Kinetic, Modem
The Cyborg Clerk
The roaring of the crowd around him rang in his ears as he took sight of the unconscious man in front of him. Yixing walked calmly towards the man and helped him up and out of the ring. Tao had once again, won the fight. Nothing new. Over time, his opponents began to get smaller and weaker. From time to time relatively suitable matches would challenge him.
The nape of his neck shivered when his eyes fell upon a rather heated stare from Kris who was simultaneously talking to Baekhyun as he stared at him. Kris then nodded at the crowds direction and Baekhyun started to collect and distribute the bet money people had placed on the fighters of the night.
Tao walked to the back room and couldn't see Kris anywhere. The door to the back alleyway was open and could see a figure standing outside. Pushing the door a little more, Tao could see Kris look up at the sky. Tao took in a slow, deep breath and opened the door completely.
Before he said anything, Kris spoke up. "You did good today, Zitao."
Tao felt relieved. {Phew, I thought he was going to-}
"But you could've done better. I saw that punch to your chest. You almost slipped, Tao."
And there it was. The disappointment. When Tao was younger, he could block out the feeling of disappointing his parents, but with Kris, it was different. Kris took Tao in because of the problems he had at home. Tao was forever grateful to him and looked up to Kris as not only as an older brother, but a father figure, the father he never truly had. So, seeing it as he was disappointed he couldn't help but remain silent and take in the harsh words coming from Kris' mouth.
"You know, I think he did rather exceptional tonight." The two turn around to find Yixing standing under the frame of the doorway.
Tao's eyes light up for a second but go droop for a second time when he feels Kris' hand on his shoulder. "It's true, Zitao did extremely well tonight, I have to give it to him. I just think he made a mistake that shouldn't have happened."
Yixing walks over to the two and wraps his arm around Tao's shoulder, managing to brush off Kris'. "Come on Tao, let's go back home and fix your leg, that guy dented it pretty bad." Tao's slow pace caused Yixing to awkwardly slow down as they walked.
"I'll tell you what, on our way home I'll buy you something to eat. I'm getting tired of Kris' jank ramen every night." Yixing looks back at Kris and winks, hoping to get the joke across before he gets his kicked.
Kris takes a last look at the two before hearing Baekhyun close the door and step towards him.
"You know Tao's been doing exceptional these past few days, you need to give him a lot more slack than you do now." Baekhyun stands next to him as the boy stare up at the sky, making hopeless constellations with the few stars that are out.
"Woah, does someone have a soft spot for Tao?" Kris folds his arms and questions him.
"I'm the one with the soft spot for Tao? Whose the one who always buys him designer junk huh?" Kris' question backfires and he goes back to look up at the stars.
The silence tells Baekhyun that he won the argument. He chuckles and looks at the scenery around him. "That's what I thought."
Baekhyun lets his hands fall at his sides and watches as the moon peaks out from behind the few clouds in the sky that night. Kris flutters his eyes closed when a small light reflects off of Baekhyun's ring. Baekhyun sees Kris look down at his ring at copies his action. Suddenly a gloomy feeling washes over him as he thinks about the past.
Kris sees Baekhyun's hurt face. "You still miss him, don't you."
Baekhyun looks up to Kris when he feels a tear fall down. He quickly reacts and wipes it away. He chuckles at the fact that something as simple as a ring has gotten him to break down.
"Of course I do, he was my little phoenix." The knuckle ring was now in the palm of his hand as he longingly looked at the shape of a phoenix engraved onto it.
"And, you are all set! Why don't you try it out for size?" The welder sets his tools down and watches the customer walk around with his new leg. He runs around and flails his arms in the air as his parents watch him, smiles on their faces. He runs back to the man sitting down watching the movement of his new leg.
"I love it! Thank you so much hyung!" The little boy sits on his lap and swings his new leg back and forth. His parents walk up to him and call for their son. The wife walks up to the counter where Junmyeon handles all the customers.
"You can keep the change." The middle-aged lady smiles and Junmyeon is shocked. She gave him a hundred dollar bill when the total was only half a hundred.
"Ma'am that is completely unnecessary. That's too much for us to take." Junmyeon slides the change back to her and she hesitates to take it back. She hears her son playing with the man who fixed him and thinks of a way to say thanks.
"Do your employees accepts tips?" Her face lights up as both her and Junmyeon glance at her son who is happily in the arms of the welder.
"Y-yes ma'am, but don't you think that's a little much?" He nods to the change.
"Oh, not at all. That man there was extremely nice to my son. He deserves it." She reassures his reluctant glance with a smile.
"Alright. You are more than welcome to give it to him them. Have a good night." He bids a farewell to the woman before walking towards Jongin and Kyungsoo who are practicing defense positions for Kyungsoo's next fight.
The lady walks up to her son and tells him to walk with his father. The boy's face saddens but gives the man one last hug before leaving.
"Thank you so much hyung! I really do like it! And I love the little drawing you put on it too! My other friends will be so jealous!" The little boy waddles away trying to look at the little engraving of a small phoenix with what seemed to be light orbs as it's surroundings on the left side of his left ankle.
"No problem little guy! And don't forget, if you want another drawing or something doesn't fit right, just come back! I'll be more than happy to see you again." He waves one last time at the boy before he disappears out the doors.
The mother hands him a fifty dollar bill and he looks up at her surprised. "Thank you for being so caring towards our son. He seems to really like you."
"Oh no problem, a charming kid like him should never be treated less than what the kindness treated me with. You really have a great son." He stands up to accept the tip, bowing slightly.
"No, thank you, mister.." She slows her words and waits for him to reveal his name.
"Park. Mister Park. But you can call me Chanyeol." He bids her goodbye, as does she.
He walks back with a smile on his face as he puts his tools away. Junmyeon and him talk about the lady, his son, and other randoms events that happened throughout the day. As Chanyeol sets his welding tool into it's case his bracelet hits the side of the box and thinks back to the day he had gotten it.
Baekhyun sits on the last steps of his parents empty house as Chanyeol walks through the front door with the last box containing some of Baekhyun's things. Chanyeol sets the box down and sits to Baekhyun's left as they both wait for Kris to arrive. Seeing his saddened expression, he looks down at him and uses his hand to lean his head on his shoulder. Baekhyun takes the opportunity to wrap his arms around Chanyeol, who leans against the railing. They say nothing,the bitter feeling subduing them to a heavyhearted silence.
Chanyeol holds his hand and can feel the chain of the light orb bracelet Baekhyun had bought himself. He looks down and sees his phoenix ring, getting an idea. He straightens up and quickly takes off his ring, along with Baekhyun's bracelet. Chanyeol then puts the bracelet on himself, admiring it. Then he gently takes Baekhyun's left hand in his and slips the ring onto the other's hand.
Chanyeol didn't know, but when he took Baekhyun's hand, he looked up at him. Staring into his eyes waiting for the other to make eye contact. Chanyeol finally looked up at him and a tear then rolled down his face. Baekhyun smiles weakly and wipes it away for him.
"Don't cry, everything's gonna be fine. Trust me." Baekhyun lies in his arms, feeling Chanyeol's slightly shake.
"No it's not. You have to leave. And you're staying with," Chanyeol pauses before continuing with emphasis, "him."
Baekhyun can't saying anything. He knows he's right. Thanks to his oh-so lovely parents whose debt threatened Baekhyun's life, he had to leave Kinetic and stay with Modem for who knows how long. No one messes with Modem. They're too scary. Even if they're so young, the intimidating aura they give off keeps the others away from them.
If Baekhyun was a stranger, without a doubt they would never have let him in. Kris owed Junmyeon a favor, and this was it.
"I know you don't like Kris, but you have to be positive for me alright? As much as I hate saying this, I'm safer with Kris in Modem. If they knew I was in Kinetic, you'd be in danger too. I don't want that." Baekhyun sat up and looked at Chanyeol with a pained look.
Baekhyun was right too. Kinetic was open to the public, Modem was much more reserved. Once the debt sharks find out he's in Kinetic, it was over for him. If they knew he was in Modem, they wouldn't touch him.
Chanyeol stayed silent but his gaze remained on Baekhyun. He couldn't take it any longer. Chanyeol let go of his hands as his own wound around Baekhyun's neck. Pulling Baekhyun towards him, and their lips meet in a hesitant kiss. At first Baekhyun's eyes are wide, but his heart calms down and his eyes close, a sigh of relief leaves his lungs. Chanyeol lets go of Baekhyun to look at him but his eyes close again when he feels Baekhyun's hands clutch his hair and kiss him again, this time with more feeling. Tears fall from both of their eyes as they kiss. Holding each other tight, afraid that when they stop and their eyes open, the other will be gone. They stop kissing and their foreheads touch as oxygen refills their lungs.
They completely let go of each other when a black SUV pulls up and Kris gets out. Chanyeol is still hesitant of Kris so he stands up in front of Baekhyun. He stands up too and lets his hand slip into Chanyeol's, giving his hand an encouraging squeeze. Kris walks up to the two, nodding at Chanyeol, acknowledging him. He turns to Baekhyun, grabbing one of the suitcases, "You ready?" Baekhyun hums in response and grabs his small bag and puts it in the back seat with him. Kris and Chanyeol take the two biggest suitcases and put them in the trunk.
Before Kris goes to grab another one a firm hand stops him by the shoulder. He looks at Chanyeol whose eyes are looking straight into Kris', "Take care of him, please." The anger that was in his eyes when he first saw Kris had disappeared. He really wanted Baekhyun to be safe.
Kris returned the gesture and caught Chanyeol's attention, "I will. I promise."
Before one of the two could say something, Baekhyun popped up from the side. "Everything's packed and ready to go."
"Alright, I'll be up front, take your time." Kris walked to the driver's seat.
"So this is it, huh?" Baekhyun looked up to Chanyeol, a small chuckle came out of his mouth.
"I guess so." Chanyeol took a step forward and he kissed Baekhyun again. This time it was a short kiss, but still lingering. Baekhyun put his arms around Chanyeol's waist, the latter's hands still clutching onto his hair. They let go simultaneously and jumped when the car suddenly roared to life. Baekhyun hugs Chanyeol for the last time. He let go and they looked at each other in the eye.
"Bye." Baekhyun walked to the back seat and got in.
Chanyeol walked to the porch and sat down. He watched the SUV drive away for several seconds and put his head in his hands. He silently cried until he hear the car suddenly stop and the right side passenger door open and slam closed. Baekhyun was running as fast as he could. Chanyeol jumped up and waited for him to run into his arms. Baekhyun's lips literally crashed onto Chanyeol's, making him flinch for a split second before smiling a little and returning the kiss.
Baekhyun pulled away and held Chanyeol's wrists.
"I love you, Chanyeol." Baekhyun held his face in his hands before kissing him one last time.
"I love you, too." Chanyeol hugged him before letting him go.
For once in the time span of that whole day, Baekhyun felt happy.
It was the first time they had said I love you to each other.
Hopefully not the last.
Alright. I know. This was long overdue. I originally wanted to write more for this chapter but could not spew anymore words out of my brain, through my fingers, onto the keyboard, and onto my google drive. Could someone just, draw a chibi of me with the name 'leanne' on top of it, and make a vine of you stabbing the chibi? Because i feel so horrible for keeping you all wait for four FREAKIN MONTHS. i feel, like an idjit.
Im sorry.
Here you all go.
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