High Maintenance 👑 h.zt

27

~Tao~

"You want to tell me what you're hiding from me?" Tao asked, squinting at Chanyeol. He was waiting for Min-hee to call, but he couldn't take the silent treatment Chanyeol was giving him.

Chanyeol was never quiet. Even when he wanted him to shut his ever loving mouth so he could hear the boss's orders, he always leaned over and whispered in Tao's ear, saying something stupid like ice cream should be shipped to your house so you could sit around and be lazy all day.

This silence wasn't like Chanyeol, and that hinted to how very hard he was thinking about something, how serious it was.

Chanyeol took a deep breath, sinking deeper into the visitor's chair, even though a moment earlier he'd complained about how the pattern was so ugly that he barely wanted to touch it. Then glancing at Yi Xing, who was still working.

Tao took the hint and leaned toward the doctor, "Could you leave us alone a minute?"

Yi Xing looked up, fixing his glasses quick before saying, "Only a minute or two..." Then he got up and left the room.

Tao turned back to Chanyeol, glaring at him. "Now tell me, Chanyeol, or damn it, I swear I'll punch you as hard as I can right here."

Chanyeol grinned. "Panda, you wouldn't! You're too cute and snuggly! That's why Min-hee wants to snuggle up with you like a big teddy be--."

"Do not change the subject, I swear, Chanyeol, I will beat the sh*t out of you." Tao said, though he could feel his face getting hot. He almost wondered if Min-hee actually wanted that. But then he remembered Chanyeol just said anything that would make people uncomfortable.

Chanyeol sighed, running a hand through his dark brown hair. "You're not going to like it, it fact, you might hit me anyway, is that what you want? To hate this cute face and hit me?" Chanyeol pouted.

Tao gave him a stern look.

"Okay, fine...! You're so damn pushy!" Chanyeol whined. He fiddled with his fingers, looking down at them. "So-o-o-o, Min-hee's phone is even more bugged then yours, that, I know because things like that ping pretty easy on a radar, you know? And I don't mean like a cute little bug, this bug has got access to her camera, every call she makes, any data on it, and it's been made accessible from another device."

Tao tilted his head. "Continue."

"The bug isn't very traceable, but you can probably guess that this guy is stalking her if anything." Chanyeol tilted his head to match Tao. "I thought, no big deal, I looked briefly into it, which is how I got her number, and I figured the police could handle that or something, it's not my job. But it bugged me--no pun intended, and also, I wanted you to give me a cookie for finding him." Chanyeol grinned. "I thought you'd go beat the punk up. So I got a range for where exactly the bug was being accessed. Tao, the guy was literally in the building with me, he worked for the boss."

"He had someone spy on Min-hee? Damn it, Chanyeol, you said you'd keep her out of it!" Tao looked for something to throw, not for any particular purpose, just because he couldn't strangle Chanyeol while he was hooked up to the heart monitor.

"Wait!" Chanyeol said, putting his hands up to shield his face. "The boss never ordered it! I checked! Like three million damn times! It was just this one guy, I traced it a little further, all the way back to this guy, he's the one who found you laying in the parking lot actually..." Chanyeol let his hands down slowly. "He'd used a fake name, no one knows a thing about him, and he only started working for the boss about a week ago, and he disappeared yesterday, and no one knows how to contact him or where he went, and everything the boss had about him just magically disappeared." Chanyeol stared at Tao, serious as he ever was. "Tao, I'm almost sure, he was working for someone else, and was only there for information. But that's not really what bothers me..."

"What bothers you?" Tao asked, not liking this silence at all.

Chanyeol took a deep breath, his deep voice losing it's bubbliness, "He specialized in kidnapping, torture, and was a expert marksmen. He's a sicko. I don't want him after me, Tao. I hate to save my own ass, but this guy is...different, not in the good way either. Anyone who contacts that phone is going to be targeted." Chanyeol raised his hands to cover his face again, "You're already involved, there's no reason to just go after Min-hee for no good reason, he may be watching Min-hee, but I'm positive he wants you. So before you freak out that I just let you text her without telling you, I want you to remember that cute Panda inside you that doesn't like getting mad, and really wanted to tell Min-hee what happened...!"

Tao clenched his fists tightly. "You're saying all this time, you've known that Min-hee was being stalked by some psychotic bastard, and you didn't tell me?! Do you have any idea what an idiot you are? Chanyeol I could...!" Tao growled, screwing keeping all those wires and getting up to pull Chanyeol out of the chair by the collar.

"Tao! Come on! This is exactly why I didn't tell you, I knew you'd freak! There's nothing I could do about it, Tao, even you have to see that!"

Tao pulled Chanyeol's face closer to his, staring in his eyes hard, reading every single emotion flickering in his eyes. "You just didn't want to." Tao spat. "She's already scared to death, and you just let this guy get this far? Min-hee could have gotten hurt, killed, and all you care about is not having your phone bugged?!" His voice rose with each word. "Chanyeol, you idiot! You stupid, goddamn idiot!"

Tao didn't want to even begin to imagine what could happen to Min-hee, didn't even want to imagine what the purpose was for it, or what that guy could be thinking. Was that why Min-hee was on edge and asked him to prove it was him?

Then Tao's phone rang. Which made him pause. He released Chanyeol's collar, Picking up the phone and answering it.

"Tao?" Min-hee's voice seemed quiet over the receiver.

"Yeah, it's me," Tao said, glaring at Chanyeol and trying to calm his voice. "Min-hee, are you alright?"

There was a silence. "No."

"What do you--?"

"He said you have to...That you have to come home soon, okay? Please, just do that." Min-hee said, her voice stiff.

"He? He who? What do you mean?"

He heard Min-hee sharply take in a breath. "He...I can't say... Please, just...Please Tao, I'm sorry."

Then the call disconnected.

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A/N: DRAMAAAAA~! Aiyah, I swear, troubles right now :3

*Bows* Forgive meeeee~! (\>O<)/