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Ten felt like his heart was going to beat out of his chest as he walked the wooded pathway of the park near his apartment near the outskirts of town. He had an appointment to keep, and he didn’t know if it would go the way he hoped. He’d prepared, of course, thinking of every possible scenario and getting ready everything he needed. He was still scared, though. What if something happened that he hadn’t thought of? What if there was something crucial that he’d neglected to arrange for? This meeting was far too important for even a single thing to go wrong. This meeting would set up the rest of his life as he knew it.

Finally, Ten broke through the line of trees, late afternoon sunlight brightening the path before him. And there, on the bench set off the path, was the person he was set to meet.

Lee Taeyong.

He wasn’t looking in Ten’s direction, facing the other way, but with just a second’s glance at him, Ten’s world quieted. His heart was no longer going wild, his breath calm and even. All of the worries that had filled Ten’s mind just moment’s before were gone, replaced by peaceful surety of his plan.

This was good. He had to be calm and collected for it all to work.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Taeyong woke groggily to the soft hum of a car’s engine and the sensation of movement underneath him. When he opened his eyes, the world was rushing past him behind the passenger side window.He looked around, startled, to find Ten sitting beside him, his hands on the wheel of a car.“Ten? Where are we?”Ten smiled, eyes darting to Taeyong for just a moment.“We’re in my car,” he answered simply.“I don’t — why — did I faint? I was waiting for you like you said…”“Yes, you were being very good, thank you Taeyong.”Taeyong blushed in confusion. Ten had never spoken to him like that before. Sure, he would compliment him on his looks whenever they met up, or gush praise at him when he showed him the songs he was writing in his little notebook, but this was… this was different . He wasn’t sure if he should feel pleased or embarrassed.“Where are we?” he tried again. “Are you taking me to the hospital?”“The hospital?” This made Ten really look at him, his laughter abruptly filling the car. “No, Yongie, we’re not going to the hospital.”Taeyong waited for Ten to continue, but he just turned back to the road. Taeyong’s confusion grew. The last thing he remembered was sitting on a bench in the park, waiting for Ten to meet him. The younger had texted him that he had something important to show him, but Taeyong can’t remember him ever showing up. So he must have passed out before Ten had arrived, right?Only, he knew he felt fine before, and Ten said that they weren’t going to the hospital, so what was going on? Taeyong didn’t recognize any of the landmark’s whizzing past him as they winded down the small 2-lane highway.“Ten,” he said, his confusion creeping into his voice. “Where are we going?”“I’m taking you someplace really special. Be good and don’t ask questions until we get there, okay? You’ll spoil the surprise.”There he went again, talking about Taeyong being good like he was a child. Maybe it was some new lingo he’d picked up off Drag Race? Taeyong had never watched the show, so he was often totally confused by the things Ten said until he explained them. He’d figure it out later, after he stopped being confused about where he was going.“Is it what you wanted to show me earlier?”Ten’s smile was brighter than the sun. “Uh-huh! No spoilers though, I mean it!” he chirped.
Before Taeyong could say anything else, he launched right into a new story about the recording studio that he worked at. Ten always had some new piece of gossip whenever Taeyong saw him, about his coworkers or bosses or the different singers and groups that came in to record. It was amazing sometimes how much information he took in from the things around him; Taeyong was almost positive he’d be able to talk for hours if you really let him.
Comforted by the chatter that had become a staple of his and Ten’s interactions, Taeyong let himself relax into the passenger seat as they traveled further and further into the countryside. He laughed and giggled at Ten’s dramatic recountings of the events that had taken place in the studio and the secrets he’d overheard, his worries and concerns drifting further and further into the back of his mind.The longer the two drove, the wider Ten’s grin seemed to get, and the brighter his eyes sparkled. His tales got wilder and wilder, leaving Taeyong in stitches as he gestured crazily with one hand, the other steering them ever farther from the city where they both lived.Taeyong was so happy to see his friend like this. Lately Ten had been somewhat distant and distracted, never feeling like he was all the way present when he and Taeyong met up, and texting Taeyong far less than he usually did. It was a relief to see him acting bright and bubbly again.Still, Taeyong couldn’t help but wonder where Ten was taking him. The sun was already touching the horizon in front of them, so it must have been hours since Ten had texted him to meet up. He wanted so badly to question Ten again, but the younger man hardly ever requested anything of him, and he didn’t want to ruin his surprise if Ten truly wanted to keep it a secret.Ten must have noticed his anxious shifting, because he reached out to grip at Taeyong’s forearm.“I can tell you want to ask me about your surprise, don’t you?” he asked, smirking so Taeyong knew he wasn’t mad.“Yeah…” Taeyong admitted. “I won’t though! I know you said no spoilers.”“You’re being so patient, thank you Yongie!” Ten smiled cutely, pinching at the fat of Taeyong’s cheek. “I’ve been working so hard on this, I really want you to love it.”“I’m sure I will if you’ve put this much thought into it,” Taeyong reassured him.Ten beamed another one of his blinding smiles, bouncing slightly in his seat.“I’m so excited Yongie, you have no idea.”Taeyong couldn’t help but smile back as Ten wiggled with excitement. It was obvious how much this meant to him, Taeyong hoped he would love it as much as Ten wanted him to.Eyes trained on the darkening sky above them, Ten patted Taeyong’s knee.“Why don’t you go to sleep? I still have some more driving to do.”“That’s okay Tennie I’m not that tired.”Ten’s eyes went tight in the corners, but he still smiled over at Taeyong.“You should sleep, honey, okay? I want you wide awake when we get there so you can appreciate my surprise. Here, I’ll help you relax!”Abruptly, Ten’s hand was on Taeyong’s neck, rubbing firmly at the base of his skull just behind his ear. Taeyong grunted at the sudden pressure, but found his eyes already slipping closed.“Wait, Ten,” he spluttered, but Ten just rubbed harder, and within the next second Taeyong’s world was fading out.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Taeyong dreamed of dirt.Heavy, wet dirt, raining down onto his face, falling into his eyes and mouth so he couldn’t see or scream or do anything besides let it happen.
“Taeyong!”
He tried to lift his hands to brush the dirt away, but they were stuck at his sides, unable to move under the weight of the earth on top of them.
“Yongie!”
He was trapped, he was trapped, and he couldn’t breathe couldn’t breathe couldn’t breathe — “TAEYONG!”Suddenly he snapped awake, Ten shaking him roughly with his hands on his shoulders. As soon as he saw that Taeyong’s eyes were open, he let go, his face morphing instantly into a pleased, excited smile.“You’re awake!” he squealed. “Look! Look, Yongie, we’re here!”Taeyong could barely see anything in the darkness that surrounded the car. The tiny crescent moon was high in the night sky, but it’s light was so weak that all it illuminated in the darkness left from Ten’s extinguished headlights were the tops of the trees surrounding them.“We’re in the woods?” Taeyong asked blearily, confused and strangely exhausted.“Not just the woods, silly baby, I got us a little house!”Suddenly, Ten turned and darted off, yelling for Taeyong to wait where he was as he ran into the darkness. Then, a light appeared ahead of Taeyong.The warm yellow light illuminated a little porch, and Taeyong could see then that there was a little house, hard to make out in the barely-there light of the sliver of moon. Letting out a happy yell, Ten raced from the porch back to Taeyong’s side of the car, breathless with excitement.“Well?” he asked. “What do you think?”Taeyong stood slowly, squinting through the dark to try to make out the house’s features.“I’m sure it’s really pretty when the sun’s out Tennie. It’s yours?”Ten nodded eagerly.“I want it to be ours though, Yongie. Our special place to relax and unwind and be ourselves together.” He sighed happily. “Doesn’t it sound so perfect?”Taeyong couldn’t bring himself to be as ecstatic as Ten, too caught off guard by what he was saying.“Ours?” he questioned. “Like…”Ten faltered for a moment. “Like a fun little retreat! I know you get stressed a lot, sweetie. I just meant I didn’t want anyone else to know cuz then they’d get jealous.” By the end of his sentence, Ten’s normal teasing smirk was back. “I guess that sounded like weird wording, huh? I’m just so excited to be here finally.”Ah, of course Taeyong had jumped to conclusions. This was just the way Ten talked, he should be used to it by now.“Mm, me too, I’m so tired. A relaxing retreat sounds like exactly what I need.”“See? I know you so well, don’t I.”Ten pulled him up the drive to the front door, only pausing to fish his keys out of his pocket. He flipped on the lightswitch to the front hall as soon as the door closed behind them. Taeyong looked around the little space as the lock clunked into place.The rough stuccoed walls were a greyish-yellowish color, though Taeyong couldn’t tell if it was just because of the dim light above them, or if the paint was actually that color. The dark wood baseboards looked a little scuffed, but at least the matching floor had gotten a good sweep.“I cleaned before so you wouldn’t have to worry your pretty little head about any dirt.” Ten said as he watched Taeyong look around. Taeyong smiled gratefully at him.Grinning back, Ten led him to the stairs a few steps in front of them, covered in the most lurid orange carpet Taeyong had ever seen.“I’ll show you to your room first, so you can get some good rest. I got you some new sheets and a really pretty comforter so you’ll be all cozy—” Ten chattered as Taeyong followed behind him up the narrow staircase. The same odd-colored walls continued up to the second floor, bare of any decorations and feeling slightly lonely, and the ugly orange carpet stretched up over the top of the stairs and all the way down the hallway. Ten and Taeyong’s footsteps were muffled as they walked towards the back of the house, passing a few rooms with their doors all shut, so Taeyong couldn’t see inside.“—and here it is!”Ten stopped in front of the last door in the hallway, throwing it open with a flourish and a gesture for Taeyong to go first. Taeyong felt his eyes widen as he saw the room inside.The entire room was done up in bright whites and soft pinks, tiny bows and understated ruffles on nearly every surface. A ginormous four-poster bed took up most of the space, hung with gauzy white curtains. It was piled high with a huge, white, fluffy comforter and a veritable mountain of pillows to match, all sewn up with bits of lace and miniscule pink bows. There was a vintage-looking dresser in the corner, painted white and topped with a white-framed mirror. It was lined with bottles that, when Taeyong walked closer, he could see were all high-end skin treatments and creams. The curtains on the window next to it mirrored the ones hanging over the bed, but were colored a light pink. The only light right now came from the soft glow of a lamp on a spindly bedside table, but Taeyong could tell the light from the window would be beautiful reflecting off all the bright whites. It was all entirely overwhelming, especially compared to the well-worn bits of the house that he had already seen.Taeyong turned to look at Ten in shock, but the younger man was already bouncing over to the foot of the bed, where a small stack of clothes were laying. They too were pink.“And look, sweetie,” he enthused, “I even bought new comfy pajamas for you!”Ten picked up a cotton button-up shirt, printed all over with little cartoon bumble bees.Taeyong blushed, once again at a loss of what to say. The things that Ten had prepared for him were very … cutesy, to say the least.“What’s wrong, Yongie, don’t you like it?” Ten said, as if sensing his dismay. “Isn’t pink your favorite color? I thought it would make you happy.”Taeyong’s heart dropped as he watched Ten’s face fall.“I can change it all if you want,” Ten continued, peeking up at him, eyes shimmering. “I just really want you to like it.”“No!” If there was one thing Taeyong could not handle, it was tears. “Of course I like it, Tennie! I love it! I was just overwhelmed because I love it so much.”Immediately, Ten’s face morphed into a blinding smile.“Oh, I’m so happy!”He bounded over to Taeyong and threw his arms around his neck, squeezing him tightly, before pressing the pajamas into his hands.“Get changed quickly so you can jump in bed, okay?” He turned around, but didn’t leave the room.Taeyong paused. “Ten?”“I won’t peek, promise!”Ten dutifully covered his eyes, and Taeyong let out a small sigh before stripping down his boxers and slipping into the soft cotton pajamas. He cleared his throat when he was done and Ten peeked between his fingers over his shoulder. He wiggled a little in apparent happiness, then held out his hands for Taeyong’s dirty clothes.“I’ll take your clothes so you can get all snuggled in.”He moved over to the closet as Taeyong climbed a bit awkwardly into the huge bed, and Taeyong glimpsed more clothes hanging up when he pulled the door back.“Hamper’s in here for when you need it, ‘kay?”Taeyong nodded when Ten turned back around and flounced back over to the bed. He helped him settle among the mounds of pillows and blankets, watching fondly until Taeyong was done wriggling and fluffing.“There we go, all comfy?”Taeyong nodded again, already feeling drowsy from the warmth surrounding him. “Thanks for bringing me all the way out here, Tennie. I can’t wait to look around and see how — ” he broke off to yawn, “pretty everything is tomorrow.”“Ah, my little baby is so cute!”Taeyong blushed as Ten pinched his cheek and smoothed his hair over his forehead.“Sleep well, Yongie. I’ll see you in the morning.”After Ten had closed the door behind him, stayed awake for a little while longer, listening to the front door open and shut and Ten’s footsteps patter around as the younger man brought in whatever he had packed in his car for the trip here. Taeyong was truly surprised by the effort Ten had put into this little excursion, and how he had managed to keep it despite being the chatterbox Taeyong knew him as. He wondered faintly if Ten had packed any of his own things from home, but by then he was already fading into sleep, and by the next moment the thought was gone.   When Taeyong woke next, sunlight was streaming through the curtains of his window, lighting the soft pinks of the room and creating a warm glow. He stretched his limbs like a cat under the covers, letting himself sink more fully into the mattress for a second before sitting up. He wondered if Ten was already up, listening for a second but hearing nothing.Curious, Taeyong padded out of his room, only to be met with a shock in the hallway. The space looked totally transformed, awful orange runner gone and replaced with a creamy off-white one, walls no longer dingy-looking but sparkling with a new coat of paint, and adorable prints or framed sayings hung between the doorways.It was all so different.Stunned, Taeyong was caught by the sudden irrational fear that he’d been moved to a different house. He ran down the hall to the stairs, calling for Ten, his voice panicky.Just as he reached the top of the stairs, Ten’s head popped out of the doorway to the left, his eyes wide and startled.“Yongie! What’s wrong?”Taeyong’s breath left him in a rush, and he collapsed against the banister, feeling both incredibly relieved and highly embarrassed at how silly he had been.“Oh, nothing Tennie,” he breathed out. “I woke up and didn’t hear you and got scared.”Ten cooed as he climbed the stairs to take Taeyong in his arms. “Oh, my baby was scared, was he?”Taeyong wriggled, extracting himself from Ten’s hold.“Ten, stop, I’m already embarrassed,” he whined. Now that he was calming down, he was able to think about what had scared him in the first place.“Tennie, I’m not going crazy am I? You changed everything?” he said.Ten giggled and nodded.“It looks much less grody now doesn’t it?” he asked, like it was nothing. Taeyong gaped in astonishment.“Ten, you — Did you even sleep?”“I think I probably caught a few winks,” Ten joked. Then he caught sight of Taeyong’s face. “What? I had a lot of energy and I just really wanted everything perfect for our first day.” Taeyong continued to stare disapprovingly. “It’s fiiiine Yongie, I swear I feel fine!”Taeyong relented, leaning back. His friend was really amazing sometimes. He couldn’t imagine having all of the energy needed to pull something like this off. He’d redecorated the whole house! Now that he was thinking about it, he realized he hadn’t even really seen what the house looked like when Ten had brought him inside last night.“Oh wait!” he gasped out, grinning at Ten before bounding down the stairs. Ten’s footsteps pounded behind him, but he thought nothing of it until his hand came crashing down onto his arm to yank him back from reaching for the door.“Where are you going?!”“Ow! I was gonna go outside to look at the house!”“You can’t go outside!” Ten all but shouted. He looked strangely panicked.“What?” Taeyong tried to make him let go of his arm, but the younger man’s fingers were like stone around his arm. “Why not?”“Because I — because I wanted you to make breakfast,” he suddenly pouted, his lower lip sticking out in an expression that was all too familiar to Taeyong. Besides gossiping, pouting was probably one of Ten’s favorite activities. “You know I’m a terrible cook.”Taeyong let all of the fight go out of him.“Oh, is that all,” he teased as he was dragged into the kitchen. “In that case, Chef Taeyong at your service!”Ten giggled. “I like the sound of that.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Breakfast was relaxed and giggly as Taeyong cooked up waffles in the shiny new waffle maker Ten had put in the kitchen. The room itself was cheerful and bright, the walls painted a buttery yellow and the window over the sink sporting a valence of adorable chicken-printed fabric. Taeyong brought their plates over to the natural wood table and sat down on one of the chairs whose cushions matched the fabric of the valence. Their conversation flowed naturally, if a bit slowly with the way they were stuffing their waffles into their mouths.“Did you know that the color yellow makes people more hungry?” Ten asked absentmindedly as he drizzled more syrup onto his plate.Taeyong shook his head, looking around at the sunny walls. “Really? That’s cool.”“Yeah, I guess that’s subconsciously why people tend to paint their kitchens yellow, so that you’ll feel hungry when you’re in them.”Sounds of chewing filled the small space for a moment before Ten spoke again.“I always thought it was cute that you liked pink too,” he said, “since it’s supposed to represent warmth and comfort and calm people down when they’re feeling emotional.”He smiled at Taeyong, scrunching up his nose. “It’s so fitting for our get-away place, don’t you think?”Now Taeyong felt even more like shit for reacting badly to his room last night. He’d obviously just been trying to make someplace relaxing and enjoyable for Taeyong to stay, and all that Taeyong had been able to think about was that it was girly. He should have known Ten would have considered how the colors of the room would play into their emotions; he was such a deep thinker.“Absolutely perfect, Tennie,” he said, making him beam. “Will you show me around the rest of the house? I want to see what else you’ve got in store.”Ten just laughed, pulling Taeyong up from the table by his elbow.“Don’t worry, baby, I’ve got plenty.”Excited, Taeyong let him tug him into the hall to start his parade of rooms. They began in the living room across from the kitchen, taken up by a squishy-looking sectional and big bookcases filled with novels and DVDs. The decently-sized TV hung above a fireplace that looked like it took real logs and that Taeyong couldn’t wait to try out. Down the hall past the staircase was a tiny little mudroom with a washer and dryer and shelves and hooks where they could put their shoes and jackets. Taeyong caught a glimpse of the wooded backyard through the windowed door, but was quickly distracted as Ten dragged him away to continue the tour.Across from that room was what Ten said was the garage, but when the younger man opened the door, all Taeyong could see in the darkness were stacks of boxes. According to Ten, the string for the light was in the middle of the room, and it wasn’t really worth going out there just to have a look at some storage. Agreeing with him, Taeyong followed Ten back down the hallway, stopping to peek into the adorable little bathroom tucked under the stairs.“The one upstairs is way nicer, I promise,” Ten apologized.“It’s so cute, though!” Taeyong responded.Ten laughed at Taeyong’s adorable demeanor and pulled at his wrist again, leading him up the stairs to the first door at the landing.“This is my room!” he said, pushing the door open for Taeyong to step inside like he had done last night.Ten’s room looked quite a lot more sophisticated than Taeyong’s, colored in soft grays and dark woods. The queen-sized bed against the far wall had a large, slatted headboard, making it look a bit imposing, but was balanced nicely by the solid bedside tables on either side. A matching armoire rested in the corner across from the bed, and the floor was covered in a gray and white circular rug that brought everything together.“Oooo, Ten, this is very you,” Taeyong teased, thinking about how true the statement was. Ten was always very well put together and fashionable, it was no doubt that the bedroom he had created for himself would be as well.Ten giggled and swatted at Taeyong’s shoulder. “You think so?”“Mmm, definitely. It fits your personality perfectly.” Taeyong paused, then added, “Just like mine!”The way Ten’s face lit up was worth the little white lie thousands of times over. The younger man bounced happily in place before taking back up Taeyong’s hand and starting to tug him towards the end of the hallway.“Wait, Tennie, what about this one?”Taeyong dug in his heels a bit, pointing to the closed door across from Ten’s bedroom.“Oh, that?” Ten stopped too, but his hold on Taeyong’s hand tightened. “It’s just more boxes and shit. I haven’t finished it yet.”“Oh, okay.” Taeyong stepped away from the door and Ten’s grip loosened again. “Is it gonna be something special?”Ten sent him something of a sideways smirk that made Taeyong’s chest seize for just a moment. “You’ll just have to wait and see won’t you?”Weakly, Taeyong pinched at Ten’s ear. “You little demon.”“C’mon, let’s see the better bathroom now!”Ten pulled Taeyong to the door across from his own bedroom that he somehow had not thought to try to open this morning. The room inside was amazingly spacious, even bigger than the two bedrooms. Taeyong looked around in amazement, taking in the big clawed bathtub and a massive separate shower stall. The shower was paneled in cedar planks until about waist height, then transitioned to glass above that. Ten walked to open the shower door and gestured for Taeyong to look inside.“I had it modified into a personal sauna,” he said, pointing to the cedar plank benches along the walls of the stall. “Look, you just press this button here and the electric heater works under the benches. We can even do steam or dry heat since we already have the water connection for the shower head.”“Wow, Tennie, oh my god! This is so cool! It’s just like a real spa!” Taeyong couldn’t help but start bouncing with excitement. “Oh my gosh, we’re going to have so much fun.”Ten laughed at Taeyong’s antics, linking both their hands together and swinging them between their bodies.“Definitely, baby.” He smiled so sweetly that Taeyong just had to smile back.“Can I see the outside now?”Ten’s smile grew sharper, and the skin between his eyebrows creased like he was confused and disappointed. “Didn’t you want to see what I had planned? I have a whole bunch of relaxing spa things for us to do.”“Oh really? Okay then, I guess I can wait until later.”Ten shrugged absently, his forehead smoothing out and his grin widening further. “Don’t worry, babe. I have so many things for us to do that you won’t even want to go outside.”Taeyong giggled at his friend’s playfulness. “You’re really setting my expectations high.”There was a glint in Ten's eyes as he looked back at Taeyong.“You know I don’t say anything I can’t follow up.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

True to Ten’s word, the rest of the week was filled with restful, relaxing activities. The two men fell into something of a routine, starting the morning with Taeyong cooking a filling breakfast before spending the day hanging out, sitting in the sauna, taking baths in the huge bathtub, or pampering each other with the multitude of skincare products that littered Taeyong’s dresser. In the evening, after another meal cooked by Taeyong, they’d sit in the living room and put a few logs on the fire to read or watch movies until it was time for bed.

Taeyong was slowly getting used to the frilly fabrics of his room, paying less attention to them as time went on, focusing instead on how soft and comfortable everything was. Even the sheer, feminine bed hangings bothered him less than they had to start. He now appreciated the way that they filtered the light coming in from the window in the morning, making it easier for him to wake up relaxed.

It was just … there were some things that just felt off.

Like Taeyong’s clothes, for instance. After he and Ten had spent the a good part of the morning in the sauna that first day, Taeyong had gone to put his pajamas in his hamper, only to find that it was empty. He’d frozen for a minute as he’d tried to remember the previous night. Ten had definitely put the clothes he’d changed out of into the hamper before helping him get settled, hadn’t he? Taeyong had been almost certain he had, yet the clothes simply hadn’t been there.

Instead, as Taeyong had found as he’d looked around, his closet and dresser had been filled with clothes that Taeyong had never seen before, all looking brand new, right down to his underwear. He’d flushed in embarrassment and confusion at the idea of Ten knowing all of his sizes and shopping for him.

The clothes weren’t really the types of things that Taeyong tended to wear, either. Rather than his normal t-shirts and baggy pants that he wore when he wasn’t in his work clothes, there were cute oversized shirts and sweaters in pastel colors, paired with shorts that hardly went halfway down his thighs. To his extreme discomfort, there were even a pair of overall shorts in a bright purple color, which he made sure to stay far away from.

Still, Taeyong hadn’t really had it in his heart to complain to Ten. He was understanding more and more the true scope of what this “little getaway” had cost his friend, and he was more than reluctant to tell him that even one part of it wasn’t to his liking. So, he wore the clothes that had been provided for him, feeling a little uncomfortable but bearing it for the sake of Ten’s feelings.

Another strange thing was the windows. Every single one that Taeyong had seen was covered by bars, interrupting his view and striping the sunlight that filtered through them. When he’d brought it up to Ten, the younger man had explained it by telling him that the house had come that way to protect against wildlife, and that he hadn’t been able to remove them before bringing Taeyong over.

What Taeyong thought was weird, though, was how new the bars looked. They shone when the light hit them, often blinding Taeyong from inside the room and forcing him to draw the curtains.

He knew, too, that Ten had spared no expense for the rest of the house, so why hadn’t he done so for the windows? Yet Taeyong hadn’t dared to question Ten on this either. Maybe

Ten

was the one who was afraid of the wildlife, and he had lied about the bars because he was embarrassed. He had always been sensitive in his own way; sometimes it was impossible to say what would upset him. Things that were fine one day might set him on the warpath or reduce him to a puddle of tears the next. He usually tried to hide his feelings as much as possible, though, sometimes coming across downright cold where someone might normally expect an emotional response. Whatever Ten’s strange reactions tended to be, Taeyong loved his friend dearly, and usually tried to help him feel comfortable when they were together.

The last straw, however, was Ten’s downright reluctance to let Taeyong go outside. Every time Taeyong had suggested it, Ten had brought up some excuse or distraction to make him forget for a little while, and it was driving Taeyong crazy.

Finally, on the fourth day of his and Ten’s vacation, he snapped.

He’d been fidgeting on the couch in the living room for the better part of an hour, unable to concentrate on the book he was trying to read, too distracted by the afternoon sun coming in through the barred window.

“Ugh, Ten!” he half shouted in frustration, making the younger man jump at his side. He swung his head around to fix his gaze on Taeyong, eyes wide.

“What is your problem with me going outside?”

Ten giggled awkwardly. “What do you mean, problem?”

“What, is it dangerous or something? Will I die instantly if I set foot out the door?”

“I — I — n-no —”

Taeyong was getting angry now. Why was Ten getting so flustered? Was simply

going outside

so unreasonable?

“So it’s fine if I just step outside for a minute?” He stood abruptly, striding away from Ten to the front door.

“No, wait!! Yongie, NO!”

Taeyong’s arm was suddenly wrenched back, making him stumble backwards and fall heavily on the floor. Ten was standing over him. Taeyong caught sight of the blaze of anger in his eyes for just a split second before it flickered and they grew wide with horror.

“Fuck!” Taeyong cursed. “Ten, what the hell?”

“I’m sorry Yongie!”

Ten knelt at Taeyong’s side immediately, hands fluttering uselessly over his body. There were tears in his eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Yongie! I-I didn’t mean to!” He sobbed. “Are you hurt?”

Taeyong just shook his head, shocked at Ten’s actions, and let Ten pull him to his feet. Ten was still crying as he brought Taeyong back over to the couch.

“I’m really, r-really sorry,” he apologized again. “I didn’t — I didn’t — When you say you say you want to leave I get so

scared

—”

All of a sudden, all of Taeyong’s feelings rushed back into his body. “Oh Tennie …”

How badly had he misread the situation? That Ten thought that him wanting to go outside meant that he wanted to leave … No wonder he kept trying to distract Taeyong.

He slipped his arms around Ten’s shaking shoulders, rubbing comforting circles into his back.

“Tennie, honey, I never wanted to leave. That wasn’t what I meant. I just wanted to walk around for a little bit, yeah? You know I’d always come back to you, right?”

Ten lifted his head, sniffling, and Taeyong wiped at his eyes.

“You mean it? You promise?”

“Of course, Tennie, I promise I won’t ever leave you.”

Ten sniffed again and carefully hugged Taeyong back.

“I’m sorry for overreacting,” he mumbled.

“It’s okay, honey.” Taeyong patted his back a few more times, hesitant to try asking again for Ten to let him outside, but feeling like he still needed the fresh air. Certainly Ten understood now, right?

“Um, Tennie?”

Ten hummed.

“Now that we’ve … cleared the air here, do you think it’d be okay for me to walk around a little bit?”

Ten tensed in his arms, and Taeyong was quick to placate him.

“Just this once!” he said. “I promise I won’t ask again while we’re here.”

Ten sighed, but sat up and pinched at Taeyong’s cheek.

“My Tyongie’s just like a little flower, isn’t he? Have I not been giving him enough sunlight?”

“Augh, Teeeen.” Taeyong squirmed. “Please, just for a minute?”

Taeyong knew Ten was weak to his pout, and he squeaked in triumph when Ten finally nodded his assent.

“You have to hold my hand the whole time though, okay?” Ten demanded.

Taeyong stuck out his tongue. “Okay,

dad

,” he teased, hoping to diffuse the tension that still hung in the room.

Something sparked in Ten’s eyes, but he was quiet as he slipped his fingers between Taeyong’s and drew him off the couch towards the front door. There were two deadbolts that Ten undid with his free hand as well as the smaller standard lock on the door’s handle. Taeyong’s mind flitted back to the bars on the window for a split second; Ten really must have been nervous about being out here in the woods.

The second the door opened, though, all of his worries flew right out of his head. Maybe he

was

like a flower, Taeyong mused, because the sunlight just felt

so good

. Taeyong stepped around Ten, going from being led by the younger man to leading him out of the door and onto the porch. He spread his arms, his right hand still linked to Ten’s, and tilted his face upwards, eyes closed.

When he glanced back at Ten, he saw that he wasn’t smiling as Taeyong was, instead looking unhappy and nervous.

“It’s okay, Tennie,” he said, hoping to reassure him. “I’m right here.”

Ten wouldn’t smile back, though, only tightening his grip on Taeyong’s fingers.

Taeyong felt guilty at his friend’s obvious nerves, but he knew he had to take advantage of this time outdoors since he had promised Ten he wouldn’t ask again. Pulling the reluctant Ten behind him, he walked down the sidewalk towards the driveway. When he got far enough away, he turned around to take the house in, and had to take a sharp breath at the jarring image.

The house was shockingly foreboding, even in the sunlight, the dark, dark wood panelling and bars over the windows making it look downright sinister. Taeyong could hardly believe the contrast between the image in front of him and the light, homey feel Ten had created inside. Suddenly, Taeyong regretted asking to come out here.

Next to him, Ten stood miserably, just watching Taeyong gape at the house.

“It’s all ruined, isn’t it?” he moaned. “I knew it. I knew as soon as you came out here you’d want to leave me and never come back.” He gripped at Taeyong’s forearm with both hands, his hold so tight Taeyong was certain he’d leave bruises.

“No, no way Tennie, I promised, didn’t I? It just kind of makes me want to go back inside.” He giggled. “Right where you want me, right?”

Ten didn’t laugh at his attempt at a joke, only sniffling and nodding in a way that made Taeyong’s heart hurt. “Can we go now?”

“Okay, yeah, I just —” Taeyong turned from the house, ignoring the way that Ten’s hands tightened still further, and tilted his face up towards the sun. Eyes closed, he tried to absorb as much of the outdoors as he could - the warm sunlight, the fresh air, the smell of pine - refreshing his senses and calming the itch he’d been feeling the past few days.

Finally, unable to disregard the pain of Ten’s grip any longer, he lowered his face and smiled at him.

“Alright. Let’s go.”

Eagerly, Ten pulled him back up the walk to the house. Taeyong followed obediently, but as they passed over the threshold, he made sure to look back over his shoulder at the picturesque view of grass and sunlight, knowing it was the last unfiltered glimpse he’d get as long as he stayed here with Ten.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

That night, as Taeyong was changing into yet another pair of pink pajamas—this time patterned with tiny foxes—he heard a light knock on the door, followed by Ten’s voice.“Yongie? Baby, can I come in?”Taeyong walked over to the door, buttoning his last buttons as he went, and opened it to find Ten standing very timidly in the hallway. He had his hands wrapped around his elbows, and his shoulders were creeping towards his ears.“Can I come in?” he said again.Taeyong stood back to let Ten in.“Everything okay?” he asked as Ten passed him.Ten nodded, but he was biting his lip as he stood at the foot of Taeyong’s bed.“Yeah, I’m fine, I just — um — can I sleep here tonight?”Taeyong was a bit surprised.“You want to sleep in my bed?”“Yeah, I mean - if that’s okay? If you don’t want to, I’ll just go away and stop bothering you.”“Aw, no, Tennie, you’re not bothering me.” Taeyong stepped forward to take Ten’s hand and led him to sit next to him on top of the fluffy white comforter. He wrapped an arm around the younger man’s shoulders. “Of course you can sleep with me. Are you still upset?”Ten wiggled slightly against Taeyong before looking up and nodding. Taeyong sighed inwardly. All day long after they’d come back inside from Taeyong’s slightly disastrous outing, Ten had been moody and mopey, constantly clinging onto Taeyong and hardly letting him more than two steps out of his sight. The only times that he’d been truly alone were when he was in the bathroom, and there was only so long he could spend in there before he worried Ten would get suspicious.Still, who was he to deny Ten his comfort when he was so clearly bothered and insecure about the events that had taken place.“That’s okay Tennie, I’m right here. You can sleep with me if you want to.” He tried to scooch the both of them up the bed so they could get under the covers, but Ten slid abruptly out of his hold and scampered to the door, shutting it tightly.“Let’s get you tucked in,” he said when he had turned back around, coming up to the side of the bed and trying to tug the edge of the comforter out from under Taeyong.“Huh? I thought—”“I’m just helping you get settled, you silly.” Ten’s smile was soft, almost doting. “I’ll get in in a minute.”Taeyong felt himself blush under Ten’s gaze, and let him pull the bedding over his legs. Ten fluffed his pillows before guiding him to lie down on them, then stacked even more around his head and shoulders. Finally, he pulled the white comforter all the way up to Taeyong’s neck, tucking it under his chin.When he was finished, he gazed down at Taeyong, his nose suddenly wrinkling as he whined.“You look so cute like this Yongie!” He flopped dramatically on top of Taeyong, making the air puff out of his lungs, then lifted his head to look at him again. “I swear I’m going to just eat you up one day.”Taeyong laughed and wriggled, smirking up at Ten. “Too much sugar will rot your teeth, Tennie.”Ten froze above him, his mouth spreading into an astonished smile.“Why you little…!”Then his hands were at his stomach, trying to tickle him through the thick comforter, making him squirm and shriek with laughter. Ten laughed along with him, until they were both panting for breath, and finally Ten made to roll off him onto the other side of the bed. He settled back onto his stomach, peering at Taeyong through his fringe.“I can’t believe that came out of your mouth,” he giggled.Taeyong stretched against his pillow and smiled smugly. “I’ve got a way with words.”Ten rolled his eyes but smiled in a way that told Taeyong he wasn’t actually annoyed.“Yeah, yeah, well, no more words from you tonight. It’s time for bed.”“Okay, dad,” Taeyong said, remembering the minute spark that had traveled through Ten’s eyes when he’d called him that earlier. This time, Ten only looked at him quietly for a moment, unreadable, before reaching to turn off the lamp on the bedside table.Somehow disappointed, Taeyong listened as Ten rustled himself beneath the sheets, the warmth of his body settling beside him. With a small shock, he realized that this was the first time he and Ten had ever shared a bed. If there was one thing that Ten had always been fastidious about, it was sleeping alone. It didn’t matter how late he and Taeyong stayed up at Taeyong’s place playing games, when Taeyong started to get sleepy, he would leave to go back to his own apartment. Or, on the few occasions that Taeyong stayed late at Ten’s, the younger man would always have Taeyong sleep on his bed while he stayed on the couch. It didn’t matter how much Taeyong whined and wheedled in either situation, Ten always stood firm.Taeyong wondered if Ten was a kicker for a moment, but immediately felt bad for such a thought. Ten was an intensely private person, Taeyong knew that, and the fact that Ten was actually asking to sleep with him showed just how much he was struggling with the day's events.Taeyong rolled over towards Ten, unsure if he should reach out to him, feeling slightly uncomfortable with the novelty of lying next to him. In the end, he couldn’t quite bring himself to do it, instead just letting his hand lie between them in the empty space on the bed. It rested there, untouched, until he finally fell asleep.  The awful, raspy sound of Ten’s breathing woke him, his eyes shooting open to the sound of horse, choked gasps. Disoriented, panicked, Taeyong quickly sat up, leaning over Ten in the darkness. The younger’s eyes were wide open, staring without blinking into the corner of the room. He was trembling, violently, unnaturally shallow breath wheezing out of his lungs.“Ten?”He didn’t answer, even though Taeyong was hovering just above him, eyes still fixed on the corner of the room. Taeyong whipped his head around, peering into the darkness, but couldn’t see anything but shadows. He felt himself start to tremble too, not knowing what was going on.“Ten? Tennie? What is it? What’s wrong??”Still Ten didn’t answer. His chest heaved as Taeyong desperately put his hands on his shoulders, shaking him gently, afraid to hurt him. At his touch, Ten’s breath seemed to pick up even faster, getting close to hyperventilation, but his eyes slowly slid from the shadows to lock onto Taeyong’s.Huffing in relief, Taeyong moved his hands to Ten’s cheeks.“Hey! Hi, Tennie, hi, that’s right, look at me. There’s nothing over there. You’re okay, nothing’s going to hurt you.”Taeyong wasn’t even sure what he was saying, spitting out all of the comforting words that he could think of, anything to snap Ten out of whatever was going on.“Here, look, I’ll turn on the light.” The sudden brightness made him blink, but he kept talking, looking into Ten’s eyes. “There, it’s okay, it’s okay, there’s nothing there.”Ten’s breathing started to slow and Taeyong could feel his limbs twitch just slightly as his gaze flickered from his face to the now brightly lit, obviously empty corner. His eyes started to dampen, but to Taeyong’s relief the utter horror that had filled them was fading.“That’s right, Tennie, there we go. Nothing scary here, right? It’s just you and me. Can you sit up?”Ten’s arms and legs jerked again but seemed to have no strength to push him upwards. He let out a small muffled moan, tears spilling over onto his cheeks.Taeyong thumbed them away as they fell. “That’s okay honey, concentrate on calming down first. Try taking some deep breaths, okay?”Still twitching and groaning, it was obvious that Ten was fighting hard against whatever state he was in, despite Taeyong’s constant shushing and soothing words. He closed his eyes tight against Taeyong’s face, and with one last deep, wheezing breath, propelled himself out of Taeyong’s arms to face the wall.“I can’t ,” he cried, his right arm flopping across his body, still useless, and his legs tangled in the sheets. “I can’t, I can’t, I can’t—”“Shh, Tennie, shh, in and out, you can do it.”Ten’s body heaved beneath him as he sobbed.“I want to, I want to, I can’t, I can’t, I have to—”Suddenly, Taeyong wasn’t so sure he was talking about being able to breathe.“Have to what, Tennie?” he asked, snaking his arm around Ten’s front to try and get him to face him.“No! No!” Ten thrashed, but Taeyong held on. “I can’t ! Let me GO !”With all of his strength, Ten pushed away from Taeyong, landing on his hands and knees on the floor.For a moment neither man spoke, Taeyong staring as Ten trembled on the ground. Eventually, he managed to stand.“I’m gonna go downstairs to, uh, clean up the garage. You should sleep.”“I - What about you?”“I won’t be able to sleep,” he said shortly. “I’ll see you in the morning Yongie.”Taeyong sat frozen as the door closed behind him, unsure of what to do now. His first instinct had always been to offer comfort, but everything about Ten told him it wouldn’t be appreciated right now. What in the world had just happened?Despite Ten’s instructions to go back to bed, Taeyong knew that he wouldn’t be able to get any sleep until he got some answers. He reached instinctively over to his bedside table for his phone before remembering that Ten hadn’t given it back to him since they arrived here, saying that it would ruin the relaxing atmosphere. Well, he surely wouldn’t mind him using it tonight, would he? As quietly as he could, Taeyong crept over to the door and opened it just a crack. Ten wasn’t in the hallway, so he padded carefully to Ten’s room, finding the door open and the room empty.As he looked around the room, he spotted Ten’s own phone lying on top of his dresser, charging. Perfect, now he didn’t even have to search for his. Quickly, he pulled up Ten’s browser app and started searching the symptoms he had just witnessed in his friend. As he scrolled through the results, one thing became clear: Ten had without a doubt had an episode of what was called “sleep paralysis.”The medical pages that he read said that it occurred when a person’s brain “woke up” before the rest of their body, their muscles still shut down from the REM stage of sleep. In an attempt to process the strange and unusual sensation of being unable to move, the brain could then produce the sensation of great fear and even create hallucinations, often of figures standing in the same room as the sleeper.The sites also said that the episodes could be brought on by stress, which made Taeyong feel horrible. He couldn’t help but feel as if he was partially at fault for Ten having to experience such a horrifying thing, with the way that he had pushed him so far out of his comfort zone that day. As he made his way back to his room after deleting his search history from Ten’s phone, he promised himself he would do his very best to make sure it never happened again because of him.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Taeyong tried his best to leave well enough alone the next day, he really did. He knew that Ten didn’t want to talk about it; the way that he greeted Taeyong with a smile when he came down in the morning and the way he babbled on at breakfast made that clear. Still, Taeyong’s mind spun on at a million miles per hour, thinking about everything that had happened this past week, everything that he had glossed over and dismissed that had culminated in yesterday’s strange events.

It was becoming obvious to Taeyong that Ten was experiencing issues of some kind, and it seemed equally as obvious that he was trying to deflect those problems by focussing on Taeyong. Why else would he have brought Taeyong out here, why else would he be so intent on catering to Taeyong’s every need? Even those things that had been driving Taeyong to anxiety just yesterday made more sense now in the light of this revelation.

The new clothes for Taeyong? Ten wanted to pamper and baby him, his anxieties manifesting into actual baby-ish items.

The bars on the windows? Ten wanted to keep the world out as much as possible, including physically.

Keeping Taeyong indoors? Ten really

was

afraid that Taeyong would leave him, taking his safety blanket and coping mechanism with him.

Taeyong was no psychiatrist, but he was almost certain of his assessment of Ten’s issues. The only thing left was to find the root of these problems. He wanted so much to help Ten, to figure out what was wrong so he could make it better.

“Ten?”

They were sitting in the sauna again, letting the steam seep into their pores. Ten blinked his eyes open from where he was resting his head against the cedar-planked wall.

“Mm?”

“How long did you ask off of work for us?”

One of Taeyong’s first questions to Ten after their tour the first day had been about his job. Ten had told him that he’d called and been able to pull some strings to get Taeyong the time off to come out here and relax.

“If I tell you, you’re not going to be able to relax properly,” Ten pouted. “I know you, you’ll just worry about when you need to be back.”

Ten was right, of course. Taeyong would definitely be more focused on the minutes and seconds counting down until they had to return, but Taeyong hadn’t asked for himself. He wanted to know if Ten was really trying to run away from his problems, whatever they were, or if this really was just a fun little getaway like he’d said. He opened his mouth to clarify, but Ten continued before he could get anything out.

“Besides, you hate that place. Pretty sure ‘soul-sucking’ was the word you used the last time we talked about it.”

Taeyong pouted, distracted by the statement. “Yes, I know, but I have to make money somehow, right? I can’t go missing for weeks and expect them not to fire me while I’m gone.”

Ten’s gaze had sharpened at Taeyong’s illusion to going missing, but then his eyes shut and he leaned back, like he was contemplating something.

“You think people will actually care if you disappear?”

Taeyong gaped at him. “Wha—”

“I mean,” Ten opened his eyes again, mouth folding into a smirk. “do your co-workers even really talk to you outside of work?”

Taeyong opened his mouth to argue, but Ten was still talking.

“Do they even talk to you while you’re

at

work? Aren’t you so lonely all the time?”

Taeyong felt his face flatten with anger.

“That’s absolutely not funny, Ten.”

At once, Ten was on top of him, arms wrapping around his bare waist. “Ah, no, Yongie, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like that. You don’t have to be lonely cuz you have me, right? You’re my Yongie forever and I’m your Tennie forever, aren’t we? I’m sorry, sweetie, I took it too far.”

Taeyong nodded, letting Ten nuzzle against his shoulder. Technically, Ten wasn’t wrong about his job. Actually, he had pretty much hit the nail on the head. Taeyong

did

hate his job, and it

was

soul-sucking and lonely. He’d never imagined he’d end up at an insurance call center after graduating college with a music theory degree, but he hadn’t been able to cut it in the music industry, not even as a song-writer or producer. So instead, he sat all day in a tiny cubicle surrounded by hundreds of others just like it, answering the telephone non-stop, having to tell the people who called in why the insurance company wouldn’t be able to cover this medication or that procedure, listening to their desperate and angry voices and being unable to do anything about it. It exhausted him, his emotions drained enough to make him physically tired and unable to even try to strike up friendships with his coworkers, usually spending all of his break time forcing a few bites of food down his throat and sleeping in his car instead.

His developing depression and loneliness had been what had led him to the first time he’d met Ten, actually. He’d been sitting at a bar near his house, drinking himself into a stupor, when Ten had plopped himself down in the seat next to him, looking straight into his eyes and asking him for his story. Taeyong had been drunk enough to give it to him in full, from his crushed dreams of becoming a star to the horrible, lonely mess his life had become. Ten had just listened intently, not speaking once until Taeyong had finished speaking and was trying desperately not to let his tears fall down his face.

“I think I can help,” Ten had said, making Taeyong look up in surprise.

Ten had explained that he was an assistant producer at a well known entertainment company, and he was sure that with his help Taeyong could finally live out his dreams. Since that moment, Taeyong and Ten had been nearly inseparable, meeting up constantly, at first just for Ten to look over Taeyong’s songs that he had written and give him advice on different pieces of the industry, then more and more simply to hang out and enjoy each other’s company.

It had been a few years since that first meeting, and Taeyong was still working the same mind-numbing call center position, still wasn’t a star, but he still had faith in Ten and Ten’s promise that he would be.

“Yeah, together forever,” he told Ten, allowing the younger man to snuggle against him, smoothing his hands down his bare back. He held him close until he whined about getting way too sweaty for even a sauna, both of them giggling together as they towelled off and put back on their clothes to go do whatever relaxation activity Ten had cooked up next.
 
By the time Taeyong even remembered he was going to ask Ten when they were going home, it was already late evening, the plates from dinner already cleared off the table. Ten had shooed Taeyong out of the kitchen, saying that it was his responsibility to wash the dishes since Taeyong had cooked, so Taeyong was curled up in the corner of the couch, left to his own thoughts. His mind ran over and over what he could do to help Ten with whatever was bothering him. Throughout the day they had done their normal relaxation activities, and Ten seemed to be in a much better mood now than he had been in the morning. Maybe Taeyong could get him to talk about it just a little bit, to get some things off his chest, and then it might be easier to convince him that hiding out in the middle of the woods wouldn’t help anything.

When Ten re-emerged from the kitchen, Taeyong immediately held out his arms to him. Ten looked delighted and skipped over to him, throwing himself down onto the couch and into Taeyong’s embrace.

Stroking Ten’s hair slowly, Taeyong hesitated for just a moment before speaking.

“How are you feeling now Tennie?”

Ten stiffened again and leaned away.

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Are you sure?” Taeyong prodded. “If you tell me, maybe I can do something.”

“I said no.”

“Well, when are we going home? We can’t just st—”

“I already told you I’m not saying,” Ten said coldly.

Taeyong felt himself starting to get angry again, but tried to hold it in.

“I’m just trying to understand why you’re keeping me in the dark, Tennie. You know I love spending time with you, and it’s been really relaxing being here, but I have responsibilities back home, and you do too. I’ve been following along with everything you’ve been saying because I can tell you’re having a hard time with something, but I’m just starting to get worried. Do you see where I’m coming from? I just want to help, and it’s not fair to me that you’re keeping what you’re feeling to yourself, since I’m being affected too.”

Taeyong thought he’d done a pretty admirable job of keeping his voice steady and even, but Ten’s face had gone absolutely flat and blank, devoid of emotion.

“Why do you care for me, Taeyong?”

“What?” Of all the responses Taeyong had expected of Ten, this wasn’t one of them. “You’re my friend, Tennie, of course I care for you.”

“What if I don’t tell you when you can leave? If I don’t tell you what’s wrong? Will you still care for me then?”

Ten’s expression still hadn’t changed. It was starting to unnerve Taeyong, but he made himself answer.

“Yes, I’ll still care. I might be angry, but I just want to help.”

Finally, finally, a tiny smile bloomed on Ten’s face. “Oh, that’s good to hear. And you’ll still listen to me?”

“Um.” Taeyong didn’t think it would be a good idea to feed into Ten’s delusion, or whatever was going on. “I-I mean—”

Ten’s face went hard again and Taeyong swallowed.

“Will you do as I say or not.”

Taeyong didn’t know what he should do. It was even more obvious now that something was wrong with Ten, but, with the way he was acting, Taeyong didn’t know if it would be better to push him into talking or to just go along with everything for now. Taeyong had never been a very assertive person, though, and he didn’t think that he could start now. So instead, he nodded.

“I-I’ll listen,” he said.

With that, Ten broke out into a beam. Taeyong’s heart fluttered, though he wasn’t sure if it was in relief or anticipation of what would come next.

“Why don’t you follow me then?” Despite Ten’s voice returning to its normal sweetness, Taeyong recognized the question as a command, not a suggestion. He rose alongside Ten, and followed him out of the living room, past the kitchen, and down the hall towards the garage.

Despite himself, Taeyong started to get curious. Ten hadn’t let him go into the garage yet, saying that he was fixing it up a little and he didn’t want Taeyong to see it yet. And really, what would Taeyong have needed in the garage that wasn’t in the house already, provided by Ten the second he needed it?

Still Taeyong couldn’t help but feel a little excited to see what Ten had been working on. It was almost enough to make him forget Ten’s strange behavior from a moment ago, right up until the younger man turned around to face him directly in front of the garage door.

He wasn’t wearing a blank face anymore, but the expression he did have on was difficult to read. It was almost a searching look, like he was looking for something in Taeyon’s own face, mixed with something Taeyong thought looked like pity, as well as maybe excitement of his own? Taeyong wasn’t sure, but it made his stomach swoop unpleasantly.

Ten didn’t speak for a long moment, just looking at Taeyong, then reached behind him and opened up the door. The garage behind it was cast in shadow, lit only by the light streaming in from the hallway, yet Ten made no move to find a light as he stepped inside, gesturing for Taeyong to follow.

The first thing Taeyong saw in the dark room made any excitement he had left fall away completely.

He was looking at a chain, thick and weighty, bolted at one end to the floor, and at the other, capped with a solid metal cuff.

Taeyong was frozen, staring at the manacle, uncomprehending.

“Ten, what the fuc—”

“I’m sorry, Yongie. This is for the best.”

Taeyong whirled, catchin a fleeting glimpse of his friend before the door shut behind him, plunging him into complete darkness. A loud click echoed through the large space after it.

Immediately, Taeyong was at the door. He felt for the knob, twisting it, tugging and pulling, but it wouldn’t budge. Ten had locked him in here, in the dark, with the chains bolted to the floor and who knew what else.

“Ten? Ten! What are you doing?! Let me out!”

“I’m sorry baby, really, I am.” He could hear Ten’s voice crack through the door, sounding as close to tears as Taeyong felt, true fear running through his veins for the first time. “If there was any other way, I would do it, but this is the best thing for both of us. I’ll take care of you, I promise.”

Taeyong sobbed at his words. “Tennie,

please

! I don’t know what’s going on, but you don’t have to do this! Let me out, we can talk about it!”

He heard muffled sounds of crying through the door, but no answer came.

“Tennie!! Please, please, please, stop this,

please

…”

The sounds of Ten’s crying through the door were weakening, and Taeyong heard the floor creak down the hall. The realization that Ten was walking away zapped through him.

“

No!!

” he shrieked. “

Ten!! TEN!!

”

He fumbled for the doorknob again, rattling as hard as he could, but the door wouldn’t budge.

“

TEN!!

GET

FUCKING

BACK HERE!! WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS!

TEN!!

”

It was quickly becoming apparent that Ten wasn’t coming back to let him out. Taeyong sunk to his knees, letting himself cry loudly as he pounded on the door with his fists. He screamed and sobbed until his voice was sore and his hands and nails were bloody, but nothing made a difference. The door remained closed and locked, trapping him in the darkness.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

When Taeyong awoke, he wasn’t even sure his eyes had opened. He felt himself blink, but all he saw was overwhelming darkness. Trembling, he felt tears spring to his already swollen and painful eyes. He was lying with his back pressed to the cold wood of the door from the garage to the house, having curled up there when he became too weak and tired to yell or bang on the door any longer. His body was sore, his throat felt raw, and he was frightened.At first, after realizing that Ten had locked him in the garage, Taeyong’s frantic mind had thought Ten was playing a trick on him, unable to really accept the situation he was in. His initial screams had died out as he tried to calm his pounding heart, and he’d called out to Ten teasingly, telling him he’d learned his lesson and he wouldn’t question him anymore. Those calls had been met with greater silence, however, even as Taeyong grew increasingly more distressed again as time passed. Soon, he was screaming again, sobs echoing through the garage as he’d slammed himself against the door, all to no avail.He wasn’t sure how long he had screamed for Ten, pleading for him to just let him out, but he hadn’t heard a single noise from inside the house the entire time.Eventually, he’d let himself grow quiet, slumping down onto the floor, too scared to venture any further into the room. As frightened as he’d been, his exhaustion had won out, and he slipped into unconsciousness on the hard concrete.Now Taeyong’s mind was racing once again, hardly able to think straight through the overwhelming fear he felt. He didn’t know what was going on at all, why Ten had locked him away, what else lay in the terrible darkness of the garage. There were no windows to speak of, and the door behind him was sealed tight, so there was absolutely no light for him to see by. All he knew for certain was that a few feet ahead of him lay the manacle he had seen in the light of the hallway before Ten had snuffed it out.Head pounding, body shivery and aching from sleeping on the floor, Taeyong shuffled around on his knees so he was facing the door once more.“Ten,” he croaked, leaning his forehead against the door, “Ten, are you out there?”Once again, he was met with silence.“Ten.” His voice sounded horrible, so hoarse and weak he wasn’t even sure if Ten would be able to hear him through the door, but he had to try. “Ten, please. Please let me out. I’m so scared …”His sentence broke apart into sobs that he tried to choke down, listening intently at the door. Still, there was nothing. He had no guarantee that Ten was even close-by, that he could even hear him.His cries grew. The intense blackness of the garage pressed down on him, making him sob harder, tearing at his throat. He had to get light somehow; he felt like he would die without it.Slowly, he peeled himself away from the door and stood, shaking and sobbing. He didn’t want to move, scared of what he might run into in the dark, but he remembered Ten mentioning the pull string out towards the middle of the garage. Maybe he could find it.Tentatively, Taeyong shuffled one foot forward. Then the other. He swept his hands in an arc around his head, feeling as best as he could for the light. Despite his fear, he knew he had to be methodical, or else he was certain to miss the string entirely. He slid his feet forward again, and then again, straining his eyes so hard that he thought he could almost see his sweeping hands in the deep blackness.Then suddenly, his foot his something hard, and the sound of metal scraping across concrete filled the garage. He flinched hard, almost falling and losing his path, knowing it was the manacle chained to the floor. Whimpering, he crouched down to reach for it, keeping his feet planted on the floor. He didn’t want to touch it, didn’t even want to acknowledge it, but he had to move it if he didn’t want to trip. When his fingertips made contact with the smooth, cold metal, he flinched again, but made himself wrap his fingers around it and pick it up. The chain rattled loudly, menacingly against the floor as he pushed the cuff to the side, feeling up the line of links and pushing it away as well.By the time he was done, he was trembling once again, breathing hard as he tried to steady his heart. Pushing his fear down again, he stood slowly, sweeping his hands around his head once more for good measure, then slid his foot forward. And again. And again. And again. And again.The longer he went without his hands hitting anything, the harder it became to keep himself calm. He was being so careful, but had he still passed by the string without realizing? He slid forward another step. Was it higher than he was reaching? Another step. How big was this garage? Another step. What if he really couldn’t find it?As he swept his hands around on the next step, his wrist hit against something cold and heavy. He shrieked and fell to the ground, barely hearing the sound of metal clinking above his head over his own scream.Oh, god, more chains? What was happening?Taeyong felt himself start to hyperventilate, curling in on himself on the floor. He couldn’t bring himself to stand again.“Ten,” he wailed. “Please let me out.”He put his head between his knees and began to rock himself, eyes squeezed shut and trembling. More pleas spilled from his lips, hoarse and barely audible even to his own ears, along with Ten’s name. He knew that Ten was the one who had put him in here, who was responsible for the terror that he felt, but he couldn’t help it. His mind couldn’t let go of the idea that Ten was his friend, that he was someone to go to in times of trouble. Besides, Ten was the only one here. If not Ten, who would respond to his calls?Taeyong was starting to get woozy, unable to draw in enough oxygen with his short breaths. He laid himself on the floor and pressed his knees back to his chest. He wasn’t sure how close he was to passing out, unable to tell if he still had his vision. Maybe he was going to die here. He couldn’t think straight to know if the idea terrified him or not. It was so hard to breathe, and his fingers were tingling, and his chest felt numb. Then there was nothing.  The second time Taeyong awoke, he kept his eyes closed. He knew exactly where he was; he could feel the hard concrete beneath his shoulder and hip, the cold air filling the space around his body. But if he kept his eyes closed, maybe he could pretend. Pretend that he was fine, that this had never happened, pretend that he was anywhere else but here. But he knew he wasn’t. He knew he was right here, trapped in a pitch-black garage, that, as far as Taeyong knew, was covered in chains.Tears began to spill out from his closed eyes. He almost wished he had died, instead of just passing out, only to awake again. At least then he wouldn’t be subjected to this any longer.But, no. Taeyong didn’t really want to die. He just wanted to be free. He wanted to get out of this garage and never look back. He had to do something , for god’s sake. He had to get that fucking light on.Still, he was frightened. He didn’t want to know what else lay hidden in the darkness. He didn’t know what to do.Feeling his breath start to quicken again, he curled back up tight, doing his best to breathe deeply and scrubbing his hands over his face. He wanted Ten. He wanted anyone, really.After another second laying in the complete stillness of the garage, he forced himself to roll over onto his hands and knees. Yes, he was scared, but just lying on the ground was starting to make him feel worse, not better. The empty space around him felt oppressive, like the air had started to gain mass and was pressing down on him from all sides. He desperately needed the solid surface of a wall to press himself against, to allow himself to focus. He could figure out what to do from there.Still weak and breathing hard, Taeyong knew that he wouldn’t be able to make himself stand this time. Just the thought of the chains hanging over his head made his muscles tighten with fear. The only way he’d be able to find a way out of the situation he was in was if he crawled.Shakily, he placed one of his hands in front of him and shuffled the opposite knee forward. He felt absurdly like he was stuck in some sort of terrible loop, repeating his actions from the first time he had woken up. Here he was again, struggling to move forward, too scared to make any moves that weren’t at a snail’s pace. Still, he forced himself to shift his weight, to reach out with his other hand, to carefully place it on the floor. He moved forward one pace, then two, then four, then six.The next time his hand came down, his pinky and ring finger kept going, unable to find any solid ground. Yelping, he snatched his hand back, but even as he did, his mind was racing to figure out what he had uncovered. The surface under his middle and pointer fingers had been solid and cold, unmistakably metal, but then he had felt another gap in the floor, bridged by his thumb. A grate. A large one.Taeyong trembled, thoughts skittering over what uses such a big grate might have in a space such as this. As his mind spun in increasingly terrifying directions, he unthinkingly placed his hand down again, this time a little bit to the side, directly into something wet.Immediately, Taeyong’s brain shut down. He didn’t know what the liquid was, but with his chilled fingers, his mind registered it as the same temperature as his skin. Recoiling in horror, he splashed the liquid up into his face, splattering over his mouth and his eyes. He screamed in absolute terror, his voice tearing out of his still-raw throat to bounce around the walls. He no longer knew what was happening, his entire body filled with unspeakable fear that left him completely immobilized. He felt himself scream again, unable to control his actions.Out of the corner of his eye he saw a burst of light, almost immediately blocked out by the shape of a body. Reflexively, he threw up his hands to shield his face, but as he did so, felt more droplets of whatever puddle he had put his hand in spatter over him, sending him into true hysterics. He was unable to do much more than moan in fear as the body from the doorway ran towards him, reaching him in just a few strides before dropping to its knees before him.He tensed as arms encircled his body, pushing and scrabbling to get away as his mouth spilled sobs and babbled pleas. A voice sounded out by his ear.“Taeyong! Taeyong, wait —”Grunting and groaning in terror, Taeyong pushed harder, but the hands scrabbled him back into their embrace.“Taeyong, it’s me!!” the voice shouted. “It’s Ten!”Ten? It was Ten? Taeyong immediately went limp. The arms gathered him up to a solid, slight chest.“There you go, that’s right. It’s Ten. It’s just me.”It was Ten. Ten’s arms. Ten’s chest. Ten’s voice soothing in his ear. He had come back for him.“That’s right, baby, that’s right. You’re okay. You’re safe. I’ve got you.” Ten had him . It was like it hit Taeyong, all at once. Ten was here, Ten had come to get Taeyong. Ten was holding him in his arms. He had saved him.Taeyong gripped onto the front of Ten’s shirt, smashing himself as close as he could and letting himself sob into his chest.“Ten,” he bawled. He couldn’t manage anything more than that.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Taeyong shivered and trembled in Ten’s arms where he was curled up against him in his bed. He had finally stopped crying, but it was only because he physically didn’t have any more tears to shed. It had been half an hour since Ten had dragged Taeyong’s weak, inconsolable form from the garage, yet he still felt as frightened as the moment his friend opened the door. Ever since Ten had cuddled him to his side amongst the huge fluffy blankets, Taeyong’s mind had been tearing itself in two. He was well aware that Ten was the one responsible for his horror, the one who had locked him in that pitch black space and forced him to encounter the terrors in it. Yet, he was also the one who had brought him back out, right when Taeyong was sure he’d lose himself to his fear. He had finally responded to Taeyong’s cries and rescued him. He was still Taeyong’s closest friend. Wasn’t he?Part of Taeyong wanted to ask Ten why he’d done it, but he knew he couldn’t. Taeyong shuddered again, a fresh round of tears slipping down his cheeks.“Shh, baby, shh,” Ten soothed, smoothing Taeyong’s hair back from his forehead. “I’m here. I’m right here.”Distantly, Taeyong heard the echoes of himself saying the same words to comfort Ten throughout their stay here, but he was too tired to think about it. He just let his head loll onto Ten’s shoulder as Ten continued to run his fingers through his hair, letting his sore and scratchy eyes close. He just wanted to sleep, to be comforted by the only person who had cared about him for such a long time. So, he did his best to push all of the terrible thoughts and memories out of his head, and just let himself feel the soft skin of Ten’s palms against his arm and his temple, his fingers in his hair, his body warm next to him, and fell asleep.  Taeyong woke again suddenly, body jerking upright on the bed, eyes snapping open to the blinding light that filled his bedroom. He had dreamt of sinister darkness surrounding him, physically crushing him until he could hardly breathe, his body jolting him awake. He reached out automatically for Ten, knowing he had fallen asleep against his body, but his hand fell on empty air. As he looked around the empty room, he felt his panic begin to mount again. Ten hadn’t left him again, had he?Ripping off the covers, he lurched across the room and gripped the door handle with both hands. He almost expected it not to open, but it turned easily under his grasp, letting him rip the door open and trip across the hall to the open door of the bathroom.He glanced around wildly, but Ten wasn’t there either, not standing at the sink, not in the steam shower, not taking a bath. Panting, he whirled back into the hallway.“Ten?” Taeyong scraped out. There was no answer. He forced his legs down the hall to Ten’s room. This door was open wide as well, showing Taeyong an empty bedroom, bed made and no obvious signs of being used recently. His stomach dropped out.“Ten??” His limbs were starting to shake again, hardly willing to support him. He grabbed onto the doorframe, trying to turn to the stairs. This couldn’t be happening.At the top of the stairway, he tripped slightly, thumping down two stairs at the same time. He grabbed at the banister at the same time that Ten appeared at the downstairs landing.“Yongie?”At the sight of Ten’s face, a powerful wave of relief knocked Taeyong’s legs out from underneath him. He sat down hard on the step he was standing on, arms still wrapped around the banister.As he tried to catch his breath, again a sense of deja vu hit him, this time of the first morning after he and Ten had arrived, him rushing down the hallway, calling Ten’s name. This time, though, the fear had felt much more real. He had the proof that maybe Ten wouldn’t always be there for him.Ten made a noise of surprise as Taeyong collapsed. “Yongie! Are you alright?”He rushed up the stairs to where Taeyong sat, his face full of worry even when Taeyong nodded weakly.“Baby, did you fall? Did you hurt yourself?”“No, I’m alright,” Taeyong sighed. Ten knelt next to him, looking over him for injuries, and he let himself sink against Ten’s shoulder. Ten’s hand pushed his hair off of his forehead. “What happened, sweetheart?”Taeyong let out a shaky breath. He didn’t want to cry anymore, but the pressure was rising again behind his eyes.“I … I woke up alone and I-I thought that you were gone again. That you’d left me alone again.”“Oh, baby...”Ten was still stroking Taeyong’s hair, but he couldn’t find any comfort in it this morning. His head hurt and his heart hurt and he didn’t understand anything that had happened in the last day.“Why, Tennie? Why’d you do that to me?” he warbled out. His voice was thick from choking back his tears, but he did his best to look Ten in the face. The other man gripped onto his hands, a move both comforting and confining, not letting him move too far away.“I want to say how sorry I am, Yongie. I thought I was giving you another nice surprise. You were so caught up in worrying about your job and all that, I just wanted to help you relax. I set up the garage as a sensory deprivation room, I thought it’d be good for you.”Taeyong was confused. “Sensory deprivation?”“Mm,” Ten nodded. “It’s supposed to be a really great relaxation technique where you take away some of your senses so you can focus on being calm and meditating. You were just so worked up, I thought it would help.”Taeyong had never heard of sensory deprivation before, but he could hardly focus on the details of it now. Even if Ten had thought he was doing something good, he had still abandoned Taeyong in there.“Why didn’t you come back? I was yelling for you, I was so scared!”A tear slipped from Ten’s eye. He looked so regretful, Taeyong felt a little guilty, but he just wanted answers. “I didn’t know, I didn’t hear anything. I had the room soundproofed to make it better for the sensory deprivation, so I didn’t know anything was wrong. Baby, I swear, if I’d known you were so scared I wouldn’t have done it.”The tears were coming faster down Ten’s face; he looked so miserable. Taeyong let him pull him into his embrace and stifled his own tears against his neck.Ten hadn’t been able to hear him…He hadn’t purposefully ignored him, like Taeyong had assumed. How could he have thought that? Did he really think Ten, his best friend in the world, would do something like that on purpose? God, some friend Taeyong was. He started to cry harder, feeling terrible about himself.Ten was still apologizing above his head, yet Taeyong couldn’t even manage the breath to tell him to stop. All he could do was shake his head against Ten’s neck and sob.Eventually Ten pulled him away from his shoulder, looking into his eyes as he smoothed his fingers over Taeyong’s cheeks into his hair. “Do you forgive me?” he pleaded. “I was just trying to help you, I didn’t mean any harm.”Taeyong opened his mouth to say that he was fine when another thought occurred to him. “But those chains…” Taeyong trailed off at the look of confusion on Ten’s face.“Chains?”“I — I felt chains all over, a-and a big grate—” Ten was starting to look concerned. “W-Were there not any?”“Why would I have chains?” Ten questioned. He took up Taeyong’s hand, his forehead crinkled with worry.Taeyong looked around him, what for, he didn’t know. He just couldn’t make sense of anything.“I don’t understand,” he breathed.“Maybe it was a hallucination?”“H-Huh?”“When you’re in a sensory deprivation environment, it can cause hallucinations, because your mind is used to being stimulated all the time. So when it doesn’t get the stimulation it expects, it can create hallucinations to fill in the gaps,” Ten explained. The hand that wasn’t holding Taeyong’s came up to cup his cheek, his thumb stroking below his eye. “I bet with how worked up you were, your mind created some really gruesome ones.”A dim thought flickered in Taeyong’s head that he thought he’d seen a manacle as soon as he’d stepped into the room, before Ten had even closed the door, but he exhaustedly swiped it away. He was too muddled and too drained to think clearly about what he’d seen, or thought he’d seen, yesterday. Maybe these hallucinations had messed with his memory, making him think he’d seen things when he really hadn’t. He didn’t want to think about it anymore. He just wanted Ten’s explanations to make it all go away.He sank back against Ten’s shoulder, melting into his embrace as his arms came up around him. He felt Ten squish his cheek against his head, and let himself be comforted by his friend’s familiar touch, now that all of their misunderstandings were cleared up.“I’m sorry, Tennie,” he mumbled.“Mm?” came the sound above him. He felt the vibrations in Ten’s throat against his temple. “What for?”“For thinking … bad things about you.” He felt so ashamed, trying to hide even more against Ten’s body.“You didn’t know,” Ten soothed. His hands tightened around Taeyong’s waist as he started to stand, dragging Taeyong up with him. “Here, let’s go downstairs. I was gonna make breakfast to bring to you.”Taeyong let Ten support his exhausted body down the steps and guide him into a chair at the kitchen table. He watched tiredly as Ten puttered around the kitchen, back to his normal, vibrant self, laughing and chatting as he whipped up some scrambled eggs for Taeyong to eat. He set down Taeyong’s plate with a big smile for his friend, and before Taeyong could even reach for his fork, he was nuzzling against his head, leaving a kiss at his hairline.“My baby,” he cooed.Taeyong soaked up his warmth.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

In the days following the sensory deprivation fiasco, Ten remained just as clingy as he had been before, hardly ever leaving Taeyong alone. In fact, Taeyong thought it might have gotten worse. Ten was cooking more often, fixing up spreads for breakfast, lunch, and dinner that he hardly ever let Taeyong help with, even though he always wanted him in the room while he cooked. He pampered Taeyong endlessly in their mini spa with sauna sessions, facials, even full-body massages using the frankly quite startling array of oils he’d produced out of a cabinet one day. He’d even been sleeping in Taeyong’s bedroom at night, taking out pajamas for Taeyong to wear and then tucking him in beneath the fluffy duvet before climbing in himself.

The thing was, Taeyong found himself not really minding Ten’s constant presence. Actually, he found it rather comforting. Rationally, he knew that this kind of behavior was what had led to their fight over Taeyong wanting to leave. He remembered his annoyance and irritation, how stifled he felt by Ten’s actions, but he couldn’t call any of those old emotions back up, nor did he want to. Now, he was just relieved that Ten didn’t hate him for essentially accusing him of locking him in a torture dungeon, and relished his continued closeness.

It was morning now, a few days after the Incident—as Taeyong had been calling it in his head—had occurred. He and Ten had woken up together, gone down to the kitchen together, and eaten together after Ten had served Taeyong breakfast without letting him help as usual. Now they were sitting together on the couch in the living room, Taeyong’s legs folded over Ten’s lap where Ten had dragged them over himself, half dozing off despite only just getting up.

Taeyong felt himself starting to nod off again and sat up, rounding his back and stretching his arms straight out in front of him. He saw Ten’s fond look out of the corner of his eye and giggled a little.

“Mmh, Ten, I’m falling asleep sitting here. Let’s take a shower to wake up.”

At this point it wasn’t even a question of whether Ten would come to the bathroom with him. They hadn’t crossed the line of showering together yet, but they both stayed in the bathroom while the other bathed, turning their backs until the other was decent behind the wood panelling of the shower and then sitting on the counter to continue to chat.

Taeyong let Ten go first, swinging his heels against the cabinets and shrieking when Ten flicked water out of the shower to tease him for it, then turning away to let Ten towel off and to take off his own pajamas. He caught Ten swiveling his upper body as he turned back around, but he knew his friend was fidgety by nature, and his head was facing as forward as it could be. Then their roles reversed, with Ten talking and giggling from his perch in between the sinks, and Taeyong trying to splash him from the shower as payback.

When Taeyong finally emerged in a towel himself, Ten didn’t let him worry about the water all over the floor, pushing him out the door and across the hall into his room with a “Babe, we’ll get it when we’re not naked!” Taeyong blushed but nodded and let Ten corral him towards his dresser. Ten himself skipped over to the closet, letting Taeyong pull on a pair of boxers while he poked around in Taeyong’s closet.

It was quiet for a moment, the only sounds coming from the sliding of hangers and the rustle of clothing, until Ten’s voice sounded from behind Taeyong.

“Tae-tae, baby, how come I haven’t seen you wear these yet?”

Taeyong turned to find Ten holding up the purple overalls he’d been avoiding so far, and tried not to grimace.

“I don’t know, Tennie, they’re not really my style I guess,” he started, trying to be placating.

“They’re so cute though!” Ten teasingly wiggled the hanger towards Taeyong. “You’d look so adorable with them on, I just know it.”

Taeyong backed up a little out of Ten’s reach. He’d been avoiding the overalls for a reason. He could deal with all the other little cutesy things Ten had provided for him, like all the patterned pajamas, and the sweater he’d given him with the fuzzy sheep sewed on the front, but for some reason the purple overalls felt like they were crossing the line. They were short, first of all, not long overalls like might be more acceptable for a grown man to wear, and second, the shade of purple they were in reminded him violently of Barney the dinosaur.

“I just feel weird is all,” Taeyong tried to explain. “I know you bought all of my clothes for me, and I’m really really grateful to you, but you’ve been dressing normally this whole time while I look like a toddler.”

He regretted the words the moment they came out of his mouth. Ten’s expression immediately went strange, like he couldn’t decide whether to be sad, angry, or offended.

“You don’t like anything I got you,” Ten said flatly.

“No, that’s not what I mean! I really am grateful!” Taeyong wasn’t sure how to save the conversation. “It’s just that I’m not really … used to you babying me like this.”

Ten’s expression finally settled on puzzled. “What do you mean? I love to baby you all the time!”

Taeyong looked away, unsure how to respond. Honestly, Ten was right. The younger man had always loved doting on Taeyong, bringing him to fancy restaurants, buying him cute earrings and necklaces, generally just making sure to do something special whenever they hung out. Taeyong wasn’t sure why exactly this felt different.

When Taeyong failed to answer, Ten spoke again.

“If you don’t behave, I’ve got worse than the fucking garage,” he snapped.

Shocked at the tone, Taeyong looked up, yet his expression was totally normal. It was just Ten’s normal, neutral face.

“W-what?” Taeyong couldn’t help but be confused.

“I said if you don’t put them on, I’ll be sad, Yongie.” Ten pouted cutely, a look that normally got Taeyong to do whatever he wanted, but right now Taeyong was too bewildered to act. That was not what Ten had just said, he was certain of it. Even so, that split second of vitriol in Ten’s voice was so completely at odds with the picture he was presenting now, Taeyong could hardly bring himself to believe it had happened. He wondered if he was hallucinating again somehow.

“Are you okay, baby?” Ten asked when he stayed silent.

Taeyong shook his head. “I … I don’t know. My head is still such a mess.”

“Oh? Does it hurt? Maybe we should get you into some pajamas instead so you can lie down.” Ten looked so forlornly at the pair of overalls still lying draped over the bed that it made Taeyong feel guilty for rejecting them.

“No, I—” Taeyong wasn’t sure what to say anymore. His head really was turning into a mess. He’d been certain Ten had spoken to him in anger, but the picture he was being presented with now, of Ten looking sweetly innocent and so

forlorn

, there was no way for him to reconcile it.

“I’ll … wear the … overalls?” he said hesitantly. Is that what Ten wanted from him? Or did he want him to put on his pajamas? Taeyong would do anything he wanted right now, just to stop the swirling thoughts in his head.

Ten beamed.

Taeyong let relief wash over him like a wave. He’d responded correctly, and Ten was happy again. Whatever the thought he’d heard must have been a leftover hallucination from the sensory deprivation room. There’s no way Ten would treat him with anything other than love.

“You will?!” Ten squealed, blissful to Taeyong’s thoughts, clutching the purple overalls to his chest in excitement.

“Yes, Tennie, of course. You’re right, as always,” Taeyong responded. Honestly, what

was

wrong with the overalls? Sure they may have been a little childish, but there was nothing wrong with that. Didn’t it make sense that Ten would think it was fun to see Taeyong in different clothes than what he normally wore? There wasn’t even anyone else around, so really, what did it matter?

“Duh,” Ten teased, throwing him a wink. “That’s what I keep telling you. I’m

always

right. C’mon, let’s get these on you. What shirt do you wanna wear underneath?”

With that, Taeyong let himself get swept up in Ten’s enthusiasm, picking out a purple, green, and blue striped shirt that he had liked beforehand and letting Ten help him pull it over his head. Ten helped him into the overalls as well, holding them up while Taeyong stepped into them, then reaching over his shoulders to grab the straps and secure them in place. He even grabbed Taeyong some fuzzy blue socks and made him sit on the bed so he could slide them on.

When he was done, Taeyong turned towards the mirror over his dresser to have a look, but Ten stopped him before he could get too far.

“Wait!” he said. “Let me do your hair and makeup first, and then we’ll have a final reveal! It’ll be fun!”

Taeyong just smiled and nodded, letting Ten drag him off to his room and sit him on his bed, closing his eyes when Ten told him to so he couldn’t see the things Ten picked out. It felt good to just sit there and empty his mind while Ten fussed over him. The makeup brushes he used felt soft on his skin, and even when he prodded gently at his eyelids to line his eyes he wasn’t afraid. The warmth of the straightener Ten used next was comforting too, as were the soft tugs against his scalp as Ten styled his hair.

He was feeling so relaxed by the time Ten finished that it took him shaking Taeyong’s shoulder for him to realize that he was done and it was time for the reveal. Ten cooed at him as he blinked up at him a little sleepily before grabbing his hands and leading him back to the bathroom.

“Okay close your eyes, no peeking,” he said as they stopped in front of the bathroom door.

Taeyong smiled and did as he was told, following blindly behind Ten as his friend led him into the bathroom and positioned him in front of the mirror. Ten put his hands on his shoulders and squeezed once.

“And, open!”

When Taeyong opened his eyes, he was a little stunned by the image that greeted him. The person in front of him looked small and dainty, sweet enough to put in your pocket. The makeup Ten had applied made his cheeks look flushed like he had been in the sun, or had just woken up from a nap, and his eyes looked huge thanks to the eyeliner. His hair was styled in cute, youthful waves that somehow looked natural and effortless. Even the outfit wasn’t what he was expecting. The slightly oversized shirt and overalls made his already thin limbs look miniscule, like they might snap, but even as they did, they still looked sweet and charming. Altogether, the look gave off the vibe that he was someone who

needed

to be taken care of.

After a few long moments spent taking in his appearance, he was able to meet Ten’s gaze from over his shoulder in the mirror. Ten’s eyes were glinting as he smiled, obviously proud of himself, and maybe a little of something else too, though Taeyong wasn’t really able to think about it through the shock he was still feeling.

“I

told

you you’d look cute!” Ten fake pouted and snuggled into Taeyong’s shoulder, wrapping his arms around his middle. He rocked the both of them from side to side for just a few beats. “I could seriously eat you up!”

He drew back from Taeyong’s shoulder and bared his teeth, maintaining eye contact with Taeyong as he mimed taking a chomp out of Taeyong’s neck. It made Taeyong giggle, finally breaking him out of the near-trance he’d gone into.

“Wow, Ten,” he said. “I hardly even look like myself!”

Ten giggled back. “Don’t you love it? Now you look as soft and cuddly on the outside as you are on the inside!”

Taeyong was so happy that Ten was happy. He leaned back into him just a bit, basking in his obviously good mood.

“Mm, whatever you say.”

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Ten’s arms squeezed around Taeyong for a moment as he leaned back against him,  then he let go and stepped back.

“Whatever I say, huh? I like the sound of that.” He grinned for a moment, but then his face went serious. “Let me take care of you, Yongie.”

“Hm?” Taeyong was confused. Ten had been doing nothing but caring for him, especially the last few days. “You have been though.”

“I mean it, Yongie. I don’t want you to lift a finger the rest of the day. Let me handle everything, you only have to listen to what I say.”

Taeyong smiled gently. “Of course, Tennie.” As long as it would make Ten happy, he would do whatever he said. He didn’t have to tell Taeyong to do so.

The same glitter of

something

that Taeyong had seen before glinted through Ten’s eyes, but his smile was content. He tugged Taeyong by the hand back through the bathroom door towards the stairs.

“C’mon, let’s just have a hang-out day today. We can watch a bunch of movies! What’s your favorite movie from when you were little?”

Taeyong thought for a moment as Ten skipped down the stairs, dragging Taeyong behind him.

“I was pretty obsessed with

The Land Before Time

when I was little,” he said. “I used to beg my parents for bags of spinach and eat it in handfuls whenever I watched.”

Ten burst into laughter, so loud and delighted that it made Taeyong join in. Luckily, they’d reached the bottom of the stairs, because Ten was bent double enough that it pulled Taeyong over from where Ten still had a hold on his hand.

He was still giggling slightly when he straightened. “I can imagine you like that,” he snickered, wiping his eyes a little. “Are you hungry now? I’ll make some snacks.”

Taeyong faux pouted. “It’s not like I

have

to eat while I watch

The Land Before Time

.”

Ten giggled again. “No, no, that’s not what I meant,” he placated. “Just some nice normal movie snacks.” He was pushing Taeyong ahead before he’d even had a chance to respond. “Go on, see if you can find it somewhere and I’ll come in in a second.”

Taeyong padded into the living room and made for the bookcase that held the DVDs. He was pretty sure

The Land Before Time

wouldn’t be there, since it’d been released before DVDs were even invented, but it didn’t hurt to check. Sure enough, there weren’t any copies stacked among the other movies. Hopefully he’d be able to find it on a streaming service instead, or at the very least on youtube. He was lucky their TV was a smart TV, so he had a lot of options to look through. Snagging the remote from the coffee table, he flopped into his normal corner of the couch.

As he shifted around, he was made more aware of the feeling of the hem of his overalls riding higher up over his thighs, and the straps digging into his shoulders in a way he wasn’t used to. He flushed at the reminder that he was dressed far from his usual style. To make himself feel a little more balanced, he pulled one of the throw blankets from the back of the couch over his lap, hiding the skin his overalls had exposed.

It helped him feel a little more comfortable, and he was able to focus back on the TV, turning it on and starting to surf through the different streaming sites they had subscriptions to. He’d been a little afraid that he wouldn’t be able to find it here either, but he lucked out on the third site he visited. With a little wiggle of victory, he clicked on the title, pausing immediately so Ten wouldn’t miss anything, and sat back to wait for him.

He could hear the sounds of Ten moving around the kitchen—the refrigerator door and cabinets opening and shutting, the soft thunking of a knife on a cutting board—then his footsteps back in the hall. When he appeared in the living room door, he looked surprised at first to see the movie paused on the opening credits, then quietly pleased.

“Oh, you were waiting for me to start?”

Taeyong nodded.

“That’s sweet, baby, you didn’t need to do that.” He made his way over to sit next to Taeyong with the plate he was holding still in his hands. He didn’t make any moves to put it down or offer it to Taeyong, even though it was full of fresh fruit, which Ten didn’t like. At Taeyong’s curious glance, he just smiled.

“Well?” He gestured towards the TV screen.

Cautiously, Taeyong pressed play again, and settled back against the back of the couch. He gave the plate a few more glances as the opening credits played, but was soon lost in the adorable sights of the baby dinosaurs. It wasn’t until they were a fair way into the movie that Ten caught his attention again.

“Baby,” he whispered, startling Taeyong out of his focus on the TV screen. “Here, have a bite.” He held up a quarter of a strawberry from the plate that had so far gone ignored.

“Oh, thanks Tennie!” He reached out to take it, but Ten quickly pulled his hand away.

“Uh uh, I said you didn’t have to lift a finger the rest of the day, right? I’ll feed you.”

Taeyong felt himself flush immediately and avoided Ten’s gaze.

“I can feed myself,” he muttered, a little embarrassed by the idea.

“Hey.” Ten lifted his chin back up to meet his eyes. “Didn’t you say earlier you would listen to whatever I said?”

Taeyong gulped. Shit, was he making Ten unhappy? He opened his mouth shyly, looking into Ten’s eyes and hoping it would be enough.

Immediately, Ten smiled and lifted the sliced strawberry back up, putting it gently on Taeyong’s tongue.

“There’s my good boy.”

Taeyong flushed even deeper and looked away again, but chewed diligently and swallowed what he’d been given. Ten giggled slightly next to him, but didn’t do anything else.

This continued for the rest of the movie, Ten waiting for Taeyong to get absorbed by whatever was happening on-screen, then interrupting to hand-feed him a piece of fruit, whispering encouragements every time. Taeyong could have sworn his flush didn’t die out once throughout the movie’s entire run time, but he was happy that Ten was pleased with him, and it felt like static under his skin each time Ten whispered that he was being a “good boy”.

When the end credits began to roll, Taeyong chanced a look back up at Ten, finding his eyes already on him with a look of fondness and pleasure in them.

“Okay there baby?”

Taeyong nodded. The staticky feeling was simmering nearly constantly now, and Taeyong wanted to agree with everything Ten said just to keep it from fading away.

“Good. There’s one more piece,” he said, gesturing to the single slice of melon left on the plate. “Do you want it?”

Taeyong nodded again, and opened his mouth one more time.

The smile that Ten gave as he lifted the melon to Taeyong’s lips seemed triumphant, but Taeyong wasn’t sure why. Maybe he was just pleased that his plan for Taeyong not to “lift a finger” had worked? Whatever the reason, Taeyong felt pleased with himself for listening well to Ten, and it seemed that Ten was pleased as well.

“My Yongie is so good at following directions isn’t he?” he teased. “Was that fun?”

Taeyong still felt flushed, but he nodded enthusiastically. “Mm hmm, thanks Tennie!”

“Of course, anything for my little baby,” Ten cooed, pinching at Taeyong’s cheeks. Taeyong laughed and let him, only sitting back when Ten did.

“What do you say, should we watch the sequel?” Ten suggested. The movie was already ready on the “next up” screen, waiting to be played. “We can have a little marathon.”

When Taeyong agreed, he pressed play with the remote, and they settled back into the couch to watch. Ten cuddled him through the next 2 movies in the series, his hands rubbing gently over Taeyong’s arms and the tops of his thighs underneath the blanket where his overalls didn’t cover. Taeyong shied away from his touch at first, but the gentle praises and compliments Ten whispered when he allowed it ramped up the buzz under his skin. The floaty feeling in his head felt so nice he couldn’t bring himself to resist for long. After that, the only time Ten’s hands left Taeyong’s body was when he went to cook the two of them a quick dinner, during which Ten insisted on feeding Taeyong a few bites once again. Every time Taeyong complied, that buzzy, happy feeling grew, and he let himself relax into it.

By the time they reached the second half of the third movie, Taeyong was starting to drift a little, losing portions of the end of the movie to a deep, soothing blankness.

He was startled back to full alertness when Ten switched back to the home screen of the streaming service, triggering a loud and energetic ad to play.

“Sorry Yongie. Tired?”

“Mm.” Taeyong yawned. “Dunno why, we didn’t do anything all day.”

Ten reached up to pet the crown of his head, his fingers running through the carefully sculpted waves that were still in place. Taeyong sagged into it.

“That’s okay, baby, sometimes we just have sleepy days,” Ten murmured. “Besides, we had a lot of excitement dressing you up, didn’t we?”

As he spoke, his hand slipped down to take Taeyong’s, pulling him to stand and starting to walk them out of the room and upstairs.

“Yeah,” Taeyong agreed absentmindedly. He guessed it had been fun to let Ten pamper him like that, and Ten had been so excited.

Ten wrapped his arm around Taeyong’s waist to lead him back up to his bedroom, Taeyong slumping into his hold as they walked up the stairs. He took him straight to his bed and gently guided him to sit, keeping his hands on him the entire time. Taeyong blinked sleepily up at him as Ten took back up his hands, rubbing little circles into them. It felt so nice and relaxed Taeyong further, especially as he moved farther and farther up his arms, squeezing gently at the muscles. He could feel Ten’s eyes roving over him, but even that he could only find comforting.

“You liked it, right? Dressing up? You’ll dress up for me like that again, won’t you?”

“Liked… it?” Now Ten was running his hands through his hair again, so gently but persistently Taeyong could hardly focus. “Yeah… yeah, liked it.”

“So you’ll dress up for me again tomorrow?”

Taeyong tried to think, but all that floated through his head was Ten’s happy, excited face, his numerous smiles throughout the day and how they made Taeyong buzz with contentment. He wanted more of that.

“Yeah.” He managed to focus his eyes again, bringing Ten’s wide grin into sharp relief. Another wave of happy tingles engulfed him and he let his eyelids slide closed. “‘M… gonna wear cute clothes tomorrow.”

“For who?”

Ten’s fingers were scratching against Taeyong’s nape. He was nearly boneless with enjoyment.

“For Tennie.”

Taeyong’s head was being guided to Ten’s shoulder.

“That’s my good baby. Gonna listen to everything I say from now on, huh?”

He nodded. He’d do anything to keep this fuzzy feeling, and if Ten was going to help him, why would he say no.

“Uh huh. Listen to Tennie.”

Ten hummed approvingly, and Taeyong shivered just slightly before yawning again.

“Someone’s getting pretty sleepy, huh? I’ll help you get ready for bed.”

Taeyong heard the clinking off his overall’s straps being unfixed, then felt Ten’s hand sliding across his shoulder blades before he was guided backwards onto the bed.

“Lay back, that’s a good boy. Let d—Tennie help you.”

The arm behind Taeyong’s neck disappeared, and he felt both hands tugging the overalls from his hips. The cold air suddenly hitting his skin felt uncomfortable; he opened his eyes with a frown to see Ten standing over him. His lower lip popped out when he saw Taeyong’s expression.

“Aw, don’t pout baby, don’t pout. Tennie’s gonna get you in some nice warm jammies, just wait a second, okay? You can do that, right?”

Taeyong didn’t know what it was, but he just didn’t want Ten to leave him alone whatsoever, even for only a few seconds. But Ten was already backing up, and Taeyong couldn’t get his brain to work long enough to coordinate his limbs, so he was forced to just lay there. Overwhelmed by the fog in his head and the chilly air on his skin, he let out a pitiful sounding whimper.

Almost immediately, Ten’s face appeared back over him.

“Oh, my baby, shhh, I’m here. Tennie’s here, don’t worry.”

His hand pushed Taeyong’s hair back from his forehead, and the touch gave Taeyong the strength to press the backs of his fists against his eyes. He wished he could vocalize what he was feeling, but honestly he wasn’t even sure what

was

wrong. The fuzziness that had been so relaxing and comforting before was starting to feel stifling, but he couldn’t snap out of it.

“Tennie,” he whined. “Feel funny.”

Ten’s fingers traced over his hairline, then down over the outside of his raised wrists and down his arms.

“Shhh. It’s okay sweetheart. Feeling a little floaty? That’s totally normal. You’ve been so good all day, just let go for me.”

And the thing was, Taeyong didn’t really

want

to fight the fog. It was a little frightening, for sure, but it was taking so much effort to fight against it and he was

tired

. So he listened and let go.

His arms flopped to the bed on either side of his face as they lost their tension.

It was silent for a moment, and Taeyong’s mind spun dizzily in the floaty fog, before Ten’s voice filled it up.

“

Good

boy.”

The tone made Taeyong’s eyes pop back open. He needed to see Ten’s expression, see how pleased Ten was of him.

He was rewarded by a huge grin stretching across Ten’s face, and felt his own face moving to match it. He was making Ten happy! He ignored the tiny, weak voice at the back of his head, telling him something wasn’t right with the way Ten looked at him. It was too soft, though, and he didn’t want to listen to it. He only wanted to listen to Ten.

He floated gently in his fog as Ten undressed him fully and helped him into the pajamas he’d chosen, obeying every command Ten gave him and falling deeper into the happy feeling. When Ten removed his makeup and brushed his hair out of it’s style, Taeyong felt a little sad that something that had made Ten so pleased was being taken away, but Ten assured him that he wasn’t upset and they could put it all back tomorrow. He felt more relaxed again after that, and smiled dopily as Ten ran the brush through his hair.

When he was done, Ten helped Taeyong under the covers, tucking him in as he normally did before turning out the lights and climbing into bed himself. Taeyong immediately turned to snuggle up against him, needing the contact while his head still sparkled with happy fog. Ten gathered him to his chest with no complaints. His arms tightened around Taeyong for a long moment, nearly squishing him, but he let go before Taeyong could say anything.

“Remember your promise tomorrow,” he instructed softly. “You have to listen to me always.”

Taeyong made a mumbled noise of assent, and then he was asleep.

----- CHAPTER BREAK -----

Taeyong woke once again to terrible wheezing gasps. For a moment, he was terribly disoriented. He could hardly remember how he got up to his room, much less into his bed. All he could remember was the strange, happy, staticky feeling he’d experienced yesterday. He’d never felt anything like it before, but it had felt

so

good. He’d loved that sweet buzz, the feeling of floating up in the clouds and just letting himself be taken care of by Ten.

Wait,

Ten

.

Snapping himself out of his dazed thoughts, he turned quickly towards the choked breaths, and sure enough, there was Ten, shaking and gasping and frozen, staring off into the corner just like the other night. Taeyong felt a bit more prepared this time, despite his lingering lethargy; he’d calmed Ten well enough last time, and he’d read up on sleep paralysis after the episode. He could help him again.

“Tennie,” he said firmly, trying to reach for Ten’s shoulder and the lamp on his bedside table at the same time. “Listen to my voice. You’re dreaming again.”

As soon as Taeyong’s fingers landed on Ten’s shoulder, though, he went stiff as a board. There was a moment of tense, horrible silence as Taeyong turned back to him in concern, before Ten’s voice broke the stillness.

“

Why?

” he rasped, and Taeyong couldn’t help but shiver at his tone. He sounded desperate, terrified and angry at the same time, but like he was seconds away from giving into whatever had his gaze riveted to the corner of the room.

Taeyong gripped his arm tighter. “Shh, Ten, it’s not real. I’m here, can you hear me?”

And then Ten’s eyes were on him. It happened so suddenly, it made Taeyong gasp, but he could see Ten’s eyes flash to his face even in the dim light from the window. His head hadn’t moved, nor his body, but Taeyong felt a wave of relief that he could look into his friend’s eyes.

“That’s right, Ten, look at me. There’s nothing in the corner.”

Taeyong waited a moment to see if Ten would speak, but he said nothing. Instead, his whole body shuddered, his eyes closing in what looked like acceptance. They both lay still for another long moment. Then, the blankets exploded from around Ten’s body, sending Taeyong tipping backwards with a surprised scream. Ten’s hand flashed from his side to grip onto Taeyong’s forearm, jerking him back towards his body as he stepped out of the bed. Taeyong flailed as he was dragged out from under the covers. He could barely get his feet under him enough to not land on his face as Ten continued to pull him completely from his bed.

“Ten!” Taeyong tried to get him to slow down, to ease up on the pulling so he could figure out what was going on, but Ten only tugged harder, sending Taeyong stumbling after him. He was starting to get a little scared.

“What’s wrong?” Ten didn’t let go or look back. “Ten, please, I want to help! Tell me what happened?”

Still, Ten said nothing, continuing to pull him out of his room and down the hall.

“Are you still asleep?” Without being able to see his face, Taeyong couldn’t even see if he was awake or not. Was Ten sleepwalking? Taeyong thought he remembered hearing that you shouldn’t try to be aggressive with or wake up a sleepwalker in the middle of an episode. Should he just let this play out?

Unsure what to do, Taeyong let Ten tow him down the stairs, nearly tripping several times trying to avoid Ten’s feet. Ten was still moving quickly, his footsteps thundering down the stairs. Surely it wasn’t normal for a sleepwalker to move this fast, was it? Taeyong didn’t know, so he didn’t dare put up a fuss.

That was, until Ten swung a hard turn around the last bannister, past the door to the kitchen, and started dragging Taeyong towards that door at the end of the hall. The garage door.

Taeyong bucked hard, trying to grab onto the bannister as he was pulled around it as well. He couldn’t handle the garage again, not yet, no matter what Ten said his intentions were. Ten had

promised

he wouldn’t bring him back until he was ready.

“No!” Taeyong screamed. His fingers missed the bannister in their stiff terror. He couldn’t think. “Tennie, wake up!”

He pulled as hard as he could against Ten’s grip on his wrist, which made Ten stumble back half a step, then pause. Taeyong almost wilted in relief. If Ten was waking up, Taeyong would be able to get them away from the garage door and back upstairs. Then Ten turned around, and every thought fled Taeyong’s mind.

Tears were pouring down Ten’s face, dripping off his chin when Ten failed to wipe them away.

“Yongie,” he moaned. “I have to…”

Taeyong’s heart was beating hard. He didn’t know what was happening anymore. His best friend was standing in front of him sobbing, still clutching his wrist, but they were far too close to the garage door for Taeyong’s comfort. He just wanted it all to stop.

“You have to what, Tennie?” he asked tentatively. Even being able to look into Ten’s eyes, he wasn’t sure if he was awake or not. “Why are you crying?”

Ten looked at him desperately. “They said I have to do it, Yongie. I can’t say no. I can’t say no.”

Taeyong’s head hurt. “What do you mean? Tennie, you need to wake up now, okay?” He tried to take Ten’s other hand, but he ripped it from his grasp. “Just wake up and I’ll take you back up to bed.”

Ten’s face twisted with fury, even as tears continued to pour down his cheeks. He gripped his own hair in his hand. “You don’t understand!” he screamed. “I

CAN’T

say no! I have to do this!”

With that, he snatched up Taeyong’s other wrist, pulling with all his might towards the garage. Taeyong immediately revolted. His heels dug into the floor and tried to yank his wrists away from Ten’s grip. Still, Ten was stronger than him. Taeyong could feel his feet sliding across the floor as Ten dragged him closer and closer to that door. With every inch, he tried to fight harder. He thrashed against Ten’s hold, he tried to plant his feet firmer, to take a step backwards, but he couldn’t. Eventually, Ten’s back touched the garage door, and with a final yank, he had Taeyong off of his feet and flying into his chest.

In the next second, the door was open and Ten was spinning, pulling them both into the dark open space of the garage. Taeyong felt his muscles going stiff with fear, too overwhelmed with the memories of the space to continue to fight back. As he froze up, Ten lunged forward into the darkness, and then a

click-click

sounded through the air, and light flooded through the room.

Taeyong’s terror only increased, though, when he saw what the light illuminated. Next to Ten, who’s hand was still clutching the pull chain of the light, was hanging a thick metal chain. And connected to the end of that chain was a shackle.

It was all real

, was all Taeyong was able to think before Ten was lurching back over to his side and taking hold of his wrist

again

. He swiftly pulled Taeyong’s frozen body over to the hanging chain. It wasn’t until the shackle snapped closed over his skin that Taeyong truly registered what was happening.

Instinctively, Taeyong’s other hand came up to scrabble at the thick metal encasing his wrist. He whipped his head around to find Ten, who by that time had moved back over to the door. He stood on the threshold, trembling, tears still running down his face, clutching the door jamb.

“Ten,” Taeyong croaked out. It was all he could manage.

Ten met his eyes through his tears. “I’m sorry, Yongie. This is how it has to be.”

The door closed quietly behind him.