Warning: Language only.

O.o o.O

“You want to call it All New Attack La-di-da?!” was what woke Tao from his nap, and he rolled over in his bed to see the rest of his suitemates gathered on the floor of his room. Jongdae was the one that had spoken, features scrunched with incredulity. “What sort of name is that?”

Yixing shrugged mildly. “Couldn’t think of an L word. Just wanted the acronym .”

Luhan laughed so hard he snorted bubble tea out of his nose, and Minseok recoiled in disgust, punching Luhan on the shoulder before getting up to get the tissue box from Tao’s desk and throwing it square into Luhan’s face. “Jesus why are you so ing gross all the time?”

“The Plan,” Jongdae hummed, his chin and ignoring the commotion next to him as Luhan kicked at Minseok, who retorted with a few hard smacks to his shoulder. “Could work, I guess.”

“Hello?” Tao ventured quietly, face still half hidden under his covers.

“Oh, Peaches, you’re awake.” Minseok held up a plastic takeout cup from where he sat next to the bed. “I got you boba. Chocolate okay?”

“Yes!” Tao slid down eagerly onto the floor next to Minseok and reached for the cup, setting his stuffed panda tucked between his crossed legs as his comforter pooled around his shoulders. “Thank you, hyung!”

Minseok didn’t answer, patting Tao’s head gently and then patting Mr Panda as well.

“What are we talking about?” Tao asked as he sipped his drink, still blinking himself awake.

“Plan to -”

“Plan to make Kris not mad at you anymore,” Yixing cut in before Luhan could finish.

“HEY!” Luhan protested loudly, hands on his hips. “I AM OLDER. RESPECT MAH AUTHORITAH.”

“ing hell,” Minseok sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose. “Luhan we literally talked about this like ten minutes ago. Remember?” He gave Luhan a hard look, and Tao could see the light bulb clicking on in Luhan’s eyes.

“Oh! Oh, right. Oh riiiiiiight. Haha, silly me. Your Lu-ge is silly, haha,” Luhan said, eyes wide and glittering as he leaned into Tao’s space, his hair with an eerie grin. “Don’t worry, baby Tao, your Lu-ge will make eeeeeeverything better.”

Which sounded rather more ominous than reassuring.

Tao could only blink slowly. “Um. Okay. As long as Kris-ge won’t be mad at me anymore.”

“Not after this he won’t,” Jongdae said, frowning at Yixing’s crayon drawing. He turned it upside down, squinting at it. “Just as soon as I figure out what this actually is.”

“Baby Tao in workout gear,” Yixing filled in helpfully. “And it’s this way up.” He turned the paper in Jongdae’s hands.

“Okay, sure. Whatever. Doesn’t matter. Baby Tao,” Jongdae began authoritatively, “you’re gonna go work out with Kris-hyung.”

“Uh.” Tao was terribly thankful that all his ge were so invested in this, but he had to admit - the plan itself was also terribly banal (in the back of his head, a voice sounding suspiciously like Baekhyun-hyung squealed how punny!). “Is that…it?” he asked.

“Yes,” Yixing said. “I’ll lend you some clothes.”

“I have plenty?” Tao said, still confused.

“Oh,” Jongdae said, catching on. “Oh, no, baby Tao, you don’t have anything that’ll work for this. Trust us.”

The worst thing was, Tao really did trust them.

O.o o.O

Hey, Luhan texted him the next day. Kris is heading to the gym now.

Tao was already prepared to go, dressed in clinging sweatpants and a sleeveless tank top with open sides. Ge, he texted back hesitantly, even as he kept an ear out for the sound of Kris’ bedroom door opening, don’t you think this shirt is a bit too much?

He had borrowed it from Yixing, who owned more than a dozen sideless tank tops.

He absolutely did not want to know why.

Define ‘too much’, Luhan replied, but Tao didn’t have time to answer because he could hear Kris stepping into the corridor, and he rushed out of his own room, breath caught in his throat as he lifted his head right into Kris’ surprised gaze.

“Tao?”

“Oh, Kris-ge!” Tao greeted breathlessly. “Hi.”

“Hey,” Kris said warily, eyeing Tao’s outfit. “Is that Yixing’s shirt?”

“Oh, uh.” Tao gave an airy giggle. “Yeah. What are you doing now?”

“I’m just heading to the gym,” Kris said.

“Me too! Let’s go together!” Tao said cheerily, looping his arm into Kris’. “Come on, ge!”

“Okay,” Kris said dumbly, pretending that he wasn’t looking right at the smooth, golden, skin of Tao’s side…which pressed against his bare arm, and Kris glanced up to see Tao looking straight at him with wide, glittering eyes and a curved, pink smile. He coughed, turning his head away steadfastly and forcing his mind into cleaner pastures.

They chatted easily on the way to the gym, Kris inquiring about Tao’s studies and his healing back injury and how his wushu training is going, and Tao asking about Kris’ classes and his basketball team and how practices were going. It flowed effortlessly, the conversation between them, having had similar ones almost every day since Tao moved in and somehow eased his way under Kris’ wing.

When they reached the fitness complex, Kris began to pull away from Tao’s hold, but Tao remembered Jongdae’s words of advice and held on tight. “Ge!” he said, surprising himself with the force of his voice and immediately rearing back bashfully. “Are you going on the treadmill?”

“Uh…yeah.” Kris glanced around the gym but no one paid them any attention.

“Let’s run next to each other! Look, there are two free ones there!” Tao pulled slightly but there really was no need when Kris followed him towards two treadmills in the corner.

The two of them warmed up quickly, shaking their limbs loose before getting onto the machines. Kris watched out of the corner of his eyes as Tao increased the speed to a slow jog, putting on his earbuds at the same time. He whipped his head away when Tao glanced over with a smile, fumbling with the wire of his earbuds as he plugged it into his phone.

They ran without speaking to each other, focused on their own workouts. Kris’s eyes were fixed on Tao’s reflection in a far off mirrored wall, watching as Tao’s cheeks gradually flushed with a healthy glow, sweat glistening in the hollow of his throat.

When Kris decided to start warming down after forty-five minutes, he was only a little surprised to realise Tao was slowing down also. As he pulled out his earbuds, Tao turned to him, rosy and radiant. “Let’s go stretch, ge.”

“Okay,” Kris answered dumbly, heavy pants catching in his throat when Tao led him towards the mats. He stretched himself rudimentarily, absently, watching Tao’s reflection once more as he bent in ways that Kris swallowing hard and forcing air back into his lungs.

He coughed, almost choking when Tao looked up with his legs spread on the floor, kittenish smile firmly in place as a bead of sweat rolled down his temple. “Ge, can you help push me down?”

“Uh.” Kris’ mind apparently decided vocabulary was totally not necessary, not when all brainpower could be used to take in Tao’s image instead. “Uh. Um. Uh.”

“Please,” Tao said, turning away and lowering himself halfway, arms reaching out.

Kris swallowed hard, foregoing a verbal reply as he stood behind Tao and rested his hands on the back of Tao’s shoulders, pushing down lightly.

“Harder, ge.”

Peace, I’m out, said Kris’ brain, and his world narrowed down to the damp heat of Tao’s skin through the thin fabric of his tank top, the harsh sounds of his own breath coming out fast and hard, and - oh god -

Tao touched his forehead to the ground. “Hold me down, please.”

Kris was already kneeling behind Tao, and the new position had Kris folded over him completely, and he really shouldn’t have, but he chanced a glance at their reflection and -

“Deeper, ge.”

Tearing his eyes away from the mirror, Kris took in a slow breath as he leaned his weight onto Tao, pushing his torso flat against the floor. “Does it hurt?” His voice seemed to have dropped eight octaves, rumbling through his chest and wrecked even to his own ears.

“No,” Tao answered breathlessly, and Kris watched as the tips of Tao’s ears reddened. “Feels good.”

Kris stood up abruptly, forcing his eyes away to a safe, neutral place. “Finish up on your own,” he said. “I’m gonna work on weights.”

“I’ll -” Tao was already scrambling up, earnest and eager as always.

“No,” Kris said firmly. “You’ve done enough today. You might strain your back some more. Go back to the dorms.”

“But I -” Tao cut himself off at the stern look on Kris’ face. He hadn’t really jostled his injury, and it hadn’t bothered him for a while, but it was still obvious when he stretched that it hadn’t quite healed completely. “Okay,” he said softly, head lowering. “I’ll see you later?”

“Yeah.” Kris turned away with only a brief touch of his fingertips to Tao’s elbow, leaving behind a searing imprint on Tao’s skin.

Tao watched Kris walk away from him and sighed, pulling out his phone as he headed towards the gym entrance.

Yixing-ge, I don’t think it worked.

O.o o.O

“Less clothes,” Yixing said firmly.

Tao’s eyes were shiny with tears of embarrassment as he chewed hard on his lower lip, blinking uncertainly. “But…”

“Less clothes,” Luhan repeated, hands clasped under his chin. His eyes were shiny too, shiny with his own sparkly vision of Kris’ impending doom.

Tao looked over to Minseok for support. “Ge,” he whined plaintively.

Minseok shook his head with a heavy sigh. “Sorry, Peaches. Less clothes seems to work.”

Had the others been forgiven for their past transgressions with Kris based on less clothes?

“Do it, do it, do it, do it,” Jongdae chanted, banging his plastic gavel in beat.

Minseok nudged Mr Panda back in Tao’s direction, sighing again when Tao swept it into his arms, using it to shield himself from the others.

“I dunno,” he muttered into the top of Mr Panda’s head. “I dunno if I can.”

“Trust us,” Yixing said, laying a warm hand on Tao’s knee. Tao unclasped his bear to hold tightly onto Yixing’s hand, the grip strong and comforting.

“Okay, ge.”

And so, poor, gullible Tao followed their advice to his own ruin.

O.o o.O

Kris wasn’t stupid.

He knew something was going on between his suitemates and Tao. There was just something a little different this time that caught his attention - normally Tao was dragged along like a kite in the wind, but now it seemed as if he was one of the instigators.

It certainly explained why Tao seemed to be wearing less and less clothing until he was literally sprawled around their suite in nothing but tight boxers and a panda bear to hide behind, a firm blush on his face even as he would attempt to cuddle up to an unresponsive Kris.

His suspicions were only confirmed once more when he returned from a late afternoon study group to find Tao perched gingerly on one of the sofas in the living room, immediately alert as the door opened and a wide smile greeted him.

“Welcome back, ge!” Tao had on basketball shorts and nothing else, cheeks flushed with colour and squeezing his stuffed animal tightly against himself.

“Hey,” Kris grunted.

“Come watch TV with me! I just downloaded this new Chinese drama! It’s a period piece and everyone’s watching it right now!”

Kris eyed Tao’s dubious state of undress. He knew which drama Tao was talking about, but as much as he wanted to watch it (in particular, to watch it with Tao), he was starting to get sick of this little game they were playing.

“Set it up,” he said. “Gonna put my stuff in my room.”

“Okay,” Tao chirped cheerily, bouncing off the sofa to hook up his laptop to the television.

Kris returned with the thickest, largest, most shapeless hoodie he owned. “Here,” he grunted, pushing it towards Tao. “Put it on.”

“Oh,” Tao said in a tiny voice. “But I’m not cold.”

“Just put it on.” Kris’ tone broached no disagreement, and to be perfectly honest, Tao was cold - their dorms had climate control, but the hot weather outside meant it was rather cool inside.

But their plan…Tao held the hoodie uncertainly before pulling it over his head slowly, relishing the immediate warmth, and basking in the remnants of Kris’ cologne in the fabric as Kris settled himself on the other side of the couch.

“Ge, why are you sitting so far away? Come sit with me,” Tao pouted, arms outstretched for a hug.

Kris didn’t even look at him as he frowned. “Tao, what are you doing?”

Tao hoped his face was schooled into an innocent enough expression. “What do you mean, ge?”

“What are you plotting with the others?”

And still, Tao feigned ignorance. “What others?”

“Tao,” Kris said sternly, staring him down with a firm look.

Tao seemed to wilt, ducking down to hide his face. “Don’t be mad,” he said in a tiny voice.

“I won’t be as long as you tell me what’s going on.”

“The…that night we went drinking,” Tao began hesitantly, hands worrying at Mr Panda’s ears. “You seemed so mad at me the next day, I thought I must have done something to make you mad. So…so I’ve been trying to make it up to you.” He looked up hopefully. “Is it working?”

Kris could only sigh. “Why did you not think to ask me if you thought I was angry?”

“Oh. Well,” Tao said, index finger on his bottom lip as he thought. “Yixing-ge said…if you were really mad you wouldn’t tell me because I should know already.”

Jesus mothering christ on a stick Kris was going to castrate Yixing.

“Tao,” he began wearily, closing his eyes as he pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to massage out the impending headache already beginning to pound in his skull. “Next time something like that happens, just go talk to the person, okay? Don’t just assume.”

Tao’s eyes were glossy. “Are you mad at me now?”

“No,” Kris said resignedly.

A long pause.

“Do you still want to watch the drama? We don’t have to,” Tao amended quickly. “Just…I thought you might like it…”

Kris could only sigh again as he reached over to ruffle Tao’s hair. “Yeah, sure, kid. I’m just gonna get some water and then we can watch it, okay?”

“Okay!”

There was an initial moment of lingering awkwardness as Tao remained unsure as to whether or not Kris was still annoyed with him, but eventually he relaxed, sprawling out in his usual position, legs curled up on the sofa and head pillowed by the armrest.

It was about twenty minutes in when the male lead appeared for the first time, and Tao sighed wistfully, uncharacteristic enough to draw Kris’ gaze over to him. “You know I used to go to school with him?” Tao said quietly, dreamily. “He was my senior, just one year above me.”

There was something in Tao’s voice that captivated Kris, forced his attention away from the drama on the screen. It didn’t seem like Tao was going to say anything else, but now Kris wanted to know more. “Oh? Were you guys close?”

“Sort of.” Another soft sigh. “We had mutual friends. They played basketball after school, at a court near my wushu classes.”

Kris couldn’t concentrate on the drama anymore, brows furrowing as he carefully took in the expression on Tao’s face. “Was he any good?”

“Not really. Nothing like you, ge.” Tao gave a gentle laugh before continuing in the same dreamy way, eyes alight as they remained fixed on the image of the male lead. “I’d meet them afterwards. He’d buy me my favourite snack. Pet my hair even though I was all sweaty and gross.” Tao laughed again, just as muted and light as the first. “I used to find excuses to stay out with him. My parents would get so mad.” Then, so quietly that Kris had to strain to hear it, “I liked him so much.”

Jealousy bubbled up, thick and heavy in his chest, burning at the back of his throat, so instant and so fierce that Kris’ mind reeled as he whipped his head away from Tao, forcing his eyes to look directly ahead, completely unseeing as his stomach wrenched itself into knots.

Each heartbeat seemed magnified a thousand times as he felt every throb at his pulse, at his temples, pounding inside his head, loud against his eardrums. His hands were clenched into fists, the muscles of his body tense and stiff.

It took a few minutes for Kris to will away his own visceral reaction, forcing himself to focus on the television screen, trying to figure out the names and relationships of the characters. But no matter how good Kris was at keeping down his emotions, he couldn’t help the flare of resentment every time the male lead appeared on screen.

“Do you want to watch another episode, ge?” came Tao’s voice, and as much as Kris wanted to say no, as much as he wanted to storm back into his bedroom and smash everything and anything he could get his hands on, he swallowed it down forcefully and gently patted Tao’s ankle.

“Sure.”

Tao got up to tap on his laptop, and when he turned to resettle back in his previous position, Kris scooted over, back towards Tao’s side of the couch.

“Come on, sit with me.”

Tao paused, hesitant and wary. “Are you sure?”

Kris heaved a sigh, lifting an arm. “Come on.”

“Okay,” Tao said, still giving him the occasional sceptical glance as he tucked himself against Kris’ side, humming as he settled his head on Kris’ shoulder. “Are you cold, ge?”

“Why?”

“You never want to sit this close,” Tao said.

“Kinda,” Kris lied.

Tao giggled delicately. “You should have gotten yourself a sweater.”

“Nah,” Kris said, arm dropping against Tao’s waist and pulling him in close. “This is fine.”

O.o o.O

It was not fine.

Nothing was fine.

Kris paced the length of his tiny dorm room, making barely two strides before spinning on his heel and pacing back the other way. He scrubbed both hands through his hair, tugging on the ends roughly as he choked back a growl.

It’s just hero worship, he told himself.

Like Tao’s xuezhang - his school sunbae, someone older and respected and - and maybe Kris just reminded Tao of him, reminded Tao of that puppy love.

Right. It wasn’t him that Tao liked. It was the idea of him - of what he represented, of what Tao fantasised.

It was just a fantasy, this crush of Tao’s on him.

It wasn’t real.

(Not like Kris wanted it to be.)

O.o o.O

“Well, since Kris isn’t mad at baby Tao anymore, I guess we can go back to our previous plan?” Jongdae rubbed his chin, brows scrunched up in thought.

Luhan just cackled gleefully as he poised Mr Panda’s paws into fight position. “Seduce and attack!”

“Maybe,” Minseok began, adjusting one of the four pairs of Tao’s sunglasses stacked on his face, “maybe instead of getting baby Tao drunk we should focus on getting Kris drunk.”

Silence.

And then pandemonium as everyone started screaming at the same time.

Tao scrunched into a tiny ball, tilting off onto the side as Luhan got onto his knees, waving his arms and knocking Tao in the jaw, screaming, “OH MY ING GOD WHY ARE WE SO ING DUMB!” Tao narrowly managed to scoop Mr Panda out of Luhan’s rampage, hugging it protectively to him.

Jongdae hit his squeaky gavel so hard that it broke cleanly in two, the hammer bit flying into the air and smacking Tao on the forehead. “THAT SHOULD’VE BEEN FIRST HOLY WE TOTALLY MISSED IT!”

Yixing was wordless, mouth open, eyes huge, and pale with shock as he clutched at his own face in horror, emitting only a steady, shrill scream.

“What the ACTUAL IS GOING ON IN HERE?” Kris’ booming voice rose above all the shrieking (Jongdae reached high notes rather effortlessly), and they froze, wide eyes turned towards the door slammed open and Kris’ glowering scowl.

“Uh,” Luhan hazarded. “You know. Stuff.”

Kris’ glare would have incinerated any lesser beings, but -

“Baby Tao stuff,” Luhan continued. “And you’re not privy to any of it.”

Kris rolled his eyes. “Just shut the up. I don’t know what you’re plotting but I don’t want anything to do with it.” The words came in such an unusually harsh tone that even Minseok frowned, going to put a protective hand on Tao’s shoulder.

“Piss off, Kris. We’ll keep it down. Close the door and leave us alone,” he said, all the authority of being the eldest hyung clear in his voice.

Kris didn’t react immediately, hesitating in the doorway, but when Luhan kicked him in the shin, he scowled and yanked the door shut with a slam.

Tao could only look at Minseok with teary eyes. “Minseok-gege,” he sniffed. “What should I do?”

(Yixing punched Jongdae clear in the face when he merely leered, “Oh, I like the sound of that.”)

O.o o.O

/Part 14

AN: It's been 9 months omfg I am SO SORRY m(-_-)m I hope you like this?!?!?!?!?!?!