The door opened and Tao was ushered in by Suho and Xiumin, who cast Kris dirty glares as he tried to get close to Tao. They brought Tao into Xiumin and Kyungsoo’s room quickly, and Tao didn’t even look at Kris. Kris tried to catch up with them, but Lay wouldn’t hear of it.

            “No, you’re staying here,” Lay said sternly. “Sit down.”

            “Don’t tell me what to do,” Kris snapped.

            “Oh, so you think you’re capable of making your own decisions? That’s funny, because I could have sworn that not one decision you made tonight was a good one.”

            “Shut up, Lay,” Kris said, still slightly slurring his words.

            “Kris, I don’t know what’s gotten into you tonight, but damn, you are a different person.”

            “Don’t say that word.”

            “Damn?” Lay asked.

            “Different,” Kris grumbled. Lay sighed.

            “Go to bed. And take some Tylenol. You’re going to get hell when you wake up.”

            “Not from you, I hope,” Kris spat.

            “Keep hoping,” Lay said seriously. “You ed up tonight, Kris. Just go to bed.”

            He did. Falling asleep was easier than he’d expected it to be, probably due to the alcohol.

            Lay had been right. Hell had surely been let loose when Kris woke up the next morning.

            For one, he had a killer headache.

            But worse was that he could hear Tao sniffling even in his room. Kris suddenly remembered everything that had happened the night before.

            “I have to go apologize,” Kris said, springing up.

            “Good luck even getting near him,” Lay, who was reading a book intently, shrugged. “There’s no way Suho’s gonna let you into that room, and I swear that if you try, Xiumin would fight you.”

            “I’ll get Kyungsoo to let me in,” Kris said determinedly.

            “He’s out with Kai. They didn’t want to be around for when everything explodes.”

            “I have to try,” Kris said desperately. “He’ll forgive me.”

            Lay put down his book forcefully.

            “You think so?” he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. “After what you did last night, I’d be surprised if he even looked at you again.”

            “All I did was kiss a girl while I was drunk. It’s an honest mistake.”

            “Honest?” Lay laughed darkly. “That’s not honest at all. Kris, listen to me. Tao has trust issues, remember? Nobody in his life has been good to him. And then you came along and he opened up. He trusted you. What may seem like a tiny slip-up to you is like the world’s biggest betrayal to him. Do you understand that?”

            Kris gulped. Lay was completely right.

            “Don’t you trust me?” Kris had asked.

            “More than anyone,” Tao had replied.

            “What do I do?” Kris whimpered. “How can I make it up to him?”

            “That’s for you to decide, not me. And try to make a good decision this time,” Lay said, picking up his book again.

            Kris stood and walked quietly to Xiumin and Kyungsoo’s room. He listened to Tao’s sniffles for several minutes.

            “Tao?” Suho said tenderly. “Here, give me a hug.”

            “I don’t want to,” he heard Tao say stubbornly.

            “Give Xiumin a hug then,” Suho offered, but Tao refused again.

Luhan walked by, glaring at Kris before he entered the room, closing the door behind him.

            “Luhan!” Suho cried. “Please talk to Tao; he won’t listen to us.”

            “You guys can go,” Luhan said kindly. “Thanks for taking care of him.”

            Kris suddenly had the urge to go hide. Even though Suho was no match for Kris physically, his scolding seemed like it could be harsh, and Kris didn’t want to risk getting yelled at. He ducked into Kai’s room, and once Xiumin and Suho were safely in the living room, Kris went back to stand where he’d been.

            Tao was crying again. Kris hated that sound. Tao’s sobs were the most heart wrenching thing Kris had ever heard. And the words that accompanied the crying just made it all worse.

            “What was wrong with me?” Tao asked Luhan tearfully.

            “Shhh, Tao, quietly. People can hear you,” Luhan said gently, but Tao didn’t listen.

            “Is there a problem with me? Was it because I wouldn’t let him put his tongue in my mouth? Or was I because I wouldn’t let him touch me?”

            “Wait, Tao, he didn’t try anything, did he?” Luhan asked darkly, but Tao only erupted in a fresh bout of tears in response. Kris wanted to cry too. He felt awful. “Tao,” Luhan continued, “there’s absolutely nothing wrong with you. You stood up for yourself. That’s good.”

            “Then why did he…why did he…”

            “He was drunk,” Luhan said quietly.

            “But he knew what he was doing,” Tao replied. “He knew yet he still…”

            “I don’t know, Tao,” Luhan said, “but I can assure you that you weren’t the problem.”

            Kris couldn’t stand there, just eavesdropping, any longer. He pushed open the door.

            “Tao, you’re not—”

            “Get out!” Luhan cried. “Get out.” Tao looked at Kris with the most broken and hollow expression Kris had ever seen. Kris was suddenly unable to move, seeing that obvious betrayal on Tao’s perfect face. “Kris! Leave! You’re only causing problems. You’re hurting him. Just leave!”

            “But I—”

            “Get out,” Luhan repeated angrily. Kris took one last glance at Tao’s horrible expression and left the room.

            “Kris,” Lay said, coming out of his room. “Where’s—oh, there you are. Your phone is ringing.” He held out Kris’s cell phone, which was indeed ringing.

            Kris turned it on sullenly.

            “Hello,” he sighed. The voice on the other end was the absolute last one he wanted to hear.

            “Kris! You’re awake. I thought you’d still be asleep; we did have a big night last night,” Saemi said in her annoyingly high voice.

            “Why are you calling me?” Kris asked tiredly.

            “I was thinking that since you and I are a thing now, we can go out to the club again tonight!” she said jovially.

            “Saemi, we’re not a thing. You and I are not a thing. I’m going out with Tao.”

            “Wait…with the boy you’re always with? You’re gay? Why did you kiss me then?”

            “I’m asking myself the same question,” Kris replied. “And I’m bi.”

            “,” she said angrily. “I’m so pissed, Kris. You kissed me. You led me on!”

            “You kissed me, Saemi!” Kris cried, getting angry himself.

            “And you reciprocated!”

            “I was drunk!” he said in frustration. “Saemi, I’m sorry, but no! Tao…he’s really important to me.”

            “And I’m not?” she yelled.

            “No, you’re not!” Kris yelled right back. “Maybe you didn’t hear me the first time, but Tao is the most important person to me. Please, just leave me alone. I’ve already messed up stuff with him and I don’t want it to get any worse.”

            “That’s your fault!” she cried. “I hope it does get worse, you jerk!” And with that, she hung up the phone abruptly.

            As much as Kris wanted to believe that it was Saemi’s fault that things were going badly with Tao, he knew it wasn’t. She’d been right. He had reciprocated. And he felt like it was possible that he was being unfair to her.

            He trudged back into his own room, where Lay was still intently reading his book.

            “Luhan kicked me out,” Kris sighed, dropping down onto his bed, “and Tao…he—his expression was—Lay, what do I do?”

            “Calm down, first of all. Just admit that you messed up,” Lay said, still not looking up.

            “I do! I freely admit that I messed up! But that doesn’t help anything!”

            “Well, I don’t know what to tell you then,” Lay sighed. “You’ll have to rebuild his trust, and that’s going to take a long time. This isn’t something that a simple apology can cure.”

            Suddenly, Suho opened their door.

            “Lay,” he said, “Tao is hungry, and we don’t have any food. Can you go buy something? Bring Kris with you since Kai isn’t here.”

            “Fine,” Lay said grudgingly, pushing himself up off of his bed. “Come on, Kris, let’s go.”

            Kris followed him, glancing at Suho as they neared the door, and Suho just shook his head. Kris slipped on his shoes and his jacket and opened the apartment door, only to see Chanyeol and Baekhyun standing in front of the door, kissing each other sweetly.

            He suddenly wanted to throw up.

            Baekhyun squeaked in surprise at being discovered, but Kris didn’t say anything as he and Chanyeol slid past Kris into the apartment.

            “Okay, sorry it took so long for me to get the money,” Lay said, reappearing. “Ready to g—oh , you look awful. Like you’ve seen a ghost.”

            “A ghost?” Kris murmured.

            “Come on,” Lay said sternly, realizing what Kris was thinking of. “Let’s go.”

            “But Saemi’s there…” Kris mumbled.

            “We’re going to a different store,” Lay explained. “Let’s go.”

            Kris followed him.

            “It’s this way?” Kris asked as they turned the opposite direction that they normally went. The route was already familiar to Kris, however.

            “Yeah. It’s near a library, I think,” Lay said.

            “Library…” Kris mused. Lay sighed audibly.

            “Yes. A library. And apartment buildings, restaurants, a Laundromat, and a florist, among other things.”

            “Wait, a florist?” Kris asked. “Do you think they sell roses?”

            “If you’re thinking that roses will cut it—”

            “It might help,” Kris said, responding to Lay’s skeptical expression. Kris sprinted off in hopes of finding the florist.

            “Hey!” Lay cried. “What about the groceries?”

            But Kris was on a mission. He remembered what Tao had said about receiving roses. The florist was right next to the library, a few buildings down from the convenience store.

            He rushed in, the door jingling behind him.

            “Hello,” the woman behind the counter said. “Can I help you?”

            “How much would it cost for me to buy all the roses in the store?” Kris asked breathlessly. The woman laughed kindly.

            “Quite a bit,” she said. “What’s the occasion?”

            “Apology,” Kris admitted. “But he loves roses, and just a dozen won’t do.”

            “How about two dozen?” she offered, but Kris shook his head.

            “I’ll just take as many as I can carry. Five dozen? Six?”

            “You must be very sorry,” the woman said concernedly.

            “You have no idea,” Kris replied. “I’ll take six dozen.” The woman nodded.

            It took nearly half an hour for her to finish cutting all the roses, and she’d just handed them to Kris when Lay raced into the shop, breathing deeply, his eyes full of panic.

            “Kris!” he cried.

            “What’s wrong?” Kris asked, holding the flowers in his hands.

             “Chen called,” Lay replied anxiously. “Tao is missing.”

            “What?” Kris cried. “What do you mean?”

            “Chen said that they looked in Tao’s room and he was just gone. He’s not in the apartment. They’ve searched the entire building.”

            “I have to find him,” Kris said, wracking his brain. Where could Tao have gone?

            “Can you think of anywhere he would go?” Lay asked desperately. Kris paused for a second.

            “Yes,” he replied, racing towards the door of the shop. “Yes.”

HAPPY CAMP WAS HAPPY.

A/N: I'm loving Lay hahaha. The advice he gives. Also Baekyeol!! Hoorah~ I'll start writing their story tonight.

You may have noticed that Simple now has a poster! Thank you to Ahjussi & Chicken Graphic Shop for their lovely work~

So I would do comment replies, but y'all kind of said the same thing, something along the lines of "NO KRIS WHY" or "SAEMI YOU " or "AW TAO I'LL LOVE YOU IT'S OKAY." So I guess yeah. Kris doesn't know why either, Saemi is a but also a human, and I love Tao too so it's okay hehehe. Actually though like Saemi...yeah it's kind of depressing that as a female character she's the one everyone hates. But I've never considered myself a feminist so it's all good hehehe. I'm glad I got a response out of y'all! This was like...SO MANY COMMENTS OMG. I'd have spent like an hour and a half trying to answer them all and thinking of new things to say to generally the same comment. But I still love you guys a lot. I'm nearing 500 subs for this story! 

Anyway, this is probably the penultimate or maybe third to last chapter. I am open to the possibility of a sequel though. Thoughts?

♥ Exie