幽玄 He l p  me  become  somebody  else

 My whole existence is  flawed  
 

Tao stared out Zelo. The boy was like an open door, it was cute. He seemed naïve, benign; it reminded him of his old self.  

"It's okay, I understand you're shock. There's no need to be." Tao said halfheartedly. Zelo gulped slightly, feeling his palms become clammy.  The atmosphere changed around them. 

"Let's walk, Zelo. Actually, Zelo, can I call you by your first name?" Tao asked, standing up from the chair, walking towards the younger boy who was sitting across. A faint blush appeared on the younger's cheeks, 'Too cute', Tao thought. Zelo nodded, standing up, "Where are we going now?" 

"We're going to find some of my old friends." Tao said in an oddly serene voice. It slightly frightened the younger, something defiantly changed Tao after he explained his story. Zelo might had not known the older boy long enough, but he had a gut-feeling that he was right; the boy changed. 

All shock from Chanyeol's new disappeared from Kris. He was back to his antagonistic personality, nothing could keep him too shock. Not even his precious Tao. 

"I'm sure Kai has seen Tao, they're in the same grade, right? I wouldn't be surprised to see them having at least one class together." Chanyeol responded, picking up Kris's empty tray. 

"So, we're going to find Kai, right? That wouldn't be hard at all." Kris said, knowing that the other would be chowing down Kyungsoo's lunch that he prepared himself. 

"Ah, yeah, sure. We can do that. Let's hurry, we've been killing time. Lunch will be over soon." Chanyeol said, already walking to dispose Kris's lunch. Kris nodded, complying for his own benefit. 

Meanwhile, Kai was looking for Sehun. The younger texted him earlier to meet him by the canteen. By the time he had reached his destination, he found Sehun talking to the infamous "twin towers".  Kris turned around right on time with a hostile expression which soon turned into a smirk as he saw Kai appearing; "Just the person I was looking for."  This made Kai curious, did Sehun plan this meet up or was this just a huge coincidence that all the s (minus Sehun) met up together. 

Chanyeol also turned to glance at Kai, with the same irritating smirk. "So, I heard you two had classes with our favorite person." Kai raised an eyebrow, then before widening his eyes, 'Oh, they must mean Tao.' 

"Yeah, what about it?" Kai asked, in a aloof tone. He hadn't felt like himself since Tao came, but he still had to try to keep his reputation with a dyad version (or mask) of his usual personality. 

"What about it? Tell us, how does he look now? The same?" Kris asked, crossing his arms. Sehun gulped, that vomitous feeling since he had seen Tao earlier at lunch hasn't left. If anything, it felt more nauseating than ever. 

"He changed, or he's changing, I should say." Sehun let out the harsh murmur. Both Kris and Chanyeol glanced at each other than back at Kai, "Is that true?" Kai scoffed, "Don't ask me, I've only seen him once all day." 

Long after they left the music room, heading towards the luncheonette, Tao insisted to hold Zelo's hand (more like wrist). Zelo winced, Tao had an awfully strong grip on his small, skinny wrist. 

"Say, Junhong, you're quite cute. Did I tell you that earlier?" Tao said, still keeping his serene voice with a faint smile. Junhong didn't bother to look at his eyes, his face flushed. "No, you didn't." 

"Well, I think you're adorable. Too adorable for your own good. Someone needs to protect such innocence." Tao said, looking at Zelo's face. His face looked so open and guileless. It made something spark in Tao, something that felt taboo. 

"You say such embarrassing things in such a confident voice, Tao." Zelo squeaked, trying to cover his face with his available hand. Tao felt that taboo feeling grow stronger, the younger looked so submissive. 

"No need to be embarrassed about what I say, Junnie!" Tao said with a smile, a smile that was happy. It looked eerie, to seem so happy. especially with a life story like his too. Perhaps, did Zelo make him this happy? Zelo suddenly shook the thought out of his head. He was thinking too fast and jumping to conclusions; after all, they had barely met this morning. But Zelo couldn't help to feel something inside of him. It didn't help the younger that Tao was now giving him nicknames. 

"Oh, it seems we're already near the canteen. Oh look, Junnie! I've seemed to run into my old friends a lot sooner than I thought!" Tao's tone was so oddly happy, it made him seem unhinged. 

Apparently Tao had said that awfully too loud. More likely on purpose because his supposed "old friends" noticed his voice. Tao still had that strong grip on his wrist; Zelo was sure it would leave a faint bruise. 

The four boys turned to look at Tao. The new and improved Tao. Sehun felt like vomiting, he had a strong feeling Tao had changed physically and was changing emotionally and mentally. The boy he saw earlier was now different, it scared him. But of course, knowing how dense the other three were, they did not notice. Sehun felt in his stomach that all six of them (including Tao's baby-faced friend and Luhan) were about to enter into an execrable game of Tao's. 

"Hmm, it seems that I keep running into Sehun," Tao said, then glanced at Zelo, "Right Junnie?" Zelo nodded, staring into Sehun's eyes. Sehun could see how anemic the younger's face had become. He didn't blame him. 

"Well, look who decided to show up! It's Zitao, my 'baby brother'!" Kris sneered with Chanyeol's repugnant laugh following. Kai felt his heart beat had risen up, he quickly glanced at Tao's eyes to notice something unfathomable sparked in his eyes - it looked sinister. 

Tao let go of Zelo's arm, Zelo quickly rubbed his sore wrist. Tao laughed loudly as Chanyeol's laughs slowly die down. He looked petrifying, he wheezed, "I'm sorry, but did you call me your baby brother? You'll sure will ing regret that one, Yi Fan. No, actually, you'll all regret!" He barked. 

"Whoa, hey there buddy, clam down. We only want to reunite, right Kris?" Chanyeol said, still believing this whole act with Tao was just to frighten him. 'Ha, good luck on that. Try harder' Chanyeol thought. 

"Reunite? Reunite? We aren't ing friends, sorry to burst your bubble. I still can't believe you're still this dense after all this years!" Tao laughed with the eerie atmosphere surrounding him. Kai had widen eyes, everyone did. The way Tao said it was blood-curdling. 

"You'll regret saying that, Tao!" Chanyeol barked back, in angry. Still as hotheaded as ever. 

Tao scoffed, "Sure, whatever you say, Dobi. Let's go, Junnie. But remember this, Let the games begin." 

With that, Tao grasped back Zelo's wrist, with the baby-faced boy following. Kai could hear him murmur from the distance, "Are you ok, Junnie?" 

Kris felt for the first time, he felt sick. He can hear Tao's words repeat even after he went home and even when he tried to sleep. All he heard was, "Let the games begin."

{ Author's Note }  I am very happy about finally making 300 subscribers! So I made this chapter longer than usual.  Sorry for any grammar errors, this is hasn't been beta yet. Upvoting and comments are appreciated! - Kirra