The Reveal and The Questi (1/1)

Upon hearing a sudden crash from the washroom, Tao’s anxiety only increased more as his heart beat abnormally fast, running up the stairs, to Kris’ washroom. The door was open a sliver, and Tao reached for the handle but froze when he opened it a peak and saw a sharp metallic razor stained with a wet deep red substance; blood. It had a splattered trail coming from deeper within the washroom. Tao held his breath and slowly opened the door, hoping it wasn’t what he thought it was.Tao’s legs trembled and failed him as he collapsed to the ground, seeing the sight before him. There lied his best friend, his brother basically, and… his crush. Tao scrambled to his feet and slowly approached the lifeless body before him. There was a puddle of blood which drenched Kris’ white dress shirt and his skull had blood dripping from it. His wrists were decorated with slits and scars, old and new leading up to his elbow. His once peach and vibrant skin tone had eerily developed into a sickly pale hue.Tao slowly brought up his hand to cup the side of Kris’ face. Coldness. It was all he felt. Tao then set Kris into proper position and checked his pulse. More tears made way to his eyes in relief that Kris was still breathing; but Tao felt shivers down his spine when he came back and realized how fatal this situation was. He immediately took out his phone and started shaking Kris, in hopes that Kris would magically wake up and answer him.As he was about to dial 119, he heard a subtle but noticeable groan from Kris. He quickly brought his hand to Kris’s cheek and cried out, “Gege…” while choking back sobs, “try to s-s-ssstay awake o-okay, I’m going to call for a-a-a-an ambulance and y-y-you’re going to be a-a-alright.” Tao’s tears flooded down and collided against the red on Kris’ shirt.Kris was terrified. He awoke to the sound of someone crying. His head was throbbing and his throat was parched. All he could see was darkness. He tried to open his eyes, but they stayed shut tight. Eventually he managed to open them a peak before being stunned by the brightness of the room. His sight was blurry but he could still make out Tao’s face.Tao’s face – Tao had found him like this. This wasn’t supposed to happen. Then he heard that Tao was going to call the hospital. Kris freaked out. He didn’t want his other teammates to find out. He used all his might to breathe out the words, “Don’t call them Tao…”, he said with a hoarse throat which came out almost unable to be comprehended.Tao stared at Kris in shock, “Gege, you’re bleeding to death, I need to call them.”“No… Please… don’t call them. I’m awake now right? That means I’m alive, if I’m still breathing and talking after all that blood loss.” Tao started to cry, not knowing what to do. There was a moment of silence before Kris used all his might to reach up and wipe Tao’s tears away. “Why are you crying…? I’m still alive aren’t I? Nothing bad is going to happen.”“But gege…” Tao pleaded him. Tao couldn’t stand the sight of seeing Kris suffer and brought up the phone so that he could dial for help.“Tao,” Kris said, almost begging Tao, “please, don’t call them. If the others find out, and if my mom finds out…” Kris was crying, still lying on the floor, eyes now closed and tears dripping down.“But ge− ,” Tao got cut off.“I will hate you if you call.” Kris said, his voice, an obvious tremble; Tao could tell that Kris was so worried that his mom might stress about him, and that Kris was worried his teammates would feel guilty.Tao dropped his phone in frustration and instead went to the washroom’s closet and took out multiple towels. He placed one under Kris’ head to allow his head to rest on something softer. He started to mumble while still weeping and wet many towels and started to clean Kris’ cuts and head wound. Kris grimaced at the contact of water with his head. It stung. But what came next was going to hurt more.Tao looked into one of the cabinets and took out rubbing alcohol. He put some on a cotton ball and brought it close to Kris’ forehead. Kris could smell the strong stingy substance. He whimpered and tried to raise his hand against it.“Gege… it’s only going to hurt for a few seconds, okay?” Tao tried to coax Kris into calming down. Deep down, he knew it would hurt a lot, however. Kris, too weak to fight back closed his eyes and waited for the pain to come.“ARGHHHHHH!” Kris screamed aloud. His head was hu