18: House Guest

“For the last goddamn time, the answer is no!” Tao crossed his arms as he stood in the doorway to Kris’ bedroom. No level of explaining was going to convince him to cuddle up in the bed with this idiot while they were the only two people in the house. Especially after what had happened last time. Tao thought about the kisses they’d shared and bit his tongue until he tasted metallic.

“Why not?” Kris tossed Tao’s bag onto the bed. “It’s not like we haven’t been doing this all week. ”

“Yeah but that was different.” Tao trudged over and yanked his bag from the surfer’s long fingers.

“How so?” Kris reclaimed the bag with an expression of mock innocence.

Tao narrowed his eyes. “We were around other people at the time.”

“You don’t trust me?”

"I don’t trust my ing self.”

Tao hadn’t meant for it to slip out, but the truth was the truth. It’d taken them a while to get here. Tao trusted Kris with his life but seriously questioned his own resolve. As much as he'd like to think he was in control, Tao knew that he wasn’t.

“Okay then, how about this?” Kris placed the bag at the foot of the bed. “If you do anything weird, I’ll put a stop to it.”

Tao scrunched up his nose as he considered the option. “You’d do that?”

“Yeah.”

“Promise?”

Kris held up a hand as if taking an oath. “I swear on my father’s vintage surfboard.”

That surfboard meant a lot to Kris. Until recently it’d hung in Kris’ workshop. Now the surfer seemed keen on using it as a good luck charm while surfing. If Kris was willing to swear upon that, it meant something.

“Fine.” Tao sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “But just so we’re clear, if you deceive me, I won’t trust you again. Ever.”

“Fair enough.” Kris held out his hand so they could shake on it.

Tao grasped it hesitantly and tried his best to ignore the warning signs that flashed in the back of his mind. Reclaiming his bag with a tight-lipped frown, he pulled out a pair of pajamas and headed toward the bathroom. Once inside, he checked the lock three times just to be sure the door was locked. After slipping out of his dirty clothes and adjusting the water temperature, Tao pulled back the shower curtain and stepped beneath the steaming spray. Any anxiety was swiftly washed down the drain along with the soapy water and bits of sand from the beach.

While washing, he mulled over everything that had happened up until today. It’d all changed so quickly over the course of just a few weeks, and it wasn’t his overall situation that ruffled him up, it was the fact that his entire mindset had done a complete one-eighty. At times Tao felt like he'd given himself whiplash. Maybe he’d face-planted into one too many waves, thus, resulting in an undetected brain injury. Tao considered an endless number of possibilities. But he knew the real answer.

Kris was the reason he’d changed so much. Ever since that first day on the beach, the idiot had been fighting his way into Tao’s thoughts, and begrudgingly, his heart too. It wasn’t supposed to happen. Tao was supposed to hate this entire summer vacation and be relieved to go home and finish up high school. Instead, an emotional lump rose in the back of his throat every time he thought about leaving.

Tao ended up using all of the hot water and emerged from the bathroom clad in long cotton pants and a loose t-shirt . Still drying his hair, he walked into the living area and found Kris stretched across the sofa, watching a cheesy horror movie on television.

Kris looked up and smiled at Tao before hitting the mute button. “Hungry?” he asked. “I thought about ordering pizza. Or if you’d like, we could go grab something.”

“Pizza’s fine,” replied Tao.

“Pepperoni?”

“Yeah.”

Tao claimed a seat at the opposite end of the sofa, turned up the volume, and devoted all of his attention to the zip-up costume monsters on television. It wasn’t the most entertaining thing in the world, but it was better than staring at Kris all evening, which he most certainly wasn’t doing right now. Nope. Not at all.


-

“Hey! Quit stealing my pepperonis!” Kris swatted Tao’s hand away.

“You got like twice as many as I did!” Tao retorted as he shoved three more in his mouth.

“I don’t care! You chose the slice! So you gotta pay the price!”

Tao nearly choked on his food. “I’m sorry,” he wheezed, “I can’t decide if it’s the pizza cheese or your cheese that’s making me gag.”

Kris grinned around the food in his mouth. “Prolly both,” he mumbled, mouth full.

Tao watched as the surfer chomped away at the last slice of pizza. Tao had grown to secretly adore Kris’ horrible habits. Seeing the surfer stuff his face like a chipmunk was actually kinda of funny... and cute. Tao shook his head and shoved the rest of his food into his mouth. Thoughts like that would do him no good. He’d be better off playing the moody card tonight just to be safe.

“So...” Kris gulped down some beer and sighed pleasantly. “What do you wanna do tonight?”

“Don’t know. What’s everyone else up to?”

“Well Luhan, Sehun, and Jongdae are getting things ready for the party tomorrow. Lay got roped into some outing with his mom first thing in the morning. Which probably means she’s dragging him to church. Like that’s gonna make him stop hanging out with us wackos.” Kris snickered . “Oh, and Minseok’s parents are back in town so he’s gotta play the good-son-card. So that just leaves us, Taozi.”

“Well maybe Baekhyun--”

“Nope! Baekhyun’s busy too.”

“How do you know?”

“He told me.”

“You have his number?”

“Uh... Y-Yeah. Doesn’t everyone have his number?” Kris danced around the subject.

Tao flopped back onto the sofa with a groan. “Why does this always happen to me!”

“You make it sound like you don’t want to be here.” One pointed look from Tao was enough to dampen Kris’ spirits. “Man, you really are a ty boyfriend. I hope you know that.”

“Wha- You- HEY! COME OVER HERE AND SAY THAT TO MY FACE!” Tao threatened.

“I just did, didn’t I?” Kris teased.

In a flash, Tao was swiping a pillow off of the sofa and swinging.

Kris held up a hand to block the attack but it didn’t do much good. Once Tao had a motive set in mind, there was no stopping him. “Okay, okay! I’m sorry!” he implored, “I take it back! You’re the best boyfriend in the world!”

“Stop calling me that!”

Tao swung again but this time Kris grabbed the pillow and pulled Tao onto his lap.

“Why? You got a problem with it?”

Tao squirmed in Kris’ lap. “N-No I just--”

“You just what?”

“It’s embarrassing!” Tao admitted with flushed cheeks. “Now let me go!"

No measure of thrashing limbs could make Kris release his fussy houseguest. “Not a chance, Taozi. Since this is my home, I make the rules, and the rules say it’s bedtime.” In one fluid movement, Kris stood from the sofa, cradling Tao in his arms bridal-style.

“PUT ME DOWN RIGHT NOW!”

Kris kicked open the door to his bedroom on his course towards the bed. Suddenly, his gaze softened and Tao gulped.

“It’s been a long few days,” he said as he laid Tao gently onto the bed. “Let’s go to sleep so we can wake up early and go surfing. I’ll even buy you pancakes.”

Any anger fled Tao at the promise of early morning surfing and free pancakes. “Pancakes?” he asked hopefully.

Grinning brightly, Kris turned off the lights and crawled beneath the blankets. “I think you like those pancakes more than you like me.”

“You’re probably right,” provided Tao with a smirk as he, too, snuggled beneath the blankets.

“You’re so mean to me,” whined Kris.

Tao rolled his eyes and turned over so that his back was facing Kris. “Yeah, but you like it anyway.”

Since it’d been such an eventful week, Tao fell asleep easily. At some point during the night, he awoke to a heavy arm being draped across his waist. He tensed up as Kris pulled him closer and nuzzled against his nape. It was a violation of their pact from earlier that night. Tao let it slide as he reveled in the surfer's warmth, allowed his eyes to close, and drifted back into slumber.


-

A terrible clashing had Tao wrapping a pillow around his head and jolting up in bed. The resulting zap of adrenaline sent his heart into overdrive.

“WHAT’S GOING--” Tao stopped mid sentence. Kris was parading around the room, banging two pans together and singing in what sounded like failed Jamaican at the top of his lungs. “WHAT IN THE ARE YOU DOING!” screeched Tao.

Kris halted his ridiculousness, approached Tao, and ruffled his hair. “Time for surfing and then breakfast. Up and at ‘em, Surfing Model.”

The blood surged to Tao’s face. “You mean to tell me,” he bared his teeth, “That you scared the out of me for no freaking reason?”

Taking a several large strides backwards, Kris grinned evilly. “Yup!”

Tao threw his pillow but Kris shut the door before it could hit its mark. Perhaps Tao needed to rethink his life choices. No way in hell was he going to wake up to this every day. He’d rather chop off his foot and feed it to the damned sharks. However, he was looking forward to some early morning surfing and those mouth-watering pancakes, which was just enough motivation to get his carcass out of bed.

Still too paranoid to change in the bedroom, Tao grabbed his swim trunks and a t-shirt and changed in the bathroom. Moving to grab the toothpaste, he caught sight of their toothbrushes nestled beside one another and huffed. Just how many marbles had he lost along the way? It was stupid to get all bent out of shape over ing toothbrushes. Then again, every little thing Kris did danced on Tao’s nerves, in good ways and in bad.

Kris knocked on the bathroom door. “Hurry up. I have to pee.”

“Hold on a sec. I’m almost done.” Tao wet his toothbrush and slathered it with toothpaste.

“But I have to pee now.”

“Mwah shaid wayte a minuht!” Tao mumbled as he brushed his teeth.

He heard Kris’ retreating footsteps, but it was short lived. Soon the doorknob jiggled, which was followed by the lock flipping and the door opening. Tao stared wide-eyed as Kris walked in, head held high as he tossed a skinny screwdriver into the air before catching it and lifting up the toilet seat.

Tao quickly spit out his toothpaste. “If you piss in front of me...” he warned.

“Well then I guess you better haul because the yellow river is about to flow.”

Tao refused to be booted out of the bathroom. He brushed his teeth harder in an attempt to block out the sound of Kris urinating to his left. This was not happening. They weren’t supposed to be at this level of comfort yet. You didn’t piss in front of your boyfriend until you'd been dating for at least a thousand years. Tao was almost certain that his gums were bleeding by the time Kris finished, and the jerk had the nerve to smile brightly as he flushed the toilet, to which Tao glared.

“There. Now was that so bad, Taozi?” Kris leaned in so close that it nearly made Tao cross-eyed.

Tao wiped the foamy toothpaste from his mouth and slapped it against the side of Kris’ head. “I hate you and you deserve to die.” Then he stormed out and headed to the kitchen to finish rinsing out his mouth.

Of course, he heard Kris chuckling in the bathroom, which made Tao flush a lovely shade of strawberry. It dawned on him that they were actually living under one roof. They had meals together, went surfing together, slept in the same bed, and even watched T.V curled up on the sofa together. They were practically roommates, or if Tao really wanted to be morose, like a married couple. That thought alone made him want to hurl.

“Ready to go surfing?” asked Kris. It didn’t even look like he’d bothered to brush his hair. Admittedly, though, it was kind of cute.

“Whatever. Just be glad you’re feeding me pancakes.”

“Well you know what they say, ‘Pancakes soothe the savage beast’.”

Tao couldn’t help but laugh. “Why do I even hang out with you? You’re embarrassing.”

“Because I’m awesome.”

Tao snorted. “Puh-lease. Don’t give yourself so much credit.”

Kris merely shrugged at Tao’s verbal jibe as they locked the door behind them and headed for the Jeep. “I must have done something right since you seem to like me.”

Tao watched as Kris checked the ties that kept their surfboards strapped to the roof of the Jeep. He didn’t know what to say to that, because Kris was right, he did like him.


-

They found themselves at the not-so-secret surfing spot. Tao seemed on edge, and rightfully so, because Jongin could be seen shredding through a wave. Kris didn’t like having to share the beach with that either but this place had the best waves. Today was especially nice and there were more surfers than usual. It’d be hard to catch a decent ride but he wasn’t that concerned with squeezing in practice. Kris knew what he was capable of. More than anything, he just wanted an excuse to spend time with Tao.

“Great. Jongin’s here,” Tao stated the obvious with a partial sneer.

“Now, now,” cooed Kris as they walked down the beach with their boards tucked under their arms. “Be nice. Besides, Baekhyun looks happy to see you.”

At the mention of the chipper surfer, Tao peered out and waved when he caught sight of Baekhyun floating on his surfboard amongst the swells. Tao made to take off but Kris stopped him.

“And just where are you going?” he asked, “You’ve gotta help me practice, remember?”

Tao huffed but relented anyway. “Can I at least say hi once we get out there?”

Tao asking for permission to do something? When in the hell did that start happening? It threw Kris off so much that he nearly tripped over his own two feet.

‘W-Well... I mean... yeah. Of course you can.”

Tao’s lips curled into a playful grin before he turned his body and smacked Kris on the back with his longboard.

“Umph!” Kris’ eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

Tao giggled and took off running. “HA - HA - HAHA - HA~!” he sang at the top of his lungs, flying towards the water. “As if I’d ever ask your sorry for permission!”

Kris couldn’t believe it. He’d just been trolled by his own damned boyfriend.

“Hey! Who gave you permission you little !” Kris took off running.

He caught up to Tao in no time as they paddled their along the edge of the pipeline to meet up with the others. Baekhyun was the first to greet them. “Tao, my man! How’s it goin’? ”

“Surfing already?” Tao asked.

Baekhyun shrugged. “Not really. I’m more like a floating duck right now, but it’s better than watching all of the action from the shore.”

Tao laughed at that, smile bright and unguarded. Something protective welled up in Kris and he paddled over.

“Yo, Kris! Heard you’re still planning on competing,” said Baekhyun as he extended a hand.

Kris sat on his surfboard and returned the other surfer’s friendly handshake. “That’s the plan,” he smiled, a bit strained.

It wasn’t that he didn’t like Baekhyun, in fact, he preferred the guy over the other surfers. He just didn’t like the way Tao and Baekhyun were all buddy-buddy. Why couldn’t he and Tao be like that? Was he doing something wrong? Did he need to rethink how he was going about this whole dating or relationship or whatever the hell it was they were doing? Kris continued to watch Tao and Baekhyun horse around and curled his toes under the water until he gave himself a foot cramp. This was going to be a trying morning, he could already tell.

“You guys are determined, aren’t you?”

Tao, Kris, and Baekhyun turned to find Jongin paddling up to them. Kris visibly tensed, as did Tao.

“Be nice, twerp,” warned Baekhyun.

There was a pause as Jongin eyed them precariously. Then he took a deep breath, sat on his board, and shook some of the water from his hair. “Waves are pretty good this morning but a little choppy. Not sure if Tao plans on surfing or not but I’ll make sure everyone keeps an eye on him .”

Tao and Kris gaped at the tan surfer. Was he actually being...nice? There must be some freaky mojo going around, thought Kris, because both Tao and Jongin were acting kind of weird. Especially Jongin. It just wasn’t in the guy’s nature to be cordial. Something was up, and by God, Kris was going to figure it out.

“Uh, yeah. Thanks,” Kris managed.

Jongin cleared his throat. “How’s the shoulder?”

For a moment, Kris thought Jongin was being a jerk again, but the serious look on the other's face indicated he was attempting to be civil. “It’s still a little sore, but other than that, it’s fine.”

“That’s good,” Jongin nodded. There was an awkward pause as they all looked at each other. “Well, I’ll just leave you guys to it. See you around.” With that, Jongin paddled away,

Baekhyun crossed his arms and snickered. “My friends, you just witnessed the results of a much deserved -whoopin’. Good job, Tao! Seems like you tamed the tiger.”

“Yeah.” A relieved smile settled on Tao’s lips. “I’m just glad his nose is back to normal. I would’ve felt guilty if it’d been permanently crooked or something.” He looked to his friends from the corner of his eye, seemed to regret his admission, then paddled towards the pipeline.

Kris arched a brow. “Man...he is freaking me out today.”

“Nah,” said Baekhyun, “He’s just seeing things in a different light is all. Happens to everyone at some point.”

Kris knew that Baekhyun’s words were true. However, something felt off. Jongin was being far too considerate. He couldn’t shake the feeling that the surfer was up to something, and with the competition coming up, Kris wouldn’t put it past him either. Quietly taking note of that, Kris watched his boyfriend paddle away and catch his first wave of the day. In that moment, he finally decoded the boisterous feeling welling in his chest. He was proud--of Tao, his friends, the surfing community, and the island. Kris knew he’d never be able to leave this place, but Tao would have to leave, and it broke his heart knowing they’d have to part ways eventually.

But for now he’d smile, and laugh, and have a good time. Because a summer like this only came around once in a lifetime.