It took Suho a moment to realise what Kris meant by that last statement. That’s when he remembered that T.A.O was a project that took place around the same time as K.A.I. He heard footsteps approaching and quickly ending the call after telling Kris that they would further discuss the issue when he got back. Joonmyun walked through the doors but stopped abruptly in the middle of the living room as he stared out to the balcony. Suho’s eyes followed Joonmyun’s line of vision to see Kyungsoo and Kai (or as Suho likes to refer to him as K.A.I) in each other’s embrace. They swayed lightly along with the cool morning breeze. Kai’s face was hidden in Kyungsoo’s dark hair that was still slightly damp.

Suho was aware of his little brother’s feelings towards their childhood friend. Although he didn’t really have a proper reason to dislike Kai, seeing a failed hybrid like him with his brother’s dream lover didn’t make him like the younger boy any more than he did before. Suho felt bad for his brother. He knew what it felt like to see the one you love with another so happily. He then promised himself that he would help Joonmyun get Kyungsoo to like him. And if not… well then at least he tried right?

The minute Suho stepped into his office he was pinned to the wall by a very large Chinese man and bombarded with questions. This made him chuckle a little bit, because wasn’t it him that was supposed to be asking what the taller man was on about with T.A.O.

Seeing Kris act the way he did sparked a thought in Suho’s head that was slowly piecing Kris’ broken explanation together. T.A.O… He was a project similar to K.A.I. The main purpose of project T.A.O was to see if they could increase the population of pandas by using the DNA of hybrid. Kris was more than T.A.O’s caretaker. Kris was his friend, maybe more. The two of them had grown a strong bond that wouldn’t easily be broken. One day when they were testing a new formula on project T.A.O, except the reaction was something the scientists hadn’t expected. T.A.O had started to freak out and flailed his limbs everywhere. His mind was lost somewhere in the heat of the moment. He tried to make a run for it but was tackled to the ground and hit his head on the tiles. T.A.O has been unconscious since, and with every passing day Kris would lose a little bit of hope.

Scared for his life that T.A.O might never wake up again, Kris would always read him his favourite story book to the sleeping panda whether or not he could hear him. Every night before he left to go home, Kris would lean over and gently press his lips on the latter’s forehead. They said that the chances of him waking up were slim, and even if he did it wasn’t likely he would remember any of it.

Suho sympathised for his friend, but he had things of his own to worry about. There was another person that he could interrogate while Kris was busy flicking through files for extra information. Project L.A.Y. He had been a part of Project Hybrid since the beginning but they were still looking for the right extract to inject into his system. Suho had actually been on quite good terms with L.A.Y and had completely how close he was with the other projects.

L.A.Y’s P.O.V

It was early in the morning and my alarm hadn’t rung yet, but there was a knocking coming from nearby. I opened my eyes slowly, letting them adapt to the light and looked around my room. Suho’s head popped through the slight crack and I swore his smile was brighter than the sun. Suho was such a sweet boy, but he had this foreign girlfriend so he was off limits (unfortunately for me).  He stepped in and carefully closed the door behind him, making sure it didn’t slam and wake the others.

“Good morning Sunshine. Did you sleep well?” Sunshine… He always used to call me that and hearing it again only brought back butterflies in my tummy. I stretched my arms and plopped back down on my pillow, smiling up at him. He sat himself down on my bed and made himself comfortable, bringing his knees up to his chest and covering himself with my blanket leaving me without any. I pouted jokingly and folded my arms across my chest.

“I was sleeping fine until you came and stole my blankie!” Suho let out an eargasmic chuckle before taking the blanket and wrapped his arms around my body, cocooning me in his embrace. “Yah! I can’t breathe you fatty!J ust because it’s your birthday doesn’t mean I’m gonna stop calling you fatty. Suho, I’ll tell Kris on you! Mehrong~” I stuck my tongue out at him and hid under the covers before he threatened to boop my nose. I kind of wish that I hid myself better because I was not prepared for him blowing down my neck and sending shivers down my spine.

I tried to wriggle out of his firm hold but it was useless when I was under attack. In my attempt to free myself, I accidently kneed him in the manly parts. He clutched his crotch and doubled over on my mattress landing with a soft thud.

“OMO!! Suho-ssi. Gwaenchana? Here, let me help you there.” I turned him over so that he was lying on his back. “Aigoo~ What if you and Linda can’t have babies because of me? I’m really sorry if I ever make you infertile, because we both know that this isn’t the first time this has happened.” The look on his face darkened but he faked a light smile before replying.

“We aren’t together anymore, she cheated on me with some douchebag on my birthday. But that was last night, and I guess I’m grateful she’s gone so I could see her true colours.” Suho’s face was grim but his face showed less grief than L.A.Y was expecting. Maybe their break up was for the better, Suho did deserve someone better than that after all.

“I’m sorry to hear, I honestly thought you guys would last a long time.” Suho’s face softened and he rolled over so that we were facing each other. The way he set a soft gaze on my made the heat travel to my cheeks and I could feel the blush coming on. I was the first one to break the eye contact before Suho looked away disappointedly. “Cheer up fatty, it’s your birthday. Did fatty want some cake? I’ll go get us some cake.” I scrambled half way off the bed in attempt to escape the intensity before a masculine arm pulled me back down and wrapped itself around my waist.

“Ani, Fatty doesn’t want cake. Fatty wants to stay here with XingXing.” Suho pulled me in closer and lifted my head onto his shoulder. XingXing and Fatty were pet names that we had for each other and each other only. It sounds like such a couple thing to do but we were just friends. That’s right… just friends. I let my hand rest lazily on his forearm and I smiled into the crook of his neck because I was drowning in bliss and pleasure. /sigh. If only I could tell him my feelings without it getting weird.

~~~~~

Kris’ P.O.V

Apparently there was an old project on the loose, living within the streets of Seoul. There were so many things to be taken care of. Where is it staying? Is it putting any civilians in danger? What about its family? How is it coping? There was nothing more I hated than when people think executing living creatures is a legitimate answer to their problems. Whoever filed the execution for project K.A.I just because he was a bit of a failure is a total .

I had to go through all of his files and sort everything out which included retaining rights to it, cancelation of execution and fixing them up. Even though I was busying myself with work, my mind couldn’t stop wandering back to a certain panda boy. I’ve been miserable since that incident. The drugs only made it worst and doctors told Suho that the chances of him waking up were slim, but they promised me that he’d wake up.

I had to clear my head so I went out to release some stress. There was only 30 minutes until I went home so it didn’t really matter that I left early for a day. I sat down at a table outside in the cool afternoon air, lighting a cigarette and bringing it up to my lips and deeply inhaling. I brought up the habit of smoking ever since T.A.O has been in that coma. I knew it wasn’t good for me so I decided that I’d quit, but sometimes when I got too stressed smoking was the only thing that could relieve me. The ahjumma finally arrived with a dish of dukkbokki and a complimentary bottle of soju. I poured myself a glass before downing it in one go. The process repeated over and over again and soon enough my vision became blurred and my head was spinning. It hurts even more every day that he doesn’t wake up. They promised he’d wake up, they promised godamnit!! Every morning I’d put up a strong face and get on with my day. Every night I’d read to him and telling him how my day was, what I ate and how much I missed him. Every. Single. Night.

One bottle. Two bottles. Three bottles. Four bottles. Five bottles… What comes after five again? Not like it mattered, I’d already had too much to drink. That didn’t mean I wantd to stop though, because the more sober I am the faster the pain comes back. My lids were becoming heavy and so were my limbs. I let gravity pin my body down onto the table and I lost consciousness after that.

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Author's note: I'M SO TIRED!! my laptop is ing up gaahh!! /cries