" It's just a drabble and 99.99999999% won't have any sequels or prequels or any other chaps following it."

Well there was a 0.00000001 chance right? XD

From: Taobaby

Es Tut Mir Leid.

When Kris read the text message he didn't understand a thing. How could he though? He literally just woke up when his phone notified him of an incoming message.  When he saw it was from Tao he didn't think anything bad, probably the younger was notifying him when his train would be coming so Kris would be able to pick him up. But those 4 foreign words puzzled him. It was only after showering and cooking himself breakfast that Kris realized this was a new level of Tao's game: Tao sent Kris some words or phrases in German he found either beautiful or funny, and Kris had the task to translate them and send Tao the answer, or simply call him. This game had been going on for a while, with Tao finding new phrases almost every third day.

Luckily for him, Kris never got tired of it. Even though he would probably never admit it, he found quite the satisfaction in guessing why Tao liked that particular word or phrase so much and he also learned something new in the proccess.

So, while eating his breakfast, Kris decided to pay his dearest friend google translator a visit first and ask him about those mysterious words Tao sent. First he copied them from Tao's message and found out that it meant "I am sorry". Knowing that Tao would never send him something he could just translate like that, Kris started putting in the words one at a time, to translate their own meanings and connect them all together in the end.

"Es" turned into "it", "Tut" became "does", "Mir" was  "me" and "Leid" turned out to be "pain", or "suffering". Connected the words meant "It does me pain" - now Kris understood why Tao liked that sentence. It seemed like a much more sincere apology now than a simple "I'm sorry", not just conveing an apology but saying that the words or actions a person has said or done pained him afterwards. It was beautiful.

Deciding to wait with his revelation until he can pick up Tao from the train station, Kris settled for finishing his breakfast and cleaning his room a bit, thinking about the phrase occasionally and why Tao would have picked that phrase on this particular day.

When time came to pick Tao up, he saw the younger running to him from the train asfast as possible as he could with a suitcase. Spotting Kris was not difficult at all, considering he towered over half the people in the train station. Kris already prepared himself to welcome Tao into a tight welcoming hug, loving they way he instantly felt at home with him in his arms. But instead of the typical "I'm here" or "Love you" he heard Tao whisper "Es tut mir leid"

"What are you sorry for?"

Hearing Kris ask him that Tao beamed - Kris once again managed to decode his message.

"Well... let me tell you in the car..it's kinda embarassing"

Kris was beginning to worry, it was not like Tao to be like this, this shy.

"Ok, let's go" he said, taking Tao's suitcase in one hand and holding Tao's hand with the other hand.

When they reached the car, Tao began to fidget and look really nervous. Now Kris was really worried. What could have happened to make Tao this giddy? He was bound to find out anyway, Tao could never keep secrets from him.

"So... we are in the car, now spill it. What happened?"

"I kinda... I forgot something important at home.." was Tao's response, seeming even more nervous and scared of Kris' reaction than before.

"What? Did you forget your wallet again? It can't be your phone, you texted me this morning. What is it?"

"Well... I forgot the dumplings my mom made for us to eat and I know how much you love her dumplings and she made them especially for you and I forgot them and now I feel like - "

"Tao, stop! You're rambling!" Kris stopped Tao's waterfall of words.

"Why would you even worry about that? We can go to your house next so don't worry about small things like these. You made me worry!"

"So you're not mad?"

"No, as I said, it's no big deal" Kris answered, a relaxed smile on his lips now that he knew that Tao was not in trouble.

"Phew, thank you. But still... Es tut mir leid." Tao giggled, leaning against Kris while he was driving them home to his apartment where Tao was going to stay for a week.

"Apology accepted."