(E) Chapter 9                                                                                                                                 The bookshelf that was dragged from the other room made sounds, the boys huffing and puffing as they did their best to secure the front of the bedroom door. When Tao jumped onto Baekhyun, the older boy was surprised. However his swift thinking and strength made it easier for him to wretch away from the hands of Tao and push him back into the room, grabbing the handle of the door and slamming it shut. Within a moment, Kris appeared and both he and Luhan pushed the bookshelf from the other room against the shaking door that was repeatedly getting pounded by a wild Tao.   “We have to kill him.” Luhan’s voice was hard, but when he turned to look at Kai his eyes were set with determination.  “We aren’t safe with him around. I thought he was cured for good but that’s not the case.” Everyone was gathered in the living room, the banging and wailing was still going on. Baekhyun winced at the impact of the noises, chewing onto his lip nervously. The small boy knew that something would arise from this, Kris and Baekyoung leaning forward as they listened intently. Chen had scooted away from the two boys standing in the middle of the living room, his expression as worried as it had been before. “You’re not touching Tao, he was cured this morning.” Kai had stopped on his tracks in the middle of the living room. The fire between both of them was starting once again and their pupils were shaking, one opinion set to another. “How ing long did he stay that way?” Luhan spat back. “A few hours? How sure are we that he won’t turn into something else if he ever- I repeat, “ever” turns back again? Get your ing together.” Luhan jerked his chin towards a Kai who looked like he trying very hard to control his temper. “So? You’re expecting me to put a gun against his head when he might have a chance of changing?” Kai scoffed, a glint in his eyes had formed and he was starting to swing himself back and forth. “You don’t have to, I’ll do it.” Luhan answered smugly and hearing that made Kai’s fist tighten so hard his knuckled turned white. The tanned boy growled in an animalistic manner making everyone take a small step back.   “Don’t be selfish, Luhan. He can still live, it’s possible he might turn back.” Kris stood up, and put a hand on Luhans’ shoulder in hopes of calming him down but it did not work this time. Luhan shook his head, brushing Kris’ hand away irritably before taking a step closing to Kai. “Selfish? Selfish?! Who the is selfish here? He knows we’ll have to pay extra attention to him and his best friend, the danger multiplies with whatever we are doing and you say I’m selfish for wanting Tao dead?” Luhan smirked, pressing the bridge of his nose. “Did your parents not give you any attention that you so crave it from us and love the fact that things are going your way?”   Kai lost it.   The mention of his parents was too much for him to bear and the emotional control he had tried to hold in broke. He lunged at Luhan, grabbing him by the collar and throwing a punch straight at his face. Luhan staggered and Kris sidestepped, catching the fairy boy when Kai came in again, his facial expression fuming. Kai grabbed Luhans arm to drag him towards himself to throw another punch when Luhan’s other fist came flying towards Kai’s face. “How dare you-“ “ you. Don’t you speak of my parents like that.” Kai hissed between his teeth, blood starting to seep from his eyebrow and Luhan felt a slight painful sear at the side of his mouth. “Hah, why? Wasn’t I making a good point?” Luhan asked back, his hand also around Kai’s collar. Both of them were gripping onto each other, their eyes growing wider. The push and pull game played with both of them was always small but this seemed like a big deal. “Wasn’t I?” Luhan pressed once more making Kai throw him on the ground once more and punching his face as if he was blind by fury. The intensity of the fight made everyone who wasn’t doing anything in the beginning scramble onto their feet to pull them apart. “Stop!” Kris roughly pulled Kai onto his feet, pushing him to the side. “Stop it, both of you!” “Calm down.” Baekyoung grabbed Luhan, steading him against his shoulder. “Keep quiet and don’t provoke him. Please, Luhan. Please.”   “Really? Because I’m sick of him trying to protect Tao when we all know he should have died in the first place!” Luhan said, fighting against Baekyoung’s grip, Chen coming up to hold onto his left arm. “Calm down, hyung. Calm down.” Chen whispered. “Please calm down, don’t say anything.” “ you, Luhan. you!” Kai growled, his hands straining against Kris. “Why don’t you just pack up your bags and leave with Tao?” Luhan asked back, and both of them once more lunged towards each other but could not due to the people holding them back. “I’ve survived this far I won’t let it die down just because of your stupidity, Kim Jongin!” “Keep talking and I swear you’ll regret you were ever ing born.” “STOP!” “ENOUGH!”   Chen had yelled out at the same time with Baekhyun. The two youngest in the house were obviously fed up. Baekhyun had his arms around Kai’s body, as if trying to calm him down with a hug. It wasn’t hard to see that he was affected by the shouting and screaming, his head buried in Kai’s shoulder. “Stop.” Baekhyun sighed. “Listen to me. Stop, breath. Let’s not fight anymore.” In the other hand, Chen had his hand on Luhan's shoulder, gripping it tightly. When he looked up, Luhan saw Chen’s eyes that were looking at him with not one ounce of kindness. “You do not tell someone to leave.” Chen breathed lowly, his tone not playful and for the first time they saw a frustrated and angry Chen. “You do not ask someone to pack up your bags and leave, you understand?! Because one day if they actually do and something bad happens to them, how in the world are you going to live with the guilt?” “Chen…” Luhan started, realization starting to seep in as the heat of the moment disappeared and was replaced by just an intense atmosphere. “And you do not say that you will put a gun onto someone’s head, are all lives that worthless to you?” Chen continued, his eyes not looking away from Luhan. “Is it that easy to pull a trigger onto someone who still has an opportunity to live?!” “There’s not much to live for anymore…” Luhan argued weakly and Chen merely stared at him, the blonde haired boy straightened himself. “If that’s what you think, shoot yourself. Not someone else.”    It took a slight moment of silence, Chen’s arm dropping from Luhans shoulder, taking two steps back. The boy ran a hand through his hair, turning his back to Luhan. Kai had shook off Kris’ hands, moving to the couch, everyone moving away from each other just to act like nothing happened.   “Were you guys fighting about me?” A voice asked and they turned back to see Tao who was standing by the staircase. “Have I been changing? Is that why the bookshelf was in front of my door?”   ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________   It was Chen’s turn to take out the trash that night, the cold air hitting him on the face when he opened the door and stepped out. Everyone was together talking and honestly, Chen did not want to listen to any of that bull anymore. He rubbed his camel eyes; dragging the plastic bag on the ground, creating lines on the sand. The drama in the house was exhausting him. He looked back when he heard Kai’s laughter and Luhans screech before a small smile appeared on his face. ‘One moment they want to rip each other apart, another they are acting like monkeys.” Chen huffed to himself blowing the air in front of him. “Make up your bloody mind.” He softly said to himself, walking to the trash can that was beside the shed.   He opened the lid, moving away at the amount of bugs flying over the metal tube, swatting them away before dropping it inside. The weather was starting to get chilly and Chen wrapped the thin layered oversized shirt onto his body shivering as he looked around. The house was on a paddy but around was bordered by trees that swung against the breeze. The leaves rustled and Chen stretched, his eyes once again looking around. He wondered what was beyond those trees. Knowing his own country, it was probably put there for natural resources. Just a bunch of trees, nothing else.   his lips, he closed the lid when a small sound reached his ears. It was a cracking sound, as it something hard was hitting the ground. Chen looked down to his feet and around h