Tao slowly opened his eyes and blinked a few times. He stretched and rubbed his eyes; he looked around and noticed that the room was empty and it wasn’t in his. He got up immediately and realized that last night he went to Xiumin and Chen’s room.

‘Hm…headache.’ The nanny rubbed his head. ‘Too much crying Tao…too much crying.’ He looked over and saw the panda plush that he picked up last night. ‘Who…? Hm, probably it was Yitao.’ He softly chuckled; the nanny has been ignoring the young panda and he knew he doesn’t deserve that. Yitao just wanted to play with the nanny, but Tao has been sulking too much over the little confrontation with his Boss. 

 

Tao got up from the bed, and before he could go out, he checked himself at the mirror that was hanging on the door. 

 

“Man…”

 

The nanny’s eyes were red and puffy from last night’s crying. 

 

“Okay Tao…no more crying. Its time to be happy again! All right?”

 

He nodded at his reflection and headed to his room. 

 

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

 

Kris flopped on his bed; he rolled over and brushed his hair back. He hasn’t fallen asleep since he got home due to the image of Tao crying still lingered in his mind. Instead, he worked in his studio; through the hours, he was able to make 12 gorgeous clothing, all perfectly made and altered to his liking. He sent a picture to Hayi to get her opinion on them and has yet to get any response. 

 

A knock was heard and Kris lazily answered for whoever to come in. The door opened and the nanny came in with a cup of coffee. Kris quickly got up from bed and smoothed out his clothes that he as worn for two days in a row.

 

“Tao --”

 

“I just came to give you this.” Tao said not even looking at his Boss. “And I’ll take this.” He grabbed the old coffee from the desk.

 

The nanny was about to leave, but Kris stopped him before he could. “T-Tao wait.” Kris got up from his bed and walked over. “Look…Tao…I’m --”

 

“It’s okay.” Tao smiled at the taller. “Really…it’s fine. It was my mistake anyway.” He backed away slowly. “Everything was my fault and I should’ve been smart about it…but I wasn’t. And the whole confession thing…just…um, forget about it. I’ll do my best to fall…out of love in you. I’m sorry.” With that, Tao quickly exited the room.

 

“W-wait,” But it was already too late; Kris sighed. “Okay…he is willing to do that…but…” Kris felt his chest tighten. ‘Shouldn’t I be relieve or…’ He sighed once more and walked over to his cup of coffee. ‘Kris…you better stop sighing…it's not good.’

 

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

 

Tao went down the steps and sighed himself. He would have to try his hardest to stop being in love with his Boss. It hurts him to do it, but if it made his Boss happy and if that is what he wanted, then he would do it. He went to the kitchen and started to wash the cup clean. 

 

‘What a waste of coffee.’

 

“Tao?”

 

The nanny whipped his head over and saw Chanyeol coming up to him.

 

“Chanyeol. Good morning.”

 

Chanyeol nodded at him, but knew that something was wrong. “You okay?”

 

“Y-yeah. Of course.”

 

Unconvinced, he approached Tao and placed his hand on his cheek. He turned his head so that the nanny was staring right back at him. “Your eyes…are slightly puffy.”

 

Tao jerked back. “Allergies.” With that he walked away.

 

‘Allergies?’ Chanyeol sighed. ‘You don’t have any Tao.’

 

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

 

Many weeks pasted since the incident and it was already the 4th week of March. Ever since then, Tao has kept up putting on a face in front of everyone. Even though they knew, none of them confronted the nanny knowing that he would just make an excuse. 

 

Yitao was in front of his nanny’s door; he looked both ways, not wanting to get scolded by his father. Once the coast was clear, he knocked on the door. “Mommy…you in there? Mommy?”

 

With in a few seconds, the door opened, revealing a tired Tao. “Oh…Yitao.” The nanny knelt down. “Is there anything wrong?”

 

“Hm,” He nodded. “I missed mommy. I whole lot…why aren’t you playing with me like before? Did I do something wrong?”

 

Tao quickly shook his head and picked up the young panda. “N-no! Of course not. I’ve just been tired lately.”

 

“Tired? Mommy sick?”

 

“Hm, no…not really.”

 

“Mommy sad?”

 

Tao pondered a bit before answering. Soon, he slowly nodded. “You can say that.”

 

Yitao placed his hands on Tao’s cheeks, surprising the nanny a bit. “No more being sad! Or else you will be like that forever! You don‘t want that right? I don‘t want mommy to be looking sad forever!”

 

Tao chuckled and nodded. “Okay then…I won’t be sad. No more sad Tao.”

 

Yitao brightly smiled. “Yay!” He wrapped his arms around Tao’s neck, making the nanny laugh as well. 

 

Kris was walking by when he heard laughter coming from the workers’ hallway. He peaked through the corner and saw Yitao and Tao laughing. He smiled himself knowing that Tao’s smile was genuinely his. It was perfect and he slightly wished that it was directed to him. He broke from his trance and looked down at the paper he was currently holding in his hands. They were directions to the school that he was going to send Yitao too. Kris was going to check it out himself, but decided to invite two more people along.

 

“Yitao…Tao.”

 

Both pandas looked at the dragon. 

 

“Oh…Sir, is there something that you need?” The nanny placed the young panda back on the floor.

 

“Actually yes.” He showed the directions. “Can you and Yitao come with me? It is the school that I want to send Yitao to.”

 

“Really?” Tao approached and glanced at the directions. “SM International Academy? That…sounds intense.”

 

“Hm,” He looked at the directions. “It is a really good school. It is from pre-school up to college so there wouldn’t be any problem for him to…you know jump from school to school. You know how after JR high, you go to a different high school…then a different college. Well, he will be all set here.”

 

“He…he doesn’t have to live in a dorm right?” Tao asked in a worried tone.

 

“Dorm? What do you mean?”

 

“Well, I just thought…academy…and dorms…he won’t be home a lot and --”

Kris interrupted him with a chuckle. “No,…he won’t be moving out. They don’t have that service anyway. Plus, even if they did, I won’t allow it. It is just half an hour away and traffic from here to there isn’t that bad.” He looked down at his son, who was hiding behind Tao’s legs. “So…can you come with me?”

 

“I…um, sure.” The nanny looked down at Yitao. “Lets go okay?” 

 

Yitao looked up and nodded. “Okay.” 

 

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

 

It was quiet among them as Kris drove to Yitao’s potential school. The young panda was napping while Tao looked out the window. He fiddled with his cell phone trying to keep himself occupied until they reached to their destination.

 

“You can listen to some music if you want.” Kris suggested, not wanting the atmosphere to be any more awkward than it already was. Tao looked away from the window to face his Boss.

 

“That’s okay. I don’t want to wake up Yitao.” With that he looked back at the window.

 

“O-okay then.” Kris bit the inside of his cheek and continued to drive. 

 

Once they were there, Tao unbuckled the young panda from his seat. “Are you excited Yitao? This is going to be your school.”

 

Yitao looked in awe. “This is going to be my school?”

 

Tao smiled. “Yup.” The three of them started to walk and admire the school’s surroundings. Tao looked at the buildings; it was very well prestigious. There were four main buildings serving the main office, primary and JR high were together, high school, and college. They passed by many students wearing their uniforms; a group of young students bowed and waved at them. Tao smiled at them and waved at the young children. Yitao witnessed what his nanny did and pouted a bit. Tao looked over and noticed the young panda was unhappy.

 

“What’s wrong Yitao?”

 

Kris stopped walking and looked back to see his son pouting, crossing his arms in the process. 

 

“What is wrong with Yitao?” He asked the nanny. 

 

“I-I don’t know.” Tao knelt down and cupped the young panda’s cheeks. “What’s wrong Yitao? Why are you mad?”

 

“Hmpt.” 

 

“Er…” This time, the nanny was unsure what to do since he hasn’t encountered this with Yitao before. Tao was about to place his hand on top of Yitao’s head, only to have the young panda lunge forward and wrap his arms around the nanny’s neck.

 

“My mommy.”

 

“Hm?” Tao attempted to tilt his head, but wasn’t able to, due to Yitao preventing him to do so. “What was that?”

 

“I don’t want to share…”

 

“Share?”

 

Yitao pulled back. “Mommy likes me only right?” He asked, not caring if his father was near to hear him call Tao ‘mommy’ even though he was told not to. “Right?”

 

“Of course I only like you. Why…oh…I see.” Tao realized that the young panda was jealous when he waved at the young children who walked passed them. “Were you mad because I waved at the kids that passed by us?”

 

“N-no!” Yitao shook his head. “I wasn’t”

 

“Don’t lie…or else your face will fall off.”

 

“W-what!?” Yitao patted his face, making Kris chuckle slightly. “I don’t want that!”

 

“Then, were you lying?”

 

Yitao quivered his bottom lip and nodded. “Mommy only likes me right? Not them…right?”

 

Tao chuckled and pecked the young panda’s head. “I only like you. Only my little baby.”

 

A smile formed on the young panda’s face. “Yay! Mommy only likes me! Oh!” He quickly covered his mouth. He realized that he called Tao ‘mommy’ twice and was sure that he was going to get it from his father.

 

As if Kris sensed it, he knelt down next to Tao and his son’s hair. “You can call him that Yitao. It’s okay.”

 

The young panda’s eyes grew wide. “Really?!”

 

Kris nodded. “Yes. It was wrong of me to do that.” Tao furrowed his brow unsure what was going on. With that Kris stood up and held out his hand for Tao to grab. “We should get going.”

 

“R-right.” Tao grabbed onto Kris’ hand and they started to walk.

 

‘You are making this hard for me Boss.’ Tao thought.

 

‘I’ll make it up to you Tao. Just wait.’ Kris sighed,

 

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

 

“And over here is the garden, tended by the primary students.” The lady motioned over to her right. “The students right now are learning the evolution of plants and each plant is taken cared of by one student.”

 

“How cute.” Tao said as he knelt down to get a closer look. “Look Yitao…you will get to do this too!”

 

The lady chuckled and continued to give a tour around the primary and JR high school building. “They, as well as the high and college students…they have their own court yards. On nice days, we let the students eat outside, on rainy days, they eat in their homerooms.”

 

“I see.” Kris nodded.

 

“And…yes.” The lady nodded at both Kris and Tao. “Is there any questions that you have for me?”

 

Kris looked around and shook his head. “No I don’t. I’m convinced that this school is perfect.”

 

“Great. I’m happy to hear that. If you want, we can register Yitao in for the upcoming year.”

 

“Sure. Thank you.”

 

“Alright.” The lady led them back to her office and started to get out the paper works. After explaining each and every paper, she handed them both a pen.

 

“Now, I need both your signatures.” 

 

Tao looked at the pen and back at his Boss, only to see him signing away. “Um,” The nanny shifted in his seat a little. “What do I do with this?”

 

The lady tilted her head. “Aren’t you his life partner?”

 

Kris accidentally signed off the page when he heard ’life partner’. 

 

“Wha..I-I…I-I’m not his life partner! I’m just his son’s nanny!” Tao blushed a deep shade of red. “I-I um…I--”

 

“I’m sorry! I didn’t know…I should’ve asked.” The lady felt herself blush in embarrassment. “I’m sorry --”

 

“Its,” Kris cleared his throat. “…its fine.”

 

The lady nodded in apology. “Really I am…I mean I should’ve known. You were married to Tai after all…well known --”

 

“Yes...I know.” Kris pushed the papers that he signed. “Um, is it required that there must be two signatures?”

 

“N-no. I just thought that since he was with you…I assumed he was your life partner.” She turned to face Tao. “Again, my apologies.”

 

Tao nodded back. “It’s fine.” He placed the pen back on the desk. 

 

“Is there any more?”

 

The lady shook her head and grabbed the papers. “No that’s it.” She placed them in a folder. “He is all set for the school year.” She smiled at the young panda, who was sitting beside Tao, laying his head against Tao’s shoulder. Yitao shyly smiled back and wrapped his arm around the nanny’s. "I'll see you in September."

 

“Well,” Kris stood up as well as the lady; he stuck his hand out to shake hands. “We will be going now.”

 

The lady nodded. “Thank you for choosing SM International Academy.”

 

With that, the 3 of them left the office and to the car. Kris started as he buckled himself and smiled. “Everything is all taken cared of.”

 

Tao nodded. “Hm.”

 

“You want anything before we go home? Yitao, you want anything?”

 

“Hm,” Yitao pondered. “I wanna go to the pink restaurant.”

 

“Pink?” Tao raised his eye brow as he looked at his Boss. “What pink?”

 

“You want to go to APink restaurant?”

 

“Yeah!” Yitao bounced in his seat. “Can we?”

 

Kris chuckled. “Of course.”

 

“What is that?” Tao asked as he placed his seat belt on.

 

“It’s a cute little restaurant down by Kang. They are famous for their desserts as well as their warm food, like burgers and soups.” He started the engine. “Lets go. You will like it.”

 

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

 

“Oh…my…god!!” Tao smiled at the front of the store. “That is a pink panda!! Its so cute!!”

 

The front of the store was colored with a soft pink along with a pink panda on the sign. Right next to the main door was a card board cut out of the pink panda, with a sign saying ’open’. It was true what Kris said, it was adorable. 

 

“Mommy look!” Yitao tugged on the nanny’s hand. “Panda!” Yitao stood in front of the pink panda cut out with a smile on his face. 

 

“Wait! Stay there for a minute!” Tao whipped out his cell phone. “Can you smile for me Yitao?” The young panda nodded and gave a bright smile towards the nanny. “There!” Tao checked his phone and smiled.

 

“Would you want me to take one of you and Yitao together?” Kris asked.

 

“Um, s-sure.” Tao handed Kris his cell phone. The nanny wobbled his way over to Yitao and knelt down to be at his height. They both smiled at each other while Tao fixed Yitao’s hair. 

 

“Ready?”

 

Tao nodded and told Yitao to smile at the camera. Kris took the picture and looked at the screen to make sure it looked good. It did and slowly he smiled at the picture. 

 

“Is it okay?” Tao asked.

 

“Y-yeah it is.” Kris quickly sent the picture to his phone. “Its cute.”

 

“Lemme see.” Tao and Yitao made their way to Kris, who turned the cell phone around for Tao to see. He smiled and showed Yitao who nodded. “Thank you.”

 

“Sure. Now, lets get some food.” Kris picked up Yitao motioned the door.

 

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

 

After the little meal at the APink restaurant, they started to head back home; Yitao was napping in the back, while Tao was also napping. His head shifted to the left a bit making Kris glance once in a while.

 

‘He is going to strain his neck.’

 

Kris tilted Tao’s head a bit, gently pushing him to his right side, so that he would be leaning against the window. Kris blinked a couple of times and realized that his phone was vibrating; he took out his cell phone from his pants pocket and saw that it was Hayi calling him.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Boss Kris?”

 

“Hm. What is it Hayi?”

 

“I have…hold on.” Kris heard shuffling of papers around on the other line. “I got a call from the house of Margaux. She are hosting a fashion show in Paris and she is inviting you to come.”

 

“When?”

 

“On the…23 of March.”

 

“This coming Saturday? Why didn’t you inform me sooner Hayi?”

 

“Sorry Boss! It slipped!”

 

Kris sighed. “Well…its fine. Oh wait…Hayi, did Margaux allow passes?”

 

“Yeah she did. Only a few passes though for certain people. You know how picky she is.”

 

Kris chuckled. “I know.”

 

“But you are one of those that can get pass. Just one though. I don’t even know what is up with Margaux…seriously, she needs to like give passes to all of her guests.”

 

“I know what you mean…Hm. Well, all right thank you for telling me Hayi.”

 

“No problem Boss! Bye!”

 

With that Kris hanged up the phone. He glanced back at Tao who was now back to his original position, head tilted to the left. Kris tried his best to keep his laugh from coming out when he saw Tao drooling a bit. He took out his handkerchief from his pocket; once he stopped at a red light he turned and started to dab away the drool. ‘There…all clean.’ He smiled and brushed some of Tao’s hair back. The nanny stirred a bit in his sleep and turned his head back to the passenger side window. The dragon watched as the panda shifted a bit in his seat. 

 

‘Cute.’

 

A honk was heard and Kris turned to see that it was a green light. He drove off glancing back at the nanny and at his son, making sure that he didn’t wake them up. With a nod of satisfaction, he continued to drive back home.

 

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

 

“Wait…say that again.” Chen asked.

 

“I said pack your bags.”

 

“Holy shi --” Xiumin elbowed his boyfriend in the stomach, making him groan in pain. “B-but Boss.” Chen said as he rubbed his stomach. “What did we do? Why are you firing us?”

 

Kris rolled his eyes. “I didn’t say that. You jumped into conclusions before I could finish my sentence.”

 

When Kris, Tao, and Yitao came home, Kris gathered all the workers and made them sit in the living room couch. He was thinking of bringing his employees to Paris with him, but since he only had one pass for the fashion show, he was going to give it to Tao.

 

“I’m inviting all of you to go to Paris with me.”

 

“What?!” Everyone said in unison. 

 

“P-Paris? As in Paris, France?!” Xiumin jumped up from the couch. 

 

Kris nodded at the chef. “Yeah, everyone is coming. Chanyeol, tell Baekhyun that he is coming too.”

 

“Really? Thanks Boss! This is really kind of you.”

 

Kris smiled. “I have a fashion show to attend to so we will be there on Saturday. While I am working, you guys can roam around...and I will extend our hotel stay so we will be there for 5 days.”

 

Sehun and Chen high fived each other and Chanyeol whipped out his cell phone to call his beloved. Tao smiled at the gesture his Boss did them. ‘That is so nice of him.’ He softly sighed. ‘Really Boss…you are making it hard for me to fall out in love with you.’

 

“So, everyone…get packing.” With that the employees rushed to their rooms while Chanyeol rushed to the door to drive back in his apartment. Tao decided to get packing as well; he told the young panda that he will be back and that he will start packing his things. Yitao nodded and started to run to his room to pack himself. As the nanny started to walk, Kris quickly grabbed Tao’s wrist. The nanny jumped a bit and glanced down at the hand that grabbed him. 

"Hold on."

"Eh?" Tao blinked a bit. "Whats wrong?"

"I...I have this pass for the fashion show."

"A pass? A pass for what?"

Kris cleared this throat a bit. "It's basically like a plus one."

Tao raised his eye brow; he was utterly confused. "A plus one?"

"U-um, its like a plus one...you know. It means that I would like you to come with me to the fashion show."

The nanny's eyes widen. "Th-the fashion show? You want me to come?"

"Yeah...I mean...I would like you to be the plus one."

"Why? I think Sehun would be more suitable for it...he takes a lot of pictures."

Kris shook his head. "No way. He will disrupt the other photographers with his 'pose like this.' and 'wait! Come back and pose like this'."

The nanny contemplated; he was trying very hard to stay away from his Boss as possible. He thought that a view of Paris would clear his mind, but he guessed that it wouldn't happen. Instead of declining, he agreed to accompany his Boss.

 "Great." He released his grip of Tao's wrist. "I'll let you go and pack." With that he left, going up stairs to his room to get packing. The nanny sighed and went to his room.

'Okay, so what should I pack. Is it going to be warm? I bet it will be...or cold. Hm, maybe it will be warm.' Tao thought to himself as he looked over through the clothes. 'I'll bring this...and this...jeez, I didn't wear this yet!' He tossed the clothes over to his bed when he heard a knock from his door. He went over and opened it and it was the young panda holding onto his plushies. 

"Mommy, can I bring my pandas?"

"You can if you want." He smiled at the young panda. "But that means you have to carry it."

"I will! I promise!"

"Well, then it is settled, you can bring him." He giggled patting Yitao on the head. 

"Tao," The nanny looked up to see Xiumin holding onto the home phone. "Ms. Lin is on the phone."

"Oh. Thank you." The chef handed Tao the phone and left; he told Yitao that he will talk to him later making the young panda nod; he left, back to his own room. "Hello?"

"Tao! I have great news!" 

Tao chuckled. "And what would that be?"

"Hold on. I'll let you hear for yourself."

'Hear for myself?'

"Tao!!"

The nanny's eyes widen at the sudden voice. "Lu-Luhan?"

Even though he couldn't see it, he felt that his elder brother was nodding his head. "Yup!"

"H-how are you? Are you feeling better? How is Yixing? And dad?!"

"Calm down Tao…I'm doing okay, but my leg still needs some healing and so does my ribs. That crash hit me hard. Yixing, as far as I know, is doing okay. And I'm not sure about dad, but Ms. Lin told me he is doing okay." Tao sighed in relief. "How is my baby brother?"

"I'm…doing okay. I miss you…and Yixing…and dad." The nanny sniffed a bit.

"Don't cry Tao…you know what happens when you cry…I cry too."

"I know, but I just miss you guys a lot."

"And we do too. Yixing and I are very thankful to have a brother like you and dad is proud to have you as a son. Thank you Tao for sending money to pay for our procedures and the medicines." Luhan sighed. "I feel like I'm the worthless brother…it should be the eldest who takes care of the family…not the youngest."

Tao shook his head. "Y-you're wrong Luhan! We are family and no matter what, even if I am the youngest, I will help you and the family."

"Hm," He heard Luhan sigh. "Thank you Tao."

"It's no problem. Really." He smiled; it was nice to hear his brother's voice.

"So what are you doing? Just hanging around? Not doing work? Ms. Lin told me you are working for a famous fashion designer."

"Y-yeah…my Boss' name is Kris --"

"Whoa whoa whoa! Kris? He is really famous!"

"Y-yeah he is."

"How cool! You met a famous person. How is he?"

"Um," Tao wanted to tell his brother that he was practically the person of his dreams, but got rejected by him. Luhan would ask why and Tao would have to tell his eldest brother about it from the beginning. He was not looking forward in telling him that. "…Um, he is…okay. A good Boss."

"Really? He looks kinda strict because of his face. I dunno, but as long as he treats you right, then it is fine."

"Yeah…"

"So what are you doing?"

"Packing."

"Packing? For what?"

"Boss is taking me and the other employees to Paris, France with him. He has to attend to a fashion show and I guess he didn't want to be alone this time, so he is inviting us."

"Well, thats great! How lucky are you?! Enjoy your time then!"

"I will."

"You better get packing...I'll talk to you later then okay."

"Okay. Love you." 

Luhan chuckled. "Love you too Tao. Be safe." With that, they both hanged up. Tao placed the home phone on the bed and smiled a bit. He was happy to know that his brothers and his father was doing all right. 

'All right then.' Tao looked around his room. 'Clothes…clothes…clothes..' He picked up his set of t-shirts and placed them on the bed.

"Paris,France," Tao placed his index finger on his cheek. "Isn't it sometimes called the country of love?"

A knock was heard and Tao allowed whoever to come in. 

"Tao make sure you bring a coat all right." Kris said as he opened the door. "I know that it is going to be warm, but during night time…it is sometimes chilly. Okay?"

"O-okay!" Tao slight blushed. How funny when thinking about Paris and the country's meaning, his Boss happens to show up. 

"Good. Thats all…basically…don't forget." Tao nodded and Kris started to close the door. The nanny sighed and belly flopped on his bed. 

'Country of love huh?'

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

this chapter felt sloppy for some reason...probably was ^^;;;

off to Paris!! well...not me...but them. lucky...i would like to go back to paris. it was nice = u =)b

 

mistakes = ; 7 ; im sorry

comment if you want~