he fully woke up.

The first thing he caught was the smell of food. And he could tell it was delicious.

“Kris, come here and eat,” Yixing’s voice sounded, and Kris turned towards him.

Yixing was at the table, setting the table for two. What about Baekhyun? Sensing the question, Yixing glanced up at him, smile still nowhere to be found.

“Baekhyun’s spending the night at Chanyeol’s,”

Nodding mindlessly, he sat down at the table. The noodle looked just as tasty as he’d thought. Paying no mind to anything else, he started eating. The other looked at him furtively before following suit, though he was pretty sure Yixing wasn’t eating as fast as he did.

“Hungry?” Yixing put his bowl down, instead opting to watch Kris eat with amusement in his eyes. It’s not every day that people eat your cooking with fervour.

Through sips of his noodle, he managed a light chuckle as a response. “Haven’t eaten since morning,”

“Have more then,” Yixing said, staring straight at him. The stare unnerved him a lot, making him feel as if he was stripped to his bones and all his flaws were there for Yixing to see. Making sure to avert his gaze, he cleared his throat to ease the sudden tension in the air.

“I left my blanket at home,” Inside, he laughed at his weak attempt at tarting a conversation, but when Yixing responded, he felt quite satisfied.

“You can use mine,” The offer hung in the air as Kris stared at him with wide eyes, completely disbelieving.

“Really?” When he said it, Kris was sure he looked stupid.

True to his word, Yixing sent that blanket to his room after dinner, quietly amazed at how Kris could still be that sleepy even after practically inhaling a bowl of hot noodles. The blonde had accepted it gracefully, smiling gratefully to the other, who did nothing of the sort and simply walked away with a goodnight.

Oh well, he could always drop by his house next week.

That night, he lay safely secured in the blanket, warded against the cold breeze that seemed to blow into his room every now and then, even when the curtains are closed. When he was nearly asleep that night, he suddenly found himself dead awake as thoughts of Yixing flitted through his mind.

Why had he been so nice? What changed?

That may have been his first mistake that prevented his sleep. His second mistake?

Inhaling the scent from the blanket.

--

The next day, Kris decided that he really didn’t like beaches and sleep deprivation, for what he was feeling contributed greatly to his bad mood and therefore snappy attitude. Chanyeol was his first victim that day. Good thing they arrived at the set shortly, for he could have exploded right there and then, just because Chanyeol had been late, again.

The shoot today was about, well, he didn’t really know. He couldn’t really give a damn, for his state of mind prohibited him from thinking about anything other than sleep, and that was also the exact reason he glared when the line’s fashion designer greeted him.

“Hi,” Turning towards the source of voice, he found himself face to face with the young prodigy of the fashion world, Kim Jongin or better known as Kai. He didn’t even know why his clothes fit the fashion description. To his eyes, they were crappy combinations of printed fabric, orange leather and neon colours, all tailored to make one look out of this world or put simply, alien. To say the least, he wasn’t impressed.

“Hello,” Just to be polite, he thinks.

“You look like a model. Mind if I ask why you’re not one?” A sleazy grin appeared on his face, identical to the ones Kris had seen countless times at the club, at the part where pickup lines and vodka went one way.

“Not my choice of career,”

“Then would you be my personal model instead?” His voice dropped a few octaves, and Kris could practically see him turning on his charms.

“I don’t play with kids,”

At that, Kai gave a laugh, not loud nor boisterous but one that had a controlled quality of. “It’s been a long time since someone turned me down,”

The blonde looked at him up and down before meeting his eyes. “How could I not?”

Once again, he gave a light chuckle. “I like you. Why don’t we sit down for a bit?” He added, handing a glass of light drink to Kris, who accepted.

Once they found a bench to sit on, they watched the progress of the photoshoot from afar. Despite the age difference, Kai was the one who initiated the talk. “So, what made you hate me so much?”

“Probably your choice of colours,” Kris said after a while of thinking, which made Kai promptly burst into laughter.

“What?” He doubled over, voice loud as he tried to drown out his laughter with words. Kris couldn’t help but think that the designer looked far youthful when he was laughing. “You don’t understand art!”

“I do,” Kris retorted. “I just don’t understand artists,”

At that moment, thoughts of a brunette invaded his mind and he was instantly reminded of last night’s thoughts.

“As much as this is hard to believe, me too,” Kai said with a faraway look on his face. “I wonder what it’s like to work with an artist.”

An idea popped up in his head, an idea that involved Yixing, though he was sure that the other probably wouldn’t like it. But despite the annoying fashion designer in front of him, Kris found that it was an otherwise fantastic opportunity to let Yixing’s talent shine and maybe let him paint for a living.

“I know a painter,” Kris said quietly, but it was enough to catch the other’s attention. “He’s fantastic. He has this way with colours that just makes everything seem right where it belongs, even when he combine purple and blue.”

“Purple and blue is easy,” Kai rolled his eyes. “But I’d like to meet him, if it weren’t any inconvenience? Since you talk about him like he’s a god.”

Well technically he had only seen Yixing paint twice and without the red, so he was exaggerating a bit there.

“Give me your number,” The younger said, holding his phone out.

Wow. Direct.

Kris punched in his numbers quickly, ignoring the wink the younger sent as he called Kris’s phone. “If you ever need to contact him.” He said as he gave back the other’s sleek black phone.

“Wow, I never thought you can be a bodyguard,” He chuckled to his phone lightly.

The blonde opened his mouth to retort, only to be cut off by one of the directors of the set, calling him over for opinions.

“Bye, for now,” The other said as he jogged off, leaving Kris and his thoughts alone.

--

Kris had come home feeling exhausted, tired and crappy, like someone had just threw a wet towel to his face. Fortunately, the one who greeted him was Baekhyun, so he was saved the fuming and the angry tone. So instead of a curse, he gave him a soft smile.

“Come on, Yixing cooked again,” The other’s invitation was not to be turned down, for the smile on his face rivalled that of an angel. But as Kris turned around to lock the door, Baekhyun leaned closer and whispered, his tone accusing. “How come he cooks so much when you’re here?”

Kris decided to not actually answer that, for he himself had no actual answer to it.

After the quick dinner, Baekhyun followed him up to his room, making himself busy with watching Kris as he straightened out his things, little by little. Having Baekhyun around always managed to make him more comfortable.

“Maybe you should put that on your desk,” He commented as he pointed towards a frame. A picture of his parents when they were younger.

Baekhyun then hummed quietly as he walked around the room, surveying before he finally stopped at the bed. His eyes widened when he caught sight of the blanket, folded neatly on the foot of the bed. Strange, Kris didn’t remember folding it.

“Why is this here?” Baekhyun pointed towards the blanket accusingly. “Did you sleep with him already?!”

At this, Kris accidentally stumbled on the leg of his desk, stubbing his toe against it to the point that it felt like almost coming off. “What?- No!” Seeing that Baekhyun’s still unconvinced, he added. “He borrowed it to me last night,”

“Seriously?” Kris nodded. “But that’s his favourite,” He said softly, looking forlornly at the object on Kris’s bed. “Even I’m not allowed to touch it,”

Kris gaped. How do people handle this? “Um, hospitality maybe?”

“Hospitality my ,” Baekhyun scoffed. Still the stubborn brat he is, Baekhyun tried to look for other excuses. “He won’t touch another. I don’t think he even have another,”

This time, Kris didn’t even try to handle it. Instead, he let silence do its work.

“I think, it’s this responsibility thing he’s having,” Baekhyun stressed on the word with a flick of his hand before continuing, disregarding all that Kris had to say when he opened his mouth to speak. “Since he’s supposed to marry you and all. This insecurity, this fear that had lodged itself in his heart ever since the accident, fear of not knowing when might be the last time he was going to carry out responsibility before it’s being snatched. Or something like that,” He shrugged.

“I don’t know. Maybe,” He said simply.

Sometime after that, the conversation was steered away from the subject of Yixing and they talked about less harmless things like Kris’s work Baekhyun’s photography and Chanyeol. That is, until the devil himself called to make sure that his dearest angel was okay. Baekhyun had to depart right after that, choosing to spend the night at Chanyeol’s instead of his own home.

The rest of the night was spent in silence, the only sounds were of shuffling papers and the click of pens. After scheduling Chanyeol’s next few interviews and shoots, he flexed his fingers, giving a sigh of relief when he felt pain dissipate. Glancing up at the clock, he found that it was well past midnight.

“I really need to sleep,” He reminded himself as he gathered his papers and closed his notebook, tidying up his desk as he did so.

But even so, he could not help but worry about Yixing.

If what Baekhyun said was true, then Yixing would be cold and far from sleep right now. Gathering up the blanket in his arms, he made the short journey to Yixing’s door in no hurry. Three unanswered knocks went by before Kris opened the door as silently as he could, wary of his surrounding and just plain cautious given that this was Yixing’s room and he had no right to enter.

Sympathy laced itself into him as he came to the sight of Yixing, curled into himself to retain what was left of his body warmth, for the breeze caressing his pale skin was chilly despite the closed curtains. He could barely make out the shivers the other was getting before he could take it no more.

He covered the slim body with the blanket, smiling to himself when Yixing leaned into it. Against better judgement, he pulled the blanket up to the other’s chin, wishing internally so that the other doesn’t wake up.

But he did.

And Kris was caught between the decision of running away looking like a thief or just stand there smiling, looking like a creep. He settled on the latter.

“Kris?” His voice was hoarse with sleep as he looked up at him from under long eyelashes, confusion present in his eyes as to why Kris was there before he felt the soft feel of the blanket under his fingers. “Why?”

“Thought you might need it,” His voice was betraying him, Kris noticed. It wavered so very slightly that he was sure Yixing wouldn’t catch it, but he couldn’t help  being paranoid.

“But you might get cold,” The other tried to reason, even when his hands hugged the blanket to his chest.

“It’s yours,” Kris said matter-of-factly, raising an eyebrow.

“I know,” Yixing sighed, closing his eyes. “But your room is slightly colder than mine, with the tiles and all,”

“It’s okay, I’m used to it,” He lied, but lies are forgiven for times like these, is it not? “Goodnight,” Before he could even think, those words were out of his mouth. Kris walked quickly towards the door, trying to escape before Yixing could call for him.

But he did just that.

So he turned around and smiled politely. “Yes?”

“Sleep here,” Yixing lifted the blanket on the other side of his bed, patting the bared sheets beneath it. “It’s warmer,”

Kris hesitated. “Are you sure?”

He could’ve only imagined the other’s nod for it was so slight, but he climbed in anyway, pushing all thoughts of hesitation and doubt out of his head as soon as the bed dipped under his weight. The movement did not wake Yixing, but he was sure that it would if he kept moving so roughly, so he laid down slowly, eyes fixed on the other all the while.

Imagining that the dimple was right there on his cheek, Kris found himself smiling. The image conjured up in his head was more beautiful than the one in the photograph, and it was only enhanced further by the soft illumination of the moonlight on the painter’s pale skin.

That night, they slept with distance between them, but neither cared to do anything about it, even when Kris’s toes jutted out the bottom of the blanket. Sometime during the night, Kris wasn’t sure if he was dreaming, but he woke up to the sight of Yixing only inches away from him, and that he smelled incredibly nice.

So he leaned in closer.

--

A/N; So what do you think? Lol sorry for the kinda crazy deaths. The baby, I know. Im sorry Im sorry, but I had to do it, see? And Introducing Kaii, lol. He’s important so....

Okay well I just had my last paper today, so I will be updating more frequently now XD

Comment bb :D i love you guyss