“What?” Tao said in surprise as Kris followed him out the door on his way to tutoring. “You have to do tutoring? But you’re so good at English!”

            “I guess I’m not as good as I thought,” Kris shrugged.

            “I can’t tutor you!” Tao cried, stopping. Kris looked affronted.

            “Why not?” he asked.

            “You’re…too good at English…” Tao said shyly, looking at his feet once again. Kris smiled at Tao’s cuteness. He really was adorable when he was shy.

            “Not as good as you,” Kris grinned.

            “But…I’m happy you’re coming. The boys from 2-C are a little…well, they’re a little rowdy sometimes. Xiumin can handle them, but I can’t really.”

            Kris’s heart fluttered. Tao said he was happy for him to come. He didn’t even mind Tao mentioning Xiumin. Kris knew that he would be the one there to comfort Tao, not Xiumin.

            “Xiumin’s meeting the guys from 2-C, so you and I can go,” Tao explained, looking up at Kris.

            “Okay,” he smiled. He seriously couldn’t stop smiling around Tao, and he didn’t know why. He didn’t mind all that much.

            “I think I’m going to go over subjects and objects today. Do you need help with that?” Tao asked as they walked towards the school.

            “I don’t think so,” Kris said, still smiling.

            “What kinds of questions did you get wrong?” Tao persisted, trying to get a feel for what he should be teaching Kris.

            “Everything, I guess,” Kris shrugged.

            “Then, do you need help with past tense?”

            “No.”

            “Irregular verbs?”

            “No.”

            “Articles?”

            “Not really, no,” Kris said.

            “What then?” Tao asked. “Everything except for those?”

            “Past subjunctive?” Kris ventured, realizing that he couldn’t very well admit to Tao that he had failed the test on purpose.

            Tao sighed.

            “We can go over that another time, I guess. The guys are a little behind for that at this point,” he said.

            By the time they’d reached the school, Xiumin and the two guys from 2-C were waiting for them.

            “Tao! Oh, Kris, what are you doing here?” Xiumin asked.

            “I’m here for tutoring,” Kris said.

            “Okay…” Xiumin said, eyeing Kris warily. “I thought you were good at English.”

            “It’s a long story,” Kris said. One of the boys from 2-C coughed.

            “Oh, yeah,” Tao said, “this is Taemin and this is Gongchan from 2-C.”

            Kris froze. He wasn’t surprised that the guys were named Taemin and Gongchan, nor was he surprised that Tao introduced them.

            Tao had tugged on Kris’s shirt to get his attention. If that wasn’t the most adorable thing ever, Kris didn’t know what was.

            “Uh, Kris?” Gongchan said. “Are you ready?”

            “What?”

            “I asked if you were ready to go in, but you look like you’re kind of spacing out.”

            “No, no, I’m ready,” Kris said, glancing at Tao. Tao gave Kris a tiny smile as they walked into the building.

            Aerin was there, waiting for them to begin.

            “Ah, Kris, I’m glad you came,” she said. “Hopefully you’ll improve for next time, right?”

            “I’ll try,” Kris lied. Doing better on the tests meant leaving Tao with Xiumin and the 2-C guys. Kris didn’t like the sound of that.

            But by the middle of the tutoring session, Kris has kind of forgotten about his apparent hate for Xiumin and the boys from 2-C. Like Tao had said, they were nice and funny, albeit a little rowdy at times. But Kris liked them well enough.

            The thing Kris liked most about the tutoring session, though, was the fact that Tao smiled a lot. It’s not as if they were big smiles, with his eyes crinkling up and his teeth showing (Kris had yet to see one of those), but Kris didn’t mind those smiles where his twinkling eyes got slightly smaller and his perfect lips curled up. In fact, he liked them. He got an adrenaline rush every time he saw one.

            After what seemed like no time at all, Aerin ushered them out of the classroom.

            “It’s already seven! Your roommates are going to be worried!” she said, practically pushing them out the door. Taemin and Gongchan scoffed.

            “Our roommates couldn’t care less where we are,” Taemin explained laughingly, and Gongchan nodded in agreement.

            “Hey, Tao, Kris,” Xiumin said, “do you think the guys would mind if I hung out with 2-C tonight? They have this new game I’ve been meaning to try without Lay getting in the way.”

            “I think they’d be fine,” Kris said. He thought happily to himself that this got Xiumin out of the way so he could go home with Tao.

            “Great!” Gongchan said. “Come on, let’s go!” The three boys waved to Kris and Tao and went off towards 2-C’s dorms, which were on the opposite side of the school from 2-A’s.

            “Did I do a good job?” Tao asked.

            “You did great,” Kris smiled again. He seriously couldn’t stop smiling. Tao smiled back, and Kris’s heart warmed once again.

            “Do you think you’ll do better on the next quiz?”

            “I don’t know,” Kris replied.

            “Oh,” Tao pouted (cutely, although Kris knew he shouldn’t think that way), looking dejected. “I hope you do better. Because then that means that I’m a good tutor.”

            Kris was suddenly torn. He wanted to let Tao know that he was a good tutor but at the same time still have to go to tutoring.

            “I…you are a good tutor, Tao. I’m sure I’ll do better next week.”

            Tao smiled again. Kris really was getting addicted to those smiles.

            “What do you think Luhan is making for dinner?” Kris asked, making small talk.

            “He said something about fish. I don’t know really,” Tao said conversationally. “Uh, you know how he and Sehun are roommates?”

            “Yeah,” Kris replied. “What about them?”

            “Just…never mind.”

            “No, what?” Kris prodded. “Tao, don’t be shy. You can ask me stuff, you know.” Tao took a breath.

            “Well, I mean…they’re going out and they’re roommates, so…isn’t that…bad?” Tao ventured, looking up at Kris with hesitation in his eyes. “You never know…”

            “Tao, think about it this way,” Kris explained. “They love each other, right?”

            “Yes…” Tao agreed.

            “And they know each other well enough to be comfortable around each other.”

            “Yes.”

            “So, does it really matter what they’re doing?”

            “Well…but…since they’re both guys…”

            “Tao,” Kris said gently, “do they make you uncomfortable?”

            “Truthfully…yes. I just…I don’t understand how that can possibly happen,” Tao said.

            “Love is tricky like that,” Kris said, and Tao just nodded, looking worried. Tao opened the door to the dorm once they got back, and all conversation was forgotten when a tantalizing smell reached their noses.

            Tao turned to Kris looking excited.

            “STEAK,” Tao said. He tugged at Kris’s shirt again and Kris swore his heart was about to explode it was beating so fast. “Come on, let’s go see if it’s ready!”

            Tao led Kris into the kitchen, where Luhan and Baekhyun were cooking the steaks in a broiler. Baekhyun stood up and noticed Kris and Tao.

            “Oh, hi!” he said. “So, Lay and Kai decided to spoil us tonight and bought us steaks. Of course, this means we’ll be eating nothing good for the next few days, but we figured it was worth it.”

            “I love steak,” Tao said, staring at the oven as Luhan stood up as well. He smiled.

            “I’m glad,” Luhan said.

            “Oh yeah, Xiumin’s not coming home tonight. He went to go hang out with the guys from 2-C.”

            “Oh well, more steak for us,” Chanyeol said as he bounded into the kitchen. “I already made another cake tonight too.” Tao’s eyes brightened even more. He looked absolutely beyond excited for the meal, and Kris had to laugh. It was really endearing.

            “Xiumin is really missing out,” Baekhyun laughed. “Chanyeol’s cakes are the best.” Chanyeol grinned widely at him.

            “Alright, shoo, you guys. Baekhyun and I need room to finish preparing the steaks. Lay and Chen are playing some game; you can go watch them.”

            The three boys left the kitchen, and on their way to the living room, Kai stopped Kris.

            “Uh, hey, can I talk to you?” Kai asked, looking nervous. “Like…in my room? It’s kinda…You’re the only person I can really tell…”

            “Sure…” Kris said tentatively. Tao looked at him questioningly. “I’ll be right back,” Kris said, and Tao nodded.

            He and Kris walked into Kai’s room. He hadn’t been into Kai’s room since they moved in, and it was extremely plain, save for the posters that had been messily ripped down from the walls.

            “What happened? Isn’t that a T-ara poster on the ground?” Kris asked.

            “I don’t like them anymore,” Kai sighed. He sat on his bed.

            “Okay, so what is it?” Kris asked. Kai began nervously.

            “You know how I talked to you about…stuff…a few days ago?”

            “Yeah,” Kris said, reminded of his conversation.

            “Well…I’m pretty sure now.”

            “Okay,” Kris replied, not really sure why he needed to be there if Kai was sure.

            “Is it like…I mean, now that Sehun and Luhan are…out, for lack of a better word, I guess it’s okay for me to be…also, right?”

            “Yeah, it’s fine,” Kris said reassuringly.

            “Okay,” Kai said. He took a deep breath. “I’ll just spit it out then.” He took another deep breath. “God. I like Kyungsoo.”

            “I know,” Kris smiled.

            “What? How did you know?” Kai asked.

            “I’m really observant,” Kris laughed.

            “Ah,” Kai sighed. “I wonder if he knows.”

            “I don’t know him well enough to judge. Take it slow. What made you like him? If you don’t mind telling me, that is.”

            “I don’t mind. It was the first day when we were playing basketball. He was the first to rush over. He took care of me. And he took off his shirt to staunch the bleeding…and it was so weird but I found him insanely attractive at that point. Is that weird?”

            “No,” Kris replied. “It’s fine.”

            “My heart would flutter every time I talked to him,” Kai continued, but something felt wrong to Kris. “And I’d do stupid things like faking a limp just to spend more time with him.”

            Kris was sure that this was sounding a little too familiar.

            “And the biggest thing was that I always found myself thinking how cute he was. And even though Baekhyun and Luhan called him cute sometimes…I knew that the way I thought of him as cute was different than the way they thought of him.”

            Kris swallowed thickly. Cute? He’d thought that so many times that it was just habit, and he hadn’t realized it at all.

            “Kris? Kris? Are you okay?” Kai asked.

            “Oh God,” Kris said, standing up. “Oh God.”

A/N: Oho!

Anyway I literally just now finished writing the chapter and my internet turns off in exactly five minutes, so...I don't have time to respond to comments today. Tomorrow I will add my responses. I promise. 

Thanks for being so supportive, guys! I hope you liked this chapter. I really did.

♥ Exie