The Only Hope || chapter 1
Title: The Only Hope - CHAPTER 1
Pairing: TaoRis
Rating: NC-17
Genre: Drama, Angst
Summary: He couldn't think anymore, Kris just simply wanted to rest. He didn't care that he had no spare clothes he could change into, he didn't care if he had work in the morning, he didn't care that he was about to sleep in an apartment of someone he barely knew. He just didn't care anymore.
It was almost midnight and Kris seemed to have lost track of the time. A sigh fell off his lips as he adjusted the tie that was hanging a little too tightly around his neck. He slowly lifted himself from the swivel chair and inched towards the big glass window that was behind his office desk. Kris had lost himself as he gazed at the quiet streets below for the longest time with a blank mind. The clock was ticking, it was getting late yet there was something inside of him that just didn’t want to go home.
“Hey, you.”
The blonde whirled around to see Chanyeol standing at the doorway with his hands in the pockets of his coal black trench coat. “It’s late. Let’s go.” He said with a small, tired smile. “I’m assigned to lock the doors for tonight so come on. I really want to get some sleep.”
Kris nodded, “Okay, but could you do me a favor?” He walked over to his desk and picked up his keys and blazer. “Could you be an awesome friend and take my car home? I…” Kris looked back towards the glass window behind him. “I feel like taking a walk.” He tossed the keys towards Chanyeol’s direction.
“What? Are you crazy, man? I don’t think it’s safe to go out at a time like this.” Chanyeol replied concerned and a little confused. Kris walked towards the other handing him the blazer. “Listen,” he exhaled, “I’ve been feeling a little stressed lately. Going home and doing nothing would probably get my mind working up again with all the stuff I have to think about for work tomorrow.” He explained before brushing past Chanyeol.
The other shook his head as he watched Kris making his way out the door. “Hey!” He called out causing the blonde to look back.
“Yeah?”
“Take it easy. You’re on your way to being the next CEO of this company. Don’t let it burn you out. It’ll get better, you can trust me on that.” Chanyeol smiled through sleepy eyes as he nodded.
“Thanks man. I owe you one, by the way.” With that, Kris was out the door.
It wasn’t long before he made it to the streets. He took a quick look around before deciding he would go down the unfamiliar road. Kris had no time to explore his own community. His routine was from home to work and occasionally the supermarket. He had no time to make it around the other parts of town after moving in not too long ago.
The streets were definitely getting more unfamiliar. With every step he took, it seems as if the neon signs multiplied as he continued to look around. He found himself in a place which was gleaming with life while the rest of the town was practically dead asleep. The whole road was literally lined with clubs, bars and cafes. He didn’t even know where to start or if it was right that he was there. It’s been so long since he’s been to places like these.
Remember me…
It hit him all of a sudden. The memories were something he couldn’t easily forget.
“Let’s try something different!”
“Like what?” Kris laughed, grasping the other’s hand and pulling him close and he could smell the other’s perfume perfectly well.
“Hmm. Let’s park here.”
Kris did as he was told. The pair both got out of the car and immediately, they were blinded by the bright lights that surrounded them. The shorter, brown-haired boy grinned as he marveled at the sight of the night life in that particular part of town.
“Let’s have fun tonight.” He said, turning to Kris with the biggest smile he could manage showing off his perfectly adorable dimple that the other simply couldn’t resist. Kris nodded, “What are you waiting for, then?” His fingers intertwined with the other’s as he tugged him slightly. “Let’s go!”
Remember me...
Kris bit on his lower lip, trying to push aside the thoughts and memories that have supposedly been forgotten long ago. He wanted so much to turn on his heel and make his way back home but he was stuck, staring at the brightly lit road and he couldn’t think straight. Kris honestly didn’t know what he wanted to do at that very moment. He just wanted to disappear.
“Fuck this.” He cursed under his breath, “I’m going to get a beer.” Kris let his feet guide him into a random bar. It wasn’t as noisy and rowdy as all the other places he saw lined on the street. He felt like it was a good choice. Kris hopped onto the stool and rested his elbows on the table before ordering some beer. The bartender nodded and placed his order in front of him. Kris rolled up his sleeves before reaching for the bottle and taking a swig. He was thinking about how he couldn’t believe that he had gotten this far without his car, about what he was thinking when he didn’t decide to go home right away, about what the hell he was going to do for work tomorrow. Even if he wasn’t home alone, the stressful thoughts still whirled around his head. He continued to order more and more booze as he sat there thinking. Again, he lost himself. He was staring blankly at the shelves across the bar he was sitting in before shaking his head.
“What am I doing?” He mumbled, his voice slurred and his vision wasn’t as clear as it was when he first walked in the door. The room beside the quiet bar seemed to be interesting. He tried focusing on what was happening behind the glass screens that separated the bar from the next room. There seemed to be a party and Kris was drunk enough to stumble over to check it out. He slipped into the room and walked through the throng of drunken kids dancing around to the music that was booming over the speakers. The crowd made his thoughts more distorted that it already was. A pair of girls came towards him and started to move against him. Suddenly, Kris snapped back to his senses. He felt a little uncomfortable so he pulled away towards the side of the crowd where there were less people hanging around. Once he managed to escape the group of people in the middle, he accidentally bumped the person behind him causing the guy to spill his drink on himself.
Kris turned around to see a tall kid with raven hair clad in black ripped jeans and a long grey shirt which was now soaking wet and stinking of alcohol more than it originally was.
“Shit!” Tao cursed aloud, “Hey! Watch where you’re going you-“He looked up to see the person who had stumbled into him and stopped yelling almost instantly once he caught sight of the tall blonde which was staring sort of helplessly at him.
“Oh, man.” Kris rubbed at his eyes and shook his head quickly. “I’m so sorry.” He was a little afraid of the stare the kid was giving him. Kris could smell that the other had been drinking maybe just as much as he was and he really wasn’t in the mood or the condition for a bar fight.
“You’re sorry?” Tao scoffed. “If you weren’t so damn good looking I would’ve knocked your head off your neck. You better buy me another drink or else.” He was quick to threaten but he could tell from the look in the other’s eyes that he wouldn’t dare pick a fight. Tao suddenly felt kind of bad that he was saying this to someone who was obviously much older than him. It was different that he felt bad. He didn’t usually feel that way.
“Okay, okay!” Kris rolled his eyes and grabbed the kid by the wrist and led him back towards the quiet bar at the other room. Tao smirked and took a seat on the stool, vision blurred slightly as he watched the other male take the seat beside him and order him a drink.
Tao giggled and hiccupped as he took in the sight of the gorgeous person who had seemed to have fallen from heaven to spill his drink. Kris ordered another bottle of beer for the person beside him and a glass of water for himself. He really wanted to sober up before he did anything stupid again.
Kris turned towards the dark haired kid who was staring at him blankly. The guy was odd but he seemed interesting enough to strike a conversation with. It wasn’t as if he had anything else to do for that night and maybe it would get him to forget about the thoughts in his head earlier. He slid the bottle of booze towards the other as soon as it arrived.
“Thanks.” Tao smirked slyly as he took a swig.
“I’m Kris.” The blonde introduced bluntly as he took a sip of his own drink. “Sorry for bumping into you earlier again.” He apologized once more. Tao chuckled, “Yeah. No big deal. I’m Tao.” He shrugged.
“I don’t see you around here often. You’re new, aren’t you?” Tao raised a brow at the older man. Kris can only nod. “I was wandering around earlier and I found this place.” He explained while examining the other.
Tao chuckled once again, “Knew it. I’m here every day. I practically live here. I can totally tell that you’re not from these parts.” He said taking another swig of the beer in his hand.
“Every day? What do you do? Drink your liver out? How old are you anyway?” Kris said finishing his glass of water.
“I’m nineteen, and what are you? Some kind of doctor? Fuck off my liver.” Tao snarled taking a cigarette stick from his pocket and lit it up. Kris could only silently stare at him.
“I’m just concerned.” He mumbled but apparently Tao’s ears picked that up.
“For someone you met five minutes ago? You really are something.”
There was something about Tao that Kris just couldn’t figure out. He wanted to leave but at the same time he wanted to stay. There was just something about him that Kris wanted to know more about. He felt different with him.
The younger smirked, liking the fact that the guy beside him seemed to take an interest in him. “Stop staring.” Tao mumbled. He really was an informal brat. Kris was a little taken aback after he realized that he was gazing at Tao for a little too long.
“S-Sorry.” He looked away quickly, while the blood rushed to his cheeks staining it pink.
“You apologize too much.” Tao remarked laughing a little. He extinguished the cigarette onto the ashtray beside him before turning to look at the blonde who had just embarrassed himself. “Look, you’re new around here so you’ve got to be careful of psychos,” Tao explained as he looked around before fixing his eyes back on Kris. “Especially with a face like yours,” He said winking.
Kris blinked before realizing that the kid actually really winked at him. He tried to dismiss it but it was still stuck on his mind for a while. “Uh…” He managed to croak, “You mentioned you were here every day?” Kris asked trying to strike up a real conversation.
“Yeah. I know everyone and everything there is to know about stuff around here. Why? What’s it to you?” Tao raised a brow at the blonde. Kris shrugged, “Every day! Really? Don’t you have school or something, kid?”
Tao laughed aloud, almost knocking over the ashtray beside him. “School? That place is full of assholes. There are more fucked up people there than out here.” He mumbled the last sentence a little too softly luckily Kris was still able to hear it. He looked at the other’s eyes noticing that Tao had a slight tinge of sadness in his voice. Honestly, the blonde felt bad for him. He didn’t know why, he just did. Kris wanted to take care of him and for some reason he couldn’t figure out what he was feeling.
“Come on.” Kris said watching Tao light up another cigarette. It was unbelievable how he seemed to still be looking fit and healthy when he was drinking and smoking like that. “I know we haven’t known each other for so long, I don’t really want to offend you by snooping around your life but do you want to talk about it? You really don’t go to school? I mean, you’re nineteen. You’re supposed to be in university if I’m getting that right.”
“I dropped out.” Tao said straightforwardly, he didn’t even turn to look at the blonde. “People there are pieces of shit, I don’t need to deal with them.” He shrugged, exhaling smoke through his nostrils. Kris looked at him sorrowfully thinking that he must have been through a lot.
“How about you? You look important.” Tao chuckled a little his voice slurring a little. He rested his arms on the bar table after extinguishing yet another stick.
Kris laughed, “Almost important.” It was all he had to disclose. Unlike Tao, he didn’t want to say much about himself.
He looked at the younger male with his tired eyes and the atmosphere had suddenly changed. He couldn’t tell what happened at that moment but Tao inched a little closer to him and the sick smell of alcohol wafted into his nose intoxicating him as well.
Things moved unexpectedly from there. Kris took hold of the other’s hand mindlessly and Tao’s gaze seemed to soften. There was no room inside the younger male to be surprised at Kris’s actions. He was too drunk and drowsy to flinch. An odd feeling washed over Kris. It was a feeling that was familiar and foreign at the same time. Tao didn’t know what was happening to him either. His usually intense attitude began to fade away when he looked at the angel that sat in beside him. Everything seemed to melt around him and it was only Kris he could see. He couldn’t tell if it was the alcohol or the stuff he hit up earlier but it was definitely something that felt good. He felt safe.
“K-Kris.” Tao mumbled, clumsily stumbling forward as he tried to stand. He fell over and clutched the blonde’s shirt for balance. “Hey, woah.” Kris held the younger male against him. The stench of alcohol continued to linger in the air around them.
“It’s okay… I got you.” Kris bit his lower lip. He could tell that Tao wouldn’t be able to go home like this. He noticed that the younger wasn’t moving.
“Hey…” Kris shook him a little. “Hey, Tao.” He tried waking him again but failed. Kris tried to think of a way to get the kid back home. He didn’t know where the hell Tao lived or who he could call. Kris spotted Tao’s wallet from the back of the younger man’s jeans. He reached for it and flipped it open.
“There.” Kris had finally found his address. It was printed on Tao’s old school ID that was stuffed carelessly into the wallet. Helping Tao to his feet, he guided the kid outside before getting into the cab that was parked at the side.
Thankfully, the driver seemed recognize Tao.
“So he met a new friend, didn’t he?” The driver laughed, it was as if he was talking to himself. Kris couldn’t really figure out what that meant to him. “Excuse me?” The blonde cocked his head to the side as he fixed the position of Tao’s head on his lap.
“At least he got a handsome one today.”
“I don’t understand.” Kris said shaking his head, awaiting for a reply.
“This kid goes home drunk with different people almost every day. Sometimes, he doesn’t even make it home. He passes out wherever he’s at at goes home at dawn when he wakes. You’re the first person to actually bring him home like this.”
Kris had nothing to say about it. He wondered how people could even leave him passed out at a public place like that. Tao goes home drunk with different people? That sounded a little dangerous. As they neared Tao’s apartment, Kris pushed the thoughts aside and concentrated on getting the kid home safely.
He brought Tao up to his floor as soon as they got out of the cab. It wasn’t very easy with Tao being almost as tall as he was. He practically had to drag Tao over to the elevator. It was a surprise that Tao’s apartment door was left unlocked. The younger male stirred and groaned when Kris pushed the door open.
“Tao? Hey, Tao.” Kris said slapping the kid lightly on the cheek, trying to wake him up again. The kid was looking a little pale which concerned Kris.
Once they arrived at Tao’s cluttered bedroom, Kris plopped him down on his bed.
“Ah…” He exhaled tiredly as he ran his fingers through his long blonde locks. Tao stirred once again and struggled to sit up. Kris hurried to his side, “Hey. You’re home. Maybe you cou-“
Tao’s stomach turned and his dinner came back up and onto Kris’s shirt. His eyes fluttered close once again and lay back down on his bed. Kris had an utterly disgusted look on his face as he dashed to the bathroom and quickly stripped his shirt off.
“Oh gross.” He said trying to hold his breath. Tao’s vomit stunk of alcohol and whatever it is that he had for dinner. Kris went over the sink to clean himself before noticing that he didn’t have an extra shirt. Sighing, he walked back to Tao’s bedroom and wondered what he should do.
Kris sat beside the younger male who was fast asleep and was snoring loudly. He felt that his eyes were giving up on him and that if he didn’t go to sleep right at that moment he would probably pass out as well. He couldn’t think anymore, Kris just simply wanted to rest. He didn’t care that he had no spare clothes he could change into, he didn’t care if he had work in the morning, he didn’t care that he was about to sleep in an apartment of someone he barely knew. He just didn’t care anymore.
Kris took a space beside Tao and everything around him blurred until it faded to black.