Tao's POV

I was settled into a nice room that smelled like Joonmyeon. It was clean, organized, and well-lit; a mature and friendly room for my mature and friendly Joonma. I couldn't even express how child-like I felt, sitting upright on his bed while he tucked an extra blanket over me and fussed about having a big flour-y mess in the living room and holes in the wall that would have to be repaired.

“Do you want to tell me this scary story now or after you wake up?” he asked, stepping back to inspect his work.

“Now.”

“I'll leave you two alone then.” said Kris, opening the door to head out.

“No, stay.” I blurted out. “I don't want to repeat this story a million times. Could... could you both tell the others for me after I fall asleep? Especially Lay and even Sehun. Sehun deserves to know too.”

Kris was surprised, but agreed and closed the door again.

“So what is it?” Joonmyeon asked, sitting on the end of the bed while Kris dragged over the desk chair. “What's this scary story?”

“Joonma, the reason why I didn't get to say goodbye before I moved away,” I started and felt movement on the bed as he shifted closer. “is because I had just come back from the hospital and I didn't want you to see me so broken before I left. I didn't want it to be your last image of me.”

“Why were you in the hospital?” he asked, eyes wide. “I thought- no, keep going.” He waved me on and I explained everything.

I explained about the drunken rage my mother's boyfriend had been in while she was out, the broken glass bottles, the fatigue from wushu practice and helplessness as he dragged deep cuts into my back, the gun and whatever he meant by wanting to “play with this little ”, just all of it. No matter how much my voice shook or broke, I kept going.

“Lay healed the scars.” I added when he asked to see for himself.

I didn't cry or even tear up during the story. Instead, I felt kind of like I had hollowed out my chest of something heavy. That man almost killed me, might have done far worse if given the time. How could such people exist?

There was a long silence where my mind drifted between wanting to think this information over and not wanting to deal with any of it at all, ever. This made thinking a very slow process.

“Taozi, you were right.” Joonmyeon conceded after a moment of digesting what I said. “It is a scary story. And I didn't like it one bit. The thing is,” He stopped to take one of my hands, holding it firmly. “It would have been better if I had been in that story too. You should have called me at least. I promised to be there for you if things turned bad, remember?”

“I never agreed to that promise.” That was a childish excuse, but I'd already been childish all day anyways.

“Agree to it now.” suggested Kris. “Let us be there for you.”

Joonmyeon caught that. “Us?” he asked, amused, though his eyes were watery and he had developed a small sniffle.

“The recruits or whatever you want to call everyone here. We're all friends, and even if it doesn't have to do with powers, we'll be there.”

“Why are you being so nice to me?” I wondered aloud. "Why should you care?"

“You've been nice from the start.” Kris shrugged. “So why not?”

“Okay,” said Joonmyeon, standing up. “Enough with the mushiness or else I'll cry and Jongin will somehow find out and take pictures again.” Note to self: ask to see Kai's phone one day or borrow it when he's not looking.

“Hey, Joonma-” I called out before he could leave.

“Joonmyeon.”

Ignoring this, I continued, “Why did you say that you should have known when I told you about my power?”

He chuckled in the doorway and looked back at a photograph of us as kids that sat atop his dresser. He still had that? “Because when we were little, sometimes you would talk excitedly about something and then suddenly would be in the middle of talking about something else. I thought you might have had ADHD or something for a while, but I guess you kept freezing me on accident in the middle of our conversations.”

That must have been weird.

But... I had my power as kid? Really?

***

Kai's POV

“You realize what just happened in there, with him letting you stay?” said Suho as he and Kris exited the room Tao was made to rest in. What were they talking about in there? Suho's voice was shaking strangely.

I was hiding just around the corner, leaning against the wall because my feet were tired.

Closing the door behind him, Kris asked, “What do you mean?”

“Let me put it this way,” Suho chuckled. “If I'm Joonma and Taozi is my son...” I peeked around the corner to get a glimpse of Kris' stunned face as he put two and two together. “Welcome to the family, deary.” Suho joked, patting the teen's cheek.

Oh, there was no way I going to miss this timing. I left the wall, strode up to him, and said, “Excuse me sir, but I would like to request your permission to date your son.”

“He's not my son.”

“Zitao's off limits, Jongin.” said Suho patiently. “He doesn't need any more trouble right now. Let him rest or I'll send my new husband after you.”

“We're not married.” Kris sputtered.

“You're making him sleep all alone?” I asked incredulously.

“People normally sleep alone.”

“But Tao gets nightmares!”

“Look,” said Suho, steering me away from the door. “Zitao is a big boy. Big boys have nightmares and they get over it and go back to sleep.”

“His nightmares are memories, really ed up memories. I'm going in there.” I was blocked from going in by a large hulking figure with eyebrows far too seriously furrowed for someone who definitely wasn't Tao's new mock-adoptive father.

“Give him his rest, Jongin.”

“He needs me.”

“He needs rest.” said Suho, giving me a disapproving look. “You and Sehun both are just too much to handle. Why do the both of you have to pester him at once? That's a nightmare I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. Why don't you just be the better person and give up?”

I couldn't give up. Not when I still had a chance. Suho couldn't ever understand. When was the last time he had to give something up? His parents gave him everything.

“Tao needs me in there. Trust me on this.” I tried again.

“Does it have to be you?” asked Yixing, stepping out of a room next to the one Tao was in. He shrugged at Kris' questioning look. “I eavesdropped. Turns out my power works very well through walls.”

“Again?”

“If I don't eavesdrop, you never tell me anything.”

“Lay, you can't keep secrets.”

“What's even the point of keeping secrets? If you ask me, pure honesty is best for everyone.”

With that, I had to agree. Honesty made everything easier. And so I asked Lay an honest question, hoping for an honest answer, “If you go in there, will you help Tao sleep or will you take advantage of him?”

“Tao's really nice and all, but I'm not the one you have to watch for.” he answered easily. “I can feel everyone's heartbeats and sense their hormonal changes and it seems like everyone's fallen for someone in our group. It's an interesting phenomenon. Maybe homouality is becoming a trend.”

“Who else likes Tao?” I asked, not caring at all about Lay's discovery, because this was several times more important.

“Here's a hint; they are here, right now. Sweating quite a lot, I might add.”

My eyes flicked from Suho to Kris and back again. Who looked sweatier? “Which one?” I muttered, because they both were sweating buckets.

Possibly taking pity on me, Yixing came over to whisper in my ear, but it wasn't a hint like I hoped. “Yes.” he said, very serious.

Yes to what? Just tell me which one.

Unless that was a hint. Yes... Yes to both?

Really focusing on their faces now, they both seemed to be trying very hard to control their expressions as if coolly trying to pass off their revealed secret as nothing new. So then the joy of having one less rival for Tao was meaningless. This morning I had possibly two rivals and now I had three? And one of them was Tao's precious Joonma?

Why was fate so difficult? Things should just fall into place neatly, not get tangled up like Kyungsoo's kimchi spaghetti.

Lay disappeared into Tao's room and left me with these two awkward things. Ah, they were older than me - that was burdensome. Tao would probably like someone cool and mature, especially after Sehun kept causing so much trouble for him. And I wasn't exactly the most mature person either...

Looking resigned to his own fate, Kris rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. “Lay really can't keep secrets.”

“You don't look surprised.” commented Suho, misunderstanding. They each thought they were the only culprit still. “You knew?”

“Knew what?”

Suho's eyebrows shot up. “Huh?”

Putting them out of their confusing misery, I shouted, “It's both of you!”

I groaned, about ninety-eight percent sure that Tao would pick Suho out of everyone. They had a history together. Tao felt safe with him. They already hug far too intimately. The other two percent I had reserved for Sehun, because even after tonight, it seemed like Tao would still forgive him. He needed to stop being nice to everyone, me included. I wasn't going to be picked, so he should start kicking me out of his life before I do something stupid and desperate under all the false hope.

Suho sighed as if he had a major headache coming on, even though I was sure I got mine a long time ago when Sehun had started this fight with me. “As expected, liking Tao is still difficult.”

“Still?” asked Kris, lightly kicking the air without a purpose. “How long...?” he trailed off.

“Eight years ago, when I came across a kid who looked beaten and small. I only asked him if he was okay, and his entire face lit up like I'd invited him to the amusement park or something.” Suho explained. He never once looked up at us as he spoke. “Zitao is very sincere about what he feels.”

“Unless he's trying to be cool.” added Kris.

“There is that.” he agreed, amused. “I was so young. I just didn't understand what I felt and it took me three years to come to terms with it and gather the courage to confess. And then he disappeared, moved away without giving me any contact information. I thought it was...”

“You thought it was what?” I asked, getting really curious.

Suho's eyes were wide and he looked through the door that Tao was behind. He was standing completely still. “I thought it was my fault. But it is my fault. All of it. That man...” A hand went slowly to his mouth in utter shock, but I hadn't caught on yet. Either way, he was beginning to cry and it was my instinct to reach for my phone at times like this.

Except something about the way his hands shook made me stop.

“His story?” asked Kris with a start.

Story... I think Tao said something about telling them a story. “His past?” I asked, guessing that Tao had finally told someone else about the story behind his old scars.

Heavy tears dropped from Suho's cheeks. “That man attacked Taozi, my little Taozi, because of me. If I had only kept my mouth shut-” He was getting far too emotional to speak in a hallway, so we dragged him towards another empty room to explain everything.

***

Tao's POV

I lay with my back turned from the door, hugging a pillow and absentmindedly clawing into it with one hand. Wide awake, hollow. If I let myself think, I would only think of bad things. Thinking of nothing was better, safer. What kind of nightmares were waiting for me; broken glass or mysterious wolves?

The door opened and someone flopped onto the bed.

“Kai, I need sleep.” I said automatically, already hating myself for suddenly relaxing and feeling my eyes slip shut comfortably with the company.

“Guess again.” came Lay's voice as the teen wriggled into a comfy spot next to me, sighing at the ceiling.

“Lay.” I smiled, snuggling my pillow more as a weird mix of relief and disappointment washed over me. “What are you doing here?”

“I eavesdropped.” he replied simply and I turned to face him, sleepy eyes waking up again. “I heard your story. That must have been terrifying.”

I nodded, not sure what to say.

“I'm glad I healed you.” Lay said softly.

“I'm glad you healed me too.”

He smiled in my general direction, dimpled and sympathetic. “Let's get some sleep.”

“You're staying? I'm not a child.”

“You want me to leave?”

“No.” I admitted and he only smiled more.

“I need to babysit you like this or your harem of suitors will come after me.” Lay laughed.

“Two people is hardly a harem.”

“You're right. It's not.” he agreed easily. “You have more secret admirers than you realize, Tao.”

“I don't need secret admirers." I frowned before getting curious and asking, "Are you among them?”

“No, I like someone else.” was the answer, a little playfully put as if liking someone else made him better than everyone else. It probably did make him better than everyone else. What were my secret admirers thinking by coming to like me? I was a complete idiot.

But now I was really curious. “Who?” I asked excitedly.

“Not telling.”

“It's Kris, right?”

Yixing shot up into a sitting position. “How did you know?”

“You just told me.” I chuckled in the pillow, too tired to laugh more. That was too easy to guess.

He lay back down and closed his eyes, smiling still. “I'm glad I told you. I always feel better when I admit something difficult.”

I felt a lot better too. Hollowed out and exposed, but better. Secrets and uncertainties cause so much stress. “I'm glad you told me too. It's really nice to talk like this. I should have told you about my scars sooner. I'm sorry I didn't. You deserved-”

“Goodnight, Tao.” Yixing laughed, cutting me off.

Thank you, Lay. Again.

“Goodnight.”

A harem of suitors? Really? That sounded like a living nightmare.

I was screwed.