It’s the middle of the school day and Minseok was walking in the barren hallways on his way to the principal’s office. He was nervous to say the least.  He hadn’t done anything wrong or gotten in trouble, so he had no idea as to why he was being called in, more so, in the middle of class.  When he was outside of the principal’s office he let out a deep breath and knocked on the door. He heard a voice telling him to come in. He opened the door and was met with the sight of the principal and another boy sitting on one of the chairs in front of the desk.  He was asked to sit and so he took the only other seat available, next to the other student.

“Now, Minseok, don’t think you’re in trouble because you’re not.”

                Minseok let out a sigh of relief and heard a small giggle coming from the boy next to him. He once again looked up to meet the principal’s gaze.

“Tao here is a new student. I was wondering if you’d be so kind as to show him around and accept him as a friend.”

“I’d love to. But, can I ask, why me?”

“Well you see, Tao here, is from China and I know you spent a year in China and the language isn’t completely foreign to you so I thought you’d be able to help him with things he doesn’t understand.”

“But, why me? I mean there are others in this school that are so much better at Chinese than I am.”

“I know, but Kris is always busy with the student council, Luhan is busy with soccer and trying to keep his grades up, and well Chen he’s just absent way too often.”

“I see.”

“Well, here’s Tao’s schedule. I’ll excuse you from classes for the rest of the day. And, you two just get to know each other and show him around.”

“Alright. Come on Tao.”

                Minseok grabbed Tao’s schedule and took a hold of Tao’s arm to lead him out of the office.  They walked out to the front of the school so they could start off by showing Tao his classroom. At first Minseok hadn’t looked at the schedule, but when he finally did he saw that he had the same schedule as him.  He folded the paper and handed it back to Tao.

“In the mornings I hang out here in the front with my friends. Just meet me by the gate in the mornings and then we’ll go to class together, since your schedule and mine are the same.”

                Tao just nodded his head. Minseok took hold of Tao’s hand and started to show him around the school grounds. At times Tao would ask Minseok to slow down and talk slower since his Korean wasn’t that advanced. Minseok would smile and repeat what he’d said at a slower or simpler pace.  When they were done exploring the whole school Minseok took Tao to the cafeteria so he could buy them something to drink.

“What do you want to drink?”

“Anything is fine.”

                Minseok nodded and inserted some coins into the machine and pressed the same button twice so he’d get two of the same drink. He took them out and handed one to Tao. He took it and thanked him with a small voice and a small smile on his lips. Minseok thought Tao’s actions were cute. The whole day they sat down at a bench and talked about each other so they could get to know each other and become friends.

“Minseok ge, you don’t have to be my friend if you don’t want to.”

“But, I do want to be your friend.”

“Why?”

“Because, I like making new friends. And, I know what you’re probably feeling.”

“What am I feeling?”

“Lonely. When I went to China I didn’t know the language all too well and I became lonely. No one was willing to try hard enough to get to know me. I studied the language a lot and by the end of the year that I was there I was really good but it was no use since I was already leaving. I don’t want you to feel that way. I want to be your friend.”

“Out of pity.”

“No, I really do want to be your friend, but also I don’t want you to feel that way.”

“Oh.”

“I still don’t know why you’re in Korea. Did your family move here or are you just on foreign exchange?”

“My family moved for my mom’s work.”

“What does your mom do?”

“She’s an interior designer, but she was moved here on a project to redo something from scratch so it’ll take a long time.”

“Mmm. Are you all settled in into your house?”

“Almost, I still have a few things left but we’re almost done.”

                Slowly Tao began to open up to Minseok and they became friends. The final bell for the day rang and they walked to the front gate to leave. They left in the same direction and that’s when Minseok asked Tao where he lived. It turned out that they only lived a couple of streets away from each other. Minseok asked him if he wanted to come over since it wasn’t far. Tao nodded his head but said he had to tell his mom first. They stopped at a convenience store where Minseok went in to get some snacks for the both of them and Tao stood outside and called his mom. 

“Did she say it was okay?”

“Mm.”

“Great let’s go.”

                They walked the rest of the way to Minseok’s house and when they got inside they were greeted by a small dog running to the door to greet them. They took off their shoes and walked into the kitchen and were greeted by Minseok’s mother who was baking.

“Hi mom. I brought a friend over.”

“Oh that’s wonderful.”

“This is Tao. Tao this is my mom.”

“It’s so nice to meet you Tao.”

“It’s nice to meet you too.”

“When’s dad getting home?”

“He said he’d be home by dinner time. Tao are you staying for dinner?”

“Yes, he is. We’ll be in my room if you need us. Oh, I already bought snacks for us so you don’t have to make anything.”

“Okay, sweetie.”

                They walked to Minseok’s room and put all their stuff down. The window was open and a cat came into the room and sat itself down on Minseoks bed. Tao looked at it like it was insane, just walking into anyone’s home and going on people’s personal things. That was until Minseok picked up the cat and set it down on his own lap and began to caress it.

“The dog is my little sisters. This is Minnie she’s my cat.”

“Do you have any other siblings?”

“I have an older brother too and that’s it. How about you?”

“Only child.”

“Really? Do you want a sister? You can have mine.”

“I’m fine. Where are you brother and sister?”

“My brother’s at school still since he’s in University and my sister is going to cram school so she can get into our high school.”

“That cool.”

                They began surfing the internet on Minseok’s laptop as they lay on Minseok’s bed. Tao had his arm around Minseok’s shoulder and Minseok had ended up putting his head on Tao’s shoulder. Minseok’s mothers went in to give them drinks and saw them. She put the drinks down on Minseok’s desk and jokingly told Minseok not to seduce Tao on his first day over. Tao laughed at the joke and brought his hand up to his forehead and feigned a sigh as if he had fallen in love with Minseok. The three of them laughed and Minseoks mother told them not to eat too much junk food since dinner would be ready in a little bit. Minseok and Tao continued to surf the internet and just watch random things on YouTube to entertain them. When they were called to dinner they were met with all of Minseoks family already sitting at the table waiting for them. Tao all of a sudden became shy and just followed what Minseok told him. He relaxed a little when he saw that the family was accepting him warmly.

                After dinner Minseoks siblings kept asking Tao a ton of questions about himself and China. Tao would always answer to his best ability but would sometimes ask for help from Minseok to clarify what was being asked or to translate what he couldn’t. After some time Tao decided it was time to go home. Minseok offered to walk him home since it wasn’t far and Tao accepted the offer. When they stepped outside it was no longer as warm as it was during the day. They walked side by side not really talking and just enjoying each other’s company.

“Minseok ge?”

“Hm?”

“Thank you. For being my friend.”

“It’s nothing. I was probably going to end up being your friend at one point no matter who the principal put you with. We’re all friends, but I got to meet you first so I got to be your first friend here.”

“I’m happy it was you.”

“Me too.”

                They walked the rest of the way to Tao’s house. When Tao knocked on the doorbell Minseok waited until he was let in to leave. When the door opened Tao stood outside with a woman and then he pointed over to him. The women waved at him to come closer and so he walked up to her.

“Mom this is Minseok ge.”

“It’s so nice to meet you. Thank you for befriending Tao.”

“It’s nothing really. He’s really nice so I enjoyed his company.”

“That’s great to hear. Thank you for bringing Tao home as well.”

“Oh, it’s fine. I only live a couple streets down so it wasn’t any trouble.”

                They said good night to one another and Tao’s mom went back inside while Tao and Minseok stayed outside for a bit saying good bye to each other and talking about where they would meet in the morning. When Minseok was about to leave Tao called him and he turned around and was met with a kiss to the cheek. Tao thanked him for making his day great and then went inside.  Minseok turned away from the house with his hand on his cheek. He began to blush at the thought of the kiss and then ran home.

                When he reached his home his sister laughed at how pink his face was. She then proceeded to do what she was doing. He went into his room again and sat on his bed. He heard a knock on his door and his brother’s head popped in.

“Can I talk to you?”

“Mm.”

 “Tao seems great.”

“He is.”

“Is he just your friend or something more?”

“I’m not sure.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well all day we were normal but when I dropped him off he gave me a kiss on the cheek.”

“Did you like it?”

                Minseok just nodded with his eyes facing down. He expected his brother to be disgusted by the fact that he liked it when another guy kissed him. Instead his brother hugged him.

“Good. Because it seems like he likes you more than a friend. Now, don’t go breaking his heart if he ever does confess to you. I can see that you like him too.”

“But… aren’t you supposed to say that it’s wrong?”

“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about something different today, but Tao was here.”

“What did you want to talk about?”

“I was planning on bringing my boyfriend over.”

“BOYFRIEND!?”

“Shh. Not so loud. I still haven’t told mom and dad.”

“I think it’ll be fine. I think they’ll accept whoever you bring as long as you two love each other.”

“Really? What makes you say that?”

“They heard everything and they still haven’t barged in to kick your .”

“What?”

                Minseok pointed towards the slightly ajar door where their parent’s simply smiled as if ease dropping was the most normal thing in the world. Minseok’s brother turned around to meet eyes with his parent’s but dropped his gaze down to the floor. Minseok was just sitting on his bed watching what was going to happen. It surprised him to see his father approach his brother and hit him upside the head asking why he hadn’t told them before and why he hid it for so long when he knew that they’d be okay with it. Minseok laughed at the scene displayed before him. His mother sat next to him and watched as well.

“Minseokkie?”

“Hmm?”

“Next time you bring Tao, is he going to still be your friend, or your boyfriend?”

“I’m not sure.”

“Tell me when it happened though, okay.”

“Okay.”

                For the next couple of weeks Tao and Minseok hung out almost daily. Either Tao would go over to Minseok’s house or they’d go out and play after school and eat dinner at Tao’s house.  At first Tao didn’t want Minseok to go into his house because of his father. Tao’s father was always grumpy because of the move or because of work. But, when Minseok was finally invited in, by Tao’s mother, he got to meet Tao’s father. To Tao’s surprise his father was okay. He wasn’t at his best but he still had some form of hospitality towards Minseok. After that Tao would invite Minseok over for dinner after playing out in the city. Tao’s father got used to Minseok being over or dropping Tao off after going to his house. 

                The kisses continued between Minseok and Tao. They were always just little peck from Tao. Minseok always wanted more but he just thought that Tao was being nice. Minseok’s brother would constantly ask him about how it was going with Tao, which he always got a dejected answer from Minseok.  He’d always say comforting words to Minseok and told him to just tell Tao how he felt. Minseok always ended up feeling like he could tell Tao how he felt but in the morning he’d always think otherwise.

                After almost two months since Tao’s arrival did Minseok actually act on his feelings. It wasn’t anything big. Just like any other night Tao was going in to kiss Minseok’s cheek but Minseok turned his head so that their lips would meet. Tao pulled away and apologized but Minseok just shook his head and smiled at Tao. He held his hand and went on his toes to plant a kiss on Tao’s cheek for once. Afterword’s he started walking backwards as he saw Tao holding a hand up to his lips as he went into his house.  He was smiling to himself the rest of the night. His mother asked him why he was so happy and he told her how he had kissed Tao. She was happy for him and told him to just tell Tao about his feelings. His whole family was backing him up and his feelings for Tao. They all wanted to see him happy if Tao accepted but would be there if his heart got broken.

                Minseok didn’t do anything else for the rest of the week. When the weekend came Tao and Minseok decided that they wanted to have a sleep over and so they arranged to do it at Minseok’s house. Tao was there in the afternoon right before dinner and he was greeted by Minseok’s younger sister. Tao had become quite used to her and her little antics to try and get her to date Minseok.  Tao had always thought that it was scary that she knew of his feelings and he was afraid that she might tell Minseok and that he’d stop being with him.  When he walked to Minseok’s room he walked in without knocking and he saw Minseok on his phone.  He didn’t look up to see who it was so Tao just set his things down at the base of the bed and jumped on top of Minseok. Minseok had a mini heart attack because he didn’t hear any one come in. When he looked up he saw Tao over him smiling down at him like a child. After the shock was gone he hit Tao’s arm scolding him for scaring him.

                They stayed in the same position for a while until Tao’s arms started to hurt. Instead of moving to lie down on the side of Minseok he just let himself fall on top of Minseok. He could hear Minseok mumbling of how he was heavy and that he was going to suffocate to death. He lifted his head to meet Minseok’s and his heart seemed to skip a beat. He didn’t say what he was going to say; he just stared at Minseok. His breaths became short and staggered. He saw Minseok staring at him as well. He could feel Minseok’s heart beat because of how close they were; it was almost as fast as his. He wondered if Minseok could feel his heart beat going crazy.  He lifted himself a little with his face right above Minseoks and slowly he began to lean down slowly as to not scare Minseok. He saw Minseok’s eyes begin to close and he too closed his eyes. When he could feel Minseok’s breath mingle with his he almost pulled away when he saw Minseok slightly open his eyes again. Instead of being pushed away like how he expected Minseok to do so; he was pulled down slightly by Minseok’s hand that had traveled up to his neck.

Their lips met only for a few seconds.  Those few seconds felt like an eternity. It was just their lips brushing together but it was the best kiss that either of them had. When they both pulled away slightly Minseok began to sit up slightly causing Tao to bring his body up along with Minseoks. When Minseok was sitting against the headboard of his bed and Tao sitting on his legs almost at the other end of the bed did they finally speak.

“Tao… did you mean to-“

“Yeah.  Did you not want to?”

“I did. But, I wasn’t sure if you wanted to.”

“For how long?”

“Since we met. You?”

“A while.”

“Now what?”

“Again?”

                Minseok smiled at Tao’s simple sentences almost as if he couldn’t form a proper sentence. He leaned forward and sat on his legs like how Tao was. He took hold of Tao’s hand and interlaced their fingers together and then leaned forward. He waited for Tao to do the same. He didn’t have to wait long. In a matter of seconds he could feel Tao’s breath dancing around with his. This time Tao was the one to connect their lips. The kiss was longer this time. They broke apart only to so they could lie down instead of awkwardly sitting on their legs in the middle of the bed. Tao was on top of Minseok and they began to kiss again. They were never long. They were mainly short pecks and a few that would last no longer than a minute.  During one of the longer kisses they heard the door open but heard it close quickly. Tao pulled away and began to panic, telling Minseok all his worries of his family not accepting him anymore. Minseok just let out a small laugh and pulled Tao in for another kiss. Tao pulled away almost immediately.

“Minseok, what if they don’t like me because I did this. What will they think of me kissing you?”

“Everything’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

“No, everything’s not fine. What if they don’t like me anymore? What if-“

“Baby, stop. They’re fine. They actually got mad at my brother for not telling them that he was gay.”

“Really? So they’re- wait what did you just call me?”

“Baby. Why? Do you not like it?”

“No, I like it. It’s just that it was sudden.”

                The door opened again.

“Good, you guys are done. Mom said that dinners ready.”

                Minseok looked at Tao and laughed at his expression. He had a look of pure confusion.

“I told you it was fine. They all knew I liked you.”

                Tao looked down and smiled. He got what he wanted. He got Minseok as his and only his and his family accepted him. Minseok planted one more peck on his lips before getting up and heading towards the door. When he reached the door Tao told Minseok that he’d be there in a minute. He nodded and left towards the kitchen. When Minseok was gone Tao pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed his moms’ number. The phone rang a couple of times before she picked up.

“What is it baby?”

“Mom, we kissed!”

“You and Minseok?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh baby I’m so happy for you. So is it official?”

“I think so. Well I just wanted to tell you. They’re waiting for me to go to dinner.”

“Okay baby. Have fun. “

“Bye mom, I love you.”

“I love you too.”

                Tao hung up the phone and turned to go to the door but jumped when he saw Minseok in the door way smiling at him.

“What?”

“You were taking a while. I told them to start without us.”

“Hm.”

“So now you’re shy around me? Even after we’ve kissed how many times?”

                Tao started to blush. The tips of his ears began to get pink. He didn’t see Minseok move until he was right in front of him. Minseok took hold of his hands and went on the tips of his toes so he could reach Tao’s ear and plant a kiss on each ear. He went back down to his normal height and looked up at Tao. Tao looked into Minseok’s eyes and smiled. He leaned down and kissed Minseok’s cheek. They turned around when they heard the sound of a camera. Minseoks’ sister had her phone out and was taking a picture of them. She hid the phone expecting Minseok to take it and want to delete the picture but instead he grabbed Tao’s hand and turned towards his family.

“Mom, you told me to tell you when it happened. Well, this is Tao, my boyfriend.”

                His whole family let out a little giggle seeing how cute they were together. Minseok’s father stepped towards Tao and gave him a hug.

“Welcome to the family. I know you won’t be going anywhere any time soon.”

                Tao was shocked at first but then let go of Minseoks hand and embraced Minseok’s father fully. They let go of each other and went back to their original place. Minseok took hold of Tao’s hand and they all walked back to kitchen to start eating dinner together.  That was one of the best nights of Minseoks life… and Tao’s as well. 

i've been having a lot of TaoMin feels lately and this came out. i hope you like it. comment if you did. 

i don't see why people don't ship them more, they're adorable together and one time they literally announced that they cuddle when they're bored like how obvious can they be?