just saying but if you're reading this on your phone you're going to have a hard time understanding things. your phone doesn't break at the appropriate places.

It’s a Thursday afternoon when they finally meet -- his tongue is tied and hands are clammy, words unable to escape despite trying and trying. The sun was still shining up in the sky, but the slight breeze blowing towards them was cooling to a certain extent. Every pathetic attempt at speaking gets shot down when their eyes meet, sending him buckling in the knees and squirming in discomfort.

“Hey,”

“Hi.”

And everything else was absolutely awkward, with Tao opting to stare down at the cemented ground, and Wu Fan looking at the pair of new shoes the he had on. He was kinda forced into buying a new pair when the previous ones were soiled with blood after getting punched by Lu Han. He’s kind of pathetic, but he doesn’t care -- or he’s just apathetic with the entire business because if he’s really that pathetic, then Tao wouldn’t be standing right in front of him, fidgeting like a high school girl. There’s just something within Wu Fan that really wants to lean over and give Tao a full-on kiss on the lips; complete with romantic promises and pretty words (but he knows that Tao belongs to Lu Han, and the latter wouldn’t hesitate when it comes to touching what is his).





It’s a sad, sad, world of territorial marking, and Wu Fan wasn’t in the game.





“…”

And there’s just so much silence between them that it’s terrifying. Simply because this wasn’t how they’d started off, and it’s merely three days into their meeting. There’s barely eleven days for them to sort out their feelings, but it’s just so hard when Tao is fifteen.

“Have you had lunch?”

Swift.

“I came down to meet you the moment the school bell rang. What do you exactly think, Wu Fan?”

“…Right.”

The air was suffocating out of a sudden, and Wu Fan can hardly breathe when Tao takes a step forward; reaching out his small hands and letting his fingernail trace the outline of his jade pendant. He retracts his hands the next second, digging them into his pockets and pulling out a red silken pouch.

The strings came undone as Tao loosened them at the sides, stretching the opening and pulling out a piece of paper.

But it wasn’t any paper.

“Rouge paper from the Li Dynasty,” Kris gasps in recognition.

“How did you know?”

“I was… given the exact same things, and my mom decided to get them checked out at the antique store. The old man told me the paper dated back to the Li Dynasty, and it’s not just plain rouge paper that civilians used.”

Kris’s eyes were wide, accompanied with a desperate gasp for air at the end.

“It was the rouge paper which was specially made for the Imperial Noble Consort. He said that the color was a strange mixture, because it was never really given a name. It wasn’t a flushing red, nor was it vermilion, bu—“

“But the color of the Emperor’s love for Huang Zi Yu.”





Everything hits them like the bullet train.










"Don't you ever think of marrying someone rich?" Jia Heng asked.

"Oh no! Zi Yu would never dare to let such a thought cross my mind. Zi Yu just wishes for my parents to be happy, and I am willing to marry anyone they want me to."

"What if the Emperor asks for you to marry him?"

Zi Yu only looked at Jia Heng with the weirdest look, giggling at the end.

"Jia Heng, never in my wildest dreams have I ever thought of that! But if that does happen, Zi Yu thinks that she will not be happy no matter how much of riches she gets."

"But marrying into the royals is something every girl wants."

"Maybe for them, it is so. But for a simple girl like Zi Yu, all I want is for a husband who would love and care for me. If I were to marry the Emperor, Zi Yu knows that he will not be able to always be there for me, because I will always rank second to the country. The Kingdom will be his first love."










"Zi Yu." her name slipping out of him swiftly, as though it was the only thing he knew.

"Ji-Jia-... Y-Your Majesty."

He pulled her closer, into his embrace. Once again, Jia Heng was holding onto the only love of his life.

"Call me by my name one last time."

"Jia... Heng."

"Once more."

"Jia Heng,"

"Another one more time." And it dawns on the Emperor as to how much he loves this woman in front of him, because he never wants to stop listening to her voice.

"Jia Heng."



“The snow, I’m afraid, is a frightful child of Mother Nature, My Lord.”

“Why do you say so, My Lady?”

“The ability to take life away is the ability of the devil. Zi Yu, would never wish to be in such a position. It is a beautiful sight when the snow falls, and covers the floor in a sheet of white -- but to see such beauty, one must take the sight of other forms of beauty away. Only after winter comes, do we know that the pine and the cypress are the last to fade.”

The Emperor laughs heartily, looking out into the window with the beloved of his life, wrapping his arms around her swelling belly and supporting her to the warmth of their bed.

“There is absolutely nothing I will not give to you.”

“Your Majesty, please do not say of such things.” She tilted her head, eyes casted down with sleeves covering her perfectly rouged lips. “Zi Yu, will rather follow My Lord back into the village, living a simple life, rather than riches that Zi Yu finds no use in.”

She was pulled into a sturdy embrace, letting her head rest against the only thing keeping her alive in a place like this; knowing that there’s a heart within the Emperor, and a life in her.

Only a few moments passed, and the Emperor had fished out a box of aged wood, placing it in the Imperial Noble Consort’s hands, roughened from years of doing the laundry and preparing food for her family daily.

“I had this made, with the finest pigments from the west. I had an envoy sent over to Russia, and they have heard of my lovely lady. The pigmentation is a mixture of several shades of red, and a secret ingredient, which I cannot tell. “

Zi Yu opened the box with extreme care, her lower lips trembling as she saw the powdery rouge papers stacked atop of each piece neatly, presented in a vibrant form of red (or what was it?). “Pardon the silly question, but Zi Yu, would like to know what color is this exactly, My Lord.”

A loud laughter rang in the air, with the Emperor shaking his head as the Imperial Noble Consort looked up meekly.

“It is the color of a foolish Emperor’s love, for his concubine.”










"I have one that holds your yu. This means that from now on, we belong to each other. There are inscriptions carved into them, and they will show over time. It is the newest thing in the western countries now. It is told that when they show... the owners of the item will once again be reunited, the love between them will blossom and bloom like the plum flowers." he whispered lowly into Zi Yu's ear.

"So what did you have them to engrave on the inside?" Zi Yu stared at the piece of jade.

"I had them carve, My beloved concubine Zi Yu..." he trailed off, whispering the rest into her ears.











They were staring into the other’s eyes -- just so much to understand, and there’s just that tiny jab of pain coursing through their veins.





“’My beloved concubine Zi Yu, should we ever part, may the red strings of fate bind us together.’”





“’A Zi for you, in remembrance of my name, and a tao, for me. Just so you shall never forget me when the rouge paper stains your fingers.’”











And they kiss.

----

Congratulations EXO-M for winning the Most Popular Group award!! And because of that, I've decided to give you guys a short... short... 1.3k update.

god kris w/e happened :( 



I was honestly so bloody emotional the entire time.
And dear Tao, I know you're touched and all, but I'm still waiting for you to strip off your damn top on screen. 

right, if you're ever interested in asking for a drabble on tumblr, my tumblr is tsundere-ouji.tumblr.com. I wrote quite a lot of them then and then because it's the only thing I could cope with,

But yes, I'm so sorry for the late update. Hope you like it even though it's short.