Hi guys, another update for you. 2,437 words. Hope you enjoy it :)

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TAO’S POV

Two hours and a few phone calls later, we’re pulling up outside Lay’s apartment near the university. He buzzes us in and we take the elevator up to his floor; Kris seems to have been here several times as he confidently leads the way. We’re both thrumming with nerves and he pauses a moment to take a deep breath before we go in.

The sight of Joonmyun inside takes me by surprise and I glance over at Kris, suddenly worried. Maybe this isn’t the right time; surely we should do this with just Lay here. Kris meets my gaze, the surprise in them mirroring mine, and motions subtly towards Lay who’s just entered the room carrying a tray of drinks. I nod slightly in agreement; we’ll have to let him decide.

We follow Lay to the coffee table in the centre of the lounge whilst Joonmyun clears the books off it and places them on the floor. I guess they were studying together.

We’re both unsure exactly how to go about this so we wait until the pleasantries are out of the way before bringing up the main reason for our visit.

Kris takes the lead, leaning forward in his chair and putting down his drink before speaking. “Lay, we’re here today because we’ve got something to tell you.”

Lay flicks his gaze over to Kris in surprise before nodding.

“It’s not something we’ll enjoy telling you and it’s quite personal. I don’t know if you want…” Kris trails off, looking towards Joonmyun.

Joonmyun glances between us uncertainly, “I can go if you want,” he says, standing.

Lay’s hand flies out and latches onto Joonmyun’s wrist, holding him in place. “Stay,” he says, “I don’t mind you hearing.”

Kris glances over to me, unsure, and I just nod. “It’s his choice not ours.” Kris nods and runs a hand through his hair uncertainly, not really knowing what to do now.

I lean forward, deciding to take over, “we know who was behind our kidnapping and who ordered for me to be tortured. We’ve been collecting information on them for the past few weeks and on Monday we will begin the process of taking them to court. We hope to get him put in prison along with many of the men working for him. Our aim is not just to remove his threat to us after what he did, but the threat he poses to others too. He runs a respectable business in the public eye but behind closed doors he has a whole separate business on the go and he’s a danger to many people.”

Lay nods when I stop speaking, “that’s good. He deserves prison for what he did to you, but I don’t understand why you’re telling me this specifically.”

I look over at Kris for a moment, nervous again. He reaches into his pocket and takes out the recording his father gave us earlier today.

“I think it would be best for you listen to this now,” he says. “I think it’ll become clear how this involves you when you hear it.”

Kris glances over at me, checking that this is the right thing to do. I nod encouragingly and he pressed play, turning the volume up so that his father’s voice can be heard clearly by all four of us.

“I’ve never fully explained to you my origins, where my life began and-”

Lay looks at Kris in surprise, “that’s your dad, right?”

Kris nods and Lay frowns in slight confusion before leaning back into his seat and settling down to listen.

The atmosphere grows increasingly tense as the recording continues. I watch Lay closely, trying to judge his reactions to the things he’s hearing. He seems shocked when he hears about his dad’s connection to Kris’s dad and even more shocked when he hears how his dad confessed to Kris’s.

The exact moment when it clicks that it’s his father that’s done this to us is clear. His breath hitches and the strength seems to leave his body. He sags down in his chair, fingers clenching in the material of his jeans as he forces himself to continue to listen to the end.

When the recording stops he’s sitting hunched over in his chair, body tense, hands fisted in his hair and breathing uneven. Joonmyun also seems to be in shock.

I open my mouth to speak but Lay beats me to it, asking hoarsely, “those scars on your arms. Did my father cause those?”

I glance at Kris, unsure how to respond exactly. “Not personally but the men were following his orders.”

“Oh my god,” he chokes out.

“Lay,” Joonmyun says, reaching out a hand and placing it on Lay’s arm gently.

Lay recoils from the touch, finally lifting his head and revealing his face. My breath catches at the tortured look in his eyes, pain clearly visible in his gaze. He stands, breathing harshly and fists clenched, “don’t. I can’t. I need to…”

He’s unable to finish, the words dying before he can voice them, and he stumbles back away from us before turning and running out of the room.

Joonmyun calls out after him but his voice is cut off by the sound of the front door slamming. We stand, planning to go after him, but Joonmyun stops us.

“I’ll go,” he says, “I don’t think he can deal with seeing you right now. Just give him some time.”

We nod and watch as Joonmyun backs away from us before turning and following after Lay.

When we hear the door slam again I sink down onto the sofa, resting my head in my hands and taking a deep breath.

“I hope he’ll be ok.”

JOONMYUN’S POV

I shut the door behind me and glance down the corridor. There’s nobody around so I run to the elevators. I can see that one is in use, heading to the ground floor, so I rapidly press the call button for the second one, bouncing impatiently on the balls of my feet as I wait.

As soon as the door opens I rush in and slam my hand against the button for the ground floor. It feels like an eternity before the doors open again and I rush out into the lobby. I’m just in time to see Lay leaving through the main doors, hearing the worried voices of people who seem to have caught the same lift as him, buying me time to catch up, and head after him.

I see him running down the street and give chase, calling his name. He speeds up and I curse to myself, pushing myself faster. Eventually I manage to close the gap, catching up to him as he turns into a side road and discovers that he’s got nowhere to. I reach out, grabbing his hand and tugging him around to face me.

Lay wrenches his hand out of my grip and backs away, hands raised to keep me away, shaking his head as the tears start to fall from his eyes. “How can you even bear to look at me? My father kidnapped and tortured them, I should repulse you.”

I move forward towards him, following him until his back is up against the wall and he has nowhere to go. Reaching out, I grip his raised wrists and give them a slight shake, forcing him to focus on me and meet my gaze through the haze of his tears. “Exactly, you said it yourself; your father did that to them, not you. You had nothing to do with this. The blame falls on your father not you.”

He takes rapid shallow breaths, struggling to regain control of his shocked and panicking self. “What about them? They must hate me, especially Tao. All I’ve ever brought them is pain. I wrecked Tao’s life in high school and now he’s had to experience kidnapping and torture. How can I ever face them again? Why would they even want to see me again? I must disgust them. I-”

“No,” I say sharply, making him jump slightly and stare at me wide eyed. “They’ve obviously known about this for a while now, having been preparing for the court case, yet they still invited you to their party and treated you in exactly the same way they usually do. Do you think they could bear to have you in their home if they blamed you? No, they couldn’t.” I release his wrists and hold him by his shoulders, staring intently into his eyes, “they don’t blame you Lay. No one does.”

I watch as he shakes in my grip, taking shuddering breaths and trying to speak but obviously incapable of doing so. No more words need to be said in my opinion so I tug him to me, wrapping him in my arms and tightening my grip when his arms snake around me to cling tightly to my back.

I remain silent as he buries his face in my neck and holds onto me as though I’m the only thing stopping his heartbreaking sobs from tearing him apart. I blink rapidly, knowing it’s not me that should be crying, but he’s in so much pain and he doesn’t deserve this. Sure he’s done some cruel things in his life, beating people up and causing lots of pain, but he was a child with a twisted background and no one to show him that he was worth loving.

I glare at the sky as I hold him, trying to force down the sudden wave of anger towards his father for neglecting to think about how his son would be affected by this. What child wouldn’t suffer when faced with the knowledge that their father has done something like this to his best friend and his boyfriend.

When his breathing eventually calms down enough for him to form words he pulls back and ducks his head down to hide his face. “Thank you Joonmyun, for being here,” he whispers, voice ragged from his violent crying.

I tilt his head up so I can see his face, heart aching as I see how red his eyes are. I reach up and gently wipe the tears from his cheeks, smiling slightly, “anytime Lay, I’ll help you get through this.”

He releases me and I take a step back, giving him some space. He stares at the ground for a few moments, trying to think straight. Eventually he looks up at me, uncertainty in his eyes. I smile gently, hoping to encourage him, and it seems to work, prompting him to speak.

“I don’t want to go back there. Can… Can I come to your place?”

He sounds so vulnerable and exhausted in that moment and I just want to wrap him up and protect him from the world. I know that’s not possible though, so this will have to suffice.

“Of course,” I reply softly, “come on.” I place a hand on his shoulder and steer him back towards his apartment, where I’ve parked my car.

Kris’s car is still there when we arrive and, sensing Lay start to panic, I lead him to my car and open the passenger door for him. I hurry around to the driver’s side and get in, starting the engine and pulling away as soon as I can. I wait until we’re stuck in traffic, closer to my home, before taking out my phone and sending a quick text to Kris to let him know that Lay is ok and to go home for now.

I glance over at Lay as the cars begin to move again and see that he’s leaning against the door, resting his head against the window and watching the cars go by in silence. I can’t imagine what must be going through his head right now, thinking about his father perhaps, maybe his mother. Not only has he just discovered that his father has caused so much pain, but also that the relationship between his parents is a mere formality and his father is actually gay despite bringing up his son to believe that homouality is disgusting.

From what he’s said in passing, I’ve gathered that he rarely sees his parents and that they’re not affectionate people, but having to face this blunt reality must hurt so much.  

Eventually I force myself to stop thinking and simply focus on getting us to my apartment safely. The drive there is silent but thankfully doesn’t last too long and I nudge Lay when we arrive, pulling him out of his thoughts. “We’re here,” I murmur softly.

He nods silently and undoes his seat belt, getting out, before standing there to wait for me. Once the car is locked I lead the way into the building, entering the elevator and pressing in the code for my floor.

Once inside I lead him to the kitchen where I set the kettle to boil and get out some mugs. A small smile tugs at my lips as I see the curiosity in his previously lifeless, swollen eyes as he stares around my kitchen. Compared to his big, bare apartment, mine is much smaller, a perfect size for me in my opinion, with framed pictures on the walls and neat clutter on the surfaces.

I hand him his drink and we head into the lounge.

We pass the rest of the afternoon and the evening curled up under blankets on my sofa, sipping hot drinks and watching stupid comedies. I try my hardest to distract him from the painful mess in his head and after a few hours it seems to be working. I smile to myself as I hear him let out a small laugh at a particularly funny moment and allow myself to relax slightly.

It’s late when we go to sleep and my sofa’s quite short so I tell him he can sleep in my bed with me. He seems quite relieved to not be alone and it’s not long before we’re both settled down under the covers on my bed. I’m on my stomach, one arm bent under my pillow and body stretched out down the bed, and he’s on his side, facing me with his legs brought up towards his chest in a foetal position.

It’s quiet for a few minutes before he speaks, so quietly I barely hear it, “thank you.”

I smile sleepily before reaching out a hand and running it soothingly through his hair. “Sleep well Lay,” I murmur, “you’ll feel better in the morning.”

Dun dun duuuunnn... Poor Lay.

Hope you enjoyed that, please leave a comment with feedback or just to chat, I love both :)

Also I'm interested to hear what you think about the interactions between Lay and Joonmyun. I'm not sure how they're going to end up so please let me know what sort of impression they're giving. :3

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