Metal

2%

It's a few seconds before Tao hears the door slam from the floor above, and his smile widens just a bit. He chuckles to himself. They've left him alone in this house full of valuables? What kind of family is this?

With the other boy's school bag still in hand, he heads to his room, conveniently placed across the hall from the young master's. He closes the door quietly behind him. He has a call to make.

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Sehun hears the door click gently across the hall. And he just knows it's him. Who else could it be? He sighs and musses his hair. Of all places his parents had to put him, he's just a few meters away? It feels ridiculous and frivolous. There's absolutely no need to give someone like him a bodyguard. He's perfectly safe from secret societies and mythical conspiracies. He's just a high school boy for God's sake!

"Fuck it." He mutters under his breath as he slides down the wall to sit on the floor. He clutches his head in his hands, feeling a headache coming. A sharp pain behind his temple starts throbbing and he rubs it with his forefinger. 

He skips dinner that night, despite having not eaten breakfast in the morning. Hunger isn't a problem compared to the current predicament he's suddenly found himself in. Later that evening, he storms into Tao's room and grabs his bag back, without even glancing at the other boy, casually reading on his bed. The gears are clicking in his mind. He has a person to get rid of. And he would do anything.

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The next morning, Tao wakes up to a noisy commotion. Or rather, noisy to him. He was trained to sense the slightest noises, the least noticeable movements. It sounds like muffled thumps. He hurries up and leaves his room a mess to find out the situation. 

What he discovers is an irritable Sehun in the kitchen, opening and closing the fridge door and then furiously rubbing the nape of his neck. He mutters a "dammit" and walks away, oblivious to the confused Tao standing in the doorway. Sehun's hair is a complete wreck of blond strands sticking up here and there and he's walking around in his pajamas still. 

"Um, is there a problem, sir?" Tao decides to ask when Sehun starts to bang his head against the wall. Tao feels slightly amused at his choice of words, not ever thinking that he'd have to call someone younger than him "sir" in his lifetime. He pushes away the slight bubble of laughter rising up to focus. He starts to wonder if the young master has gone insane.

Sehun looks up and glares at him. "Nothing. Go away."

Tao chuckles at the rough treatment from the other boy, but despite that, he follows him as he walks into the hallway. "Are you not going to eat breakfast?"

Sehun turns around to face him, frustration prominent in his expression. "No. I'm not. Now go away." He scowls.

"I can't." Tao replies, folding his arms around his chest.

"And why the hell is that?" Sehun asks, feeling distressed as he throws his arms in the air. 

"I'm required to go to school with you." Tao walks away, leaving Sehun feeling even more irritated than before. 

"Why?" He screams in a whisper, as he runs his fingers through his hair incessantly.

A half an hour later, both boys are in their school uniforms and heading out the door. Mr. Kim is waiting, as usual, by the car and he greets Sehun with "good morning" and a smile. 

Sehun is grateful for his driver acting like he normally did, even though there's the obvious presence of the somewhat-stranger beside him. "Good morning, Mr. Kim. Are we picking up Jongin today?"