A/N: Ok Author-nim is extremely sorry that I haven't updated in forever! But, ya know, ONE OF THE BIGGEST WRITING BLOCKS OF ALL TIME, plus school is......yah. Hope this makes up for the never ending wait. Thank you for still hanging in! Here's chapter 8~!

“Yes, have a nice day!” Luhan waved with an award winning smile. The girl blushed and left the café with her friend. She had come up to Luhan for his autograph when seeing the soccer player in the café. Sehun couldn’t do anything but keep an uninterested mask on while this happened. He knew that more or less she didn’t give a crap about soccer, and only cared for Luhan’s face.

“Luhan! Come here for a moment!” Sehun called to him.

 Luhan blinked and jumped up from his spot in the café to meet Sehun near the double doors to the closed off section to the café, that was only available to Minseok and Jongdae. Again, Sehun could see the eyes of girls glued to him as he passed. You know, ever since Luhan began appearing up in the café, the number of female customers increased?

“Yeah?”

“Can you tell me what that is?” Sehun pointed to nothing in particular in the room that was full of extra prepared food, products that went into the drinks, and a small kitchen. Luhan stepped into the room, and Sehun shut the door behind them.

“Sehun?” Luhan let out a little gasp. Sehun had roped him in close, and he could see flints of frustration in his eyes.

Sehun didn’t reply and kissed him in this room where no one could see them. Luhan’s lips were forced to match Sehun’s hurried pace, but it’s not like he minded. Their hands were all over one another, caressing and until they had to come up for air.

“What was that for?” Luhan panted lightly.

“Those girls….” Sehun pouted and looked away, “I don’t like the way they look at you.”

Luhan processed what he said, and then erupted into peals of laughter. Minseok, who was close to the door on the other side, scanned the café in paranoia, unsure of where the laughter was generating from.

“You know I’d never flirt with them!” Luhan reasoned after he had calmed down.

“Still doesn’t mean I can’t be upset about it,” Sehun continued to sulk.

“You’re so silly,” Luhan laughed one last time and they exited the back room together.

Sehun went back behind the counter to help Minseok. Jongdae was running late from a class today, so he was shorthanded. Luhan plopped back on his seat, in full view to the estrogen raging customers. It wasn’t a full five minutes till a wailing panda came barreling into the shop.

The door nearly smashed into the wall on the other side. It was clear Tao had been running for a while- he couldn’t seem to stop his momentum- but he wasn’t out of breath because of his superb stamina from wushu. He lithely weaved in and out of the tables and literally jumped over the counter to grab Sehun in a bone crushing hug.

“Sehun~!” Tao wailed and sniffed.

“W-what Tao?” Sehun was a clear foot off the ground in Tao’s arms. Did he even know he was doing this?!

Luhan, who was watching them, felt a pang of jealousy himself. It wasn’t the first time Tao’s been so close with Sehun, but Sehun also told him Tao liked their teacher… To even escalate the jealousy further, he could hear some ‘kyaaing’ from the fan girls in the shop. Tcch, he was being stupid… With some help from Minseok, Sehun was safely put down.

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Sehun asked again. Tao sunk to the floor, grasping his knees to his chest and staring off into space. Minseok and Sehun shared a glance of worry. It wasn’t normal for Tao to act this way. Sehun knelt on the floor to Tao’s height and patted his back soothingly. Luhan joined the trio as well.

“I was walking by the Humanities office, and I heard the most terrible news in the world!” Tao hiccupped and wiped away stray tears that were trailing down his cheeks. His eyes were red around the edges, and were glistening with premature tears.

“What happened?”

“I overheard Wu Fan and another teacher speaking. He’s resigning!” Tao covered his face with his hands.

“What?” Sehun’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates, “When?”

“Tomorrow is his last day! What am I going to do, Sehun? I’ll never see him again!” Tao’s shoulders shook with each silent sob. Minseok’s heart broke. He pulled him into a hug, which Tao limply accepted. He buried his head into Minseok’s shoulder.

“Why would he resign so suddenly?” Luhan pondered, “It’s only the beginning of the school year after all.”

Sehun agreed. The teacher hadn’t looked like he hated his job. In fact, all of the kids were very respectful towards him (well, who would want to argue with that intimidating face?). If he was in Wu Fan’s position, he’d think that it was a pretty good job. There had to be something deeper behind the reason for his resignation.

Minseok ushered Tao to the back room. Sehun bit his lip in worry at the dark haired teenager whose back was curled and head kept low. Luhan sensed Sehun’s distressed aura, and lightly touched the inside of his wrist. Sehun gave him a bitter, tiny smile.

“He’s never fallen for someone this hard.” Sehun commented off sadly, “He’ll never get over it.”

Luhan nodded. There was a couple beats of silence before he responded.

“Then we have to help him.”

“Help him do what?”

“Win over Wu Fan before he’s gone.”

And the dreadful day came. Tao was an emotional wreck coming into class. He may not have looked it on the outside to others, but Sehun really knew how grieved Tao was on the inside. He was constantly staying close to the younger, almost like a shadow. Tao’s hand refused to let go of Sehun’s coat sleeve.

Wu Fan’s back was to them the entire time. He was busy writing the lesson plan on the board, and didn’t look any different compared to the other days at school. Tao was nearly frozen to his standing position when Sehun guided him to their desk.

“Sit down,” Sehun gently urged. Tao gave him a distressed look, but complied and sat in his seat. His gaze was still only directed to Wu Fan.

Just like Tao, Sehun was distracted the whole lesson. He didn’t even know what they were doing. Well, Wu Fan does speak in English most the time. It was hard to follow along previously! It was clear that he avoided calling on Tao. That added to Sehun’s suspicions even more. Tao was easily his best student……why wouldn’t he call on him? It was always a struggle to get the right answer out of the rest of the class, and Wu Fan would usually call on Tao as a last resort. This time, however, Wu Fan just gave the answer with a slightly frustrated sigh.

After mulling over this for quite some time, Sehun came to a conclusion. Wu Fan was clearly avoiding Tao. So did that mean his resignation had to do with the teenager……? The pieces were fitting together so perfectly. There was no way Sehun could be wrong. Now all was left, were the words straight from the horse’s mouth.

“Are you…..ok?” Tao shook Sehun from his space of deep thought. Sehun jumped back in his seat, and looked around to see people rising from their seats and exiting the classroom. The bell must have rang for their short, free break between switching teachers.

“Yeah. You ready?” Sehun asked.

“Yeah,” Tao responded  unsurely. He was taking deep and long breaths in and out through his nose, still staring at Wu Fan, who was sitting behind his desk.  

“You can do it,” Sehun encouraged, “Don’t back out now.”

“Right. Don’t back out….” Tao rose from his seat.

His legs were shaking, and his first instinct was to run, but Sehun was the only thing keeping him there from doing so. It was laughable. He had chased Wu Fan for so long, and never had second thoughts about running from him. Now, just the thought of never seeing Wu Fan again made him terrified. All he wanted to do was to close his eyes, cover his ears, and wait until the nightmare was over.

“Don’t leave.” Tao whispered to Sehun as they approached the teacher’s desk.

“I won’t.” Sehun vowed and separated from Tao. He retreated to the classroom door and waited near it.

Wu Fan didn’t look up till he saw Tao’s presence out of the corner of his eye. He turned his head up to see the boy fidgeting with his head hung low. It was out of character for him to act this way, even Wu Fan could see that.

Sehun was expecting to come to finalization with his inferences, but it only lead him to more questioning. The two only spoke in English. Tao was the first to begin the conversation, but Sehun could only decode the word ‘you.’ After that, he only picked up words like ‘yes’, ‘why’, ‘because.’ At the end of it all, there was no change in Wu Fan’s expression, and Tao only looked more forlorn.

Tao bit his lower lip and shook his head at Wu Fan. Sehun was going to jump for Tao once he saw a thin tear drip off the panda’s cheek. But Tao suddenly spun on his heel and ran for the door. He didn’t even bother to grab Sehun when sprinting away.

Sehun was one foot out the door when he noticed something. It was too late for him to turn back-it would have been obvious. After Tao had left, Wu Fan showed his first signs of anything close to a reaction. The paper that was in his hands had slowly turned into two crumpled balls between his white-knuckled fists.

“Thank god,” Sehun sighed when he opened up his apartment door to see Luhan.

“Hey,” Luhan enveloped Sehun in a tight hug that Sehun gladly accepted. He rubbed his head closer to Luhan’s blonde locks and inhaled the clean and light smell from his shampoo.

“Where is he?” Luhan asked. They broke apart so Sehun could lead him to Tao.

“Oh Tao,” Luhan sighed upon seeing him. Tao was face down on the sofa with many used tissues strewn about on the floor, sofa, and table.  Baekhyun was busy rubbing Tao’s back in slow and smoothing circles while Chanyeol was making tea in the kitchen. Luhan kicked away some of the tissues before settling down on the floor next to Tao’s head.  

“Hey Tao,” Luhan greeted, “Sehun called me over. Can you tell me what happened?”

Tao sniffed loudly and then sat up on the couch with some lethargy and stiffness. His jacket hood stayed on his head, and his pajama pants bunched up on his legs as well. He coughed and then spoke with a heavy tongue:

“I asked him if he was leaving. He said yes. When I asked why, he said ‘because.’ When I asked if it was because of me……..he said yes.” Tao’s lips quivered, and he quickly covered his mouth to hide the weird face.

Luhan processed this all, and thought for a moment before responding, “Ok, but did you get across all you had to say?”

“What?” Tao’s voiced cracked.

“Did you say everything you wanted to. Are you are satisfied with the fact that you might never see him? Can you move on?”

“No, I didn’t. I can’t.” Tao admitted.

“Then what are you doing here? Lying here, giving up. It won’t help you by crying it off. You need to get back out there, hunt Wu Fan down, and get whatever you have left to say off your chest. That’s the only way you’ll get better. If you love him more than life itself, then fight for him. Fight for him until there’s nothing left. Letting him go will be one of your deepest regrets.”

The sound of the kettle whistling broke the great silence that followed Luhan’s speech. Tao was like a statue. Chanyeol, who was also caught listening to Luhan, scrambled for the kettle. Something in Tao’s brain clicked, and he staggered from the couch. He and Luhan stared intensely at one another, and Tao announced:

 “I’m going to Wu Fan’s apartment.”

Tao walked from the couch to the front door to slip on his sneakers. Baekhyun and Sehun shared a surprised and worried glance.

“Do you know where he lives?” Baekhyun called to Tao.

Tao paused with his hand on the door knob. He turned his head slightly to show a slight smile.

“Of course I know where that gorgeous hunk lives. I love him after all.”

And with that Tao was out the door. Sehun turned to Luhan, who was busy brushing his pants off.

“The way you spoke to Tao. It sounded like you had been through this before,” Sehun sounded impartial to his investigation, but it also made him weary. Luhan couldn’t have been talking about him, which made Sehun feel insecure. Did Luhan used to love another? Did he still love the other person?

“I haven’t actually,” Luhan shrugged. He stood next to Sehun.

“Then how did you know to say all of that?”

“You see, I had a lot of time to think on my 20 minute commute over here. I thought to myself, if I was in the same position, I knew I would do the same. I wouldn’t give up on you.” Luhan’s words went straight to Sehun’s heart, and resonated deep within to create a warm feeling that spread to every part of his body. It was similar to the feeling Sehun experienced when Luhan confessed.

“Right back at ya,” Sehun blushed and pecked Luhan on his temple. Luhan laughed at his reaction and hugged him once more.

“Fight for him, fight for him,” Tao repeated over and over as he quickened his pace down the apartment building hallway. He had reached Wu Fan’s apartment in a matter of 25 minutes by running. He was sweaty and out of breath, but that didn’t matter.

By receiving Wu Fan’s apartment number from the easily bribed ahjumma at the front desk, it was a short trip up to the third floor. Anyone in this situation would think Tao to be a stalker, but it wasn’t like he went looking for Wu Fan’s apartment complex on purpose. He just happened to see the male enter the building on a jog…….a jog that began following Wu Fan from school…….

Tao stopped in front of the dark, wooden door. The gold plaque reflected 315. He just hoped he was there. Adrenaline coursed through his veins as he rapped on the door. It was now or never.

Barely half a minute went by, and then the door swung open. Tao felt his heart stop and stutter at the appearance of Wu Fan, but he did not falter. Wu Fan, for one, was surprised to see Tao there.

“Oh, Zitao.” Wu Fan’s deep and silky voice remarked.

“Hi Wu Fan.” Tao said quickly.

Wu Fan sighed lightly, “I told you, it’s-”

“You’re not my teacher anymore,” Tao interrupted, “I need to talk to you.”

Wu Fan paused for a while to think over Tao’s demand. After that time had passed, he peered his head out, looked both ways down the hallway, and then stepped to the side of the hall inside the apartment.

Tao strode in. He waited to speak until Wu Fan had closed the door. Out of nervous habit, he rubbed the ends of his sleeves of his hoodie while waiting.

“What,” Wu Fan said, and crossed his arms on his chest. It was peculiar to Tao, to see him out of his teacher’s slacks. Jeans and an Indie t-shirt were indeed very different from the usual tie and dress shirt.

Tao thought back to Luhan’s words, and then dove into his confession.

“You know I like you, Wu Fan.” Tao started off, “but it’s more than a high school crush. That’s why I’m here. I can’t accept the explanation you gave me earlier. I need to know every detail on why you decided to leave.”

Wu Fan chewed on the inside of his cheek and leaned back on the wall behind him.

“So you’re telling me that because you really,” Wu Fan raised an eyebrow at ‘really’, “Like me….you have the sense to pry into my personal affairs?”

The words were a light sting to Tao. He was still treating him like a teacher would a student.

“Yes,” Tao said with more confidence, “And I deserve to know why you’re leaving.”

“Oh, you deserve to?”

“I do.”

“And what have you done that would qualify you as ‘deserving?’”

“Isn’t the fact that I like you proof enough?  Even you know it’s cruel to leave someone distraught and without closure to grieve for eternity.”

“Grieve for eternity?” Kris chuckled internally at the dramatization, “But you’re only just a kid.”

“I’m not a kid!” Tao’s voice rose, and he gritted his teeth in mild frustration, “…..Ok, I may be one in age, but I’m not one in personality. Anyways…. Why are you leaving?”

Wu Fan sighed in exasperation, “I told you already. I’m leaving because of you. Why must you pester me for further information when it’s as simple as that? It’s as plain as what I’m saying. There is no deeper meaning.”

Tao’s heart clenched, but he pressed on despite the coldness he was receiving.

“If it’s because of me……then I can change.” Tao announced, “If you would stay, then I would stop all advances towards you. You wouldn’t have to be bothered by me anymore.”

“So you’d be a regular student without an emotional attachment to his teacher?” Wu Fan clarified.

Tao’s heart was breaking, “Yes. I could be if that meant you would stay.”

“But wouldn’t it be harder for you as well?” Wu Fan pushed off the wall and within two steps he was a hand’s length from Tao. He could smell the expensive cologne and dryer sheets off of his clothes.

“Hiding your feelings, concealing them deep down,” Wu Fan took another daring step forward. Now the blonde was so close to Tao. The panda could barely control his urges to touch him, “It’d eventually turn you sick to the core.” Those angular features were now magnified to the point where Tao could see traces off Wu Fan’s pores underneath a light sheen of makeup. Tao’s heart was causing his chest to rise and fall rapidly and in short breaths. He’d never been this close to Wu Fan.

“What do you mean by ‘as well’?” Tao’s question seemed to be one Wu Fan wasn’t willing to answer. Wu Fan’s eyes flashed an indescribable emotion, and then he began to go backwards, away from Tao. Tao grabbed Wu Fan’s upper arm to hold him there. He wasn’t letting go now.

“Why must you do that?!” Tao hissed in frustration, “Why do you make me feel like an inferior human being and then, out of nowhere, tease me?! Don’t you understand that it hurts?” Tao was begging by now. His tone wasn’t supposed to sound desperate and frazzled, but it sort of played out that way.

“Do you realize how I feel?!!” Tears welled up to the rims of Tao’s eyes. Unfinished and unplanned thoughts swarmed in his head like bees in a honey hive. One clicked unexpectedly, and in a flash, before his brain could register it, Tao was kissing Wu Fan.

Well, it’s obvious to say that this wasn’t what Tao had in mind for his first kiss. Tao didn’t expect he’d be there begging  and pleading for Wu Fan, all the while kissing him when he felt like crap- he probably looked like it too. But it definitely wasn’t just a kiss. Tao could feel his lips tingling with the contact of the soft and smooth flesh. His eyes slipped closed for a moment. It was to mainly relish the amazing feeling before he had to pull back into reality.

Wu Fan disconnected the kiss. Just by looking at Tao he could tell that it was his first- I mean, look at the deer caught in headlights look he was sporting! Then there was silence. The room was so quiet that the low voices from the distant TV could be heard and the thumping from the upstairs apartment. They stared back at each other for ages before one of them said something.

“I’m…sorry,” Wu Fan said somberly. Tao could connect the dots on this one. He knew that it was all over now. With a slight nod, he released Wu Fan’s forearm. Might as well scrape up whatever dignity he had left and leave.

“No, it’s fine. I get it.” Tao felt the rock in his throat grow larger. Actually, now it felt like a boa constrictor crushing his esophagus to death. He didn’t want to talk anymore, only cry. With one last look at his ex-teacher who had his head cast down to the floor, Tao left the apartment.

Tao trudged like a man that had nothing left, absolutely nothing. Every step was like trying to lift heavy lead. Even his arms felt heavy, and they aren’t needed to walk. Now he wanted to just collapse. Hmm, sounds like a plan. When he gets home he’ll cry and collapse simultaneously.

“Wait!” Tao froze from his trance-like gait and was attacked from behind. He was spun around viciously, and was met with a sight that completely confused him.

Wu Fan’s cheeks were red, and tears were plinking down in lightning fast speeds. The rest of the tears were building up to the point where his irises were only fuzzy dark areas. He sniffed loudly to hold in his nose, which was beginning to run, and said:

“You didn’t let me finish.” Wu Fan gulped once to dispel the thickness from his voice, “I said I’m sorry……..I’m sorry for hurting you. It won’t happen again.” And then he bravely and passionately kissed Tao in the middle of the hallway. Tao gasped, but didn’t draw back. Heck, he would have jumped on top of Wu Fan if his brain would just work with his body!

They separated only when their lungs screamed for air. Both were panting, but Tao was still confused.

“Wait…..huh?!” Tao’s head cocked to the side.

“What?” Wu Fan’s eyebrows crinkled, “was it not good?”

“No, it’s just…..you left…..because of me.”

“Yeah, of course.” Wu Fan nodded.

“….Then why are you kissing me? Don’t you hate me?”

“Why would I- oh! I see what you mean. You’ve got it all wrong,” Wu Fan explained, “Yes, I resigned because of you, but that was only because I realized that I liked you too,” Wu Fan’s ears turned slightly pink, “And I knew that the only way this messed up thing between us could work, was if I resigned.”

Tao processed this slowly, and then said:

“Ok, I get that….but you were going to leave without telling me?”

“No,” Wu Fan sighed, “You see, I was going to tell you after the school day had ended. I hear from the gym teacher that you usually stay after for wushu,” Tao’s heart flipped at the mention of his sport. Wu Fan even knew his hobbies!

“But,” Wu Fan continued, “You confronted me during class, which made things more difficult. It wasn’t like I could just say it in front of everyone. If we had been alone, maybe I could have said so. When I tried to go after school to find you, you had gone. I didn’t know where you lived, but I’m glad you knew where I did,” He chuckled and smiled lightly. His smile was too infectious for Tao. Tao threw his arms around Wu Fan to pull him into a bone crushing hug, similar to ones he often gave Sehun.

Out of nowhere, there came a gasp. The two looked over Wu Fan’s right shoulder to see two teenage girls covering their mouths at the sight of two men romantically holding one another. One of them grabbed the other, and they ran back inside to slam the door shut.

“I guess we scared your neighbors.” Tao commented.

“They’ll be ok,” Wu Fan pressed his head on top of Tao’s, who was not much shorter than him.

“Let’s just hope they won’t be scarred after what they hear coming from next door,” Tao batted his eyelashes up at Wu Fan “innocently.”

Wu Fan smirked, “Don’t get ahead of yourself there Speedy.” 

A/N: So, whaddya y'all think? It's been nearly a month since I've last updated, so I hope this makes up for it~! I've barely had time to even go on Asianfanfics. As for the new subscribers, HI! I'm so so sorry I havent' thanked you for subscribing yet, but I will! To be completely honest, I haven't even checked my subscription updates since I last updated on the 3rd of October. I really don't know when the next update will be, but I promise there will never be a hiatus! Thanks for hanging in, it means a lot! Bye!!