Word count: 8,078

Summary: Kris realizes Tao's always been with him, now he wants to return the favor

The first time Kris sees him, he is nine years old.

The Chinese boy was called Li Jiaheng then and had just moved into a new home; an average sized house with an extravagant garden in the back filled with daises, roses and other flowers of the color spectrum. However, the boy doesn’t care much for plants and scenery; if there’s a grassy field he could kick a ball in, then that’s good enough for him. Jiaheng dribbles around the farthest tree when he slips in the mud and slides to the very edge of the yard. His mother has warned him of the wet terrain since it had rained the other night and made him promise not to get dirty. Unfortunately for him, that couldn’t be avoided.

Jiaheng stands up cautiously, glaring down at his legs encased in mud and sopping wet shorts. His mother is going to throw a fit if she sees him like this. The boy needs to get back to the house and spray himself off before she can find out, but he can’t find his ball.

He looks around the gate, the only barrier between himself and the wooded landscape and frowns when he sees the familiar black and white sphere resting by a tree.

Jiaheng looks at the ball, then at the fence, at his ball, fence, ball, fence. The boy is too busy assessing the potential injuries he could receive if he should land funny when climbing the fence that he doesn’t notice someone lurking behind the trees until insipid hands pick up his ball.

“Hey!” he yells, running to the bars and gripping them with his small hands. The stranger looks up, his appearance catching Jiaheng off guard and giving him the urge to run away.

The man is tall, shorter than his own dad but hey, his dad was like a skyscraper, and had maroon colored locks styled up like the singers on TV. He’s pale like his mothers porcelain cups and wore black winter clothes, which is strange since today is one of the hottest days of summer.

The man’s obsidian black eyes, which were rounded with dark circles, widen when they make eye contact. He smiles, contradicting his original, scary appearance, “Wow, your eyebrows were bushy even when you were a kid!”

Jiaheng frowns, “Yah! My eyebrows aren’t bushy! They’re full like my dad’s!”

“Right,” the stranger smiles and spins the soccer ball on his finger as he approached the gate, “You play soccer kid?”

“My name is Jiaheng and yes, that’s my ball.”

“Huh…” he crouches down in front of the gate, examining the sphere, “… I think you should switch to basketball.”

The young Chinese boy looks down, his mood dropping, “Can’t… Lulu gege says I’m too short and that I should stick to soccer like him.”

“Aw, you’re not too short, you’re still growing!”

“I am? Mom say’s I’m not because I don’t eat my vegetables,” Jiaheng looks around before he leans closer to the gate and motions the man to do the same, “And recently… I’ve been giving them to Ben Ben.”

“Ben Ben?”

“My dog.”

The stranger laughs and reaches his hand through the bars, ruffling the boy’s ash brown hair, “Don’t worry Jiaheng, you’ll grow nice and tall, taller than me even! You’ll be perfect for basketball… but that’s only if you eat your vegetables.”

Jiaheng frowns, “Did my mom hire you to tell me this?”

“Nope, I came of my own free will.”

He nods and smiles, “Well… thanks mister. Tomorrow I’m going to tell Lulu gege to find a new soccer buddy!”

“Oh well you can still play with Lulu gege,” the stranger threw the ball over the fence and Jiaheng caught it before it could hit the ground, “But you’re free to try basketball.”Jiaheng stares at the ball for a little before he throws it back over. The stranger looks surprised and barely catches it before sending him a questioning look.

“Keep it!” he grins, “That way I can tell Lulu gege I lost my ball and he won’t be able to play with me!”

“You devious kid,” He laughs, “Thanks.”

“Jiaheng baobei! Where are you? Mama has lunch ready!”

“Coming!” Jiaheng yelled over his shoulder before looking back at the man and waving, “Bye panda gege.”

He laughs again, “Bye Kris.”

The boy frowns, my name isn’t Kris, but doesn’t linger on that thought much. His mother was calling him and he didn’t want to make her wait any longer. That is the first, and last, time he sees Tao during his childhood years.

--

The second time Kris meets Tao; he goes by the name Kevin.

It is the end of his sophomore year, his school basketball team had just come back from their play offs… they didn’t win. The players were exhausted and discouraged, but shrugged it off with a ‘maybe next year’ patted into their shoulders. To them it’s true. There is always next year. They have a year to train, improve and win back that title.

The failure didn’t hit them as hard as it hit Kevin.

As his first year as the Captain, Kevin feels that he has a duty to develop the team and give them what they’ve been so close to achieving. His school has always made it to the semifinals of the championships, but now they’re so close... and they get second.

The thought of his disappointment makes him lose focus and miss another basket. The basketball captain curses under his breath, though he’s alone in the gym, and reaches for a new ball. He replays the last few minutes of the game in his head, analyzing moves made, moves that could have been made, moves that should have been made to win.

He shoots, he misses.

“Damn it!” he kicks the ball rack, sending the wheels screeching off in protest as it hits the bleachers on the other side of the room.

Sweat drips down his forehead and off his chin; he’s panting hard from over working himself and can’t seem to find his towel. Kevin nearly inside-outs his gym bag when someone enters through the locker room doors and approaches him.

The man has an air of familiarity about him as he scans the rows of seats, searching for something. He also looks like he’s been training himself; his black tank top sticks to his toned body just as his coal colored bangs are plastered against his forehead.

Kevin leaves him to his search while he looks for his own misplaced towel, until he sees something by his foot. He bends down and picks up a phone, shining bright with several missed calls. He does not recognize the brand and looks up at the boy, whose holding his towel and looking at him as well.

The stranger smiles and holds up the white cloth, “I’m assuming this is yours?”

“You guessed right. And this is yours?” he shows him the phone and the boy’s eyes widen.

“Yeah, I’ve been looking everywhere for that. Thank you,” the two walk and meet half to exchange items. Kevin laughs at the boy’s panicked face.

“Are you okay?” he asks.

“Yeah… yeah I’m fine. It would have been bad if I lost this.”

“I bet. It looks expensive; I’ve never seen it before. What kind is it?”

“It’s called an I-Phone and… it’s not really common right now,” he smiles, “I’m Zitao by the way.”

“Kevin,” they bow slightly and shake hands before Kevin wipes the sweat from his forehead and goes to retrieve his bag.

“Are you alright Kevin? You look a little… stressed,” Zitao comments on his appearance, noting his tense shoulders and soaked basketball uniform, “Did you have a game?”

“I did, but why are you asking? The whole school should know about it,” Kevin looks at him oddly.

Zitao laughs and shakes his head, “I’m not from this school. I have a friend here and he lets me use his gym card to practice.”

“Practice what?”

“Wushu,” Kevin quirks his eyebrows up, impressed. He manages to find an extra towel that seemed to elude him in his earlier search. He’d rather not use it though since it was his cousins and has flower print across the bottom. Still, he offers it to Zitao, who graciously accepts it and uses it to pat his face down.

“How long have you been training for?”

“Since I was young. I… don’t exactly remember when I started.”

Kevin whistles and throws his towel back. He reaches for the ball rack and rolls it over to his previous position near the hoop. Zitao watches him with a curious expression, letting the fluffy material hang loosely from his neck as he walked closer.

“So the game… I’m guessing it didn’t end well?” he asks as Kevin makes a basket. The latter nods and reaches for a new ball, “Was it important?”

“It was the championship,” he misses, “And we lost.”

“Ah…” Zitao winces when Kevin grunts as another ball bounces off the frame, “So why are you beating yourself up about it.”

“Because we should have won. We should have… and as the captain of the team, I owe it to my members to bring them victory.”

“According to who?”

Kevin freezes, and the ball rolls out of his hands. He looks at Zitao confused, “What?”

“Who said you had to bring your members victory?”

“It… it’s just the duty of a leader to give ’s what they want.”

“And what did your members want?”

“The championship title.”

Zitao tilts his head to the side, “Really?”

“Yes,” Kevin clenches his fists. The stranger has him second guessing himself, and that’s never something he wants to feel, “Why?”

“Did they tell you that specifically?”

“No… it was implied.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes!” he snaps. Zitao looks unphased and waits for him to cool down, “Why are you asking me this?”

“Because I think you’re unnecessarily punishing himself,” Zitao places a hand on his shoulder, “I think you’re misreading things. Did your team blame you for losing?”

“No-”

“Were they honestly upset over losing?”

“They were upset-”

“You know what I mean.”

A frown mars Kevin’s lips and looks away, “No… not really. They were happy to have gotten so far in the finals…”

“Did they have fun?”

He smirks, “Yeah-”

“Then I guess you succeeded,” Zitao pats his back, “Good job duizhang. You did what your members wanted.”

“I did?”

He nods and looks down at his phone, smiling at the incoming caller, “You did. Sorry, I have to go, but don’t beat yourself up over this. You’re a great leader Kris, you’ll get it next year.”

“Yeah, I guess we will. Thanks,” Kevin waves as the boy turns to answer his call.     

“Hey Kris… Oh, just working out… by the ice cream parlor downtown… no I’m not… I’m not!” his voice fades as the doors comes to a close. Kevin smiles and picks up another ball, feeling rejuvenated from his earlier ‘pep talk’ and makes another basket.

He’s packing his bag when he realizes two things that happened with his earlier conversation. One, Zitao called him Kris; the name rang through his head and struck a familiar chord. He has heard it before, but where? And two, he took his towel.

--

The third time Kris meets Tao is when he moves to Seoul.

After a grueling high school career and finally winning championships, Kris’ family moves back to Beijing where he starts his college career at a well renowned university. He doesn’t stay long and decides to study abroad in Korea, where his gege Luhan offers an extra room in his apartment for him.

It’s been years since the two have seen each other; Luhan is close to having a heart attack when he first lays eyes on his once short, naïve didi. Kris now surpasses him in height at 187cm and pulls off his golden blonde hair like a god. Puberty was good to him, and has given him a strong jaw line accompanied with sharp eyes and a face, though intimidating, that’s model material.

He is close to unrecognizable from the nine year old boy he use to play soccer with although one thing remains the same.

“Bushy eyebrows,” Luhan smiles, forcing his didi to stoop down to his height as he wraps his arms around his neck for a welcome hug.

“Is that really what you’re going to say to me right now? Not ‘Jiaheng! It’s been years! How have you been?’ or ‘good to see you Jiaheng! How was your trip?’”

“Please, you were only on the plane for an hour,” Luhan smirks, “And do you still go by Jiaheng? Last I heard your mom was calling you Kevin.”

“That was in Canada. I go by Kris now.”

“Kris… why Kris? Kevin seems fine.”

Kris shrugs and grabs his bags from Luhan, “I like a little change every now and then.”

“I just hope your name is the only thing you’ll want to be changing,” Luhan sighs, “Korea is filled with a lot of nice people. If you play with them like chess pieces I swear I’ll-”

“I’m not that kind of person Ge, what makes you say that?” Kris’ brows furrow together in confusion.

“I have faith in you Didi, it’s just… you look like a manipulator...”

 “A manipulator?”

“Among many other things! All which are… somewhat flattering, I guarantee it.”

Kris scoffs and rolls his eyes. He ignores Luhan’s attempts to counter his earlier comment and gets into the car silently. He loved Luhan like family, but sometimes the elder didn’t know how to shut his pert little mouth, yes Luhan isn’t as innocent as he seems.

“So I told a few of my friends that you were going to live with me and now they’re really keen on meeting you,” he beams, “I figured we’d meet them at the club before I take you to my place.”

“Seriously? You want me partying my first night in Seoul? What if I get drunk and end up kidnapped by some chick?”

Luhan gives him a look, “You? Kidnapped? I don’t think so.”

“Is it because I’m a guy?”

“It’s because you’re pretty menacing.”

Kris hits him in the back of the head as they pull up to a well hidden night club. It seems to him that only the locals can find that hidden gem, all others were stuck with expensive admittance and cheap drinks. Luhan walks past the small line in the front with Kris in tow, flashing his pearly whites at the bouncer before they disappear inside.

The blonde male is dragged to a table in the back, its occupants watch the two approach with prying eyes. A dark skinned male smirks and takes a swig of his beer before pulling Luhan close.

“So… Who’s this? Your new boy toy?” he asks, dipping his head low in an attempt to keep it between each other. The boy, however, is slammed, unable to control the volume of his voice as the words come out in a yell.

“Whoever he is, he’s tall,” a boy with frizzy hair and wide eyes laughs, sticking his hand out, “Park Chanyeol.”

Kris smiles and shakes his hand, “Kris.”

“Kris? Are you a foreigner?”

“No, he’s going through an identity crisis,” Luhan teases, “He’s my Didi from when I lived in China. The brat moved to Canada when he was a preteen though and ditched me.”

“Didi?” a shorter male besides Chanyeol asks confused.

“He’s like my younger brother.”

“We’re born in the same year though, so that hardly counts,” Kris huffs, stealing a beer off a waitress’ tray walking by.

He winks at her and she giggles before walking off; Chanyeol elbows his side with a laugh, “Flirting already? Didn’t know she was your type.”

“I don’t have a type.”

“Nonsense, everyone has a type!”

Kris scoffs and goes for another drink, but stops when he locks eyes with a familiar pair of dark orbs. The Chinese male smirks and snatches another glass off a tray, Zitao, we meet again; he turns to the equally tall male next to him and smirks, “I guess I go for the dark and mysterious.”

“Dark and Myster…” he trails off as he looks over his shoulder and sees the dark haired boy glaring at some girls attempting to flirt with him. Chanyeol laughs and hits Kris’ back, “Go for it man. He looks annoyed though.”

“Don’t worry, I can fix that,” Kris shrugs him off and heads for Zitao, ignoring the flirtatious looks sent his way.

“Hey, have you been waiting long?” He asks, sending the girls a smile as he slides a drink towards him.

The girls look at him with sly smiles and start rubbing his arm, “We didn’t know cutie here had a friend.”

Zitao rolls his eyes and takes the drink from Kris, tossing his head back and emptying the glass in one go. Kris sends the girls a smirk and leans forward, “Did you know cutie had a boyfriend?”

They’re faces drop and Zitao looks at him mildly surprised. They then laugh awkwardly and apologize before scurrying off in embarrassment. Kris chuckled as he watches them go and turns to Zitao, “Sorry. To be honest, you didn’t look interested.”

“That’s because I wasn’t,” Zitao plays with his empty glass and smirks, “You wanna give me another drink stranger?”

So he doesn’t remember me, “Will that give me a name?”

“Maybe…”

Kris smiles and motions to the bartender to refill their cups, who obliges seeing as he has taken a liking to the fair skinned boy next to the blonde. Zitao smiles at his full cup and gives Kris a sly grin, “I’m Tao.”

“I’m Kris,” he replies smoothly.

“Well Kris,” Tao lifts his cup, “To saving me the trouble of breaking those girls’ hearts… or faces if they really knew me.”

“Cheers,” their glasses are muted by the music, but the vibrations of the contact sends tingles through their finger tips, “I don’t doubt the second part, by the way. I bet you have some martial art skills hidden up your sleeves.”

Tao quirks a brow at him, “How’d you know that?”

“Lucky guess I suppose…”

Tao smiles and stands, placing a hand on Kris’ arm, “Can you guess what I feel like doing right now then?”

Kris smirks and throws some cash on the bar counter. He reaches for the boy’s hand and looks up at him with a mischievous smirk, “Yeah, I got a few.”

--

Kris starts getting suspicious of Tao two months later.

After the night they ‘first met’, contrary to what the others believe, Kris and Tao had gone to a nearby coffee shop and had small conversations. Kris talks about his basketball, Tao talks about his wushu, but the blonde finds it strange that he’s treating him like a stranger. Did he really forget him all those years back? He shrugs the thought off and figures it’s because he’s changes so much, yet Tao hasn’t changed at all.

They hit it off so well that they decided to meet the next day. The meetings became more frequent and pretty soon Kris found himself living in a flat with his new boyfriend.

Their relationship is the best he has ever had. They get along well, always have something to talk about and have something to do, and Kris can’t help but fall a little more for him every day.

There are things though, that he finds a little strange. When he tries to bring up anything about the past, like when they met in the gym, the martial artists hums like he has no idea what he’s talking about.

Tao also tends to disappear for hours, days even, at a time. When Kris asks where he’s been when he comes back, the boy shrugs and says “Places, you know?”

No, he doesn’t know and that’s what irritates him.

Kris has finished working his part time job when he looks down at the text he got a few hours earlier.

Sorry, can’t grab breakfast with you today. I have some things to do, meet you for dinner later? My treat :D

Kris sighs and dials his number, waiting for his bus to arrive and take him downtown to buy some food. He didn’t know what Tao was planning on making, but he has a pretty good guess it would involve meat, and lots of it.

“…Hey Kris!”

“Hey Taozi,” he smiles, “What are you doing?”

“Oh, just working out.”

Kris winces when his head starts to hurt, Huh... déjà vu, “Where?”

“By the ice cream parlor down town.”

“Near the ice cream parlor huh?” He tsks playfully, “You’re going to eat back those calories then. That defeats the purpose of a workout panda boy.”

“No I’m not.”

“Tao… come on.”

“I’m not!”

Kris can hear how distressed he sounds and decides that’s enough teasing for one afternoon, “Alight fine. Well I’m heading your way to pick up some things for dinner tonight. Anything specific you want me to get?”

“I’ll cook whatever you buy… just make sure it’s appetizing.”

“Got it. Goat guts it is!”

“Kris!”

“I know Taozi, I’m just kidding,” he laughs, “I’ll get something good trust me. Do you want to meet up though and-”

“I can’t. I have an appointment for the hair salon.”

Kris is a little taken aback, “You? Getting your hair done?  First you’re cooking dinner, and now this? My my, what’s happening to my Taozi?”

“I-I just felt like it… Aish, if I had known you were going to be like this I would never-”

“No no, it’s fine. I look forward to seeing you at home,” Kris pauses and looks around to see if anyone’s listening to him, “I should go, my bus is here. Love you.”

The words slip out of his mouth and it’s too late to take them back. His eyes widen briefly before he closes them tight and curses under his breath. There’s a pregnant pause between the two and Kris thinks he’s hung up until a quiet voice breaks the silence, “I’ll see you at 7.”

Kris sighs, “Yeah…”

“…Iloveyoutoo.”

The last part comes out rushed and before Kris has time to question it, the call ends and he’s left standing at the bus stop having missed his ride. He blinks, stares at his phone, and smiles. Tao was too cute for his own good.

--

His suspicions only worsen later that night.

The Chinese male is prepping some kimchi, the only Korean dish he knows how to make without destroying anything or giving anyone food poisoning, when the front door opens and closes quietly. He hears the pitter patter of feet and pays no mind to it until a pair of pale arms wrap around his waist. Kris smirks and puts the knife down.

“Good day?” He asks, attempting to turn around. Tao keeps his grip firm and Kris can feel the boy smiling into his back.

“Kevin,” he breathes and Kris’ smile grows, “You used to go by Kevin.”

“Took you long enough to figure out, whoa,” when the taller male succeeds in turning, he is met with a head of freshly dyed maroon hair. The look compliments Tao, and the way his horn rimmed outlines his panda eyes makes him look cuter.

“Like it?” he asks, threading his fingers through the freshly cut locks, “I wanted to try something new.”

“Yeah…” Kris smiles and leans forward, pecking his lips lightly, “You look great.”

Tao’s eyes disappear as he smiles, “Thanks. I figured it would be late when I got pack so I picked up some dinner. They didn’t have kimchi though…”

“How convenient,” Kris motions to the bowl behind him, “I just made some.”

“Awesome. You’re the best.”

Kris earns a peck on the cheek and watches Tao bring the bowl to the table. He then starts taking food containers out of the paper bag in his hands and arranges the table properly. Kris crosses his arm across his chest and thinks back to their meeting.

“So… you just now remembered?”

“Yeah, can you blame me? You were so different back then.”

“What made you remember?” 

Tao froze and looks over his shoulder. He shrugs, “I don’t know. I just did.”

Kris nods, not entirely convinced and sees the bags he dropped by the door when he first came in. He walks over to them with the intent to help put everything away, but stops when he sees some sort of white cloth peaking out of the top.

The latter bends down and picks it up, surprised to see a towel, of all things, in a take out bag, “Where’d you get this?”

Tao glances up, “The salon owner gave it to me when I bought some shampoo.”

“Really?”

“Yeah… why?”

“Cause this looks like the one I had in high school.”

Tao scoffs and walks around the table. He stands next to Kris, eyeing him wearily before answering, “Very funny, that was several years ago. How could I still have it?”

“Well you did walk off with it.”

“Sorry.”

“Its fine…” he flips the towel over and sees a familiar flower pattern on the rim of the fabric with two letters in the corner. He looks over at Tao with a smile, “If this is really from the salon, then why does this have my cousin’s initials on it?” Tao remains silent and shrugs. Kris smiles and throws it on the coffee table a few feet away, “I’ll wash it later. Thanks for taking care of it.”

“No problem… sorry for not giving it back sooner, I-I wanted to wash it before I gave it back. Now let’s eat!” Tao pulls him to the table, leaving the towel forgotten.

Kris wants to ask him what’s wrong since Tao only stutters when he’s uncomfortable or nervous. The male’s face didn’t give any indication of either of the two emotions, so he decides to let it slide… for now.

--

Kris learns the truth when they’re fighting.

It only takes another month before he’s finally had it with Tao’s random disappearances. He wants to know where he’s going and has even tried following the boy to get answers, but Tao always manages to lose him in a crowd or in some obscure alley way store. Kris gets irritated and surprises the boy when he comes home early in the morning.

Tao is more than shocked to see Kris sitting on the couch drinking coffee when he returns. Normally he is at work already or studying at the library.

When the blonde notices his arrival, he stands up speaks with every intention to talk out his worries. Then the calm talk starts to escalate. Tao is being vague with his responses and Kris feels like he’s repeating himself over and over again.

Eventually he snaps, and all hell breaks loose in that small apartment.

“God damn it Tao!” Kris slams his fist against the wall, cracking the plaster in the process, “Can’t I get a straight answer out of you?! Is that too much to ask for?!”

“I’m trying to tell you-”

“Bull !”

“No it’s not!” Tao’s voice cracks, “It’s complicated, I swear! You won’t understand!”

“Maybe that’s because you won’t tell me!” Kris looks like he’s going to say more, but stops. His eyes drop tiredly and he sits back on the couch, I’m getting nowhere with him. His knuckles are bleeding from the earlier impact with the wall and he can tell Tao wants to help, but would only get rejected. Kris runs his uninjured fingers through his hair, “Tao… Are you… seeing someone else?”

“W-what?” Kris can hear how his words hurt the boy. It hurts him just as much to even think it, but that won’t even compare to the pain that comes if it ends up being true, “K-Kris, how can you ask me that?”

“I need to know Tao.”

“But how can you think-”

“I don’t know what to think!” Kris looks at him, regretting doing so as he sees his eyes water, “You’re not giving me anything good to think about! Tao, you were gone for a week. I don’t know what’s happening, but these periods of absence are growing longer… what else am I suppose to think?”

Tao squeezes his eyes shut and takes in a few deep breaths before he speaks again, “I want to tell you Kris. I really do.”

“Then why don’t you?” he stands and approaches him. Kris stops in front of him and takes one of his hands into his own. He tries to coax the boy into looking at him, but Tao’s eyes remain glued to the floor, “What’s going on? Is someone close to you hurt? Are you working a new job or something? What’s going on?”

“What happens to me…” he begins, “It’s out of my control. It’s not like I want to be away for so long… I honestly don’t even know how long I’m gone for sometimes.”

“But Tao, where do you go?”

He finally looks up at him, and Kris wishes he had never brought it up, “I don’t know…”

 “Nothing… still nothing,” Kris shakes his head as he releases him. He rubs his eyes tiredly and heads to the kitchen for a drink, preferably one that would loosen him up a bit.

“You won’t believe me,” Tao tries again, grabbing his arm, “I-it’s impossible! What happens to me can’t be explained rationally!”

“How do you know that?”

“Because jumping through time isn’t normal!”

Kris blinks, “What?”

“It isn’t. One minute I’m walking to the gym to train and the next thing I know I’m standing in the middle of the street, freezing, while people pulling wagons are yelling at me to get out of the way or in some field ruining a farmer’s crops!”

“… Again, what?”

Tao pinches the bridge of his nose, “See? You don’t believe me. I... I jump through time. I can’t really control where I go. I guess everyone in a hundred times I’ve jumped, I’ve been able to pick where… when I land. The timing is unpredictable though, I’ve said earlier than I never know how long I’m gone for. It’s not like I can fight it; that would be as successful as fighting air!”

Kris stares at him blankly for a couple of minutes. His brows furrow together as he stares at his boyfriend, expecting him to yell ‘just kidding! You should have seen the look on your face!’, “A wagon huh?”

Tao shrugs, “Han Dynasty, 2^nd century BC. Took a little research when I got back to figure out where I was.”

His expression doesn’t change, “Han Dynasty…”

“Not every time though. Sometimes I’m in the future and in places like Korea, America… Canada…”

 “Wow… Okay fine.” Kris holds his hands up in defeat. Tao watches him disappear into the bedroom and sighs, threading his fingers through his hair until the blonde reemerges with his coat, “I think I’ll stay at Luhan’s place for a while, just until you get this whole ‘time thing’ figured out.”

“No, No Kris,” He runs up and grabs his arm again, “Kris please. I’m telling the truth! I really am. I know, it’s unbelievable and I have no idea how to convince you! Kris…”

The man stops, “Time travel Tao… or ‘jumping’, or whatever the hell you called it earlier. That’s impossible.”

His grip tightens, “I’ll prove it. I’ll find a way. Please Kris… don’t leave…”

--

Kris believes Tao a week later.

As irritated as he is for not receiving answers, Kris agrees to stay. He tells Tao that whatever space he needs in order to deal with… whatever the hell is happening with him, he’ll get; the plan is intended to let Tao and himself blow some steam off until they can have a normal conversation with real answers, but Kris can’t help but feel like it’s hurting them more than ‘helping’.

Either way, their misunderstanding, if it can even be called that, is cleared up seven days after the fight. Kris is tired after pulling an all-nighter studying for his finals and, no surprise, Tao has disappeared again. He was brewing himself a new pot of coffee when the front door opens and closes with an angry slam.

That can’t be good for the wood, he thinks as he looks back and see’s Tao throw himself on the couch, sporting his winter apparel Kris had bought him last season. He frowns, “You’re shivering.”

Tao smiles weakly, looking paler than he did a few days ago, “Probably because I’m cold.”

Kris pours him an extra cup and hands it off once he gets closer. Tao takes is gratefully with one hand; the elder notices something hidden beneath the folds of his jacket, but pays no mind to it. He’s got bigger fish to fry as far as he’s concerned.

“Why are you so cold?” he asks, fetching a blanket after feeling the chilly temperature of his finger tips.

Tao’s smile remains mysterious as he lets himself be warmed by the hot liquid. He looks up at Kris eventually with a mischievous glint in his eye, whatever he’s going to say can’t be good, “Bushy brows.”

Kris’ concern disappears as quickly as steam leaving his mug, “Yes, I’m well aware of that. But they’re not bushy-”

“No, they’re ‘full like your dad’s’, right?”

His ‘full’ brows shoot up in surprise, “I’m guessing I’ve told you that before,” which is strange since the male hasn’t used that explanation since…

“Yeah, when you were a kid,” Tao stares at the black liquid, “This is good coffee.”

“I don’t get what you mean…”

Tao pulls the object he was hiding out and tosses it towards him. Kris catches it with ease and observes the ball; it’s caked in dry mud and has a few scratches here and there from improper use of cleats. Strange enough, it looks incredibly familiar too him.

“Man,” he smiles, “I haven’t touched one of these since I was a kid.”

“The last time you saw one, this one to be particular, was when you moved into your new house… when you were nine I think.”

“I guess, but how do you know that? I gave my old ball to a stranger outside my fence…” he trails off. Kris turns the ball over and sees his name, ‘Li Jiaheng’ scrawled in sharpie in his messy nine year old hand writing. His head starts to hurt as he tries to remember back twelve years ago. The memory is fuzzy, but he can recall features about the stranger that stood out to him the most; maroon hair, black attire pale skin…

Coal colored eyes…dark circles…                                                                                                    

“Bye panda gege!”

“Bye Kris.”

The ball rolls to some corner across the room while Kris runs for the toilet.

--

“I guess that explains why you’re wearing winter clothes then,” Kris comments absentmindedly. Tao hits his arm and takes another bite of his ice cream.

After cleaning up Tao’s appearance and changing out of his heavy wool clothes, Kris decided to take him out for something refreshing, since it’s summer and Kris really needed to cool his head after finding out his boyfriend has literally been with him since he was a child, plus Tao looked like he was going to melt. The boy agreed whole heartedly and the two find themselves at an ice cream shop they frequented during the beginning of their relationship.

While Tao eats his cold treat as if he were starving, Kris sits across from him with the bitter aftertaste of coffee ice cream and bile in the back of his throat. He looks down at the tan colored goop and decides that maybe it’s not a good idea to eat something conflictingly sweet. They haven’t spoken a word to each other, which only serves to make the tension in the room thicker.

 “So,” he coughs, noticing how Tao reluctantly tears his eyes away from his empty cup, “You’re the stranger past the gate…”

He’s hesitant to answer, “I am…”

“And the boy in the basketball court…”

“Him as well…”

Kris sits straight and rubs his eyes, “Alright… explain this to me from the beginning.”

Tao shifts uncomfortably in his seat, “I don’t exactly know what my original time period is. For all I know, I could have been born hundreds of years into the future or past… I don’t remember anything from my life before the age of fifteen. When I first experienced… time travel, or jumping, or whatever the hell they call it, I had woken up at a monastery in 1896-”

“1896? Did I hear that right?”

Tao nods, “The monks there took me in, and gave me a mentor who had originally trained in the art of Wushu. He taught me everything I know now in the hopes that if I had a strong body then I’d have a strong mind and be able to remember my past.”

“How long were you there for?”

“A few years, three I think. It was strange, I thought I was hallucinating about the time travel experience, but then it happened again. I found myself stumbling through the silver mountain pagoda forest in 2076 and found a small cabin belonging to an old man. At first I wondered if he was a hermit, since he looked completely isolated from the outside world, but then I learned he was waiting for me.

“He was well known throughout the town he lived near, and was called ‘the Dragon’ by those who admired him,” Tao laughs, “The name suited him well, seeing as he was very intimidating… He told me everything I’m telling you, though it isn’t much. I’m able to go through time, but I’ve yet to master control over it.

“Because of this ability, aging slows for me. It’s like the time line ignores my being… Everyone’s on the court while I’m on the side lines. He helped me meditate so that if I was lucky, I’d be able to choose where I end up.

He passed away a few months after our first meeting. Still, I don’t think I’ll ever forget that man. He took a complete stranger like me in and cared for me until the day he died. And so… I’ve been jumping through time since. Randomly of course, I never know where I’ll end up next. But at that point I didn’t really care; I didn’t have a purpose then…”

Tao trailed off, and Kris looked at him expectantly, “And?”

Tao cleared his throat and looked up, “Our time lines are off Kris, I want you to understand this now. The first time you met me was when you were a child ten or so years -”

“Twelve,” Kris found himself correcting the boy and immediately shut himself up afterwards.

He smiled, “Twelve years ago… but the first time I met you was last year, back in that club in Seoul. I remember feeling particularly annoyed with this time period because of the sleazy women that kept approaching me. And then you came.”

Kris smiles as Tao reaches his hand up to brush some of the dyed strands out of his face, “You with your blonde hair and bushy eyebrows. With that confident smirk and cool aura to get those girls to go away… You and your ability to break through my shell with just one smile, that’s when I felt something change.”

“Glad I wasn’t the only one,” Kris comments off handedly.

Tao laughs and shakes his head, “Yeah, You gave me a focus Kris. When I ‘disappeared for days on end’, I would be stuck in another time and I’d have you to meditate on to bring me back. When I ran into teenage you, I couldn’t help but laugh… ”

“Yah, I was a teenager alright? Everyone has those awkward phases…”

“I’m only teasing Kris,” Tao chuckles, “I had to meditate a lot when I got sent back or thrown forward, it was hard to concentrate but I managed to return here…. It’s getting harder though, I don’t know how many more times I can do it before I lose control again.”

Kris’ feels his brows push together in concern, “What happens when you… ‘Jump’? How does that work?”

“Well like I said earlier, the temperature drops, then people around me slow down and begin to turn to ice. The ice cracks and the people and buildings melt away into something else,” he hums, “That’s why I’m usually wearing heavy clothes, to accommodate for that change.”

“That sounds…”

“Freezing? It is-”

“Lonely,” Kris looks up, “It’s like you’re the only one left in a barren Iceland.”

Tao pats his hand gently, “It’s only for a few seconds-”

“But doesn’t anyone notice a college sophomore just disappear into thin air?! I would, especially if it’s someone like you.”

He smiles again and squeezes a little tighter, “You wouldn’t, thanks.”

Kris smiles and rubs his thumb over the top of the boy’s paler skin, “We need to find a way for you to control it though. I won’t stand having you disappear from my life.”

“I’ve tried everything Kris,” Tao sighs, “I have… it’s pointless. Whenever I find something worthwhile, it always gets ripped away from me; my past, the old man… you…” The said boy looks up, eyes watering with unshed tears, “S-so while I have you now, I’d like to make the most of this. Would you let me?”

Kris smiles and pulls him closer, “Of course Zitao.”

A choked sob escapes his lips, “It’s been so long since someone’s called me that…”

He smirks, “Zitao, I’ll find a way to make this work, I promise.”

Tao has his face buried in the elder’s shirt, but nods in acknowledgement since he’s too overwhelmed with Kris’ acceptance and embarrassing words to form a proper reply.

--

From then on, Kris starts researching. When he isn’t cramming for exams or working as a bartender he’s nose deep in a book about physics, science, or even science fiction in the library. He wants so desperately to understand what’s happening to Tao and help keep him home.

Day by day Tao begins to look more and more exhausted. His absences are longer and they wears out his body, Kris is surprised to see him even get out of bed most mornings.

“Are you sure you’re feeling alright?” he asks one morning when Tao rejects lunch, having already turned down breakfast earlier that day.

His boyfriend turns his head slightly and cracks an eye open, “I’m fine, just a little tired is all.”

“You haven’t moved all day. This isn’t healthy, something is wrong.”

“Kris-”

“Stop.” He says, turning his head and pinching the bridge of his nose, “Stop lying to me Taozi. I’m trying to help, but I can’t focus on my research if I have you to worry about.”

“I’m sorry for being a burden.”

“You know that’s not what I meant.”

“Wasn’t it?”

“Zitao…”

Tao sighs and shifts to sit up. Kris notices the difficulty he’s having and assists him until he’s leaning back against the backboard, “I know, I know. I’m sorry, but I feel awful for putting you through all this pointless work.”

“It’s not pointless-”

“Yes it is! Kris, I can’t… I’m on the verge of losing myself right know,” Tao’s voice cracks, but he continues, “I’m going against the time current to come back here, I can’t keep doing this. My body won’t let me… By the time you figure something out, anything out Jiaheng, I’ll be gone.”

“Don’t say that,” Kris smiles sadly, “I’ll find something! I always have, don’t you worry about anything Tao. I’ll keep you here by my side. Things won’t end the way you think it will. Just have a little faith in me, please?”

“I love you Kris.”

“I…” He trails off, shoulder’s slumping. Tao looks like he’s on the verge of tears but is holding them in. His eyes are dull and his slouched posture shows he’s done something Kris was hoping he could prevent.

The boy is giving up.

It seems that nothing Kris says or does will change his mind. He’s accepted defeat, accepted that one day he won’t be able to come back. Kris doesn’t know when he started crying, but only notices he has when Tao reaches up to brush away his tears.

“I love you too Taozi,” he smiles, “So god damn much.”

“I’m still a little tired, will you rest with me?” Tao asks, giving him his endearing half smile.

Kris nods, not trusting his words, and crawl’s into bed besides the younger. His arms wrap around Tao’s waist and pull him close, relishing the feeling of the latter curling into him like two pieces of a puzzle. Kris leans his head down and kisses him gently; afraid he might break if he uses too much force. Tao returns the kiss, lips lingering for a couple of seconds before he buries his face in the crook of Kris’ neck.

Kris inhales his scent and tightens his grip a little, “When you wake up, we’ll go to that café we went to when we first met.”

“I’d like that…”

Kris wakes alone a few hours later.

The other side of the bed is still warm.

--

The last time Kris sees Tao, he’s an old man.

When Tao vanished that late evening and didn’t return after a week, Kris knew something was wrong. He increased his visits to the library, became less social with his friends and over all deprived his body its necessities.

Eventually he ended up hospitalized for malnutrition, but his reckless sacrifices paid off. He found a professor who briefly explored the mystery of the Comte de Saint Germain, also known as the “Wonder man”. His research consisted of theoretical paradox that could happen in time travel and seemed surprised to see someone actually interested in it.

He explained to Kris that one may be allowed a limited amount of time in certain periods or eras as to avoid messing with the flow of history, so in reality someone from the future would “hypothetically” only be allowed to stay maybe a day, a week, a month, or a year in that time frame.

Although Kris was happy that he finally learned something about the case, even if it was hypothetical, it only made him realize that he had to face his fears.

Tao's not coming back, not in that time anyways.

Now his name is Wu Yifan, and after spending months in denial, he gives up and makes his way back to China. The man works as a corporate leader in one of his father’s businesses and brings the company to the top of Beijing’s economic structure. Others attempt to model their own growing businesses after his work ethic and technique, but none can compare.

He builds a reputation for himself and strangely enough becomes known as ‘The Dragon’ for his intimidating build and wise knowledge.

After 60 years of successful labor, Kris retires, leaving the company in the hands of a young man named Zhang Yixing. Though the boy seemed a bit spacey, his calm composure and intelligence gave him the upper hand in most negotiations.

Remembering Tao’s words, he moves to a smaller town near the silver mountain pagoda forest and manages to find a smaller home in the woods.

The year is 2076.

Yifan is sweeping up some collected leaves and dirt off his patio when the surrounding air drops to a near freezing degree. He sees his breath and hears a rustle from some nearby bushes. Yifan leans his broom against the wall and grabs a blanket from a nearby chair before descending the steps.

The noises get louder, followed by cracking sticks and hushed curses.  Yifan has the blanket unfolded and catches the figure that stumbled his way into his yard.

The boy is skinny and frail; his hair showed signs of recent shavings and dark circles outlined his eyes. He looks up weakly at Yifan, body shivering before he asks, “W-who are you?”

Yifan smiles, eyes crinkling as he picks him up with ease and walks back to his house, “My name is Wu Yifan. I’ve been expecting you Zitao.”

that was longer than intended. It's taken me almost a month to complete this, i'm so sorry. It's based off a dream i had. I know a lot of people have done something with 'time traveling tao,' so i apologize if anything is similar to anyone elses work, it wasn't intentional at all. i also apologize for how long this turned out, mah bad....
 

8/4/13 Edit: A lot of you guys say it's like the time traveler's wife. I don't know what that book/movie was about but i mainly based this off the relationship of the doctor and River song (in the way that at one point in time river knows everything about the doctor and the doctor knows nothing about her, and how later the doctor knows everything about her yet she knows nothing). I guess what i'm trying to say is if it's really really really similar to the TTW, then i didn't intention​ally copy it, so... i guess a disclaimer should go here? Whatever, you know i didn't write that stupid book... or was it a movie. What i'm saying is i'm not trying to plagerize, so there. 

so tell me what you think :3