third time's a charm (fate's messing with his )

use your stethoscope, hear my heart

Zitao wakes up feeling the slightest bit of a headache.

                Propping himself up on his forearms, his brows furrow in confusion at the unfamiliar room he’s in. The room, however, is mostly clean, spacious and neat, but on the floor are what he assumes are his clothes, and it has him recalling what had happened last night. It happened a bit like this: He.. Um. He got drunk, and Lu Han, right? Right. Coincidentally Lu Han was in the club too, and he was the one who pushed him to the dance floor where he can lose himself in the bass of music. Then again... He does remember grinding up against someone and... He also remembers taking a cab and then sleeping with...

                Sleeping with...

                Who?

                Spinning his head around to the space beside him on the bed, he sees a man, his back faced towards him. Even with the blanket draped up to his shoulders, Zitao can tell that whoever he slept with last night has a smaller frame than him. From where he is, he can’t see the man’s face, so when he tries to lean in, the loud beeping of an alarm clock forces him away and he quickly tries to shut the alarm clock, careful not to wake up his one night stand, who looks peacefully asleep.

                In his apartment, the sound of an alarm clock is a signal that he’s late for work, so Zitao feels panic rise inside of him that dissipates in a short time when he realizes it’s only five in the morning. He still has time to go home and shower before he gets ready to work so he picks his clothes up from the floor and puts them on.

                Zitao guesses there are some advantages to one night stands. It’s his choice whether to leave or not, but it’s not the weekends so Zitao takes his time in his one night stand’s apartment, walking around the living room and the kitchen, fingers fiddling with a few things in the apartment. He’s writing something onto the notepad that he found on the kitchen counter when he suddenly realizes how very familiar the living room and kitchen looked like. His eyes scan the apartment quickly, and Zitao’s pretty sure he’s seen that ugly, worn out sofa before, and that horrid looking black splash tile? All. Too. Familiar.

                Oh dear.

                Is he in..?

                Glancing back at the room his one night stand is in, everything in Zitao’s head slowly starts to make sense. He’s in what he’s sure is Lu Han’s apartment, and it doesn’t look like Lu Han’s around (he’s probably smooching with Sehun already) so whoever is on the bed must be Lu Han’s roommate...

                Wait.

                Did he just sleep with Lu Han’s roommate?

                If Lu Han ever finds out about this he will so make a fool out of him and Zitao is never up for whenever Lu Han decides to . Zitao’s never seen Lu Han’s roommate before, because Lu Han comes over to his place most of the time. Whenever Zitao comes over to his place, Lu Han makes sure his roommate is out, so Zitao’s mind is currently spinning, thinking thoughts like this is so awkward and he storms out of the room as quick as he can, making sure to have everything he has and locking the door before leaving.

 

~

 

Jongdae never thought this could happen.

                When he woke up this morning, he had expected his one night stand to leave already, but what he did not expect was that his one night stand left a note for him, wrote it on his notepad on the kitchen counter, just waiting to be read. Jongdae laughed at the fact that his one night stand thought of keeping in touch when they don’t even know each other as much. On the note was his one night stand’s phone number, along with his name, and when Jongdae found out his one night stand’s name, he can’t help but think of how very... Familiar it sounds.

                A memory triggers at the back of Jongdae’s head and then he’s rushing back to his room, picking up his phone on the bedside table. He presses a few buttons on the screen to search for the text message that Baekhyun sent to him about two weeks ago, when Baekhyun set him up with someone for a one night stand. He still has the text message, right? Jongdae doesn’t remember deleting it, ever, and yet he still hopes that the name in the note isn’t as familiar as he thought it was.

                His heart falters in his chest when he finds the text message.

                His name is Huang Zitao. – Baekhyun

                Jongdae crumples the piece of note in his hand and throws it across the room. He can’t believe himself – he just slept with the same guy – they just had a two night stand, and two night stands do not, Jongdae repeats, exist in his dictionary! He refuses to believe the fact that he just slept with the same person, and it just so happens to be Huang Zitao, the one he’s been trying to get over for the past few weeks and sleeping with him for the second time is not making him any more–

                Jongdae takes a deep breath. He needs to calm down.

                Walking over to the refrigerator, he pulls out a jug of water and gets himself a glass of water to clear his head. So, they had a two night stand, big deal, right? He’s had plenty of one night stands before, and he hardly saw them again after the one night stand, so Jongdae guesses that two night stands won’t make situations worse, and–

                “Kim Jongdae, I do not understand your kinks.”

                Jongdae jumps, nearly dropping the glass of water but his other hand dives down to cover his private. He turns his head to Lu Han. “What,”

                “Last time I saw you was in the living room. Now it’s in the kitchen.” Lu Han elaborates. “Please explain.”

                “Hey, I had a pretty valid reason to why I was in the living room,” Jongdae interjects, putting down the glass of water.

                “So what’s your reason for now?”

                “I just woke up and I had to get a glass of water.” Jongdae sighs. “Okay, enough of that. Did you just came back?”

                Lu Han yawns. “Yeah, I stayed at Baekhyun’s last night since you were getting yourself laid.” Jongdae opens his mouth to say something but Lu Han cuts him off by holding up a hand, eyes fixed on Jongdae’s stomach. “Talk to me about your one night stand later. Put some clothes on.”

 

~

 

Kim Jongdae is not a healthy man. He knows that. Lu Han knows that. All his friends know that. But of course, no one wants to get too unhealthy, so that explains the reason why he’s in the clinic on a fine afternoon. He keeps telling himself that, even though he’s not really convinced, but it’s the best he can do to stop himself from jumping onto Lu Han and beating the hell out of him whenever he sees Lu Han’s smug grin.

                (“Why the hell do I need to go to the clinic?” Jongdae blinks at him, remote in his hands and thumb poised to press a button.

                “Sehun told me he works there now. He’s the new receptionist.” Lu Han replies cheerfully.

                “...Who’s Sehun?”

                “Oh, right, you were dancing that night.” Lu Han laughs. “Anyways, remember that time when we saw Baekhyun at the club? Yeah, he brought his friend with him, and it turns out that this friend of his is the new receptionist at his clinic so he was just celebrating his first day. Long story short, I find the newbie hot.”

                Jongdae scowls. “So what does this have anything to do with me?”

                Lu Han takes the remote control from Jongdae’s hand and points him with it. “I need you to see a doctor while I take my time talking to this receptionist.”

                “Excuse me.” Jongdae rolls his eyes, taking the remote control back from Lu Han. “Go to the clinic alone.”

                Lu Han tsks and crosses his arm, the gesture familiar to Jongdae and something at the back of his head clicks, panic rising from inside of him. “You wouldn’t dare.”

                Lu Han picks his phone up. “Watch me.”)

                Jongdae’s been to this clinic for a few times, but that is only to meet up with Baekhyun in case he needs something from him. When Jongdae needs to see a doctor, he doesn’t go to this clinic, because there’s already a clinic that’s much closer to his apartment than this one. Jongdae watches as Lu Han fixes his hair for a bit before walking up to the reception desk, phone in hand and Sehun – tall, young and cute – looks up at him with surprised eyes that quickly twinkles with happiness. “Hey, Lulu.”

                Jongdae has no doubts that Lu Han likes the nickname, and he wants to vomit then and there that he’s actually glad that they’re in the clinic. “Kim Jongdae,” A man with dimples, Jongdae remembers from their times together with Baekhyun that his name is Yixing, addresses him. “The doctor may now see you.”

                As Jongdae stands up from his seat, Lu Han flashes a smile at him from the reception desk and Jongdae shoots back a glare at him, his feet carrying him to the doctor’s office.

                Sehun watches as Jongdae barely catches sight of Lu Han waving at him, and when Lu Han turns back to look at him, the sweet smile is still evident on his lips. It only takes a few seconds for the smile to fade and his lips round out in realization, head turning to Yixing. “Xing!” He calls, “Who’s Jongdae’s doctor?”

                Yixing blinks. “Zitao. Why?”

                Lu Han nods his head in understanding. “Nothing.” It’s now that Zitao and Jongdae finally meet.

 

~

 

When Jongdae enters the doctor’s office, he sees the doctor sitting in his desk, inspecting the papers in his hands before he lifts his head and rubs his eyes tiredly. “Mr. Kim. Please take a seat.” He only says as he gestures to the chair beside his desk. The name plate at the corner of his desk is shining brightly, and with big, fat letters, Jongdae can see the doctor’s full name, that is, DR. HUANG ZITAO.

                Wait.

                Huang Zitao?

                That’s... That’s his two night stand.

                Oh God. Oh God. Oh dear God.

                “Zitao?” Jongdae blurts out before he can stop himself.

                The doctor looks up from the papers in his hands and stares at Jongdae with confused yet surprised eyes. “Sorry? Do I know you?”

                He doesn’t remember? Jongdae swallows hard and shakes his head. “No. Um. Sorry. That was nothing.” They slept together twice and he doesn’t remember?

                “Alright.” The doctor nods his head slowly, a bit suspicious about Jongdae’s sudden attitude but he ignores it when Jongdae takes a seat. “You are here for a check up?”

                I am going to murder Lu Han. Jongdae nods his head, not trusting his voice a the moment because the man who just gave him the best one night stand he’s ever had twice is here with him and Jongdae seems to be the only one who knows him while his goddamn one night stand is just sitting there (looking more like a model than a doctor) with no recollection of whatever happened between them. Jongdae can hear his heart pounding in his ears and his palms are starting to sweat and he can feel his cheeks blushing and at this point he doesn’t want Doctor Huang even two centimeters close to him.

                Doctor Huang utters a small sigh before picking up the stethoscope around his neck. He puts on the earpiece and raises the chestpiece, shifting in his seat to turn to Jongdae and Jongdae only has a few seconds to register what’s going on until he realizes that Zitao is leaning in and pressing the chestpiece against his chest. This much is embarrassing and Jongdae can feel his heart beat quicken.

                Zitao’s eyebrows knit at the quick heart rate he’s hearing, and he looks up at Jongdae to study his face carefully. Jongdae his suddenly dry lips and Zitao lets go of the chestpiece only to lay his palm casually onto Jongdae’s chest. “Hey, calm down. I won’t bite.” He says, and Jongdae looks at him skeptically because that’s obviously not the reason why Jongdae’s so nervous – Jongdae is a bit paranoid about Zitao finding out about what happened between them, which will make the whole check up more awkward than it already is.

                Zitao smiles warmly at Jongdae. “Take a deep breath.”

                And Jongdae dos so, inhaling as much air and all the while Zitao’s eyes remain on him until he breathes out. Smile still on his lips, Zitao nods his head and removes his hand from Jongdae’s chest and picks up the chestpiece again. Jongdae feels himself calm down, his heart rate slowing down and when Zitao presses the chestpiece against his chest, he looks up at Jongdae with a somewhat proud look. “There we go.” Jongdae smiles back at him. Thankfully, the rest of the check up goes smoothly without Zitao noticing how tense he felt whenever they made contact (at least he hopes so).

 

~

 

Zitao didn’t take psychology, but he knows that people’s shoulders stiffen when they get tense. And that was exactly what he saw when his patient enters the room. Everything about this patient was off – not that he’s unhealthy or anything, it’s just that he seemed very nervous around Zitao. His body flinches a bit whenever Zitao makes contact with him, he’s always clenching and relaxing his fists, but Zitao ignores it, just carries on with the check up like any other appointments he’s had.

                When the patient – Kim Jongdae – left the room, Zitao is left thinking about whatever possible reason that made Kim Jongdae so tense around him. It was as if the patient was a kid that feels very insecure around strangers, and Zitao is no stranger to most patients. He is his patients’ doctor, so there’s no need to get all tense around him because he’s just doing his job.

                He pushes the thought aside when a new patient enters his office. As usual, Zitao smiles warmly at them and carries on the appointment.

 

~

 

“Oh, yeah, totally, I guess I can relate to that.” Lu Han smiles at the new receptionist.

                Swiftly, when Sehun looks away from him he turns to Yixing with a frown and sends him a look that clearly says are you hearing this kid? Sehun is a few years younger than him, but nevertheless better looking than Lu Han in more ways than one. He’s a dork. Lu Han finds him adorable.

                Yixing sends back a smile and then Sehun’s eyes are on him once more. Lu Han smiles warmly at him. “Anyways, can I have your–”

                Lu Han hardly finished his sentence when suddenly someone grabs hold of his arm and drags him out of the clinic fast. Vaguely he sees Sehun stare at him wide-eyed as he gets dragged out and honestly Lu Han is just as surprised as him so he turns his head around only to see Jongdae, brows drawn together which is a clear indication that he’s angry. Lu Han stops his feet just as they’re a few feet away from the clinic and uses just enough force to turn Jongdae around and meet his angry eyes. “What’s wrong?”

                “What’s wrong?” Jongdae repeats, “I slept with the doctor before!”

                “You had a one night stand with the doctor?” Lu Han blinks.

                Jongdae ruffles his hair in frustration. “I slept with him twice! Our first time was when Baekhyun set us up together! Our second time was a few days ago! He doesn’t even remember me!”

                “You slept with Tao?” Lu Han asks, and he looks like he’s on the verge of laughing.

                “Do you know him or something?” Jongdae stares at him in question. Lu Han breaks into a laugh and Jongdae looks at him incredulously, feeling somehow offended, and he’s just about ready to blow at Lu Han when suddenly the other male stops abruptly and collects himself.

                “Of course I know him.” Lu Han finally answers. “He’s friends with Baekhyun, I’m friends with Baekhyun.”

                I’m friends with Baekhyun and I don’t know him,”

                “He’s Chinese.” Lu Han adds, and Jongdae rolls his eyes at him when he starts to laugh again. “Okay, chill. What’s getting you so worked up? You said he doesn’t even remember you.”

                “I–” Jongdae begins to explain with a finger pointed at Lu Han, but as his head scrambles to find the reason why he’s making it a big deal he shuts his mouth and lowers his fingers down, to which Lu Han slowly smiles deviously at.

                You think he’s hot.

                “I don’t–” Lu Han barely even listens to what he says, and before he knows it, Lu Han’s running back to the clinic.

 

~

 

“What about my three o’clock appointment?” Zitao asks. Yixing had called him about a few minutes ago to explain to him about the changes in the schedules so Zitao rounds the reception desk and stares at the clipboard in the shorter male’s hands.

                “Your three o’clock appointment with Mrs. Lee is moved to five o’clock. So you’re just about free around three o’clock.” Yixing explains to him as Zitao undoes his cufflinks and rolls up his sleeves.

                “Okay then,” Zitao nods. “I’ll be in my office if you need me.”

                “HEY TAO!”

                Zitao turns his head around to the voice and sees Lu Han walking inside the clinic with a huge, mischievous looking grin on his face that throws Zitao into a pit of confusion because he’s never seen Lu Han this happy whenever it came to seeing him. He throws Yixing a questioning look and the other male gives him the same expression, so he turns his head back to Lu Han to see what he has to say.

                Lu Han looks just about ready to say something when suddenly someone enters the clinic just after him and drag him back out, to which Lu Han only responds to a loud laugh that echoes around the whole clinic. He turns back to the two receptionist currently working and they’re just as confused as he was. Zitao shrugs it off and walks back to his office.

 


a/n: it's 2016 and guess who didn't finish their own story???///?/? (i'm such a loser) anw enjoy!!!

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UnicornGhost
early warning: taochen coming up on the last chapter

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tomiiself #1
Chapter 14: ahhhhhhhh Finally last chapter~! the most angst and the iest! lol. I really love this, I wish I can find more taochen but I really, really love this! It stung a bit when I read this chapter, especially after the and how Jongdae cried and locked himself like that and just... taking his distance from Tao. I love how patient Tao was, and how they both realized that they find what they were searching in each other <3<3<3 I love the part where Tao is a bit drunk and locked Jongdae's phone, like it's a genius idea and I wish we can do it to other people's phone but most people lately already have passwords lol. Thank you so much for making taochen! >w< <3<3<3
Rawdeyyy
#2
Chapter 14: ahahaha. phone is our second life uknow. to forget the password i cant live T..T
tomiiself #3
Chapter 13: ah I thought this is already finished haha. I kind of forget about it so I read it from chapter 1 again and I remember how much I love this fic, the way you write, some fluff and crack here and there, although I didn't expect the angst and how my heart ache while reading this... like please, finally, just a little bit more before taochen are together again... and yes, liyin is so cool, pretty, nice and all I kind of can he her being a good friend for Tao and Jongdae. I already can't wait for your next taochen, hopefully? No burden, really, because this story worth the wait and I'll wait for the next chapter patiently! I really, really love your writing and this taochen fic of yours ^^ <3<3<3
tomiiself #4
omg, so it's been months since the last time I visited aff to read and when I was checking my profile I see your notes and I forgot about this fic and I miss my taochen and I want to read them again ;v;
Mhtbleach
#5
Chapter 13: Tao really has to stop thinking with his head and should listen to his heart and d*ck and make Chenchen happy. And I love Lu. Listen to your ge ^^
ReadRealize #6
Chapter 13: luhan is really one of a kind. i would love a friend like him. zitao has to let go his fantasies of a perfect romance if he really likes jongdae. luhan speech is everything you need to hear
nymphDew88 #7
Chapter 12: Just found this ff... And you aren't a bad author .
Lucky Tao that Liyin is kind & so mature.. Just like a sister to her lil bro... Sorry but Tao.. You r so stupit.. You did two night stand with jongdae it doesn't mean you can make two mistake (okey.. What i'm sayin') ..really Tao, you already said sorry then you hurt him again.

I like this story, waiting for next chapter ;)
redpartycups
#8
Chapter 12: im going 2 suffocate who is this other guy
Mhtbleach
#9
Chapter 12: Why didn't I comment before? I'm really curious about that male that Chenchen is dating. I'm glad Zitao realized it was him who didn't allow more to develop. And I can understand Chenchen's feelings, but I still hope they can be together ^^
Mhtbleach
#10
Chapter 11: HZT, now I really wanna kick your , why are you so difficult?