“Can you read this?” Tao asked plopping down on the couch beside me. His hair was still damp from the shower and I could smell my strawberry conditioner from where I sat. Before I could smell Tao again like the weird person I am, I took the piece of paper from him.

The text had gone completely blurry, with blotches of ink everywhere.

“What happened to this?” I asked.

The male explained how he had that in his jeans’ pockets that got damp last night. Forgetting that it was there, it was left wet the whole night causing the ink to scatter. Though he also added that what was now just blurry words and ink spots used to be his friend’s house’s address.

Luckily the words were still a bit readable. “Oh. It’s near where I used to work,”

Work. The number of jobs I’ve had for the past few years of my existence is as blurry as the words on the piece of paper. For years I’ve learned that relying on my father was never the best thing to do. He cared about his business so much that he probably forgets that he has a family to live. The problem was, it was hard enough to feed myself while striving to pay the bills of my condo but I have to send money to the province every end of the month as well. I’ve been leaning on Su Ho and Sun Mi for support for so long; I’m already beginning to think that I owe them a price equivalent to my own life.

The nudge on my shoulder snapped me out of my world of dilemmas. I looked up, greeted by Tao’s soft worried eyes.

“I’m okay,” I sighed. Forcing a laugh but badly failing. I stood up and grabbed my satchel on the floor. The sooner my attention gets averted elsewhere, the better. All this thinking about money and work is giving me a headache.

Taking the taxi to the address on Tao’s piece of paper, we got some time to talk about things. I learned a lot about Tao like more about his family’s business in China and how he had been studying wushu for almost all his life. When I was a kid I wanted to enroll in taekwondo so I was a bit jealous of Tao. He asked a fair amount of questions as well like what was my family like and if I had siblings. Though when he brought up the topic of the picture he saw in my wallet, I couldn’t bring myself to open up and I looked outside the window, leaving the question unanswered in mid air.

I didn’t want to talk about Jeremy because I don’t want to remember how I was linked to that man years ago.

Finally the taxi stopped before a tall building. We got off and double checked the address on the paper to that of the building. Yep. This was definitely it. From here, Tao remembered everything from what floor his friend lived and what was the number of his condo unit. If you ask me, he was kind of excited seeing how he made long quick strides along the quiet hall.

We reached his friend’s condo unit. Tao knocked on the door and I impatiently tapped my foot on the floor. A few moments later the door swung open and Tao wrapped his arms around the male saying “Baixian hyung!”

“What took you so long? I thought you would arrive yesterday,” Baixian said gasping for air after that bear hug from Tao.

“I got…lost,” He admitted, bowing his head in embarrassment.

Baixian took notice of my presence and gave me a small bow. “I’m Byun Baekhyun,”

“I thought your name was Baixian?” I asked.  

“This guy calls me Baixian because it’s my Chinese name,” He said, nudging Tao with his elbow.

Baekhyun invited me to go in but I declined. “I need to go home. I have…uh…some things to take care of,”

“No you don’t,” Tao blurted earning him a glare from me. It’s not that I didn’t want to be in Tao and Baekhyun’s company but I wasn’t really in the mood. I wanted to go home and look through the newspaper for more job offers so I could quit my hell of a job with that old domineering boss.

So with that I bid my goodbye to the two. I was waiting for the elevator doors to open when suddenly, loud footsteps running down the hall made me look over my shoulder. Tao was struggling to put on his leather jacket and had successfully slipped in both his arms when he stopped beside me.

“What…”

“Can I not spend the day with you?” Tao said wearing leather gloves in both hands.

“Where are we going then?” I asked as we stepped inside the elevator.

Tao smiled “Wherever the wheels could takes us,”

When he meant wheels, I didn’t know he literally meant wheels. I stared at the two wheeled vehicle with a palpitating heart and trembling knees. Riding a vehicle like this has never crossed my mind because the news of people getting into accidents because of this is countless.

“Uh…are you sure you can drive this thing,” I gulped as Tao rid on the black motorcycle. He looked at me through the helmet which made only the upper portion of his face visible.  He nodded, handing me a white head gear.

I shook my head and took steps back. There was no way I’d ride something like this. Ever. I have ridden normal bikes before and that’s the only two wheeler vehicle I’d ever ride.

Tao got off the bike and approached me. “Are you scared of motorcycles?”

“Well…afraid of getting into accidents actually,” I puffed my cheeks. Admitting weakness was the thing I hated doing most.

“I won’t let harm get to you don’t worry,” He laughed, placing the helmet on my head. “I’ll protect you okay?”

I nodded and let him lead me back to the motorcycle. Tao started the engines but the bike was not moving forward. “Is everything okay?” I asked.

Tao looked at me from over his shoulder then at his waist. At first I didn’t understand what he meant until he did it again. “You’re afraid to get into accidents aren’t you?” he said.

“But…uh…fine,” I subsided and admit defeat, slowly wrapping my arms around his waist but keeping a fair distance from him and my arms. The moment we started moving forward though, out of fear, I constricted my arms tightly against his body. We were moving so fast that I thought I left my soul behind. I prayed to the high heavens to at least let me live another day as we made our way through the city traffic.

The motorcycle swayed and leaned so much that I couldn’t help but close my eyes every time we made a turn. But the one thing that I liked about the ride was the wind.

Maybe when I was still in my mother’s womb, she would go to the seaside or by a cliff where the wind was pure and strong. The warm seaside breeze that hits my face when we go to the beach makes me feel calm and at peace. That’s why I enjoy the sea so much. The sound of the crashing water against the sand harmonized with music the rustling leaves make when the wind hits them was my form of paradise. Actually swimming on the sea was never my main purpose whenever we took beach trips. It was the feeling of the sand under my feet and the music of nature accompanied by that warm breeze that washes away all my worries in life. With the wind I felt freedom, like a bird.

Throughout the whole ride I kept my eyes closed and my face pressed against Tao’s back. I heard his breathing. The sound of his beating heart calmed me down like a mother’s pulse. I studied how it beats faster whenever I moved my arms around his waist. It was my form of entertainment since I was too frightened to look around just like what Tao recommended. I’d rather listen to his heart and smile knowing that it was beating fast because of me.

After what seemed to be five years in hell, the vehicle slowly stopped. I opened my eyes and the surroundings had gone completely different. There were no more city skyscrapers. Instead, before me was a beautiful cliff side view of what seemed to be the city.

“Let’s not do that again,” Tao said. I’ve noticed how his face was bright pink when he removed his helmet making me laugh.

“How did you know about this place?” I asked, sitting down on a stone bench near the edge. Tao took a seat beside me.

“From Baixian. He showed me this when I first came to Korea,”

“It’s so peaceful up here,” I let my eyes wander around. Listening to the sound the trees make whenever a gust of wind would rustle their leaves.

“You should see it in the evening,” He replied.

“Is it that nice?” I asked in curiosity. Tao gave me an affirming nod.

So we waited for night to come. It gave us more time to talk to one another, helping the two of us know more about each other. Talking to him for almost three hours, I’ve noticed how he wasn’t the shy type at all. It was only at first that he seemed reserved and afraid to open to the world. But soon he began talking formally to me and would freely laugh whenever I’d make a clumsy mistake with the Chinese words he taught me.

“Hey shouldn’t I teach you hangul?” I crossed my arms.

“But I’m so good at it already,” He replied making me roll my eyes and causing us both to laugh.

“Mandarin is hard,” I groaned.

“No it isn’t,” Tao responded after taking a bite off his sandwich that I’ve packed. Luckily for him I always bring food or else we’d starve up here.

“Well it’s because that’s your language,”

By the passing afternoon, the stars were beginning to emerge. The sun was already saying its goodbye, preparing itself for a peaceful slumber, while the moon climbs up the sky. With the city lights , Seoul looked more beautiful, more colorful. There were arrays of colors that differ from building to building. Tao was right. the view was more breathtaking in the evening. I had a problem of what to look at though: the city or the beautiful stars in the sky?

Looking at the stars though strains my neck. I looked around and saw that no one was seated beside me anymore. There was a rush of panic in me, thinking that Tao left me here, but then I spotted him lying down on the grassy ground.

“I thought you left me,” I complained, standing beside him.

“It’s better to look at the stars like this,” He said, patting the space beside him, inviting me to lie down.

I did as asked and l lied down beside him. We probably stayed like that for a couple of minutes; just watching the sky and listening to the crickets rub their wings together. This was just the peace and quiet I needed.

“The sky is beautiful isn’t it?” I turned my head to the male beside me only to find him looking at me.

His eyes were soft as they stared at mine “Beautiful,” Tao murmured before looking elsewhere.

Did he just call me beautiful?

No way. I shrugged the thought off. He called the stars beautiful not you. Weren’t you asking about how the skies where beautiful just a moment ago? But if he spoke in Mandarin, did he think I wouldn’t understand? If he did think like that then what could be his purpose of hiding his answer? Ah I don’t know.

Tao sat up and stretched his arms out wide. “Let’s go?” He said standing up and offering me a hand.

I took his hand and he pulled me to my feet in one go. After dusting the leaves of my back, we both walked to the motorcycle again.

“Ugh not again,” I groaned as I got on the bike.

At least the ride back was not as bad as the ride to the cliff. I just kept thinking about the beautiful view of the city and again listened to Tao’s heartbeat and I was okay. Of course opening my eyes was still impossible. No amount of persuasion from Tao to open my eyes and look around could make me do so.

When we arrived, I got off and handed Tao my helmet. “I need to sleep,” I said massaging my temples. Too much adrenaline rush from that ride made my brain throbbing in pain. I turned around and walked back to the building when something grabbed my shoulder. Instinctively I swung my hand and slapped the male. It was too late for me to realize that it was just Tao wanting to return my bag.

He placed his hands over his burning face. I must’ve slapped him so hard since the sound I made when my palms got in contact with his cheek was pretty loud.

“I’m sorry!” I panicked “You shouldn’t have crept at me like that!”

Tao brought his hands down revealing his cheek really red. I could see the mark of my hand if I look intently enough. “Does it hurt?” I asked.

He nodded and scrunched his face.

I don’t know what hit me that night. Maybe the adrenaline rush was still there but something made me tiptoe and plant a kiss on his wounded cheek. Tao looked at me with wide eyes. Realizing what I did kicked in a little later and my face began burning in embarrassment.

Suddenly there was the roar of engines coming to life. A car that has been parked there when we arive quickly drove by us, almost hitting Tao’s motorcycle.

In the driver’s seat…wait…was that Kris?

sorry I haven't updated in a while. I got a very very bad case of writer's block v__v whenever I get an idea it would either dissapear a few seconds later or it would be hard to write it down in words. Sometimes I'd write something, read it, and find it rubish. Ugh I hate having writer's block. Seriously it was annoying. 

Anyway. GUYS OT12 TODAY SO I HAD TO UPDATE. LMAO. And Exo M would be in Show Champion. Yay! And and and...they would air Happy Camp soon. Oh god I've been waiting so long for that show. By the way guys don't share any happy camp photos because the show might cut out the scenes that are leaked. Okay? Hehehe. 

Oh by the way, Exo K dancing Sorry Sorry was pure heaven. Exo should wear suits...forever.

Hope this chapter was okay. 

- Kleo ♥