The Ranch

New Experience (4)

"Hmm...I guess it's about time?" Phillip starts walking towards the dormitories. "Which district do you live in...why am I asking. Let me borrow your ID." Tih gives Phillip his card and he swipes it on his watch. A holographic image appears in front of him. Phillip reads the basic information on Tih. "Dormitory A. So you're probably one of the newbies. Your age...what? You're thirteen?" He looks at Tih in astonishment. "Huh, who would have thought. Then that means we're only six years apart." He looks towards Tih," Don't believe me? No one does until they look at my info."

He clicks on a button and Phillip's information comes onto the screen. "Even though I look like I'm in my late twenties, I'm only nineteen." He laughs mockingly," Heh, Master says I'm mature for my age, but the rest of the soldier would disagree with that statement. My reputation...well, you've seen it already." He gets lost in his own thoughts and unconsciously tells Tih what's been on his mind.

Phillip shakes his head, waking up from his dazed state and looks at Tih," Why...I don't know why I'm telling you this.." He frowns, believing he's forgotten his original purpose in talking to Tih.

Getting back on track, he speeds up and heads to Tih's room. Using Tih's ID, he unlocks the door and enters. Taking the neater bed he tosses Tih onto it and crouches over him. He looks at the blank child's face, hyping himself up. " Everybody thinks of you this way anyways, it'll never be different, stop hesitating." It's a weird feeling. It's something he's hasn't felt before, hesitation. He doesn't want to do it to Tih, he feel like it'll bring the same outcome as the previous soldiers and he doesn't want that. He doesn't want to be despised by this boy, he doesn't want to see a disgusted expression on Tih's face.

While he's hesitating, Tih look at him from above. Lying on the soft bed sheets, Tih lies under the man. He stares into the conflicting eyes of Phillip that's about a foot away from his eyes.

Tih looks at the pain in his eyes as he recalls a  memory of the old man. Whenever the other children fell or got hurt, water would start coming out of their hurt-looking eyes. The old man would pat the injured part and say," Pain pain fly away."

Tih looks over Phillip but can not find a place to pat. He settle on the place in front of him. Taking his soft baby hand, he pats Phillip cheek before throwing the pain away.

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Pain pain...fly away~

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Phillip looks at the innocent child below him that just pat his cheek. Tih probably doesn't know what he's about to do to him, but he should still understand to some extent. He's only been with the child for a couple of hours, but he knows the child is not stupid, and yet he's still trying to comfort him. Phillip looks into the child's clear blue eyes that hold no emotion. No malice nor disgust. There's only one other person that looks at him like that.

Phillip smiles, a genuine smile. He lowers his head and kisses Tih's forehead, quickly getting up so gravity doesn't force his tears to fall. Holding back his tears, he says," Thanks. If you ever need anything in the future, come find me." He moves up to leave but pauses and frowns. He squats in front of Tih to explain seriously," There are a lot of guys like me on this island. With you're looks, you'll be an easy target. Plus...word is going to spread around that you were with me and it'll probably lower your reputation to some extent. I'm sorry." He looks for any discernible emotions in Tih eyes, only to see clear blue ponds.

He ruffles Tih's hair before getting up and leaving," Let's hang out again sometime, my treat." He closes the door on his way out. As he walks out of the dormitories, he looks at his watch, clicking an "add as friend" button.

Tih looks around the room. A pile of bags filled with clothes litter the floor. Tih closes his eyes to sleep, he overfilled himself with all that delicious food Phillip bought and goes into a food coma.

Tih is woken up by a shaking sensation and someone telling his name. He opens his eyes to see Kai shaking his shoulders," What happened to you Tih?! Are you okay? How'd you get back to our room?"

Knowing he won't answer, he inspects Tih for any injuries. After finding nothing, he sighs in relief. Kai looks at the pile of bags on the floor and the navy hoodie Tih is wearing," Did he buy these for you?"

The groggy Tih nods.

"He didn't hurt you?"

Tih nods again.

"That's good..." Kai collapses onto his bed. He stares at the large amount of clothes that must have cost a fortune," Are you going to have enough closet space for all of that? Are you even going to wear any of it? You don't seem like the type to care about fashion... Actually, I'm surprised they have so many clothing stores in the first place, considering it's kind of a luxury item. Plus, the material of these uniforms are already high-quality and durable. They're also really easy to move in and when we don't know whats going to happen at any moment, wearing the military suits at all times seems like the best option. But, there's no dress codes so it's not a requirement. I guess some people would rather wear something else." Kai starts to ramble, switching from one conversation to the next.

"Oh yeah, I met up with Sherlock and Lucien and told them what happened. I'm meeting them again in the cafeteria for din- Ah! I'm late!" He jumps off the bed,"Are you coming?"

Tih shakes his head no.

"Okay, I'll see you later then." Kai dashes our the door.