Reunited
Broken Puppet
Friday night leaves both boys dark bags under their eyes. Tao's become more prominent but Kris just looks a bit out of shape with the dark circles. Little do they know that they both had a sleepless night full of thoughts and restless tossing and turning. But while Tao wakes up to a dimly lit room with curtains drawn and ragged, Kris wakes up to his phone buzzing non-stop in a neat bedroom.
Kris lazily fumbles for his phone on his bedside table. Once finding the vibrating phone, he picks it up and glares angrily at the screen.
[8 unread messages]
He unlocks his phone and glances lazily at the contacts, he replies each starting from top to bottom. Only five contacts sent him a message.
{Luhan Bambi}
8:43am 'You better not everything up today! Be nice to him ok? Don't scare him away or be mean to him.'
8:44am 'Oh, I might've told the others about your situation. No harm done right? ^-^ Fighting~'
When Kris finishes reading his messages from Luhan, he rolls his eyes and doesn't bother to reply. Of course Luhan told everyone else, what did I expect?
{Yixing Unicorn}
8:30am 'Wishing you luck, fighting.'
Kris kind of appreciates Lay's calm and collected demeanor, it really rubbed off on Kris. He sent a quick reply of thanks, knowing that Luhan will notice that he got no reply.
{Chen Chen}
8:25am 'Heard about what happened from Luhan. Just hoping you the best, the kid's nice so you should be fine. Good luck :)'
Kris gave a quick reply, slowly feeling really elated that his friends care so much to all send him texts. With the exception of Luhan, he's very thankful for all of their concern.
{Xiumin Baozi}
8:22am 'Luhan told us about everything. Be nice to Tao! He's a really nice person! Take care of him *-*'
8:23am 'But, yeah, good luck and everything~~ :)'
Kris raises an eyebrow whilst reading his messages from Xiumin. Seems like he's already protective over his Taozi as well. Kris taps a reply that he doesn't put much thought into before moving to the final message.
{Unknown number}
11:57pm 'Hey Kris, it's Tao. Luhan gave me your number, and I thought it would be a good idea for you to have my number in case you got lost or something. I hope I don't wake you or anything, I'm sorry for sending a msssage so late >_< I guess I'll see you tomorrow though :3 thanks again for helping me out.'
Kris just stares at his screen, unable to move or think or say a word. What was he doing up at midnight? Is Kris' first coherent thought after getting over the fact that he got a text from Tao. It's not healthy to be up so late. But then again, Kris couldn't exactly talk after having not been able to fall asleep until 2:30 in the morning. He nervously taps out a reply, trying to not over think things.
'Hey Tao, it's alright, you didn't wake me. I sleep like a log hahaha :P it's not problem whatsoever and I'm glad that I can help you out. Pretty sure you have an assignment right? Either way, I'll be over at 10:30, is that ok? :) see you soon.'
In his excitement, he presses send and doesn't even read over his message. What's done is done and Kris has no way of taking it back. His eyes race over his own words and he internally groans. Sleep like a log?! Are you serious, Kris?!
He rubs his eyes and his eyebrows immediately scrunch together. He saves Tao as a contact and then flings his phone to the other side of the bed. Sighing, he moves towards his bathroom and decides to take a shower and get ready. After all, there's a lot of people he has to make proud.
Tao awakens to the small chime sound of his phone. Who texted me? Tao thinks it might be Luhan or Xiumin being friendly and saying 'good morning', that seems like their type of character. Tao groggily reaches for his phone and squints at the light.
[1 unread message]
Tao unlocks his phone and stares at sender name for a good 10 seconds. He already notices that his heart's fluttering and his face has a hue of pink spreading all over.
{Kris...gege(?)}
He reads over the message twice and blushes even more at Kris' words. 'I sleep like a log'. Haha, that's really adorable that he would tell me that.
His slender fingers are quick to make a reply but then Tao's mind catches up with him and his insecurities quickly flood his thought stream. Should I wait a little before replying? Will I seem desperate if I reply so soon?
Impatiently, Tao just groans and hits send. He can't keep up with his internal battles anymore, so he ends them before they have a chance to begin.
Tao flings his phone and the other side of his bed, too anxious to look at it and wait for a reply. He knows he has over an hour to get ready which is way more than enough time, but he has nothing better to do. So he gets out of bed and gets started with his morning routine, starting with a nice steaming shower before anything else.
When 10:30am rolls around, both Kris and Tao are anticipating their encounter. They both have things they want to say but know words will probably fail them and decide not to leave their mouths. They both fiddle wherever they are and tap their feet to a beat that only they can hear.
After half an hour of texting each other whilst getting ready and double (maybe triple and quadruple) checking their appearance in the mirror, things are finally moving forward.
{Taozi Panda}
8:52am 'Good morning :) I had a really hard time sleeping last night so I got a bit restless and recklessly messaged you. I'm glad I didn't wake you! ^-^ 10:30 sounds fine by me, gives me plenty of time to go through my morning routine. And yeah, I have this killer translation assignment that also doubles as an oral presentation. I feel an F- on it's way :( '
{Kris...gege(?)}
9:28am 'Good morning! I'm sorry for the late reply, I was in the shower and getting ready. I had a pretty sleepless night as well. What kept you up? Don't get stressed about the assignment, you can do it! I know you can~ :D '
{Taozi Panda}
9:34am 'No problems on the late reply. Uhhhh I'm not sure why I couldn't sleep. It's a bit strange isn't it? Well, I guess with your help I'll do okay :3 '
Messages like that were sent back and forth and they both kept each other company in what would usually be two very lonely houses.
Kris drives his car impatiently, speeding ever so slightly at some points just to get to Tao's house. He remembers all the directions off by heart, and Kris swears that if he cared about his classes as much as Tao, he'd be getting straight A's in each.
Yet once Kris is parked right out front of Tao's home, Kris goes rigid and becomes very nervous. He becomes the complete contrast to the person he was just an hour ago. Though he's already been inside Tao's house, it somehow feels different this time--that he's actually invited inside with consent. That makes everything different.
Opening his rather expensive car door, he locks his convertible and strides towards the front door. He takes one deep breath to calm himself and exhales out all the jitters and flutters claiming his body. His fist finds the wood and he knocks before he loses his courage.
When Tao hears the first hesitant knock on the door, he's already bolting towards it. His heart flutters wildly and he hopes that today will be perfect. Tao's stepdad isn't home yet and that leaves the two boys alone and uninterrupted--meaning Tao can actually spend some quality time with Kris.
When Tao reaches out for the doorknob, a stronger knock comes from the other side and Tao chuckles to himself. He opens the door out wide to reveal a very neat and shy Kris. They stare at each other for a moment, just a little forlorn and barely able to move.
"Um, hey." Kris says, suddenly very nervous upon seeing Tao.
"Hi! Thanks for coming. Come in." Tao opens the door wider and Kris steps inside.
The first thing that Kris notices is just how darkly lit the house is. It isn't dark enough to be spooky or scary, but he's just not used to it in comparison to his own home. The next thing Kris spots is the mess. Empty beer bottles, stains on the carpet, overturned lamps litter the living room and Kris is shocked for a moment. He isn't a snob or anything like that, but he can't comprehend how anyone can live like this.
"O-oh, I'm really sorry about the mess! Let's go up to my room then, it's cleaner there." Kris realizes that he's embarassed Tao, he feels guilty for making the younger boy feel humiliated.
Kris doesn't know what to say to make him feel better, so he just wordlessly follows Tao upstairs. While Kris is busy scolding himself for staring at the living room mess and making Tao flustered, Tao is just as jittery trying to think of excuses for the empty beer bottles because he thinks Kris noticed. He's not ready to tell Kris about his home life yet, he's not ready to let just anyone in. He's too scared that Kris will go running. But he really underestimates Kris and his affection towards him.
They scale the stairs with ease; their long legs taking a few at a time.
"So, fill me in on this assignment." Kris breaks the heavy silence. He cuts through this fog that settles around Tao's house.
Tao explains about his English assignment where he has to translate a poem given to him by the teacher to Chinese, but orally be able to speak it in English. Kris listens attentively but gets a little distracted when they enter Tao's room.
Without even thinking, Kris' eyes scan over all of Tao's belongings. He realizes that it's in complete contrast to the living room. It's neat and every piece of furniture looks in line with the rest. Kris is impressed but doesn't say anything, he instead tunes in on Tao's words.
"Ah, I see. That's not too difficult, we can do the translation first and then work on the speech." Kris plans out the day. His nerves slowly fade away, he just instinctively feels relaxed when he's around Tao. All the awkwardness drips away, trickling like frost at the beginning of summer, it leaves only one outcome.
"Sounds good to me." Tao pulls out the poem from his school bag and shows Kris how far he had gotten with the translation.
When Kris reads Tao's translation, he internally winces. The punctuation is all off, the words are inaccurate and Tao's writing is a bit too small to read.
This might take a while.
...
An hour later, Tao and Kris have almost finished the whole translation now. Thanks to Kris' encouragement and patience, Tao has learned more in this one hour than in a term at school. He's very grateful for Kris' help, because let's admit, without Kris, Tao would be completely lost with this assignment. He wishes that he could be as good at English as Kris is.
"Let's take a break." Kris says, deciding that they were both worn out from not getting enough sleep. Plus, Kris' concentration levels are dropping at a really fast rate. It's hard to concentrate with Tao sitting right beside him, talking to him, laughing with him, smiling at him. It makes Kris flustered and he denied all of his feelings.
Kris needed the break to recollect his thoughts and also push away his lingering need to confront Tao about being old best friends.
"I'll go downstairs and bring up some food. I'll be right back!" Tao cutely exclaims, already halfway down the stairs. He's scolding himself for being a bad host and not offering any foods or drinks beforehand.
Meanwhile, Kris stays in Tao's room. Again observing said room but being open about it without Tao's presence.
Kris suddenly notices something poking out of Tao's bedsheets. How did I miss that before? Kris moves to uncover what looks like a toy's ears. When he pulls open the sheets, he finds something that makes him visibly freeze. Kris gulps.
The panda.
Kris bought this panda for Tao when they were only little. Kris went through so much trouble for it but it was worth seeing Tao's happy face.
He picks it up and stares into it's cute eyes. So he does remember, but he hasn't realized it's me. He begins to shake a little.
"Oh, you found my panda." Tao hesitantly laughs and sets a tray on his desk. He looks at Kris' intent gaze and he knows that his suspiscions have been true all along. But time moves too fast for him to comprehend.
"Tao...do you realize that I'm-" Kris doesn't even know how to continue. All too soon, the moment has come but no matter how much Kris has imagined this exact scenario, it couldn't have prepared him for this. Nothing could have prepared him for this.
Memories come flooding back when him and Tao were little. So many promises and amazing moments, it was Kris' happiest time of his life. How could he even thank Tao for those moments? How could he even say a single word to his best friend? He's so lost.
"You didn't break your promise." Tao whimpers a little, suddenly overcome by realization and intense emotions. Kris looks up and realizes that Tao is crying. Tears stream down Tao's face from relief and happiness. Though Kris was suffering, Tao had suffered just as much. He had always waited for his Kris gege, but he never showed up. Half of the reason Tao pushed this Kris away was because he knew that his gege was right in front of him. When he realized, Tao didn't want to admit it to himself because he'd been there all along but Tao never even noticed. He felt shameful.
"I waited for you, gege." That name. That one title. That one honorific. Kris is almost moved to tears as well. But he can't cry. He's too old for that and always has been. This isn't a time for Kris' tears, this is a time to be happy because that one name calls forth all the memories rushing back to the both of them.
There's a moment that falls on them. There's no real way to describe it but they're both so lost with one another, so lost in this moment that everything around them doesn't exist. This is what they've both been waiting for. This is what they both need. They need each other.
With his heart pounding in Kris' chest and nearly crying eyes, he strides towards Tao with a quick pace and engulfs him with a hug. Kris rests his face in the junction between Tao's neck and shoulder and just pulls him even tighter. Tao is his lifeline now, and he's not going to let him go again.
Tao relishes in the feeling of Kris' arms around him, he realizes that this is everything he needs and wants, everything he's been waiting for. He needs someone to care for him and love him, and he knows that Kris is the only one who's capable of this. Kris is the only one who can love him the way he does.
So they stay like that. Both of them intoxicated and already addicted to one another because of this need for them to be together. They can't even distinguish the growing attraction between them because they're both only concentrated on the other. It's been years since either of them have felt this close to someone, and they're both so godamn grateful that they've been reunited. But they haven't just been reunited as 'that Kris from school' and 'the boy that can't remember me', they reunite as best friends again. It's been too long but it's so worth this feeling of elation.
Tao sobs into Kris' chest and holds him tighter. He's waited too long for this moment to see this Kris again. It's taken him too long to realize how easy it would've been to uncover this side of Kris again.
Kris lets a single tear slide into Tao's shirt that he promises will be the only one and the both of them hang on for dear life.
But between Tao's sobbing and Kris' loud, thumping heartbeat, they both miss the sound of the front door opening and someone walking up the stairs. They don't realize until it's too late.
Kris and Tao pull apart and simply stare at each other. But their bodies have a hard time being separated and the both of them move for an action that feels so right for the moment. It's so wrong on so many levels and betrays everything they've tried so hard to avoid, but there are no coherent thoughts lingering at the moment. Even though they're best friends, they've become something more. They're both just running on pure instinct and nothing else. Staring into each other's eyes asking themselves if this is really happening. If things are going to be ok. But caution is thrown to the wind and time stands still for them until their lips touch and the world just explodes into nothingness.
"Tao!"
9 years earlier...
Tao is finding it a hard time getting accustomed to his new life. Without Kris, it's been even harder trying to make friends. Tao has never been a social boy, he finds it a little difficult to make friends with people because he just doesn't know where to start. Kris makes Tao feel comfortable, when there's a silence, Kris would know exactly what to say. That is how their friendship is built, and that's what Tao is accustomed to.
At this new school, where the kids look rather mean and others snobby, Tao just didn't know who to become friends with. Some of them did try to make friends with the new kid, but in the end, none of them could really relate to him. This ends with Tao getting bullied because he sits alone by a tree on the hill.
There are a lot of differences from this life to his last. This time, there's no Kris to protect him. This time, it isn't jokingly stealing Tao's backpack. This time it's serious.
He brings it up to his mom about wanting to learn martial arts. He doesn't tell her why even if she asks. He's too embarassed to tell her the truth that he's getting his kicked at least 2 times a week.
It turns out that there's one martial arts place that's close to them, and it's a Wushu dojo. Tao jumps at the chance to start learning.
He's impatient at first. He hates the stupid beginner excersizes and quickly loses his temper because of the simple moves he's learning. But overtime, he grows up a little, gets a little more mature and understands the importance of the basics and fundementals. He begins to fall in love with the movements.
Soon enough, he's recognized as one of the most talented in his class. He simply has a knack for picking things up and he's a really fast learner. The other kids are envious of him, which is why he can't make friends at this Wushu dojo either.
A year seems to slowly drag on and Tao finds it harder to go to school each day. He has no motive to get up and go somewhere where he feels isolated and lonely. He's built up his own routine where he gets up, goes to school, studies and comes home. No interactions with other students or anyone really. It's a miserable life, but it's one that little Tao has gotten used to.
At least the older kids don't bully Tao anymore. Not after he busted one boy's lip in self-defense although Tao knows he took that one a bit far. But at the time, Tao was too frustrated with everyone to be thinking straight. He hated his new life. He still hates it.
On a certain warm summer day, Tao walks home with his giant bag on his shoulders. He walks home quietly and keeps his eyes averted for majority of the trip home. But when he gets to his house and unlocks the door, the sight he's greeted by is not one he's happy with.
"Oh, hello there. You must be Tao." The man gives a warm smile to Tao who just stands there looking for his mother. She makes her appearance...by pulling the man in for a side-hug. Tao knows something's up because these sort of interactions used to take place between Tao's mom and dad.
Speaking of his dad, Tao misses him a lot. He doesn't cross his mind too often, but when he does, all Tao can think about are all the good memories and times he spent with him. His dad was almost never home, but when he was, he'd spend as much time with Tao as he could. They both loved each other very much. But ever since Tao moved away with his mom, he hasn't heard much from his dad in a long while.
"Say hi, Zitao." His mother says sternly, eyes scolding him for being rude.
"Hi." Tao gives a short bow before quickly darting up to his room. The two adults are left standing there to stare at the retreating boy. But he's long disappeared into his room. His mom apologizes on his behalf, but the man brushes it off with a large smile.
He used to be nice. But things changed. Tao knows at that very moment that this man would make a difference in his life. Tao doesn't exactly know that the man is dating his mother but he knows that this is a sort of replacement for his dad. Tao notices how lonely his mom looks in this new house. It's the same look she used to give when Tao's dad was late for dinner.
Tao wouldn't have minded having this man as his stepdad if only he hadn't changed. Little does Tao know that there's a monster lurking within this man's exterior. And it would be unleashed eventually. And way too soon rather than later.
Why did you have to come into my life?
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