note: I changed the name Rio to Leo because it reminded me of the bird too and it got annoying, anyways, enjoy!

His throat is raw and sore from attempting to scream for help. His body aches from tensing his muscles excessively, sitting in the corner of the living room, terror looming on his soul. He can barely breathe let alone talk.

Leo aims his gun at him, watching how he squirms, fear swimming in his glassy eyes. "Stay quiet." he orders, keep Taehyun still and sitting on the floor as he goes through his desk, laboratory fridge and stacks of notes, filming every page his hands land on.

Taehyun freezes in place, his eyes twice as big and leaking waterwalls. "P-please... " is all he can say, helpless as he watches with his own vision how his life work's gets stolen by the one person he let in. Not only to him abode, but his heart. To his thoughts, his dreams. By the one person he shared everything with.

Leo corks the gun as another threat. "Shut. It." he repeats rigidly. His eyes sharp and dark, unlike how Taehyun has ever seen them before. It sends shivers down his spine that cause him to lose his voice completely.

He trembles on the floor, crying silently through every page filmed, every flask and test taken. Through every move Leo does around his apartment, as if it's his own. Through every sudden movement, every little sounds the gun makes as it brushes Leo's pants.

It seems like time has stopped, keeping Taehyun in that fearful state forever. But just when he thinks fewer hours have been added to that night to make it tormentingly long, Leo looks at him for one last time. Taehyun's stuff in a bag hanging from his shoulder.

at the sight of Taehyun backing into the wall, preparing himself for the worst. He sighs. "It's nothing personal. I wish I could say I was sorry."

Such simple words.

"but I'm not."

Can hurt like hell.

One more yawn and he has to get up and do push ups. Yes, that's what Kai decided when he began to lean into the sofa and his eyes closed automatically. He opens them harshly, hopping off the couch. He jumps a few times, waking his tired body.

He gets down on the floor, counting push ups to keep himself awake. Due to the last events, he feels like it would be irresponsible to sleep through the night. Now that he's inside, he has to be more alert.

It's not like he sleeps by the door that he can prevent break ins from the outside, so although its warmer and more convenient, being inside means he has to be more careful.

He's sobered a while ago, although feeling dozier than usual, he's almost back to himself.

"fifty seven... " he exhales sharply, feeling his arms start to burn, he goes down again, getting back up slowly. "fifty eight... " he counts quietly, his body slowly warms up.

"fifty-" he stops, his ears perking up to the noise coming from Kang Taehyun's room. He stays with his arms supporting him, tuning into the sounds.

The same distressed, whimpering sound he heard his first few weeks on the job.

Seeing he has nothing better to do, he thinks he should check on Taehyun, just to make sure he's physically okay before he continues with his unprompted work out.

The door is open a jar, giving him the view of Kang Taehyun's bed, but nothing more. Hesitantly, he nudges it until it opens to his size.

"Leo... " Taehyun gasps in his sleep. He turns in his sheets, cold sweat coating his skin. A few tears escape his closed eyes. He spasms, turning over again. "No... No." he shakes his head, hands fitting the blanket.

His breath hitches, his body folding into a fetus position. On his pillow a wet patch of salty tears.

Kai's heart clenches.

"Stop... " Taehyun pleads, newly heard desperation in his voice. "L-Leo-" his lips shake. "... S-stop."

"Mr. Kang." Kai tugs on Kang Taehyun's blanket. He doesn't care about the repercussions that he might be at the receiving end of. He just wants Taehyun to stop making those paining noises. Wants him to stop hurting. "Mr. Kang, wake up. You're having a nightmare."

Taehyun thrashes again, silenced yell begging to come out of his mouth, but it makes no sound. He cries.

"Mr. Kang. " Kai shakes his shoulder. "Mr. Kang, wake up." he ups the volume towards the end of the sentence.

The man jolts awake, heaving heavily. His eyes open to twice their size, darting throughout the room, filled with pure horror. He immediately sits up, pushing himself to the corner of the bed, staring at Kai as if he's seen a ghost.

"Mr. Kang." Kai whispers carefully. Edging closer. "Are you okay?"

His eyes land shortly on Kai's gun.

Taehyun sucks in a short, wheezy breath. "Stay." he backs away even further, afraid. He stretches his hand to the front, signaling Kai to back off. "stay right where you are." he blinks, his tone cold and unfamiliar.

Kai takes a few steps back.

"Get out." Taehyun demands. "Get out of my house and close the door." his eyes are sharp as he ordered Kai.

The bodyguard nods, albeit with sad eyes.

"Now, go."

Kai turns on his heels, making his way to the living room. He's not surprised by this not is he regretful. But the striking contrast between Taehyun that very evening.

The version of him that leans on Kai, latched on Kai, wanted him close. Not anyone else, but him.

And the version of Kang Taehyun now.

Kai wonders which one of those versions are the real Kang Taehyun.

..................

"Buckle up, please. Mr. Kang."

They spent the morning in uncomfortable silence. Each time their eyes met, Kai thought it looked like Kang Taehyun had something he wanted to say, but he closed his mouth and broke the eye contact, leaving Kai wondering.

Kai couldn't help but notice his dark eyebags and the way he was slouching, hinting that he didn't sleep all quite well.

Instead of working on the way like he usually does, Kang Taehyun leans on the window and closes his eyes, dozing off while Kai whistles quietly, focusing on the road.

"Kai." Taehyun calls after a while they've been driving. It's the first time he had talked to him this morning. He opens one eye, reminding Kai more and more of a grumpy cat especially when he looks at him like that.

If it wasn't so scary, it would've been endearing.

Oh, he's woken him up. "Sorry." Kai stops whistling. "Did that bother you?" he braces himself for a blunt response, but to his surprise, Taehyun is awfully meek.

"No, it's not that." He avoids Kai's eyes. "I-... "He purses his lips, having trouble finding the right words to express himself. He wants to apologize for last night, but he can't seem to bring himself to do so. There's no right indication that Kai is like that person, but when he opens his eyes, they look the same. Despite looking nothing alike.

They move the same and dress the same.

But through all those similarities, they don't feel the same. Don't talk the same. They don't seem to think the same.

Kai's different but is he good different, is he trustworthy different?

Taehyun used to think that if one works for you, he has the same intentions as you. But he found out the hard way that's not the case, not at all. The more he inspects Kai, the more trust he has in him, but that trust can be misleading. Can he really rely on his own judgment?

"Kai." He calls again, this time, more confidently.

"Yes?"

"Can you do something for me."

"Yes. Anything." he answers without missing a beat, without even having to hear the whole sentence.

Taehyun licks his lips, admittingly a bit touched. "Tell me to shut it."

"Huh?" Kai loses grip on the wheel causing the car to sway to the right for a split second before he manages to return it to its own lane. He breathes shakily, looking at Kang Taehyun through the mirror. Looking for an explanation.

"Just do it." Taehyun finds himself getting restless. "Please." he adds for the kindness of it.

Kai's face scrunches in confusion. "Hmm, O-okay?" He clears his throat. Readying himself. "Now?" He searches for confirmation.

Taehyun nods.

"Okay... Humm, Shut it?"

"More authoritatively, please."

Kai lets out a short breathy, bewildered laugh. "Is this a kink of yours?" he's unable to refrain from asking.

Taehyun offers no response. Just staring as Kai, waiting.

The bodyguard appears more nervous. He gulps. "Shut it." he says the firmest tone he can muster.

Taehyun raises his eyebrow. Yeah... definitely not the same, he thinks. Both tone and pitch are wildly different. "Okay."

"Okay?"

Taehyun nods, relieved. "Okay."

..................

To Kai's surprise, the weird requests don't end there. Despite having thought of the reason Taehyun might have to ask him for that, he eventually brushes it off as Kang Taehyun's additional weird trait he's going to have to deal with.

"Frown at me."

Kai closes the house door, just barely had time to hang his jacket on the hanger when Taehyun crosses his hands on his chest and repeats.

"Frown at me."

Kai closes his eyes, sighing. "Why would I do that."

"Because I asked, Puppy."

That's new. Kai finds himself breaking in a tiny smile at that

Taehyun takes a step forwards, closing the distance between them. "Sharpen your eyes and look at me like you're about to hurt me."

"Mr. Kang-" Kai's heart thumps and it's almost worrying how his smile fell when Taehyun mentioned anything about hurting him. He doesn't want to do that. He's not supposed to make Taehyun feel that.

"Now." Taehyun says in a tone what Kai knows is not up for debate.

He tries to frown like they do in the movies, or when the villain comes up on screen and he looks through his eyebrows and you immediately know, that is the villain. He squints his eyes, trying to look intimidating and for a second, he thinks it's working, until Taehyun signals him to stop.

"Okay, you can't frown." he dismisses.

Kai suddenly feels offended. He can look threatening if he wants to be... "I can frown." he argues.

Taehyun huffs. "You look like a pissed off pup, you really can't."

"What is it you are testing?" Kai changes the subject because he can too frown, thank you very much. "Am I passing the test, at least?" He jokes lightly as he puts his hands behind his back, a position that is almost too natural for him now.

Again, Kang Taehyun doesn't give a verbal answer. Immerse deep in his own thoughts, he leaves for his bedroom, only to come out after a few minutes, determined.

Kai looks at him in question, curious at what's to come. And a bit amused as well.

"Aim your gun at me." Taehyun's voice is clear and decisive and so is his body language which makes Kai realize he is as serious as it gets. Kai's expression stiffens.

"No."

"No?" Taehyun repeats mockingly. "You said you'd do anything for me, right? Then do it."

"No, I'm sorry. I can't."

Taehyun pierces at him, angry. "Why? It's right there." he insists.

Kai gets up from the couch, confused, little scared but most of all concerned because he does not know where this is all coming from. He looks in Taehyun's eyes, in search of anything that'll spare him any answers, but he comes up blank.

Why would Kang Taehyun want this?

"I apologize, Mr. Kang. I can't do that." Kai fiddles with his fingers behind his back. "It's a matter of safety, a mishap could happen, and I'm not allowed to display any use of force against you in that way or others." he carefully explains as Taehyun soaks his words in.

"I see."

Kai holds his breath, sensing that there's more coming.

"Then can you aim it at yourself?"

"Would you like me to?"

A glint of surprise in Taehyun's eyes told Kai that he expected a negative answer like the one before.

"If I did, would you?"

"There's nothing that forbids me from doing so." Kai avoids a direct answer.

Taehyun nodded in understanding. "Okay, so do it."

Kai takes his gun from his belt, feeling it in his hold for a little bit. It's not often that he has to actually use it in most of his jobs. They're taught to avoid having to, anyways. So, he has much less experience than what he's sure Taehyun thinks.

He has to really look at it to make sure he knows what he's doing, otherwise an actual accident might happen and he's too young to die in such a stupid way.

"Is it loaded?" Taehyun asks with full curiosity. It makes Kai cackle.

Kai hums at that, nodding. He makes sure his finger wraps the gun properly with his index finger and the trigger and then he loosely presses the muzzle to his temple.

Taehyun studies the sight closely, almost enchanted.

Kai laughs nervously. "Are you trying to kill me?" his hand tremors. He waits for Taehyun to tell him to stop.

He shrugs. "Maybe." he takes one more step forward until their chests almost touch. "Can you turn the safety off?"

"It is off."

Taehyun's eyes widen. He suddenly switches from confident to concerned. "You can stop." he whispers, almost too fast.

"Okay." Kai puts the gun back in his belt and they lock eyes, a lot closer to one another than before. He can feel Taehyun's breath from where he's standing.

To make the situation even more surreal, Kang Taehyun's eyes well with tears as he looks at Kai, searching for something as well.

"Mr. Kang." An Oof comes out from the depth of his soul when Kang Taehyun crashes him in a tight hug out of nowhere. He has to take a minute to adjust, with his hands hanging on the side of his body. He slowly reciprocates the unpredictable hug. "what's that for?" not that he complains or anything.

"Thank you."

Kai shudders, attacked by Taehyun's genuine, soft tone.

Different like day and night, Taehyun thinks. He squeezes Kai harder, closing his eyes shut. Different as sky and earth.

"No problem."

...............

Yes problem. Yes, problem because the routine that Kai had gotten used to changed again, this time with something extra. "The cherry on top".

Taehyun no longer hid in his room when Kai was inside, but rather stayed in the living room working freely on the research by day and slept on the couch by nighttime. Which made it very difficult for Kai because as much as he wanted to stay professional, Taehyun was too pretty under his nest of hair not to stare at him every once in a while.

They ate together in the mornings. Actual food that Kang Taehyun made and for the first time Kai has seen him eat something other than chocolate bars, expired juice from his empty fridge and apples. Having started cooking, they also had to incorporate grocery store shopping, which was a new territory for Kai, but he enjoyed himself regardless.

Kang Taehyun became an easier person to be around. Which is related to the cherry on top, being that the general aura around them has changed from rigid and formal to something a little casual and flowy, which reminded Kai of his older jobs which held the same type of mood as well.

Only this time, with Taehyun. There was something different.

They were comfortable, but a certain tension was still there. Tension that was driving them both mildly insane. Fleeting looks, lingering eyes, silent yet meaningful silences. They were both aware of the growing attraction for one another, as if the mutual hate was replaced with understanding and gentle affection. The sudden change gave Kai whiplash.

Sticking to the rules he had to follow, no matter how obvious it was, he tried his best to keep the invisible lines intact.

Kang Taehyun emerges from the shower one late evening after having both returned from Seoul. His hair is damp and freshly cleaned. He dries his hair and tidies himself looking much more put together than Kai has seen for far which was uncommon.

He goes about making two very simple omelets without even asking Kai if he's hungry.

"Mr. Kang." Kai suddenly calls. "Can I ask you something?" He thinks they're close enough for him to bring out the subject. Still, he's a little attentive.

Taehyun peeks at him from the kitchen, tilting his head. He grabs a pan. "Kai, we're the same age."

"I know." the bodyguard says.

"You can call me Taehyun-ah." a pink hue colors Taehyun's cheeks. "If you want."

Definitely close enough.

"Taehyun-ah." he tests. It feels foreign out of his mouth but again, it's not like he can complain. "That other night... "Kai looks at his lap. "When I was on my day off."

Taehyun visibly tenses. Kai wonders if he should back out but he's just too curious.

"What was wrong with the relief team? Did he do something... or say something-"

Taehyun shakes his head, meek. "He just, reminded me of..." his voice trails off. "Someone." he mutters.

It's quiet for a while after that with only the pan sizzling as a background noise. Kai sits at the table, forcing down the horrendous black coffee down his throat and hopes he won't throw it all up at night. At morning time it's bearable, but twice a day. He rather actually shooting himself.

"Can I ask something?"

Interested, at that. Kai nods.

"Why are you a bodyguard?" Taehyun asks, and Kai's surprised because they've never truly gone down to personal levels while mindlessly conversing. "it's dangerous, and there are much more comfortable jobs out there. So, why?"

Kai hums, thinking for a few seconds before opening his mouth. He piles a bunch of greens and eggs on his fork and leaves it hanging. "I guess I just rolled into it somehow."

Taehyun corks an eyebrow.

"It's kind of a long story. I got scouted by someone who was my senior in the special forces and-"

"You were in the special forces?" Taehyun's lips part in surprise. "When did you enlist?"

Kai smiles. "Right after high school. Why the skeptic tone?" He feels rather comfortable asking.

"No offense, but you don't look or act like special force's material."

"Ouch." Kai teases, feeling more amused than hurt. "I get that a lot, actually. But I did leave the forces at the top of my year." he brags. "So, I know what I'm doing."

"Hmm."

"Are you not enlisting soon?" Kai keeps the conversation going, wanting to talk more.

"I'm exempt." Taehyun sees the bewilderment in Kai's eyes and feels the need to explain. "My work is already a service for the government. I'm a better asset at work to our country than I am in the military, that's at least what the Lab says."

The question arises again in Kai's mind. What the hell is it that Taehyun does for a living? He doesn't waste his time trying to ask because he was told right from the beginning that everything regarding Taehyun's work is strictly confidential which only makes him more curious.

It's like a red button he's supposed not to press.

"So, do you like it? Your job, that is." Taehyun chews, downing the food with a sip of cold brew. His cat eyes are looking as if pinning Kai in place. It's not exactly uneasy, but Kai is unused to this type of attention from him. Taehyun licks his lips.

Is the Heating system on?

"I love it." Kai smiles. "Some days are hard, but I love the commitment to another person. You know? The whole, your-life-before-mine type thing."

Taehyun giggles, it's so like Kai for some reason.

"it's hard to explain." Kai's bashful, aware it might sound strange to someone who hasn't been in that line of work. "it's thrilling, rewarding." he stuffs another bite into his mouth, the warm food settling nicely in his hungry body. "The food is yum, by the way."

Taehyun's eyes soften but he brushes the compliment off. "Is that why you- did what you did? Earlier this week."

"What?" Kai speaks with a mouthful, throwing Taehyun off his rhythm with his unexpected chubby cheeks that make him appear even more harmless than he already looks.

"T-the." he clears his throat, looking at his plate rather than Kai's eyes. "The thing with the gun." He lifts his gaze, warily.

"Partly."

Taehyun blinks. "Partly? Was there another reason?"

There was, but Kai could never admit that the main cause of why he was so wrapped around Taehyun's finger to have agreed so easily is because he looked so, so pretty while asking. And because he was scared shitless that Taehyun was actually batshit crazy that he would try to do it himself is Kai refused.

Kai bites his lips. "Secret."

Taehyun pouts but to Kai's relief he doesn't try to squeeze an answer out of him. Or else he would be in trouble; he has a bad track record at saying no to pretty people.