TAO

I went to school the next day, all I did was sit around and read. At lunch, Luhan, who I hadn’t seen in a little while came over to our table and sat.

“Hey guys. What's up?” Kai and Kyungsoo hugged him, showing that they had missed him.

“Not a lot. Tao’s been quiet. We don’t know what’s bugging him, either.” I sighed, as if on que, and then sighed again out of frustration.

“Shut up, guys. I’m just tired.”

“No you aren’t. Even if you were tired, you would talk more.” Kyungsoo put in.

I got up to leave but Chanyeol was behind me. I staggered back a bit, our faces had been a little too close.

He bit his bottom lip slightly before asking what was wrong.

“I overheard you guys talking.” Chanyeol rested a hand on my head, I began tearing up.

“Nothing.” I moved out of his reach, but he quickly came after me. He grabbed a hold of my wrist and ran with me.

I had no idea where we were going.

In the end, we came to a hole in the school fence behind the gym that lead out into an empty alley way.

“C’mon. Let’s go get something to eat, and then we can go back to my place. Alright?”

“But school-

I started to protest but he cut me off.

“I think your feelings are more important than school, Tao.” He laughed, and pulled me through the hole with him.

We ate tteokbokki and drank milk while we walked to his house.

It was neat on the outside and inside. His bedroom was fairly large, exactly the way a musician’s room would look. His bed was unmade, but the floor tidy. An acoustic guitar sat in the corner of the room on a black stand. I had the urge to touch it, but sat down awkwardly on his bed instead.

“So… I saw your face. You looked as though you were going to cry.” Chanyeol sat down beside me, putting a hand on my back.

“I… Well, me and Kris… did some stuff, and then when I woke up, he was gone. I call him and text him, but no reply.” Chanyeol put a hand to my face, wiping away tears I hadn’t known were there. He put a hand on the side of my head and guided me down, so that I was laying in his lap.

I began to cry more, sobbing uglily from the deepest part of my body.

“I – I just thought – that he liked me too.”

“There, there. It’s okay.” He sighed heavily and started to play with my hair. I began feeling calmer, and before I knew it,

I’d drifted off to sleep.

CHANYEOL

I’d let Tao sleep on my bed. I’d pulled a futon from the other room and slept on the ground.

I felt honestly bad for Tao, and maybe even responsible for the reason he was sad. Maybe I should have told him that Kris was a jerk, and that he could break his heart.

But It wasn’t my place to say anything.

Kris had told me about the one night stands he had with people.

I usually zoned out when he talked about it.

I was too busy thinking about My sister and music.

Chun Hei walked in then, she opened to speak but closed it again, realising the situation.

“Who’s that?”

“My friend Tao.” I sat up, scratching my head. My sister was always inquisitive about friends or people I bought home.

“Oh, looks cute.” She cocked her head to the side and smiled.

“Ew, sis, don’t on my friends.”

“Alright, sorry.” She laughed, and it was probably the first time I’d heard it in a while.

I guess Tao made everyone happy.