Trippin Over My Shoes, T (1/1)

“Absolutely not.”“But Kris-”“No.”“Wufan,” the shorter boy spoke sternly.“Kim Joonmyun,” Kris bit back with a venomous tone. They glared at each other for a while before Suho sighed in defeat, sitting back in his chair. Kris smirked victoriously; the two had spent most of the morning discussing plans for their next shows in his tent, tossing around ideas for the other to reject or agree with.Suho had offered going to Seoul for their next show, but Kris was strictly forbid it. However, the younger man was persistent and kept fighting him in the decision.“Why?” he asked with a tired frown, “Seoul has so much people there, we’re bound to draw in five times the profit of what we earn now! Imagine all the new equipment we could buy. I could even buy another circus if I wanted to!”“We both know you would never do that.”“I suppose not, but that’s not the point. I’m saying we could improve our show and get our name known… why are you so against it?”Kris shook his head and leaned forward, rolling the region map up before pushing himself out of his seat and placing the parchment in a tube, “It’s too soon. We can’t go back there now; we’ll just have to wait a little while longer.”Suho analyzed him from the corner of his eye, “It’s because of the boy… huh?”“Have you forgotten what happened on our journey to the train?”“Of course not-”“Bounty hunters. From Seoul. And you want to go there and risk exposing that kid?”“Kris, Sehun’s been on the run for half a year now. For all they know he’s in Daegu or something. The thought of him returning to the city he’s most wanted in would never cross their mind.”“Because it’s suicide.”“And that’s why it’s perfect. We’ll keep him at camp, have Luhan keep a close eye on him and make sure he stays out of sight until the show is over. I’m only asking for a week, then we can disappear like smoke in the sky.”“Smoke tends to linger, depending on how much of it there is,” Kris replied bitterly, “I won’t allow you to risk his life, especially after what we’ve promised.”“We’ve already broken that promise. He’s in our circus, isn’t he? Promises are just words, they’re broken all the time.”“Only by men with no moral values.”“Wufan…”“Don’t call me that.”Suho shook his head, “You’ve started to change Kris. You put up a nice little act of not knowing him when you two first met, but now you’re being a bit too familiar. It’s clear he doesn’t recognize us, but let’s not jeopardizing ourselves if you do something to jog his memory.”“Shut up.”“Back to the main topic, we’re going to Seoul and that’s that.“No we’re not. I completely reject this decision.”“I own this circus.”“I keep it alive.”“And without you we’d be nothing but tents with wild animals... Fine. Since you’re such an important person, I’ll give you time to let it sink into your mind. But mark my words; I will convince you one way or another. ”The ring leader didn’t reply. Instead, he grabbed his coat off the bed and slung it around his shoulders, “I’m going to make my rounds. I think Baekhyun needed to talk to you about fixing some lights before the next show.”“They broke again?” the younger groaned, standing up dejectedly and slowly making his way out of the tent. Kris waited until he was out before dropping the flap and strolling down the opposite direction. He passed a few clowns and a sword swallower, bowing to them slightly while keeping his quick pace.Finally, Kris caught sight of the man he was looking for. Tao had just walked out of a tent, his eyes furrowed together with confusion and fear. The ring master approached him quickly, knowing that if martial artist ever looked concerned then something wasn’t right.“ZiTao,” he spoke in his mother tongue, catching the Chinese boy’s attention.“Ge, Something happened.”“What is it?”“Do you remember the boy Kai had invited to come here?”“Yes, the mayor’s son. I told you to keep an eye on them.”“Well the kid brought a little girl with him.”“I don’t see what you’re getting at.”“I lost her.”Kris widened his eyes, “What?”“I lost the girl; she wandered off while I was watching Kai. Now they’re looking for her and they’re getting awfully close to the animal quarters.”“Shit,” He cursed, turning on his heel quickly and headed through the maze of tents. Tao followed behind him, ignoring the greetings and weird stares he got from bystanders, “How long ago was this?”“About ten minutes, I’d say they’d already arrived.”“And you didn’t stop them?”“Kai was adamant about introducing his friends; he even introduced me before talking about seeing his ‘ungrateful dongsaeng’.”“Great,” he replied sarcastically, “This is exactly what we need.”--“S-seriously,” Sehun tugged at his friends arm, turning his head to the side as far as he can to cover the mayor’s son’s view of his face, “I really need to do thome stuff for someone! Yeah, that person asked me to do something!”“Aww, that lisp of yours is so cute,” Kai cooed, “’that person’ can wait.”                 “No he can’t. He’ll get mad.”“Who is it anyways?”“J-Just someone. Please hyung.”“Jongin seriously,” Luhan tried, glaring at the tall dancer.“Aish, just say hi and then go!” Kai yanked him forward, where Taemin was watching with a curious expression.“Oppa!” Sung Young giggled, tugging at her brother’s pant leg, “My friend is so shy!”“Your friend the magician?”“Neh!”“I wouldn’t call him a magician,” Kai chuckled, grabbing Sehun’s chin and turning it towards Taemin, “This punk here is-”Kai was cut off when a giant cloak was thrown over Sehun’s head. The boy was startled to have his vision cut so suddenly and fell backwards, landing in a small pale of water. He could hear Luhan and the little girl laugh at him and scowled, trying to throw the fabric off. However, a hand slapped his away and grabbed his arm, roughly pulling him to his feet.“There you are,” the man Sehun, who would at the moment praise as a god, smirked, “Didn’t I tell you to wash these blankets until the stains were completely gone?”“What? Oh! Y-Yeah,” he replied, struggling with his footsteps as he relied on the ground to watch where he was going, “It’s Jongin’s fault though! He wouldn’t let me leave!”“Oh really?”“Come on Kris, I just wanted to introduce him to a friend. Oh Taemin, this is-”“No need, we know each other,” Kris cut him off, pulling Sehun a little bit behind him and allowing the boy to remove the blanket from his head. Sehun kept his face hidden behind the ring master’s back, but frowned at his words, he knows Taemin?“You do?”“Indeed. It’s been a long time Wufan; I was surprised to see you in the show last night. What would your parents think if they saw you here?” Taemin asked with a small smile, the statement intended as a joke.“You can try telling them, though it’s pretty hard to talk with a mouth full of dirt.”“… I’m sorry… Since when have they passed? It’s such a-”“Don’t bother yourself with pity remarks. You, of all people, should be sick of them by now,” he tugged on Sehun’s arm, “Now I must be going. Someone’s got to get things done around here. Luhan, I expect you to return back into town with Lay as soon as he gets the posters.”“Yes Sir,” Luhan replied cheekily.Kris looked down at Sehun with an unreadable expression. He then pushed him towards Tao, who Sehun just noticed to be standing by a tent, “Take him to Chanyeol, he’ll be his practice partner as punishment for skipping laundry duty.”“G-Ge,” Tao stuttered, “Are you sure? That seems a little harsh.”“Well then maybe next time he’ll actually listen to me,” Kris smiled, a strange sight for Sehun to see given the situation, and turned to Kai, “You’re not off the hook either.”“Aw, but Kris-”“Stop. You’re going to complain and honestly I couldn’t give a rats ass about what comes out of your mouth.”Sehun wanted to listen to more of Kai’s scolding, but Tao had already started to lead him away. Once they were out of sight, the boy let out a sigh of relief and turned towards the taller male, “You know Kris never actually told me to do the laundry, right?”“Yup,” Tao smiled, “But he’s still serious about Chanyeol’s practice partner.”“Oh… is that bad.”Tao didn’t reply. Fear flashed across his face for a brief moment and was quickly replaced with a blank look, “Let’s just say this is how Ge became the most respectable person in the camp.”--“It’s fairly simple Sehun-ah,” The orange haired fire breather grinned, “Just don’t move and you’ll make it out in one piece! Though if it gets too close then I do encourage you to duck.”“What the hell hyung!?”  Sehun screeched when a knife came flying at his head and barely grazed his cheek, missing the apple resting on his head completely.They were currently in a small shaded area of the forest. Chanyeol was absolutely ecstatic to hear that Sehun would help him train and dragged him off the minute the word’s left Tao’s lips. Now the younger male was pinned against the tree, surrounded by failed attempts of the knife throwing on either side of him. Chanyeol had a whole arsenal in a barrel nearby and a bag of apples by his feet; Seeing as he hadn’t even hit the first one, he wouldn’t be running out any time soon.“Sorry! It’s been so long since I had a practice partner. Usually I’d try and get Baekhyunnie to help me, but he always turns me down.“H-Hyung… I want to live… can we p-pleath do this some other time?”“Aniyooo, now that I finally have someone I won’t let them go that easily,” Chanyeol’s smile grew wider as he aimed another dagger and threw it.Sehun squeezed his eyes shut and prayed to god that it would hit the target this time. He felt the impact knock the object off his head and sent rolling somewhere next to him. Chanyeol cheered as Sehun collapsed to his knees, shaken from the traumatizing experience. The artist congratulated himself as he retrieved the apple and examined the cut; he then wiped it on his trousers and took a bite from it.“Want one?” he asked, spitting little pieces of the sweet fruit’s juices on the boy’s face.“N-No… c-can we be done now?”He shook his head, pulling Sehun to his feet and placing the half eaten apple on his head again, “Not until I hit it at least four more times.”“Four?!”“Deh, and that’s just the warm up. I have to do this five more times on the real target.”“W-which would be?”Chanyeol smirked, “You,” he stated plainly as he threw the dagger. Its blade glimmered as the sun rays reflected off the silver surface and blinded the younger boy. Sehun turned his head to the side and closed his eyes, waiting for it to over with. He heard a thud and concluded that it made impact with the tree he was leaning against. He sighed, glad it was over.However, Chanyeol’s shriek told him otherwise.“Sehun-ah,” he stated, his voice shaking, “Don’t… move…”The brunette opened his eyes and stared at him confused. His eyes widened when he felt something cold against his thigh and looked down, seeing that the weapon had firmly embedded itself in the bark… about an inch away from his crotch.“Oh my god! Chanyeol! Y-You almost n-neutered me!”“I’m so… so… sorry.”“Wha-Oh my god! I can’t even… Chanyeol!”“I’M SORRY!” the fire breather cried louder, running over and grabbing the knife handle. As soon as he pulled it from the tree, Sehun pushed himself away and ran to the other side of the clearing, clutching his crotch while staring horrified at the taller male. “You’re a hazard to all men! Were you even aiming?!”“Sehun-ah! I’m sorry! Please forgive me! You want to throw one at me?”“ARE YOU INSANE?! THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU SAID!”Chanyeol looked like he had no idea what was wrong with his statement and stared at the boy with big, unblinking eyes. Sehun groaned and pinched the bridge of his nose.“… Would you rather have an apple?”“Hyung!”--“Lay does most of the repairs when we tear our clothes,” Luhan smiled, examining the holes on Sehun’s pants, “I’ll get him to fix this… but what were you doing that made you get a hole here? The splits? Is my Thehunnie really that flexible?”“Lulu,” Sehun whined, hissing as Baekhyun finished bandaging up the little cuts on his face. The Shanty smiled, pleased with his work as he stood up and made his way to the door.“Be careful about smiling too much or the wounds will reopen… not like I need to tell you that in the first place, Mr. I-Hate-The-World.”“I do not.”“Your face disagrees with you,” he chuckled, leaving the tent before the younger could object anymore. Sehun groaned and fell back against his bed beside Luhan, who was still examining the rip.“Chanyeol threw knives at me.”“Ah… his favorite activity.”“I thought he was a fire breather.”“He is… but Lay’s been teaching him how to handle a dagger.”“That is the worst decision I’ve ever heard. And I thought Lay was smart!”Luhan flicked his head, “Respect your elders.”“Yeah yeah… what happened with Taemin?”“Kai’s friend? I think he’s checking out the props section, then they’re going to go.”Sehun sighed and rolled on his side, playing with Luhan’s fingers resting on the bed, “I just gotta hide out here a little longer…”“… You know, I’m surprised Kris and him know each other. Kris is not one to associate himself with the wealthy, I wonder how that happened.”“Me too,” Sehun frowned; they must have met after I left…, “… I’m thirsty.”Luhan smiled, “I’ll get you some water,” He stood up to leave, but stopped as if he remembered something and reached into his pocket. He pulled out a small bag and tossed it to Sehun, who caught it with one hand and held it above his face.“What is this?” he asked, taking a small peek inside the bag.“Look at it when I leave,” Luhan smiled, holding Sehun’s pants up, “I’ll get Lay to fix this, I’ll be back in a bit.”“Neh hyung,” Sehun smiled as he watched the baby faced male leave. When the man was out of sight, he sat up on the bed and opened the bag completely, dumping the contents in his lap. His smile grew when he realized the boy had brought him back little chocolates.He again felt bad, chocolate was hard to come by since the war started and were usually expensive when one did find them. There were four chocolate squares in the bag, and just one would have costs a day’s pay.“You’re too good to me,” Sehun mumbled, picking up a square and examining it more closely.“Who is?” He jumped, dropping the sweets on the floor as he stared wide eyed at the intruder. The man smiled smugly as he stepped inside, “It couldn’t be me since, after all, we haven’t seen each other in over ten years.”“Taemin…hyung…”The said male nodded, “It’s been a while Sehun.” Not my best chapter, but we're getting somewhere~ lalala Taemin and Sehun meet!