Tao’s life went downhill from the day his parents took him to a family reunion. He didn't really care for his other relations, to be brutally honest. They were all estranged cousins and really, really distant relatives. The reunion took place in Qingdao, the day before Tao was supposed to leave for Seoul in order to expand his college studies in martial arts. He had already mastered wushu and wanted to try his hand at taekwondo, but before he could to that he had to sit through this dreary affair.

The liquid in his cup swirled round in dizzying circles, not that he was paying too much attention or anything. His eyes were glued to his phone, where he was face-timing his pen pal and new roommate Byun Baekhyun. Tao had met the boy during his first trip to Korea, when he was only six and competing in an international wushu competition. Baekhyun had been practicing hapkido in the building across from him, and after an uncomfortable run in, followed by awkward hand gestures and a very basic use of Korean vocabulary, the two became good friends and kept in touch with each other via email (until they were old enough to get phones of course).

"Isn't it rude to be on the phone at a family event? And I cannot stress the word family enough," the audio was muffled by the Tao's palm because, yes, it was rude, but he'd rather be scolded for finding something entertaining than try to converse with these old timers.

"I wouldn't exactly call them ‘family’, I'm fine with mom and dad thanks."

"Aww, what about your grandma?"

"I resent her. You know she faked her hip pain just so she wouldn't have to go? That sly fox."

 Baekhyun's laughter was clear as day and made the younger male smile, "You could have pretended to be sick too."

"Oh please, unless there's blood or a bone sticking out of my body there's no way they'd let me miss this. It's all about 'reconnecting with blood' or some crap like that-"

"Zitao!" His mother's voice was sharp and reprimanding. Tao looked up with a face similar to that of a child caught with his hand in a cookie jar.

"I'll talk to you later ge."

"If you'll even be alive later," Baekhyun snorted and the call ended. Tao's mother was a tall, slender woman with straight black hair and strong features. They only added to the murderous aura surrounding her as she and a younger man approached him. The male didn't look much older than Tao, in fact he looked quite a few years younger with his baby like features (Tao knew better than to assume) and wore a very sheek, very expensive Armani suit.

"Yes ma?" He asked, feigning innocence.

"You were talking to Baekhyun again, weren't you?"

"Yes... We were discussing furniture layouts for the apartment."

"I thought you figured that out last week."

He shrugged, "Things change."

She tsked and shook her head, "Whatever, if I catch you on your phone again I'll limit your contract."

"Yes ma."

"Now then, there was a reason why I came over here... Ah!" Her brown eyes brightened at the sight of the male beside her and she placed her hand on his back, pushing him forward a bit, "Taozi, this is my cousin's nephew. He had a break in his busy work schedule so he decided to attend the party. Now since you're practically the only child here-"

"I'm not a child."

"- And he’s the second youngest, I thought you two could spend some time together." She concluded, ignoring the interruption.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Lu Han," he bowed politely and Tao stood to reciprocate it. Luhan's eyes widened a bit at the towering fellow, but Tao didn't mind. His height wasn't that common and he had grown use to the reaction, "Impressive."

"Huang Zitao, please call me Tao." He replied politely, receiving a pat on the back from his mother before she walked off to greet new guests. The two stood awkwardly together until Tao sat back down on the couch. He hesitantly patted the seat next to him and Luhan happily obliged, "So... You had free time and decided to show?"

"I was in the area, and my uncle practically begged me to come. I thought I'd do it for his benefit, it makes him look good."

Tao laughed, "What are you? A successful business man?"

"Successful yes, a businessman? Not at all."

"Well you shouldn't have come. This place is boring, pretentious, and filled with geezers and woman caked in expensive brands of make up."

"Hey, that's family you're talking about."

"There's no exception. If anything I'm harsher on than because they're family. I wouldn't want to see someone like my mother embarrass herself," Tao's phone buzzed with an incoming message and he clicked it open. His eyes narrowed when he realized it was an image of his grandma cackling evilly. Damn you grandma.

"This may seem like a weird question, but your mother told me you were going to be living in Korea. Do you know anything about the media there? Celebrity-wise?" Luhan asked suddenly, his expression unreadable.

"No, my roommate should though. He's a native there. Why, should I?"

“No wonder you didn’t recognize me,” He laughed, loud and melodious. Tao smiled, he quite liked this Luhan person's voice, "No you don't have to. I work both here and Korea so if we ever run into each other I'll be sure to treat you out to some BBQ, though in my line of work it's nearly impossible to get any free time."

"Hey, you have free time now, don't you? And you foolishly wasted it here, I'm disappointed."

"Are you lecturing me?"

Tao grinned, "You're family now. I have a right to look out for your well being, in this case your social life."

"But I'm older than you!"

"That doesn't mean you have more experience. Trust me Ge, I know what I'm talking about," Luhan laughed and nodded along with him. Tao's phone buzzed again, only this time with an update from his weibo, "Hey ge, you're handsome enough to take a picture with me. Do you want to?"

Luhan raised a brow, "Oh I'm 'handsome enough', eh?"

"I'm just teasing you. Cut me some slack, this place is freaking dull."

He laughed anyways, "That's true... Well I'm glad you think so, my face is part of my job."

"Are you a model? Whatever, it doesn't matter. Smile ge!"

Tao uploaded the photo later to his weibo; he left a post about how boring the reunion was and that he was lucky enough to have met Luhan to provide some sort of entertainment for him. The photo came out well too, Luhan had made a small peace sign while Tao gave his signature cat-like grin. However, that was all Tao had the time to do since his flight was changed last minute and the boy was ‘forced’ to leave the party early in order to catch it. The only thing he wasn't looking forward to was turning his phone off. His phone was rarely shut down, but that just meant he'd have more time to wait for comments from people sympathizing with his reunion story. For now, he had to deal with Angry Birds on his iPad.

--

 "I'm so sorry I made you come early," Baekhyun apologized repeatedly as they drove to their new home, "the landlord was really adamant about new tenants moving in as soon as the check for the first month's rent was cleared. Besides I can't move this furniture all by myself!"

"I thought you had friends to help you!"

"They're all weak!"

Tao rolled his eyes, his ge—now hyung—always had a flair for the dramatic, "Hard to believe that this is coming from a man who can flip another male twice his size and weight over his shoulder, no problem."

"Hey, I use the momentum from their charge to do that. In case you didn't notice, couches tend to stay stationary."

The two pulled up in front of a large apartment complex, with several pieces of furniture scattered around and a male who looked similar to Baekhyun, if not a bit manlier, sitting on a couch. He looked up from his phone to see the car pull up and stood, eying them expectantly.

“Hyung!” Baekhyun yelled as they climbed out, “Sorry, but you did me a huge favor by watching our stuff.”

“You could have left it in the moving van,” he sighed.

“But they had other deliveries to make. Do you remember Tao?” He asked once his Chinese friend stepped out of the car. Baekbom’s eyes widened at the sight of him and he whistled.

“Dang Taozi, you sure grew.”

“And you shrank,” Tao teased back playfully, earning a soft punch on the arm, “It’s good to see you Ge- I mean hyung.”

“’Ge’?”

“His version of ‘hyung’, don’t worry about it too much,” Baekhyun handed the keys over to Tao and motioned to the building behind them, “We’re on the third floor, room 312. Go unlock it for us while we start carrying the heavy stuff up.”

“I thought I was supposed to do that, since you’re ‘weak’, remember?” Tao smirked. Baekhyun rolled his eyes and pushed him towards the building.

Tao laughed as he went up the stairs. Baekhyun often changed his mind a lot which didn’t surprise him. Tao figured he was cutting him some slack from having to drag him out of Qingdao early. Still, he was nice enough to feel guilty about it. When he reached the third floor, he walked briskly down the hallway in search for his room. He found it easily, but spotted an older woman struggling with her groceries outside of the room next to his.

“Ma’am?” he called, approaching her quickly and catching a bag that had ripped at the handle.

She looked up at him and smiled gratefully, “Thank you. I didn’t think it would be so hard to open my door and balance these at the same time. I never had these problems before.”

“Do you want some help?”

“Yes, please,” Tao took two more bags from her, which freed up her hand and allowed her to open the door. He followed her inside, careful enough to not bump into any of her belongings, and placed the bags on the counter, “Thank you son. I’ve never seen you here before. What’s your name?”

“Huang Zitao, I just moved here today.”

“Chinese?” she asked in a familiar tongue and made the raven haired boy smile.

“Yes. I came from Qingdao.”

“Lovely place that is. I’ve only ever been there once, regretfully,” she sighed, “Thank you for helping an old Ajumma like me.”

“Ahjumma? What ahjumma? You’re a noona, aren’t you?”

She laughed and patted his shoulder gently. It was hard for Tao to joke around like this with actual older Koreans since they were always so strict about formalities, but this older woman had revealed herself to be Chinese and Tao thought that that made them more relatable and comfortable enough to do this.

“That’s very kind of you sweetie. I’ll make you something nice as a ‘welcome to the neighborhood’ gift later.”

“You don’t have to trouble yourself-”

“Tao! Where the hell are you!?” the said boy jumped at Baekhyun’s voice and he mentally cursed. He forgot that they were moving furniture and didn’t open the door.

“Well I won’t keep you. Welcome anyways,” she sent him off with a slight pat on the cheek and Tao bolted outside. He jumped over the couch the two Byun brothers were holding and quickly unlocked the door, holding it open long enough for them to carry it inside.

“Geez, what were you doing?” Baekhyun huffed as they dropped it unceremoniously in the living room, “We were waiting for a while.”

“Sorry, I was helping the lady next door,” Tao smiled apologetically.

“Whatever. The only actually heavy things left are the dresser and table. Everything else can be moved by one person. Let’s get this over with.”

 --

Two hours later, they had finally brought all their furniture and luggage into the house. It took another hour to actually set everything up and put things away, but when they were finally moved in, the two decided to celebrate with jajangmyun, courtesy of Baekbom of course.

“You finally put those muscles into use after all those years of neglecting hapkido,” the elder laughed, pinching his younger brother’s cheeks. Baekhyun glared and stirred his food harshly.

“At least I have some, unlike you and your wimpy body hyung.”

“That’s alright, I got the height from our family so I’m good.”

Tao ignored their bickering and turned his phone back on. He had forgotten to do so when he got off the plane and only then realized it when he wondered why he wasn’t getting any updates. As soon as the screen was finished loading, he opened his weibo and nearly choked on his noodles.

“Tao, are you okay?” Baekhyun asked, furrowing his brows in concern.

“Hyung! H-hyung I have over 500 comments on my last post!” he gaped, “The most I’ve ever gotten was, 120 maybe?”

“What? Let me see,” Tao handed his phone over and watched him scroll through it, “Do you even know who these people are?”

“Not at all.”

“They’re all saying the same thing basically. ‘Oh my god, oppa looks so good!’ ‘Oppa’s friend is hot too!’ ‘Where was this?! Oppa!!’ Dude what did you post?”

Tao shrugged, “Nothing special, just a picture with my cousin or something and a story about the event-”

“What the hell!?” Baekhyun suddenly screamed and dropped his chopsticks. He blindly reached for his brother, eyes never leaving the screen, and pulled him closer to get a look. Baekbom squinted for his eyes to adjust to the tiny screen, but then they widened and he proceeded to repeat Baekhyun.

“What?! What is it!?”

“Yah, do you know who’s in the picture with you?” Baekbom asked, staring at him in disbelief.

“My cousin? We literally just met today, so I can’t really tell you much about him-”

“Your cousins with Luhan? Lu. Han.” Baekhyun deadpanned.

“I never told you his name. I never even mentioned it in the post. How did you-”

“He’s a celebrity!” Baekbom yelled, “Oh my god, the people you find Baekhyun.”

“Trust me, if I had known he was going to run into Luhan I would have flown over there immediately.”

“Luhan’s famous?” Tao asked, still a bit perplexed by the sudden information.

“He’s freaking popular in Korea and China. How have you not heard of him?!” Baekhyun gaped at him for a couple of seconds before a look of realizations dawned across his boyish features, “Wait, that’s right. You listen to nothing but that rap music religiously.”

Tao glared defensively, “Hey! There is nothing wrong with Kris!”

“I’m not saying it’s wrong to like him. I’m saying you like him a little too much. The only music you have on your ipod is his albums and you know every word by heart. There are fans, there are saesang fans, and then there’s you,” the Byun brothers high fived before going back to examining/complaining about Tao’s picture.

The raven haired male pouted and ate his noodles dejectedly. He wasn’t obsessed with Kris, so to speak, he just admired the older male a lot. Kris was someone who had made it to the big times on his own. He was popular in China, Korea, and was gaining a lot of attention from the states.

However, new artists these days were taking up the spotlight, but that didn’t mean Kris was losing his popularity. In fact it seemed to grow stronger because he ‘knew what he was doing’ after years of experience in the industry. Tao had always wanted to be a rapper like him, but settled for something a little more in his league. Still, that didn’t make him like the rapper any less.

“Next time you run into a celebrity Tao, you call me,” Baekhyun grinned, teeth black with bean paste.

Tao snorted and snapped a picture quickly, before the other could close his mouth, and saved it as his contact I.D., “Yeah, if I ever run into Chanyeol I’ll be sure to show him the face of his biggest fan.”

“Yah! Delete that!”

“Never!”

Baekbom laughed as he watched his brother chase the taller boy around the apartment, “You silly kids.”

--

The picture spread like wild fire among the social media. It was reposted on several different websites and in some cases Tao’s face was blurred from the picture (which he didn’t like. At all). However, the image was brushed off as a lucky fan meeting an idol. Some cooed over the cute fanboy, which made Tao angry.

“Stupid fan girls,” he muttered under his breath as his weibo account was updated with new comments, all gushing over Luhan and his perfectly styled hair, “Read the damn post, why don’t you?”

His phone vibrated with a text from Baekhyun, who sent a list of groceries they needed at home. Tao wondered how he got stuck with shopping duties when he’d rather be at home sleeping. Classes didn’t start for another week and he wanted to spend the remaining 7 days of freedom doing whatever he wanted.

“Eggs, eggs, eggs…” Tao mumbled as his eyes scanned the isles.  Where the hell are those little s? Seriously it’s just eggs. God damn you Korea and your confusing Korean markets.

“Hey… aren’t you that one guy?” Tao looked up and made eye contact with a boy nearly his height, just a little shorter, with bleached white hair hidden poorly under his beanie. He was carrying a basket that, sure enough, contained eggs, “Yeah… you are that guy! The one who took the photo with Luhan.”

Tao groaned internally and glared at him, “Are you his fanboy or something?”

“Or something,” he smiled, eyes curving up, “I’m Sehun.”

“Tao,” he replied sharply, turning back to the shelves. His eyes were focused in front of him, but he could tell the boy was still looking at him. He glanced back over, mirroring his look of confusion, “What?”

“N-Nothing… Well, I was wondering if you could help me out for a second. I want to make a meal for one of my friends, but I haven’t the slightest idea of what.”

“What kind of food does your friend like?”

“Uh… He’s a lot like Luhan.”

“How much like him?”

Sehun hesitated, “A lot.”

Tao rolled his eyes, “Make some Bao-”

“Someone else is making that.”

Tao glared, “Let me finish. Make some bao or mapo tofu. I’ll tell you what you need and how to make it if,” he held his phone out, “you can help me find the food on this list.”

Sehun took it from him and scanned the list. He brushed some stray strands of hair from his face and nodded, “Yeah alright. Simple enough. Let’s start with eggs,” he reached into his basket and pulled it out, placing it in Tao’s, “Next is banana milk? Alright, this way.”

The two continued their shopping trip with a comfortably conversation. Tao realized he got along well with the stranger when he laughed at a joke he made about the cashier. Sehun was a little bit of a brat though, refusing to grab vegetables when Tao told him to (“It’s part of the main dish. You need it.” “Nope, looks gross. Next.”).  However, his strange catch phrases and more than out of place dance moves were both entertaining and embarrassing.

“Waah, I feel so accomplished,” the blonde smiled as they finally left the store. Tao rolled his eyes when he watched him pull his face mask over his mouth and fit it snuggly on his nose.

“It’s not even that cold.”

“It isn’t for warmth. I’m hiding.”

“Why? Did you piss some people off? Just let me know, I can protect you,” He puffed his chest out proudly, “I’ve got many years of martial arts training under my belt.”

“I believe you, now hurry and write the recipe down hyung,” Sehun shoved a pen and a notebook in his hands. Tao groaned childishly and walked to a nearby table. He sat down ungracefully and proceeded to list the necessary steps needed to prep and cook the food.

He heard the sound of a camera go off and looked up to see Sehun taking a selca with him in the background, “Yah! Why didn’t you tell me you were taking a picture?”

“You were busy. Besides you don’t look like the type of person to actually pose with me,” Sehun shrugged.

“No, stop. Don’t do… whatever you were going to do. Let’s retake it.”

“Really?”

“Yes, before I change my mind,” Tao lied. There was no way he’d openly refuse a picture unless his eye bags were… especially bad. However, he actually made an effort to look good today and God be damned if he didn’t photograph it.

They retook the shot, with Sehun cooing over how handsome the he looked afterwards, “Except you hyung. Your panda eyes are distracting.”

Tao hit his shoulder and told him to stop with a slight whine in his voice. Sehun laugh whole heartedly and the two exchanged numbers before they separated. The walk back to the apartment consisted of him rethinking the recipe he wrote down, hoping that he had translated it right and that the poor boy wouldn’t give his friend food poisoning.

Still, he was smiling when he came back to the apartment. It was only his third day in Korea and he had already made a new friend, even if the boy had warned him that it would be difficult to meet up.

Baekhyun looked up from the TV upon his arrival and furrowed his brows, “Welcome home. Where have you been?”

“I had a little trouble finding what we needed. I got some help though,” Tao placed the bags on the counter, “You have to put them away hyung.”

“Arraso,” he groaned as he got up, “Too old for this.”

“You’re overreacting.”

“I can feel my bones crack.”

“That just means you’re out of shape.”

“It does?”

“I don’t know, I’ve never been out of shape,” Tao laughed as he threw himself on the couch. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and saw there was a text from Sehun.

From: Sehun-ah

Thanks for your help today hyung! ^^ If you were pranking me though, I will get you back ten times worse D:<

Tao let out a loud “Ha!” that had Baekhyun questioning him. He ignored his hyung, replied a quick emoticon and threw the device on the table as he looked at the show Baekhyun was watching. It was a rerun of music bank, Tao could tell because the singer on screen was none other than Kris, back when he had his blonde hair.

“God he’s so awesome,” Tao sighed.

“You say that every time you watch him,” Baekhyun nudged his legs off the couch and made himself comfortable besides him, “I heard they were changing his hair back blonde for his next concept.”

“Yeah, some saesangs posted a picture of him in the hair salon,” Tao glared at the thought of people stalking his favorite artist, couldn’t they just leave him alone?

“Wow, that’s not creepy.”

“Shut up hyung.”

The performance ended with Kris bowing to the audience. The stage was replaced with three hyper MC’s, all congratulating Kris on his performance of ‘Wolf.’ It wasn’t until the taller of the two spoke that Tao realized something and nearly fell off the couch.

Baekhyun gaped at him, “What the hell? Did you really just fall off the couch?”

Tao ignored him and lunged for his phone. His fingers flew across the keyboard as he demanded an explanation from his new found friend.

To: Sehun-ah

Why are you on TV?

“No really, what happened?” Baekhyun asked, concern written on his features, “Did you literally ‘fall’ for one of the MC’s?”

“Haha, very funny,” he replied sarcastically. Tao pulled himself onto the couch and pointed at the screen, “You see that guy?”

“Which one? Minho, IU, or Sehun?”

“Sehun.”

“Ah, him,” Baekhyun sighed, “He’s still fairly new in the industry. He’s been in a lot of features, but his most popular one has been with Luhan. Now he’s wanted everywhere for variety shows and performances. I think his company and Luhan’s are arranging a joint tour… let me check twitter.”

Tao’s phone buzzed and he checked the message, eyes widening with surprise and rage at what he saw.

From: Sehun-ah

Aiigoooo, you really didn’t know who I was? I’m hurt! You must have lived in a cave when you were in China :P

“This brat,” Tao mumbled under his breath, but was quickly cut off by a mixture of a yell and shriek that came from Baekhyun. The younger turned his head to see him glaring furiously, “What?”

Baekhyun silently turned his computer and showed Tao the screen. On it was Sehun’s twitter; his most recent post had been the photo of himself and Tao from earlier with a caption that read ‘@luhanatic Look who I ran into kekeke. Guess who’s making Mapo Tofu~~~ This guy!’

“You… ran... into Oh Sehun? And you didn’t tell me!?” Baekhyun shrieked and fell back on the couch, groaning at how stupid his dongsaeng was and cursing the sky for not blessing him with such luck.

“It’s not like I knew it was him! You think I wanted to meet him?!”

“No, and that’s precisely why I’m so jealous and pissed! You had no idea who Luhan or Sehun was and you got to meet both of them! Who’s next?!”

“No one is next! If this continues happening I’ll never leave this house again!” Tao whined and rolled around on the floor, “God, more people are going to be bothering me now. I already got some death threats from Luhan’s fans, now Sehun’s will find me. Let’s move back to China Ge, we can stay with my parents.”

“Oh you have nothing to complain about,” Baekhyun huffed, “From now on, I’m buying groceries.”

“Be my guest.”

The door bell rang seconds later, and the two exchanged looks, “Were you expecting someone? Another celebrity maybe?”

“No, I’ll get it though,” Tao dragged himself to his feet and walked quickly to the door. Neither of the two had actually interacted with anyone in the neighborhood enough to require a visit, except maybe…

With a vague idea of who could be behind the door, Tao opened it and was pleasantly surprised to see the old woman from a few days ago standing there with a pan of fresh bao and a tall stranger behind her. He had pretty much his entire face covered with sunglasses, a scarf, and an oversized hat. Tao eyed him suspiciously, but turned his attention back to the woman when she spoke.

“Hello there dear! As promised, I’ve made you a little treat to officially welcome you here.”

“Grandma, no one does that these days,” The male behind her spoke in their mother tongue. Tao narrowed his eyes, the stranger probably thought he couldn’t understand him.

“The food smells wonderful noona,” he grinned, and Tao could see the man’s brows raise in surprise, “but you didn’t have to.”

“Oh, but I wanted to! You were so kind the other day. This boy here is my grandson,” she motioned behind her, “His name is-”

“Grandma…”

The woman turned and glared at him, “Oh don’t give me that crap about names. He’s a nice fellow, he wouldn’t react that much.”

“What? Is he a criminal or something?” Tao joked, getting a wide eyed response from her.

“Oh not at all! I’m sorry if that scared you, my grandson is just rather popular as a-”

“Grandma!”

“Tao! What’s taking so long?!” Baekhyun whined as he made his appearance. He stopped as soon as he saw the guests and bowed repeatedly, “Oh, my mistake. I thought he was fooling around. My name’s Baekhyun, Tao’s roommate. Aren’t you the lady living next door?”

“Yeah, this noona is so kind as to give us some food,” Tao smiled at her even when she hit his arm again, playfully.

“You’re so cute you little thing. Why can’t you be like this to your own grandma?” She pouted, yes pouted, to her nameless grandson.

The male sighed and turned his head towards Tao, “You’ve turned her into a teenage girl.”

“She has as much energy as one.”

“Aiiish, making me blush!” she squealed and put the pan in Tao’s hands, “I hope you enjoy the food hun. I’ve got my own little trouble maker to cook for now.”

“Thank you very much,” he bowed low until she told him to stand up straight, “It was nice seeing you again noona, and nice meeting you…”

He trailed off, expecting the man to finish it with his name. However, he simply nodded, “Likewise.”

“So rude, this one. Have a wonderful night!” the older woman hooked arms with her grandson and returned to her own apartment. Tao waved bye until the door close and then slowly turned to look at Baekhyun.

Baekhyun was equally surprised, “What…?”

“That guy was rude,” Tao huffed and placed the pan on their table after kicking the door closed behind him, “How could such a nice grandma like her be stuck with a grandson like him?”

“Blame his parents?” Baekhyun shrugged, “Maybe he’s just wary of us. We are still strangers, and you talked to his grandma like you were old friends.”

“Well she’s a nice lady and easy to get along with,” Tao smiled, “Hey hyung, looks like we won’t have to worry about dinner.”

Baekhyun nodded with a smile, “I suppose not. That was nice of her, but I still don’t forgive you for both celebrity encounters.”

Tao rolled his eyes, “It’s not like I expect you to.”

--

After a week without incidents, Tao concluded that his random run-ins were finally over. He had started university as well and was just getting used to falling back into the school system. It was class, break, more classes, and then finally some downtime at home. However, he acknowledged that he needed a job and was avidly searching for one whenever he had the chance… when he wasn’t listening to Kris’s new album.

Baekhyun came home one day to the sound of deep bass and mixed language rapping. Tao hadn’t heard him come home and continued to rap along to the song, eyes flickering back and forth across the screen as he read an article for Korean literature.

He was too focused on the song and materials to notice the boy sneak up behind him; he was suddenly pulled back to reality when he felt a kick on his chair and jumped, screaming slightly. The raven haired boy whipped his head around and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his roommate.

“That’s mean hyung. You could have made yourself known earlier,” he huffed and turned the volume down.

“I could have, but your reaction was priceless,” he grinned, “I just got off work. Some managed to spill his coffee all over me. I was so pissed, you don’t even know.”

“See this is why I don’t want to work for any sort of food industry. Spills are basically guaranteed and stains...” he trailed off, eyeing the brown blotch on Baekhyun’s shirt, “Yeah, no thanks.”

“Speaking of which, how’s the job search going?”

“Fine… At least it was until this beauty came out,” he motioned to the album sitting beside his computer and smiled dreamily at it, “It’s the best thing he’s ever produced…”

“You say that about all his albums.”

“Because everything he touches turns to gold,” Tao smirked and glanced at the time, “… I’m thinking of changing my hair today.”

“Really? Me too. What are you going to do?”

“Maybe dye it red? Crimson? Something dark and shave the sides off,” Tao idly played with a black strand, thinking of how it would turn out.

Baekhyun nodded and dropped his backpack, “Okay, let me change and then we can-” The sound of Girls Generation filled the air, and Tao watched his roommate unconsciously sing to the song as he pulled it out to answer, “What’s up Ryeowook?... What? I don’t think I heard you right…. No, I… god, why me?”

Tao raised a brow as he watched Baekhyun grow more and more distressed until he left the room. The taller male shrugged and went to get his coat; he had already made up his mind and wanted to get his hair cut before the shop closed. Tao was just sliding into his shoes when he saw his hyung reemerge from their room, dressed in a new work uniform and sporting a frown on his face.

“I have to go to work. Ryeowook burned his arm and needs me to fill in while he gets it wrapped,” he sighed dejectedly, “Guess I’ll have to go another day.”

“Sorry to hear that. I might stop by once I’m done so you can shower me with compliments,” Baekhyun laughed, but got louder when the look on Tao’s face told him he really meant it.

“God you are such a child Taozi,” he teased and followed the boy out of the house. He kept him company for as long as he could until the two had to separate at an intersection.

Tao felt a little lonely as he walked the nearly deserted route it took to get to the salon, but luckily the store was nearby and the boy found himself sitting in a chair before he knew it. The lady had started dying his hair a dulled down crimson red, a color that Tao fell in love with the moment his eyes landed on it in the sample, and then left him while the dye was setting.

Tao had his headphones in and was hoping that maybe he could take a quick nap (the dye took an hour to set), but that plan was shot down the moment he heard obnoxious laughter beside him. Tao glanced over and saw a boy with frizzy orange hair and bright, big eyes laughing at something the hair dresser said.

Tao looked to the lady standing behind him for an explanation when she made eye contact with him. The woman shrugged, “All I said was his hair looked like a rat was living in it for weeks.”

The boy besides him launched into another fit of giggles and Tao rolled his eyes. He pulled out his headphones because the look the guy was giving him through the mirror clearly showed that he was going to say something.

“Hey you,” Tao stared shocked at him. His voice was deep, deeper than Kris’s and with the right words could sound y. Unfortunately the next words that followed his attention getter were far from a turn on, “You look like an alien with all that foil in your head.”

He blinked, “What?”

“Are you from a different planet? No that’s just dumb, but you look funny right now.”

“Are you being serious right now?”

“Not as much as I should be. But yes, why?”

“Because your big eyes seem to be useless. Just look at your head,” the boy did as he was told, “Look at how fried your hair is. You desperately need help.”

“That’s why I’m here, but…” the stranger trailed off, “I have no idea what to get. Normally my manager would tell me, but I’m kinda doing this on my own… what do I do?”

“Wait, manager?” Tao frowned, “What’s your name?”

He looked up and frowned, “Don’t you know who I am?”

“No.”

The orange-haired stranger gaped, “You don’t? Seriously? But I’m famous!”

Tao laughed, “Don’t take it too personally. I’ve met two other celebrities and didn’t have a clue about them either.”

“Really? Wait… you’re the guy making the ruckus with all the Hunhan fans!”

“The what fans?”

“Hunhan,” his eyes lit up as he launched into a detailed explanation about how the two fandom’s came together to pair the artists up. Tao had become the subject for their love triangles in fanfiction, although he had refused to explain how he knew about the stories.

“Damn, people are crazy,” Tao sighed, “So who are you?”

“Park Chanyeol,” he bowed his head, “I feel like I need to take a picture with you.”

“No. Not with my head like this,” He pointed at the foil, “So you don’t know what to do with your hair?”

“Nope.”

“Well coincidentally, my roommate happens to be a fan of yours,” Tao straightened his back and eyed the rapper, “And he’s been talking none stop about your hair.”

“Really? What did he say?” Chanyeol looked like a puppy eager for a treat.

The younger male smiled, “That it needs to be shaven off.”

He gasped and clutched his chest dramatically, “B-but I want hair!”

“He also said that you should try going for a short look, dye it back black and do some weird… faux hawk thing.”

“He did? But I haven’t had my hair that short since my trainee days. My ears are too big for it.”

Tao glared, “Do you want to look like a fashion wreck or not?” he shook his head, “Good, then do as I say and dye it black. Trust me when I say my roommate knows what he’s doing.”

Chanyeol sighed heavily and nodded, then turned to the stylist that had been eavesdropping on their conversation, “Can I have what he’s talking about?”

“Certainly, I’ll get the dye,” she bowed slightly and ran off to the back. Chanyeol slumped in his seat and watched Tao from the corner of his eye. The latter could feel his gaze and tried distracting himself with his phone.

“Thanks for your help… I guess.”

“Oh my help is never cheap,” he smirked, “You have to make it up for me.”

“If it’s concert tickets you want, I don’t exactly carry those on me-”

“Nonsense. An autograph will do.”

“Oh? Do you happen to carry my CDs around?”

Tao shook his head and glanced up, eyes skimming his surroundings. He leaned forward and grabbed a bottle of shampoo the lady had rung up for him when she explained how to keep the color in his hair and held it out to Chanyeol, “This will do just fine.”

The idol laughed and took it from him, spinning the bottle in his hands as he searched for a blank spot, “Alright. If my hair comes out as great as you say it will then I’ll sign it, but if it’s terrible I’ll never forgive you… and I won’t sign this.”

“Fine by me,” Tao shrugged, “it’s not like it’s for me anyways.”

“Who then?”

“My roommate? Did you really forget?”

Chanyeol face palmed and apologized quietly. Tao should have known the rapper was going to be a chatter box because he didn’t leave him alone the entire time he was getting his hair done. The stylist thought it was cute and would laugh every now and then when he said something humorous, but Tao wanted to hang himself.

He briefly wondered why Baekhyun liked him so much, and then remembered the way his voice sounded. Words flowed easily, and even though he never heard any of his music he made a mental note to check out some songs.

When Tao was done with his hair, he wanted nothing more than to get the hell out. However, he was waiting for Chanyeol to be done and sign his shampoo bottle for Baekhyun, the things I do for love.

Chanyeol was very impressed with how Tao’s hair came out, and told him that all doubts about his own style were gone. Tao smirked and knocked his knee lightly, telling him he should be more trusting of his intuition.

However, the peace didn’t last long when a couple of fan girls spotted him in the shop just as the barber was finished cutting his hair. They squealed, making Tao flinch, and snapped a couple dozen pictures before being escorted out.

“I could never be an idol. Those sounds are just so…”

“Encouraging. It means I’m doing something others like and enjoy,” Chanyeol finished, whistling at his reflection, “Not bad, but my ears are huge!”

“It’s endearing. Your fans will get over it,” Tao smirked, “Now how about that shampoo bottle?”

“Huh? Oh right,” Chanyeol snatched the said object from the desk and pulled a sharpie from his backpack. Tao wondered how many of those he actually kept in his bag before a question pulled him from his thoughts, “What’s your roommate’s name?”

“Baekhyun.”

“Cute,” he mumbled under his breath and delicately signed the bottle, “Alright, a deals a deal. Thanks for accompanying me today!”

“Yah, I didn’t accompany you. You came in here in the middle of my haircut,” Tao pouted, “Try not to get eaten by your fangirls.”

“I’ll probably just leave through the back. You should too.”

The red head laughed, “I’m no celebrity, I think I’ll be fine.”

“Alright man,” Chanyeol stood, and for the first time Tao saw how tall he actually was. He pulled the boy into a half hug and patted his back, “Take care of yourself. I hope we see each other again.”

“Yeah, maybe. If my luck continues to get worse.”

Chanyeol laughed and the two parted ways. Tao didn’t think he’d have too difficult of a time getting out of the salon, but he unfortunately underestimated the wall of fan girls blocking his path. They screamed as they took his picture and asked where Chanyeol went off too. In an effort to escape, Tao pointed in to the right and took off down the opposite way. He was fast enough to avoid them and didn’t stop running until he arrived back at the dorm.

Panting and very irritated, Tao slammed the door open, causing a seemingly just arrived Baekhyun to jump.

“Yah, what took you so long?!” he asked as he undid the top few buttons on his collar, “It’s nearly six!”

“Here,” Tao ignored his question and threw the bottle at him.

Baekhyun barely caught it and glared at the younger male, “What’s this?”

“A present.”

“What?”

“Read the damn message.”

Baekhyun blinked and looked down. Tao went to the kitchen and grabbed a water bottle, chugging it as he watched Baekhyun’s eyes widen in sheer excitement and cover his mouth. The shorter male put the bottle on the table and ran to his roommate, hugging him tightly while screaming a myriad of ‘thank you’s and compliments.

“I can’t believe you met him! How?!”

“He was at the hair salon,” Tao shrugged, “You shouldn’t have gone to work.”

“Oh god. Was he getting his hair cut? Did he get the same style he had before?” The short brunet had a look of pure horror on his childish features, causing the latter to laugh loudly.

“No worries, I told him to get the hair style you were muttering about when you stared at your computer.”

“His black hair?”

“Yup.”

“I love you,” Baekhyun hugged him again and Tao groaned. For the sake of his personal space, he hoped never to meet another celebrity again.

--

“Yoboseyo?”

“Tao-ssi! It’s Sehun.”

Tao’s smile fell; of course the brat would be calling him in the middle of his classes. His phone was buzzing violently in his pocket and it was loud enough to draw the attention of those sitting nearby. He excused himself quietly and was now pacing the halls, rather irritated.

“What do you want Sehun?” there was a chorus of laughter on the other end which just deepened his frown.

“Yah, he isn’t happy that he got a call from you. Weren’t you just saying that all the fans love you?”

“Well who says I’m a fan?” Tao interrupted, which only earned him lore laughter, “Who are you talking to Sehun-ah?”

“Sorry Tao, I’m currently on a TV show and-”

“How come you don’t answer my calls?” a new voice asked, one he recognized immediately.

“Luhan-ssi?”

“Yah, ‘Luhan’ is fine. We’re family, remember? That’s what you said last time we met.”

“Right. Well I would hyung if you actually called me. What’s going on here?” he whined a bit childishly at the end, rolling his eyes when the announcers decided to step in.

“Tao-ssi, we are currently filming a show called Weekly Idol. I’m here with Hyeong Don hyung and Defconn hyung.”

Tao remained silent, until he heard a ‘chincha!?’ at the end followed by a roar of laughter, “Sorry Sehun-ah, I don’t know who they are.”

“Well your lack of knowledge is what lead us to call you today,” The man Tao figured to be Hyeong Don replied, “We were talking about the luck you had with Luhan and Sehun-”

“And Chanyeol.”

“What?!” they yelled in unison, “Chanyeol, why didn’t you say anything!?”

“The look on your faces!” he chuckled and Tao knew he regretted picking up the phone, “I was going to, but I wanted to see if Tao remembered who I was. Besides there are pictures on the web.”

“Of course I do. You’re all my roommate ever plays at home.”

“Tao was the one with you in the salon? With the red hair?”

“Yes…”

“We thought that was another idol! Nice look Tao, but at the rate you’re running into celebrities, you’ll become one yourself.”

“I’m hoping not.”

“But anyways, we called because we have a few questions for you. What are you doing right now?”

Tao blinked at the window in front of him, “Is that really why you called me?”

“No, we’re just wondering if you’re in the potential vicinity of any idols.”

“I highly doubt that, I’m at university.”

“Which one?”

“Seoul.”

“Hey, isn’t Kai on break right now to go back to school there?” Defconn asked.

“Yeah, just for dance and music,” Luhan confirmed.

“Well whatever he’s here for, Luhan, Sehun…. Chanyeol, I don’t think it’s likely for me to run into some here, now, on the phone with you,” Tao sighed, checking his watch. Class would be over soon and he will have wasted his time with these idiots. Great.

“You may have jinxed yourself,” Chanyeol snickered.

“Please, if anything I guaranteed that I won’t run into this Kai person-”

“Tao? I thought you had class,” a new voice from behind him interrupted.

Tao looked over his shoulder and smiled when he saw a familiar tanned skin boy, “Oh hey Jongin. Sorry, I’m on the phone with-”

“Jongin!?” a collective yell made him nearly drop his iphone.

“Tao can you put your friend on the line.”

“Like he’d talk you Sehun,” Tao scoffed and handed the phone over, “These guys are weird, and they want to talk to you.”

“Who is it?” Jongin raised an inquisitive brow and the red head suddenly felt bad. The two had met on Tao’s first day of school, when he was completely lost and needed help finding the art building. Jongin had heard his struggling monologue and offered to help him. Their walk was comfortable and their conversations never had any awkward pauses, so they decided to become friends and meet when they could for lunch after classes.

But now Tao felt guilty because he was dragging him into this mess of a conversation, “Some variety TV show that calls themselves ‘Weekly Idol’.”

“You watch Weekly Idol?”

“Nope, they called me because of Sehun and Luhan-”

“Oh?” his face brightened and he put the phone on speaker, “Annyeong, Sehunnie~ Luhannie~”

“Kai!?” Tao stared at him with an unreadable expression, “What are the odds- How did you run into Tao? Were you stalking him? Oh my goodness this has most certainly turned into a game.”

“Hyeong Don Hyung? Wow, he wasn’t joking. Who’s all there?”

“Well you’ve got me, Defconn, Sehun, Luhan, Chanyeol, and Kris.”

The crimson haired male stopped mentally punching himself in the head when he heard the last name. With wide eyes and an expression of disbelief, he looked to Jongin, “Wait… Did he just say Kris was there?”

The dark skinned boy laughed, “Guys I think you broke him.”

“Oh I forgot, Tao told me he didn’t know me ‘cause he only ever listened to Kris,” Chanyeol sounded so smug that Tao wanted nothing more than to jump through the phone and punch him.

“Yeah, same here!” Luhan’s light laughter filtered through, “Taozi~ we have Kris here!”

“Oh my god, his whole face is turning red-”

“Shut up Jongin!” Tao snatched the phone back, “Don’t you have some… lies to be telling? You never told me you were an idol!”

“I thought you knew!”

“Obviously not!”

Jongin, or… Kai as he was recently called, smirked and patted his back, “It’s okay Tao, I forgive you.”

“I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m giving you a five minutes head start to hide before I come after you and wushu your to China.”

Both ends of the conversation were laughing, and Kai couldn’t keep the grin off his face as he raised his hands in defense and backed off.

“Oh I forgot to mention, Tao is a trained martial artist and will kick your ,” Luhan huffed proudly.

“I know hyung. Where’s Jongin?”

“He ran off Sehun-ah,” Tao smirked at the idol beside him, “He’s hopefully not taking my warning too lightly.”

“Well I have class so I’ll admit defeat this time. Buy guys!”

“Annyeong!”

“You want to grab lunch when I’m free?” Jongin asked as the phone was taken off speaker. Tao nodded silently and gave him a slight wave as he disappeared down the hallway. Now he was stuck with the people on the phone.

“Kris has been quiet since the beginning of this conversation. Why don’t you say a little something to your fan?” Defconn asked to someone a little bit farther from the phone.

Tao scoffed in response, “This isn’t funny hyung. I-”

“Hey man,” the new voice made him trail off, “This is Kris…”

Tao couldn’t reply. He had just heard Kris, his idol, the man he looked up to with such awe, address him.

“Aww don’t be shy now Tao.”

“What? Peach?”

He disregarded Sehun’s comment because his ears were focused on Kris’s voice, and how he had mistaken his name for peach, “Sehun Shut up. Luhannie, please kick him for me while I go crawl in a hole and die somewhere.”

“Sure thing Taozi.”

Chanyeol’s mirth tone followed after, “Oh Tao, why would you want to die when the man of your dreams is-”

Tao hung up the phone and pocketed it quickly. Screw Chanyeol and his stupid teasing, he didn’t have time for this. Tao felt his pants vibrate from the device and figured Sehun was trying to call him again. He ignored it and headed back to class, hoping to god he could forget about this awkward incident.

--

He couldn’t.

A week after the phone call he found himself sitting on the couch besides Baekhyun, wondering why the shorter male was still home when he was going to be late for work. Baekhyun frantically scrolled through a long list of recorded shows and dramas, because he refused to delete anything without making complete sure he watched it before… which usually lead to him watching it again. Finally, his brown eyes landed on a show called ‘Weekly Idol’ and Tao was only able to mutter an ‘Oh no’ before Baekhyun’s laughter filled the room.

“I tried to get you to watch this with me yesterday, but you were busy practicing. Now that you have free time—which I know you do Taozi, I saw you finish your homework earlier—you can finally watch,” Baekhyun dropped the remote on the coffee table and stood up, stretching his back out slightly, “I gotta go to work. I expect you to tell me what you think when I come back.”

“I really hate you,” Tao glared as his hyung hummed on his way to the door. He didn’t bother replying to his goodbye and simple stared angrily at the screen while the MC’s Defconn and Hyeong Don introduced themselves and gave a little recap about the guests they had last week.

Luhan and Sehun entered the frame early, earning some playful scolding from the hosts before Chanyeol and Kris followed.

Just the sight of the newly blonde Chinese male made Tao groan and bury his face in a pillow as he recalled last week’s conversation. He had made a complete fool of himself in front of his biggest idol, great.

The show continued with Luhan and Sehun singing a duet from Luhan’s lattes album, followed by a joint comedic freestyle rap from Chanyeol and Kris. They eventually sat down and started talking about Luhan and Sehun’s tour until they moved to fan questions.

“Now we told your fans to send some messages asking for things they were curious about. Besides the 30% dedicated to your ideal type, there were a lot of people eager to know about the young boy that seems to be connected to two of you,” Hyeong Don glanced at his card before he spoke “Now we have some pictures of him with you in case you forgot who we are talking about.”

On the white wall above their heads, the selca he took with Luhan and Sehun were presented.

“Oh that’s my cousin Tao,” Luhan smiled, “I remember when we took that picture, I was honestly surprised he didn’t know who I was. Not to be vain or anything, but I have a pretty popular fan base in Qingdao.”

“He helped me make that meal for you hyung,” Sehun casually pointed out, “The tofu you liked so much.”

“Really?”

 “I feel left out for not seeing him,” Kris commented, making his face heat up. Tao grabbed a pillow and stuffed it under his chin, in case he felt a need to hide himself as the show continued.

“Well actually this is becoming a game among Idols. Chen announced on twitter that ‘The game is on’ not too recently and has been on the lookout for him ever since. Others have joined him as well,” Defconn laughed as the ballad singer’s tweet was shown above them.

Sehun scoffed and leaned back in his chair, “Yeah good luck with that. Tao’s trying to stay under the radar because of this.”

“What? He told you that?” Luhan frowned.

“Yeah we talked a few days ago.”

“Oh! Let’s talk to him now!” Luhan replied eagerly, jumping a little in his seat.

 “I feel like we’re not needed anymore,” Hyeong Don sighed, looking to his co host, “These kids could run the show on their own.”

“Yeah, or better yet since this Tao kid is so popular he should be the new host…” Defconn mumbled, but quickly turned to the camera and pointed at someone behind it, “That was a joke. Don’t replace us.”

The idols laughed while Sehun took out his phone and plugged in an audio device for everyone to hear. The ringing that followed only lasted for a few seconds before the call connected and Tao heard his voice filter through, “Yoboseyo?”

“Tao-ssi! It’s Sehun,” The said boy was smiling as he spoke while Defconn and Hyeong Don turned to each other, laughing at the fact that he was using honorifics. Tao groaned loudly and threw the pillow at the screen as they continued to talk.

Everyone was surprised when he mentioned his meeting with Chanyeol, but the reaction was nothing compared to when he put Jong… Kai on the line. However, all of them were getting a good laugh, until Hyeong Don told him that Kris was there.

“…Guys I think you broke him.”

“Oh I forgot, Tao told me he didn’t know me ‘cause he only ever listened to Kris,” Chanyeol snickered, and Kris looked surprised. His eye brows rose up and Tao squirmed in his seat.

“Yeah, same here!” Luhan’s laughed, “Taozi, we have Kris here!”

“Oh my god, his whole face is turning red-”

Tao’s sharp yell cut him off and the rest grew quiet as they listened to Kai and his conversation. Chanyeol made a small comment about how Tao not knowing who Kai, or any of the idols he met, was really amusing.

“I’m not asking for forgiveness. I’m giving you a five minutes head start to hide before I come after you and wushu your to China.”

“Oh I forgot to mention, Tao is a trained martial artist and will kick your ,” Luhan huffed proudly. Defconn proceeded to ask him questions on what kind as Tao and Kai finished their conversation. Tao frowned at the incorrect animation of martial arts used to depict his wushu, but he let it side. They didn’t seem like a too high budget show.

Once Kai said his goodbyes, the camera focused on Kris and Defconn. If Tao was blushing before, then his face was burning now as he watched the next conversation unfold.

“Kris has been quiet since the beginning of this conversation. Why don’t you say a little something to your fan?” Defconn motioned to Kris, who smirked—God that smirk—at the MC.

“This isn’t funny hyung. I-”

“Hey man,” Kris spoke, pausing a little as he waited for a reaction, “This is Kris…”

The line was deathly quiet, and Tao knew he should have replied. He grabbed a different pillow and gripped it tightly in his lap.

 “Aww don’t be shy now Tao,” Sehun chuckled.

Kris looked to the boy confused and leaned forward a bit, “What? Peach?”

They all started to laugh even as Tao replied, “Sehun Shut up. Luhannie, please kick him for me while I go crawl in a hole and die somewhere.”

“Sure thing Taozi.” The Chinese male grinned, mimicking a kick towards the idol.

Chanyeol’s face light up as he replied, “Oh Tao, why would you want to die when the man of your dreams is trying to talk to you? Man up!”

Tao threw the pillow again as the call dropped. He rubbed at his eyes furiously and rocked back on the couch, groaned loudly and kicking thin air. He was embarrassed, humiliated, and wanted nothing more than to round house kick Chanyeol in the face.

The MC’s were scolding Chanyeol for scaring Tao off while Sehun tried to reconnect the call. Luhan tried to as well but at that point Tao had returned to class.

“He may seem tough but he’s still a shy fan at heart,” Hyeong Don concluded, “Or maybe Chanyeol is just as terrifying over the phone as he is in person.”

“Yah!” The rapper yelled and pretended to get up. The group was laughing as Kris held him down and fanned him with his hand.

“But still, Kris never got to speak to his biggest fan. Why don’t you send him a video message?”

“Really?”

“Well he’s pretty dedicated,” Luhan interjected, “His ringtone is ‘Two Moons’ after all.”

“Two moons?”  The two MC’s frowned, “What’s that?”

“A song I released before I was signed to Sment. I didn’t think anybody knew what it was,” Kris smiled fondly as the text ‘Thinking of his nostalgic past~’ popped up on screen.

The baby-faced idol nodded, “Don’t underestimate Chinese fans.”

“Alright Kris,” Defconn pointed to one that focused in on Kris’s face, “Talk when you’re ready.”

Kris coughed awkwardly and stared at the camera. His eyes were so focused that Tao felt like he was looking directly at him and had to move his gaze to his forehead so he wouldn’t feel embarrassed, “Hello Peach,” the Hosts laughed at that while Luhan rolled his eyes, “Ah, but that’s not your name is it? Well Tao, I appreciate your support and effort to follow me since the beginning. I hope that one day maybe we can meet as well. I hope you enjoy my latest album as well, and take care of yourself.”

Tao smiled softly as the other clapped, and laughed when Hyeong Don commented on his message, saying it felt like he was speaking to a long lost lover.

Before he could watch anymore, the door bell rang and Tao paused the screen on Kris’s smiling face as he went up to answer it. He was surprised to see the old lady’s grandson standing there; his face was still stupidly covered, but he was holding another dish in his hand.

“Hello,” he greeted roughly, “Sorry to bother you so late, but my grandma insisted that I give you some of our leftover udon. She’s been practicing cooking and lately has been making too much food.”

“Oh, that’s nice of her,” Tao smiled. His eyes widened as he remembered the meal she had made before and forgot that he had yet to return the tray, “Wait, I have her pan. Do you mind coming inside for a minute while I get it?”

The boy shook his head and stepped in, slipping his shoes off as Tao disappeared into the kitchen. When he returned, he found the grandson staring at the TV, where Kris was still on display.

“Do you watch this show?” He asked, smiling when the boy jumped, “I don’t, but my roommate told me to.”

“I don’t really keep track of shows like this,” the grandson admitted shyly, “it’s just… weird to watch.” Tao nodded and traded dishes with him, he turned to head back into the kitchen when the male called out to him, “Do you like Kris?”

“Hm? You mean him?” He nodded as Tao pointed at the screen, “Yeah. I admire him, and the music he makes is fantastic.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, do you?”

“Not really?”

Tao let out a fake gasp, “Well you should. He’s amazing.”

“You make it sound like he is.”

“That’s because he is. Don’t worry though, I’m not going to force my music on you.”

“Really?”

“Everyone has different tastes,” Tao shrugged and put the bowl on the table, “Was there something else you needed?”

“Yeah, actually,” the man pulled out a small piece of paper from his pocket, “I have to leave for a week or two, I was wondering if you could check up on her whenever you can and let me know how she’s doing.”

“When will you be leaving?”

“Tonight actually,” Tao nodded as he took the paper, glancing at the numbers on it, “Just tell me who you are when you text and ill save your number.”

“Alright. I’ll let you know… under one condition,” the grandson had his foot half way out the door before he stopped and turned. Tao, regardless of the sunglasses, saw him raise an inquisitive brow, “Tell me your name. I can’t exactly keep you as ‘Anonymous’ on my phone.”

“You could make one up.”

“Alight. How do you like ‘Ben Ben’?”

The boy laughed, his voice rich and causing Tao to flush, I wasn’t expecting that. He just hoped his face wasn’t as red as his hair, “Not really… Li Jiaheng.”

“Huang Zitao.”

“I remember,” he smiled and nodded once, “Good night Tao.”

Tao didn’t reply and simply waved as he left. The boy’s chest finally loosened a few minutes after he was gone, but Tao couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something strange about Jiaheng…

He shook his head; this was the first decent contact he’s had with the boy. Maybe he just needs to grow on him. With a sigh, Tao snatched the remote from the coffee table and resumed the show. He went towards the kitchen and grabbed some chopsticks before digging into the meal the old woman next door had made him.

This particulat story is a MONSTER. I'VE ACTUALLT TYPED 30 PAGES, 11K+, AND I'M NOWHERE NEAR DONE. forgive me yall, i'm trying to update, and i really like this idea so its gonna be long. Tell me what you think~  P,S i did proofread it, but it was a lot of pages so if i missed anything im sorry.