High Maintenance 👑 h.zt

6

~Tao~

It took him an hour to even change his clothes, and even then, he was rushing, every time he moved it stung. He barely got around to actually feeding Suri, and then Suri wanted to him to pick her up like the baby she was. He couldn't even do that.

It hurt to do anything, even the most basic things. When he had finally taken that chocolate stained shirt off and gotten something on, he was wearing a thin white sweater, a blue light cardigan and black jeans. It was a little cold today with the rain and everything, and he wanted to cover up any bruises that might show, and he had quite a few.

And then there was that stupid car. Last night he'd parked it over by the meeting place, but obviously, he'd pretty much abandoned it and stumbled into an alley. It was a rental, he couldn't just leave it there. If something had scratched the paint the rental place would just about kill him, one didn't just mess up a Bugatti without being charged through the roof. And damn, he'd hate to mess up such a nice car.

After he fixed his hair into something not sticking out all over, he took care of the dog, who had managed to rip a gigantic hole in a pillow, and all the stuffing was scattered across the floor. Tao scolded her, but ended up smiling when Suri licked his face. Tao asked her to quit it, then he ended up giggling, begging the little white fluffy dog to stop.

When she finally did, she just rolled over onto her back, giving him the cutest puppy-dog eyes for him to scratch her belly.

"No, Suri." He said, still recovering from how her tongue had tickled on his cheek. "I've got to go, I'll play with you later, okay?" He wasn't sure why he was talking to her, she was just a dog, it wasn't like she could understand. But she was the only one he could actually be himself around, he hated to say it.

He fixed everything else in the house that Suri had knocked over or got her fur all over, then took the keys to the Bugatti, locked up the house, and started the walk over to the warehouse where the meeting had been. Every other step hurt like someone was punching him in the gut. He'd really gotten himself beat up last night. He needed to train more.

It was kind of far, but he walked as briskly as possible. Lots of girls looked at him, whispering to whoever they were walking with once they did. He could imagine what they were saying, just something to the tune of, 'He's so hot/cute/gorgeous/good-looking.' That's what it usually was, 'Mini' had probably thought that too.

That was probably what all the staring was about.

When girls thought that--and he knew they did--it was hard not to blush, he knew he was somewhat...attractive, but it wasn't nearly as big of a deal to him. 

He wondered if they'd still think that if they didn't think he was loaded. Girls liked money, they liked getting presents, they liked good appearances. They wouldn't like him the way he used to be.

Tao shook the thought from his head when he saw the warehouse, the Bugatti parked outside, covered in rain droplets and a few leaves that had blown and stuck to the windshield. He brushed the foliage off, making sure the car was absolutely free of anything of that sort and checking for scratches.

It was amazingly scratch-free. He sighed in relief and climbed into the car. He had to go pick up Haneul, then Baekhyun and Sehun, he invited Kris to tag along, but he'd said parties weren't his style. And then after picking them up, they had to go get some raw eggs. They were just going to absolutely trash the party. Tao felt bad, but then he wanted to do it, even if it was the meanest thing he'd ever done.

~~~

"I've got it, I've got it..." Baekhyun mumbled in the back seat, mouth open, applying eyeliner.