2 (1/1)
From: Sehun
To: Tao
You think you've got problems? I have to combat roll behind strangers just to get to my dorm without being seen! It's fun, but my knees are getting seriously bruised and people keep looking at me funny! From: Tao
To: Sehun
What? From: Sehun
To: Tao
Never mind. Anyway, you're exaggerating. The counselor couldn't have been that bad. I need to go now, though. I have to borrow a mask from my hyung so I can go play soccer. From: Tao
To: Sehun
I will never understand you.
"Hey, Tao." Tao looked up from his upside-down position on the couch to see Kris coming in the door. "Hi, Gege," he replied, closing his phone. "What are you doing?" "Wondering if I should get myself new friends." "I wonder that myself sometimes." Kris chuckled and moved to join Tao on the couch. "I tried to talk to this... guy about something I was having a problem with and he... Well, I don't know. He was really weird. He just kept talking about random stuff. Like me probably being a serial killer, and some guy who apparently steals his lunch and isn't qualified to do his job. And then I tried to talk to my friend about it, and he told me about how I'm exaggerating and he has to play soccer with a mask on." "You think you have problems?" Kris mumbled, flipping channels on the TV. "My friends are a bunch of nutcases. And I just got back from the diner with some of them. I was there for nearly two hours and our waitress disappeared after bringing us our first drinks. I'm starving." Tao pouted and kicked his legs down so that he could move to an upright position. "Oh." "Hey, you're not gonna be here later, are you?" Tao frowned, staring at the wall. "No... I made an appointment for... the dentist. At three. Do you want me to stay out for a while?" "Yeah, I'm gonna have company over. Be gone 'til at least six just to be sure." Tao sighed and got up to head into his room to get ready. "Okay, Gege."_____________________________________________________________ "He's ready for you," the cheerful woman at the receptionist's desk told Tao, flashing a friendly smile. "You can go on in." "Thank you," Tao mumbled, bowing politely. He approached the open doorway, seeing the intimidating counselor at his desk, rifling through a backpack that sat on the desktop. Tao bowed politely, though the man showed no sign of noticing him, and seated himself in the chair he'd occupied the last time. Beside the backpack lay a small pile of condom packages, a tube of hand lotion, and an issue of some sort of lifestyle magazine aimed at middle-aged women. Mr. Kim continued pulling things out, and a puppy calendar joined the pile. "Found this in the hallway," Mr. Kim said, pulling out a carton of breath mints. "Mine now." "Mr. Kim—" "Oh god, don't call me that. Just call me Heechul-hyung or something. And what would your name be?" A Fame DVD was added to the pile. "T-Tao." "Mm and what did you want to talk about?" Well—" "Hey, you're not the one that filed the complaint against me, are you?" A bag of purple marbles was added to the assortment. "Eh?" "No, probably not, I suppose. You'd probably just fry me in my bathtub or decapitate me with a machete, huh?" "Huh?" "You're just the more direct type, aren't you? Nah, I bet I know who it was. It's gotta be that asshole Youngwoon. I swear, I'm gonna get him one of these days." "I..." "Oh, right, you wanted to tell me something." He added a powder blue bandana to the pile and turned the backpack upside down, dumping out a few rubber bands, paper clips, and Q-tips. "Yes, see, I've got this problem..." "Bed-wetting?" Tao frowned. "No." "Oh. Go on, then." "See, I have this friend—" "Meaning you." "What?" "Well, when people tell a story about their 'friend,' they always mean themselves. Go on." "No, it's not like that. I've been friends with this guy for years. We grew up together. I really don't know what I'd do if he suddenly wasn't there. But... I feel like he's growing out of me. He's been really distant for a while now. He barely tells me anything, and he's always going off with his other friends. And then he--" "You sound like his girlfriend." "Wh-What? No, it's not—" "Give him some space, bro. He's probably feeling suffocated. You call him up constantly, don't you? 'Where are you? Who are you with? Are you with that MaeRi tramp again? I know you're WITH HER! DON'T THINK I DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE DOING, YOU PRICK!'" Tao stared at Heechul, wide-eyed. "Huh?" Heechul swallowed, setting his gaze on Tao's, and shuddered. "You're creepy-looking." "It's not like that! Seriously! I just mean that I think I'm losing my best friend, and I don't know what to do! And I can't go back to the dorm until six because he doesn't want me there, and my other friends are busy or something and my stupid neighbor keeps blasting his music and the damn songs are always so infuriatingly relatable, and I don't know what to do!" "Man, I feel ya. My neighbor—" "YOU ALREADY TOLD ME ABOUT HIM!" "WHOA!" Heechul jumped back in his chair, his hands flying into the air in a declaration of surrender. "Please breathe! There is NO need to get all fired up!" "S-Sorry." "Okay, I'm gonna lay it out straight, okay?" Heechul said, settling back down in his chair. "O-Okay." "You're creepy. Your friend's feeling your creepy possessiveness, and he's branchin' out, ya know? He wants to see the world, and you're trying to shroud him in your little black cloudy aura of 'I-will-kill-you' menace, but he doesn't wanna play little evil-spirit games with you, Rudolph." "Huh?" "So you gotta give him some space. Let him have his bubble. Let him see the world beyond the horizon and spend his quality fun-time with other little friendly woodland creatures in his forest of world-adventuring and rainbow-scampering unicorns." "I'm so confused right now, Hyung." "Yeah, well, you would be, wouldn't you?" "What?" "Well, I think our time's up for today, Tao. I'll see you at your next appointment, and we'll start addressing your road to recovery." "Recovery from what?" "Stay sane, Tao. I'll catch ya later." With that, Heechul opened his desk drawer, swept the items piled on his desk into it, closed it again, and turned to his laptop. "O-Okay, Hyung. I'll see you later. Uh. Th-Thanks for your time." Tao slowly stood up and headed out of the office, more confused about his problem than he'd ever been to begin with. A/NHow was it? Everyone is so quiet~
I can't say much, though. I'm a lurker by nature myself... I would really love to hear from you all, though! <3
I also have twitter :)I'm keeping up a steady Friday update schedule for as long as I can keep ahead of myself by a few chapters... Writer's block has struck me recently, so here's hoping that gets resolved soon! The next story on the timeline to be updated is Weird Doesn't Cover It. Next chapter will have less Heechul and more Kris! (I love Heechul, but how did he weasel his way in here, anyway? :P )Also, if you want to know more about what Sehun's been up to, you should be reading Weird Doesn't Cover it :P Kris pops up a lot in it too!