King [Taoris]

2.1

Yifan sighed heavily as he woke up to an empty bed once again. Ever since the incident last week, Tao became distant. It wasn't evident at first but Yifan could tell that he was always thinking about the black demon. As much as Yifan wanted to see that monster dead, he hated how Tao became cold just so he could focus on capturing it.
Yifan pulled himself out of bed before heading downstairs. He didn't bother to get dressed.
He wandered down the halls before stumbling across Jongdae who was heading down to the dining hall.

"Jong, where's Tao?"
Jongdae turned to see Yifan behind him. He frowned when he saw bags under Yifan's eyes.
"In the library, he's been there since the sun came up trying to find a way to expose a demon. But, hyung are you okay?"

Yifan waved Jongdae's question off as he turned the corner, going the opposite way of Jongdae.

"Wait hyung!" Jongdae sighed as Yifan ignored him, hellbent on getting to the library.
Yifan pushed open the doors and sighed in relief when he saw Tao behind a stack of books. Tao looked even worse than Yifan. His eye bags were deep, his face seemed thinner and he looked defeated.

"Tao?" Yifan called out gently, as if trying not to spook a wild animal. Tao slammed a book shut as he looked up. Yifan frowned as he hurried to Tao's side, wrapped his arms around the younger's body holding him close. Tao broke his composure as he hid his face in Yifan's chest, his arms automatically tightening around Yifan's body.

"Hey are you okay? Have you been eating? Sleeping?"
Tao shook his head. Yifan sighed as he brought one hand up to the back of Tao's head, gently massaging it with one hand as he rubbed Tao's back with his other hand.

"Tao, listen to me. I know you're angry and I know you really want to catch this demon but you won't. Okay? Not with this attitude. Imagine Yixing, he wouldn't want to see you like this. Tao please, just eat. I will personally help you find this guy."

Tao looked up, eyes brimming with tears. Yifan's chest ached as he wiped a stray tear that made its way down Tao's cheek. The library doors swung open causing Tao to whirl around. He relaxed when he saw it was just Sehun. He was balancing two plates as he made his way towards Yifan and Tao.

"I thought I would find you guys here." He said as he set the plates down.
Sehun looked up with a faint smile, "I brought breakfast."

Yifan smiled as he ruffled Sehun's hair, "Thank you."
Tao sniffled as he slowly sat, pulling a plate close to his body. Yifan watched victoriously as Tao started to eat. In minutes the plate was empty. Yifan leaned down and pressed a kiss on the crown of Tao's head, "There we go, aren't you feeling better now?"
Tao nodded as he stared at the empty plate. Sehun looked at Yifan, "The others are heading down to help look through dad's old books."

Yifan nodded, "Thanks. See Tao? We'll find the demon in no time."

Jongdae groaned loudly as he threw yet another book behind him. A pile was growing next to him as he flipped through the pages of old textbooks, journals, notebooks.
Anything that might hold a clue on how to find the son of a bitch who killed an innocent young girl.