"Why are all of these old consoles so difficult to hook up?"
"They aren't meant for our TVs. They weren't made to be displayed on these."
"Are these TVs really that different from the old ones?"
"Apparently. Otherwise it wouldn't be so hard to hook up the console."
"Why aren't there new consoles that aren't bitches to hook up then?"
"June, I'm not a video game engineer."
"And I know that, but could you let me complain for like once."
Sehun and I found ourselves setting up shop in the rarely used entertainment room. It's late afternoon and we've been trying to figure out how all of the toys and games in this part of the castle work. After nothing ended up being any fun, Sehun suggested trying the video game consoles.
Unfortunately, these are the olden systems and neither of us have any experience with having to hook up stuff like this.
"Tao would know how to hook this up." I grumble from my spot on the ground surrounded by colorful plugs.
"Tao?" Sehun hands me a purple plug while frowning with his eyebrows.
"My friend." I say quietly. I connect the purple cable to the side of the television. It looks like we only need a green one now. "Hand me the black thing with the green end." I point to the mentioned chord at his feet. He hesitates before picking it up.
"Is that person still...alive?" he holds the chord in his hands while waiting for my response. His mouth is straight, but his eyes are sincere. He looks afraid to be asking such a question.
I hum. "He is. I just miss him is all. He is perfectly fine...the last time I checked at least." He stretches out his arm so that I can grab the final chord. I take it and plug it into its respective spot. Finally, the system comes to life on the large screen. He keeps his eyes trained on me while I finger through the game cases that we can play.
Talking about him aloud here feels kind of taboo. It's not like I'm not allowed to have old friends, but voicing his existence makes me feels as though he is just an old friend. Someone I've lost touch with. Someone I've drifted away from, and can barely remember.
But he isn't that.
I can remember Tao as vividly as I can remember what color my room is. I can remember his laugh, his smile, his touch, and his voice. Thinking about all of it is painful. Being away from him for as long as I have feels as though I've lost some part of myself. Sitting here and being able to actually have a moment to remember how much I miss him hurts so fucking much. It sucks that the only thing I can do is just remind myself that he's alive out there and that he's fine.
And really, I'm not sure if he is still alive. I can only hope he is since I haven't been told otherwise. I know that my frown has gotten deeper, and I know that Sehun wants to say something to try and lift my mood, but I don't want him to feel burdened with the task so I plaster on a fake smile and pull out a random game that my hand had stopped on.
"This one looks fun." I tried to sound bright, but even I could hear the lingering sadness in it. I clear my throat and hand the case to him. Grabbing the two controllers, I stand up on my feet and walk over to the couch so that I we can sit on the cushions to play.
He sets himself down on the cushion closest to me and picks up the second controller. "Do you...want to talk about it?" he asks after a moment.
I press a few buttons until we get to the starting screen of the game. "No. I feel worse just thinking about it."

YOU ARE READING
Seven | Book 1 (An EXO fiction)
FanfictionShe didn't ask to be pushed out of her home. She didn't ask to be put in the castle as a spy. She most definitely didn't ask to be placed in the middle of a surging rebellion. For a girl who has difficultly distinguishing emotion from logic, being p...