Tao’s eyes fluttered open as gentle words drifted into his ears. As Tao’s pupils adjusted to almost nonexistent light, he felt his body awaken and instinctively began to stretch the sleep out of his muscles. But with the movement came a searing pain. He instantly clenched his body into a fetal position and clasped onto the grey shirt he was facing. As if it was a reflex, he pulled himself closer to the body beside him, digging his face into the nape of the person’s neck so that his moans would be muffled. 

The body responded in kind. A hand was moved behind his head. Calming words were whispered into his hair. His body was rocked tenderly. Minutes passed as Tao slowly accustomed himself to the now familiar pain in his waist.  When he could finally breathe at a steady pace he pulled his head away and looked up into the face of the person he had attached himself to so impulsively. Though it was dark, Tao could see the long, sharp lines of the face before him. It was a face he had seen many times before, always asleep, always beautiful. It was Kris.

Tao looked into the dark eyes of his closest friend, forgetting for a second that he was in pain; forgetting that he was only allowed to stare while Kris was still asleep; forgetting that he wasn’t supposed to love the way those big eyes gazed back at him.

~

Tao was still dancing. Why on earth was he still dancing? The other M members had crawled to their water bottles the moment their dance instructor had released them. They had then sprawled out on the floor, relishing the opportunity for rest; but not Tao. No. Tao had decided that he would continue to practice despite the dark circles under his eyes and the sweat oozing down his face. He would practice his shirt wrenching, body snapping, and body rolling even though his hair was matted and he had yet to catch his breath. Ridiculous.

 But then again, he wasstill making mistakes. Kris watched the tall boy move about dance floor to the soundtrack in his head. He missed a step on the 3 count. He didn’t bend down far enough on the layering. His movements were sloppy when was on the edge of the circle. How could he forget the arm slides? They had just learned those 20 minutes ago!

‘I should just stop watching,’ he thought to himself after witnessing a forgotten move once again. But his eyes wouldn’t turn away. They stayed glued to the martial artist despite how dreadful he performed. Something about the boy kept his eyes from changing their object of attention. Maybe it was the way the magnae would pout when he couldn’t think of the next move. Maybe it was that the sweat, which seemed to make his body glisten in the mirror. Or maybe Kris was just a good leader, trying to learn about the mistakes of a member so that he could help him more in the future. ‘Yea, that one sounds good,’ he thought.

“Kris…”

“Wah?” Kris said as he jumped and turned towards the boy on his right. Luhan was lying down on his back, eyes closed, with his head resting on Lay’s thigh.

“You’re staring,” Luhan stated as a smile spread on his lips.

“What? No. This… This… what I’m doing,” he said while pointing to himself emphatically, “is notstaring.”

“Oh yea. Mhmm” Luhan said, nodding his head in mock agreement. Kris snorted.

“Your eyes aren’t even open! What do you know?”

“And yet I stillknow that you’re staring at him…” With that last statement Luhan opened his eyes and gave Kris a knowing smirk.

“Whatever,” Kris grumbled as he turned away from the boys, brought his knees to his chest and rested his chin there. He was definitely not staring. Watching, maybe, but hadn’t he already established that that was because he was just a really good leader? I mean, maybe he paid a little extra attention to Tao here and there, but that was just because he was the magnae. He needed a little extra help. And he’s just so, so sweet and innocent and… cute. ‘, no, not cute.’ He shook his head at the thought. What he had meant was… um… ‘Cute.’ Kris raised his head from his knees and looked up at the dancing boy once more. He watched as he stumbled through another move and cried out in frustration. It was cute, plain and simple.

Kris brought his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes as his mind started to race. If Tao was cute could he also be attractive? Kris glanced up and immediately checked yes mentally. Tao was extraordinarily attractive. If Tao was attractive did that mean he was… uallyattractive? As the leader stared at the dancer before him one word flashed in his head: yes. “Oh hell,” he mumbled as he let his head crash into the wall behind him.
~

Tao had been taken to the hospital early that morning. He was given an IV drip, adrenaline pills, and excessive amounts of painkillers so that he would be able to make it through the flight and their Chinese showcase. And though he could have been upset that he was still expected to perform, he just wasn’t. Every time he started to get upset, he saw Kris; Kris who stayed with him the entire time. The leader didn’t really say much; he rarely did. But he was always there. He was there to hold his hand when the pain was just a little too much. He was there to help him walk when he just didn’t have the strength to move. He was even there to bring him water and more painkillers when requested.

But after this morning, something had changed. For the first time since Tao had entered his friend’s bed the leader had returned his morning gazes, those personal, intimate looks. And though Tao didn’t exactly know why, he knew that things were different because he was suddenly noticingKris. He noticed that the color of his lips matched his skin tone perfectly. He noticed that his high cheekbones exaggerated his sharp chin. He noticed how he seemed to glide across the floor as his long legs carried him from place to place. He even noticed a new facial expression. He thought he knew every look that could cross Kris’s face, but he hadn’t known that look. The look he had given him this morning. It was almost… yearning? Tao didn’t know and wasn’t sure he wanted to know what that look was or what it was supposed to mean.

But even when he wasn’t thinking about that look, he was thinking about himself. You see, not only was he seeing Kris differently, he, himself, was acting differently. His responses to Kris were… unusual. He was suddenly shy around the older boy, never initiating contact. He didn’t instinctually lean towards the boy when he needed help like he used to. Kris had to offer. He didn’t even reach for the leader’s hand even one time. Kris had grabbed it. And during the showcase, he remembers turning bright red when Kris had talked about him. Every word seemed to sink in; each one turning his cheeks a brighter and brighter shade. Handsome. Beautiful. Likeable. Cute. That’s how Kris described him. Everything was different.

Despite all these sudden changes he still wanted to be with Kris. That’s why he was angry. Because they hadn’t roomed him with the leader, and the thought of not having Kris by his side tonight, despite how shy he had felt around him all day, made him feel sick. He needed that strong body by his side tonight. He needed to feel safe tonight. He needed Kris tonight.

“No,” their manager replied firmly.

“But I really don’t mind switching,” Chen assured the older, stout man.

“I said no,” he repeated as his face hardened. “We made these assignments a week ago and it will too much of a hassle to switch. It’s one night, you’ll live.”

Tao tried to keep himself from frustrated tears as Xiumin helped him put his things into their room. One thing; he had only asked for one stupid little thing and he just had to say no. As his mind raced with various insults aimed towards his hyung he began to tear through his bag looking for sleeping clothes and his facial care products. Why the hell did he pack so much for one week? After a few minutes of getting of accomplishing nothing but wrinkling all his clothes, he just dumped the bag upside and shook out its contents, much to Xiumin’s wordless surprise. As he rummaged through his now scattered belongings he saw a white room key.

“Xiumin,” Tao said as he looked up at the older boy who was pulling out his neatly folded pajamas. “Where are our room keys?”

“On the night stand,” he replied as he pointed to the table between their beds. Tao saw two white keys already sitting there. He then looked back down at the key in his hands and realization finally hit. Kris must have given him a key. A large smile spread across his cheeks.

‘So damn considerate,’ he thought. As he quickly changed clothes more adjectives for Kris began to flash across his mind as well. Sweet. Caring. Compassionate. Helpful. Wonderful… He paused on the last thought as he left his room, not even noticing Xiumin silently raising his hand and opening his mouth to call out to the magnae. ‘Wonderful,’ he thought again as he reached Kris’s door. “I think that one describes him the best,” he whispered to himself as he silently entered the older boy’s room.

Chen was standing in front of the bathroom sink washing his face while Kris was already under the covers with his eyes closed. When Tao entered Chen glanced up at the intrusion.

“What are you doing here?” He asked, confusion evident on his face.

“Don’t worry about it,” Kris answered, eyes still closed.

“But…”

“I said don’t worry about it Chen,” he repeated as Tao moved towards the bed. He was about to lift the covers and slide in, like he had done a hundred times, when he suddenly felt shy once more. He saw the gentle curve of Kris’s hips under the covers; the long, perfectly shaped nose and those delicate fingers that were hanging just under that v-shaped chin. Something about the situation suddenly felt awkward. Maybe he should just go back to his room.

“Are you going to get in?” Kris asked, opening his eyes and looking up at the younger boy. His brows clenched together. ‘Concern. Worry,’ Tao thought.

“Uh, yea. Sure,” he mumbled as he slowly slid in beside the leader. And though he was going to keep his distance, he suddenly smelled Kris. He had always loved the way he smelled after he had washed his face for the night; so sweet, yet still manly. He breathed in deeply. He then breathed in again, moving closer and closer to the leader with each consecutive breath.  That was when Chen coughed. The younger boy looked up at the sound and realized his nose was practically touching Kris’s cheek. Tao abruptly pulled away and flashed Chen an apologetic smile as he turned away from the big eyes were staring at him far too intensely at that moment.

‘What am I doing?’ he thought as he laid his head down on top of his hands. Then he felt Kris’s arm wrap around his waist gently, followed by his bare chest. It was so warm, so solid, and so perfect. The heartbeat behind him was so rhythmic; he fell asleep within a few minutes, his worries erased by the steady beat; at least until the morning. 

So somehow my 'Oh, I'll update tomorrow' turned into 'Oh its been a week and a half and I'm still editing this ,' which is a huge fail on my part. But its twice as long as normal, so that counts for something right? yea... I know. I'm sorry. =( I feel like a the crappiest of authors, so thank you so much for sticking with me and this story. I will make sure to to comment responses shortly. I have to wake up at 7 work tomorrow morning, so please forgive me. I will do my best to update in a reasonable amount of time. =D