Stay Away From Tall People
Stay Away From Tall People
Xiumin had always been short and chubby especially during his kindergarten and elementary years so he had always been the victim of teasing and bullying by the tall kids. At an early age, Xiumin associated tall people to bullies. Hence, Xiumin never liked tall people and a part of him feared them. Therefore, as much as possible he always tried to stay away from them.
In high school, Xiumin was glad that the bullying had lessened (or maybe because he became an expert on how to escape or stay hidden) and that he wasn't their favorite victim anymore but nevertheless, he still had a victim status.
Today, they decided to bully Xiumin. Despite his short height, Xiumin was a fast runner but unfortunately, he ran to a dead end. He took a deep breath and readied himself to get beaten up. Then someone tall with cool kung-fu moves came to the rescue. The bullies were no match for him so after getting a few injuries, they ran away.
"Are you alright?" The tall savior asked Xiumin.
No, it was not alright for Xiumin. He couldn't accept the fact that his savior was... tall. Xiumin didn't say anything, not even a simple thank you. Instead, he ran away as he had labeled his savior as a bully in his head. That tall guy must have saved him because he wanted something back.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Xiumin tried to reach for a book that was placed on the high part of the shelf. He jumped a few times and had managed to touch the book with his fingertips but that's all he could do. He was about to get a chair to step on when someone tall easily took the book from the high part of the shelf.
"Here." He handed the book to Xiumin.
Xiumin couldn't accept the book. Not when it came from a tall person who was his savior the other day. He turned and tried to walk away fast since running isn't allowed in the library but unfortuantely, the tall guy with his long legs easily caught up with Xiumin.
"Hey, didn't you need this?" He grabbed Xiumin's arm while his other hand offered the book to Xiumin.
"Stay away from me!" Xiumin tugged his arm out of the tall guy's grasp and successfully did it so he tried to walk away again.
The tall guy placed the book on a table they passed by as he caught up with Xiumin again. "Hey, hey, hey!!!" He grabbed Xiumin's arm and turned the other around so they could face each other again. "What the heck did I do to make you hate me? As far as I can remember, I only tried to be nice to you."
"I don't want you to be nice to me. I just want you to leave me alone." Xiumin squirmed and tried to pull out from the tall guy's hold but was unsuccessful this time around.
"Do you have antisocial issues or something?" The tall guy raised an eyebrow.
"I have issues with tall people. Now, let me go." Xiumin glared at the other. He hated at how he had to lift his head up just so he could glare at the other.
"You hate me because I'm tall?" He blinked. "Now that's ridiculous."
"Tall people are mean to short people like me. Tall people are bullies. Short people are victims. You are only being nice to me because you probably want something from me. Don't you dare make me your slave!! I won't succumb to it!!!" Xiumin continued to glare as the tall stranger started to laugh. See? He was already making fun of Xiumin. Tall people are indeed bullies.
"Again, that sounds ridiculous." The tall guy wiped the side of his right eye as he could feel a tear escape from laughing too hard. "I'm not here to bully you. I'm here to help." His long arm easily reached the book on the table. "So please accept my help." He offered the book to Xiumin again. "And I'm not asking anything for return."
Xiumin eyed the tall guy suspiciously. He hesitantly reached out for the book and held it onto his chest. "I've accepted your help. Can we go to our separate ways now?"
"My name is Tao and you need to learn how to say thank you, Tao. " The tall guy named Tao emphasized the thank you part.
Xiumin looked away and stubbornly stayed silent.
Tao sighed. "You know what? You're short, impolite and ungrateful. It's no wonder you don't have any friends and people like to bully you. With your attitude like that, no one will like you." He finally released his hold on Xiumin and walked away.
Xiumin bit his bottom lip to keep a sob from coming out of his mouth. He didn't want to admit that everything Tao said was right. "I hate tall people." He muttered.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Xiumin got detention so now he was assigned to clean the school's dojo after club practice. He apparently arrived to early and got to match some martial arts sparring matches. His gaze landed on a familiar guy who he later realized was Tao.
Tao's moves were swift and flawless as he easily won the match earning cheers and applause from the audience. While everybody admired Tao, Xiumin only labeled him as dangerous and kept in mind to stay out of Tao's way but it seems like no matter how hard he tried to stay away, Tao always seem to find him.
"Hey, shorty! What are you doing here?"
Xiumin knew he was short but he didn't liked being called shorty. "None of your business."
"Of course, it's my business. This is where I usually am on school days while this is probably your first time here." Tao retorted.
"I've been a student in this school for the last 3 years. It's not my first time to be here. It's just rare for me to be here." Xiumin pointed out. "The only reason I'm here is because I'm assigned to clean the place since I'm on detention."
"We usually clean the dojo by ourselves but since you're here, I guess we'll leave everything up to you. Thanks, dude!" Another tall person who went by the name of Chanyeol gave Xiumin's back a friendly slap before going to the locker room to change out of his sweaty clothes.
"I'll help you out." Tao offered his help again which Xiumin declined right away. "You really should learn how to accept other people's help."
"You said it yourself. I'm short, impolite, ungrateful and nobody likes me. Why should I accept help from a tall person who doesn't like me and what exactly do you want from me that you always seem to try to be nice to me?" Xiumin couldn't bring himself to trust the guy.
"I just want to show you that not all tall people are mean people or bullies. Come on, the dojo is huge. You can't clean all of it alone. Even the school janitors do it by pairs."
Xiumin looked around. Now that they were the only ones left in the dojo, he realized that the place was indeed quite huge and it would take hours for him to clean by himself. "Fine...." He reluctantly accepted Tao's help.
"You never told me your name, you know."
"It's Xiumin."
Then Tao moved to the other side of the dojo with some cleaning materials since he had a feeling that Xiumin would want him to start cleaning at the other side far away from Xiumin. He didn't talk to Xiumin even after they finished cleaning and placed the cleaning materials back in the closet.
"Are you leaving?" Xiumin asked. He was supposed to be grateful with Tao's silence but instead, it unnerved him that Tao hadn't been talking or being annoying to him.
Tao simply gave out a short reply. "Yeah."
"Oh... okay then... bye." Xiumin said awkwardly.
Tao nodded at Xiumin and left first. As Xiumin watched him walk away, he suddenly had the urge to thank the tall guy. He slapped his own cheek as he reminded himself to hate the tall guy. He shouldn't fall for the nice act. He was pretty sure that it was all just an act but why did that sound like he was merely convincing himself?
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Xiumin closed his locker and almost jumped out of surprise when he saw that Tao was actually standing right beside him.
"I would like it if you'd cheer for me in my upcoming competition."
"Why the heck would I do that? We have a bunch of blonde cheerleaders in this school." Xiumin walked off to the direction of his classroom.
But Tao easily slipped an arm around Xiumin's shoulders. "I'll forgive you for being an ungrateful bastard if you show up."
"And if I don't?"
"If you don't then.." Tao pushed Xiumin on the wall and loomed over him. "...you can just give me a goodluck kiss right now."
Xiumin really hated it when tall people use their height to make themselves more threatening and also hated it when they loomed over him because it makes him feel really small. His eyes darted around. "People are staring."
"Should we go somewhere more private then?"
"I'm not giving you a goodluck kiss, you idiot!" Xiumin stomped on Tao's foot. While Tao was busy giving attention to his foot and slightly jumping in pain, Xiumin used this chance to run to his classroom.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"You didn't show up."
"I did but I was surrounded by tall people. You just failed to see me because of my short height."
"You're lying." Tao grabbed Xiumin's chin to forcefully make the shorter one look at him. "You're such a terrible person you know."
"And you're such a tall person. Stop making me try to look UP at you. It hurts my neck you know." Xiumin moved his head to the side to free his chin from Tao's hold.
"Why does everything have to do with height?!" Tao asked in frustration. "Why can't you just let go of your grudge against tall people?"
"Because all they do is hurt me."
"I'm not going to do that. At least not intentionally. Please give me a chance." Tao held Xiumin's hand.
Xiumin stared at their hands. Tao's hand was big that it almost covered his small hand but it was warm and despite the fact that it was slightly calloused from martial arts training, it felt nice. "Whatever. It's not like you're going to stop bothering me anytime soon."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
"Are you cold?"
"No." Xiumin said even though he was obviously shaking from the cold.
Tao opened his long coat before hugging Xiumin from behind and closed the coat again. "You're so cute and small. I could easily put you inside my coat." He chuckled.
"The heck?! I'd rather die from cold." Xiumin tried to open the coat.
"Stop struggling. Let's just stay warm together." Tao took off his gloves and placed it on Xiumin's cold hands. He chuckled at how his gloves were too big for Xiumin and hugged the shorter boy again. "Xiumin~hyung, if you were tall, I don't think I would have liked you this much."
"You can't be serious." Xiumin refused to believe him though he could feel his heart rate starting to increase. "I was rejected before because he said I was too short for him."
"I guess you just weren't his type, hyung." Tao was able to turn Xiumin around despite the small space inside his coat. "But for me, I was attracted with how cute and small you were. You have no idea how long I've wanted to wrap you in my arms like this. Besides, you're not that short, hyung."
Though Xiumin loved the warmth of being wrapped in Tao's arms and coat, he still doesn't want to back down. "Sounds like what you need is a stuff toy."
"Why would I need a stuff toy when I have you?"
"You idiot. Don't say stuff like that." Xiumin blushed. Looks like he really just can't stay away from this tall person but for the first time, he doesn't mind it.
"Hyung, can I warm up your lips?" Though Tao asked, he didn't wait for an answer as he pressed his lips against Xiumin's. He had expected for Xiumin to push him away or to punch him but unexpectedly, Xiumin kissed back and placed a gloved hand on Tao's cheek.
Xiumin had felt insecure and unloved for a long time but Tao gave him all the love and security he needed so he was going to make an exception of Tao from his general dislike against tall people.
THE END
A/N: A lot of people said that they loved Ice Magic but was too short and have been requesting another XiuTao / TaoMin from me so.... here it is!!! I hope this is up to your liking ^_^ Comments please?
There was something wrong and the story got cut off but I have fixed it now. It's a complete oneshot.
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