Stage 1: The Meeting

Strangers. They're the people you don't know, the people that you may have passed by on the street. A split-second to maybe see their face and just as fast to forget. But some days, strangers meet, and a story begins.

It all started on a windy day in a park near Hongdae. It's embarrassing, really, but they wouldn't have had it any other way.

Tao is reading a novel on a bench when he feels something grab on his leg and when he looks down, a beagle is humping him. He would have screamed and maybe kick the dog, fortunately, its owner came to its rescue.

"Snoopy!"

Tao looks up to see a silver-haired boy running up to him in his pajamas and mismatched slippers. "Oh my! I'm so sorry! This is so humiliating!" The said boy exclaims the moment he finally finds Snoopy still busy humping Tao's leg. "Snoopy! Stop it!" The dog's owner scoops up the beagle, the dog hangs on for dear life and it scratches Tao through his jeans. Once the dog is secured in the other boy's arms, he bows 90 degrees, "I'm so sorry! I was just gonna get the paper when he ran past me. This is just so embarrassing."

"It's fine. No harm done." Tao looks down on his leg, "I think you pulled him off me just in time."

The silver-haired boy scratches the back of his neck, "Let me make it up to you."

"I-it's fine!" Tao smiles but the other boy shakes his head, "I'm Oh Sehun, by the way. You are?"

"I'm Huang Zitao."

"Nice to meet you. Give me your number so I can make it up to you sometime."

Tao smiles because, hey, it's not everyday that a very attractive boy (with a cute but dog) comes up to you and asks for your number. The Chinese rummages his bag and finds a small piece of paper and pen, he writes down the number then gives it to Sehun.



Stage 2: The Chase

When people meet, you decide what becomes of them in your life. Do they remain acquaintances you forget the names of months after being introduced? Do they become friends you'd probably invite for parties? Do they become someoone else entirely that can affect your entire life? If it's the last, you'd probably run after them until you're caught up.

The coffee 'date' comes 3 days later.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to call you immediately. I've been busy with my band."

"Your band?"

Sehun nods, "I play the drums for Royale. We just started recording for an EP."

Tao's eyes widen, "Am I in a coffee shop with a potential rock star in the future?!"

Sehun laughs, his eyes turning into perfect crescents, "I'm a drummer, we have the lowest fanbase."

"Rock star nonetheless!" Tao chuckles and Sehun just laughs shyly at him. "How about you, Tao? What do you do?"

"I'm an editorial assistant for Yume publishing. I'm boring."

"You're not."

Tao's blood rushes to his cheeks, he sips his coffee to hide the blush on his face. "Hey, you should come to one of our recording sessions."

The Chinese blinks at Sehun, the other boy smiles, "I'd love to hang out more with you if you don't mind." Tao bites his lower lip and then nods, "I don't mind."

Sehun introduces Tao to his bandmates the following week. He watches them rehearse until late at night and Sehun walks him home after. "Wanna come in? I have coffee or tea."

"Coffee will be nice." Sehun smiles and lets himself in. Tao serves him a slice of cake, one thing he never runs out of.

"So, what do you think? You think we have what it takes to be famous?" Sehun starts while Tao flips through channels. Tao turns to him and nods, "Very much. You guys are awesome."

It starts like that. Sehun picks Tao from the office and takes him home after band practice. He stays for coffee and cake then goes home an hour later. They talk on the phone until the wee hours in the morning, nevermind that Tao is grumpy every time he's working but ends up walking in rainbows whenever he finds Sehun in front of his building after work hours.

They're two weeks into the routine, it's a Friday night and they decide to sit on the bench where they first met. "Hey, Tao... Can I ask you something?"

Tao nods shyly, "What is it...?"

Sehun takes a deep breath as if gaining confidence before speaking, "... Be my boyfriend?"

The Chinese bites his lower lip, he bravely takes Sehun's hand and nods, "Yes. Of course."

How could one of them consider saying no when the boy of each of their dreams are facing one another?



Stage 3: Honeymoon

Now that a couple is born, cloud nine appears in the sky. He becomes the dream you sleep to and the reality you open your eyes for. 

Being in love comes naturally for the both of them.

Sehun still picks up Tao but instead of just walking to the studio in comfortable silence, their lips meet first and hands are now locked without intention of letting go.

After rehearsals, Sehun doesn't just stay an hour, he stays over until the next morning. Some days, Tao sleeps over at Sehun's place, in which the younger disapproves of because Snoopy still finds Tao's leg a real turn on. Sehun can't disagree about that.

"Love, movie date?" Sehun asks one morning he wakes up on Tao's bed.

"Sure." Tao smiles as he crawls up to Sehun's chest and inhales his scent. He leans up and kisses his boyfriend's chin, "Breakfast in bed?"

"What's for breakfast?"

Tao thinks for a moment before smothering the younger with pepper kisses, "Pancakes?"

"Perfect." Sehun smiles. Tao jumps off the bed, the younger smacks his boyfriend's boxer-clad before the Chinese can leave the room.

They share ice cream tubs with just one spoon. They jog every morning, they walk Snoopy on weekends. Tao considers buying a female beagle for Snoopy and said he'll name it Woodstock. Sehun laughs at this but still thinks it's a really great idea anyway.

They're on a high whenever they're with each other, but in every high, there's a low, and eventually the both of them unconsciously slides slowly down the slope.



Stage 4: Comfortable

In every relationship, the longer you are with each other the more of your true self emerges - the 'you' that you try not to show to impress the other, the 'you' you hide to gain his affection. In the end, 'you' still becomes you, and you won't be able to keep it in the confines of its hiding place. And unconsciously, the both of you becomes comfortable about it anyway.

It's one of those weekends, when they used to go out on Fridays for movie night. But lately Fridays are spent on a couch, or maybe in the confines of their own home. Tonight they're in front of Sehun's TV. Tao sits comfortably on one end of the couch while Sehun sits on another. Snoopy is sleeping comfortably on its owner's lap in between them.

"What do you want for dinner?" Sehun asks. Tao shrugs as he takes a mouthful of popcorn. "Whatever."

Sehun sighs but keeps his eyes glues on the TV, "Is pizza okay?" Tao doesn't respond. The younger lazily calls pizza for delivery, orders the usual pizza they eat then continues to watch the movie.

"It's our 6th month anniversary tomorrow, do you have plans?" Tao asks and Sehun sighs,"Do you wanna go somewhere?"

"Not really. I'd rather stay home. We've celebrated this last month anyway."

"Yeah. Saves us the trouble of spending money on dinner we could have cooked for a cheaper price."

"Uh-huh." Tao says nothing more and eats more of his popcorn.



Stage 5: Tolerance

Love is patient and kind. But humans can only tolerate so much. When an on object has a slight crack, either you throw it out or you hide it and keep it somewhere safe so it doesn't break completely. In a relationship on the verge of cracking, sometimes you try not to move against your partner just so you don't fall apart.

"Sehun!!! Ugh!!!"

"What?"

Sehun finds Tao by the doorway with one foot up and an obvious scowl on his face, "Snoopy's poop! Damn it."

"I was in the kitchen. How do you want me to be in 2 places at once? ! My food!" Sehun runs back to the kitchen and he curses when his soup ends up burnt to the sides. Tao curses under his breath as he skips to the bathroom to clean his foot. Once the remnants of the poop he's accidentally stepped on are gone, he grabs a handful of tissue paper and dog bag to clean Snoopy's mess. The Chinese is already cleaning the floor when Sehun returns to the living room after throwing his dinner down the sink.

"Leave it, I'll do it. He's my dog and my responsibility."

Tao rolls his eyes and just continues to clean the mess, "I'm already here. Just order something for dinner."

Sehun grits his teeth and mumbles an angry 'fine' before calling the Chinese restaurant.

Tao doesn't stay long that night. He goes home an hour after dinner. Sehun calls him an hour later again.

'I'm sorry about earlier.'

"It's okay. I guess I was just a little surprised."

'Are we cool?'

"Yeah. We're cool."

'Okay. Good night. Love you.'

"Alright. Love you too."

Tao ends the call. The digital clock onscreen shows 9:06 PM.



Stage 6: Downhill

When you don't stop stumbling down, you will build up momentum and keep rolling, until it's too late to try and climb back up.

They're having dinner out, one they haven't had in weeks. Tao is trying to be cheerful about their conversation while Sehun busies himself with his phone.

"I'll be in Busan for 2 months. You should come visit me some time."

Sehun scrunches his brows, "Busan is like 4 hours by train and plane is expensive."

"I'm not saying you should come every weekends. It will be fun. There's the beach and it's gonna be different from the usual scenery of Hongdae."

The younger looks up from his phone, "What's wrong with Hongdae? I can't just leave. My band..."

Tao crosses his arms, "It's always your band. ALWAYS."

Sehun grits his teeth and looks around, some of the diners are already looking their way, he annoyingly whispers, "Tao, you know that's not true."

The Chinese sighs and tries again because all they've been having lately are arguments they forget why they're having in the first place. "Then come. You can sleep in the train, it's not gonna be that long."

"No. I am not going there."

"Fine. Be that way." Tao places his share for dinner then storms out of the restaurant.



Stage 7: Break-up

When something cracked and fragile falls, they break into pieces. 

It's 3 days after the argument in the restaurant and the night before Tao leaves for Busan when they meet up in the park and sit on the same bench that's significant to the both of them.

"Tao, it's not working anymore."

Tao plays with his fingers, Sehun is looking at the ground beneath his feet. The Chinese sighs, "I know."

"I guess, this is it. We did try." Sehun tells him dryly, Tao nods, he agrees and adds, "But we didn't try our hardest."

Sehun stands and wipes his sweaty hands on his jeans, "I'll see you around, and good luck in Busan."

Tao stands and smiles as hard as he can muster, "Good luck with your band. I guess, I'll see you around too." He waves goodbye and runs back to his home. Sehun sighs as he watches Tao's figure disappear into the dark.



Stage 8: Strangers

Eventually, you just become strangers. You stop calling each other, you try not to check his Facebook page and you delete a 3-page long text message for him and just turn off your phone. He becomes a name with a face, your moments become memories that will fade and be forgotten over time.

Tao is walking aimlessly one afternoon around Hongdae. It's been over 2 months since he's been back in the area yet he's tried not to go where he and Sehun used to frequent when they were still dating. It's another Friday and there are a lot of students and young adults running about in the area for Sound Day. Tao thinks it's a good thing, the rate of running into Sehun will be low amidst the crowd.

Tao looks around and weaves through the people, and as luck would have it, he notices a tall, silver-haired boy twirling a drumstick with one hand while an arm is wrapped a doe-eyed boy with red hair. Tao immediately ducks out of the way as Sehun and the boy with him laugh their way as they walk through a gig maybe.

For a split second Tao thinks Sehun notices him but they both decide not to acknowledge each other. The Chinese starts walking with his head still slightly turned to the direction of where Sehun - the drummer boy he dated for over a year, spent nights dreaming of, talked about the future with, and now has become a stranger again - is headed.

He doesn't notice that he's still watching Sehun until something cold and wet hits his chest.

"OH MY GOD! I'M SO SORRY!!!"

Tao looks at the front of his shirt and he smells of soda, he then looks up to the suspect of the spill. The other boy is bowing in front of him, his blond hair covering his face.

"D-don't do that! It's okay! I wasn't looking where I'm going anyway." Tao pushes the other up and when their eyes meet, the ravenhaired boy knows. He just knows.

"I'm really sorry! Please, let me make it up to you. Let me buy you a new shirt and maybe treat you for dinner at least."

Tao shyly bites his lower lip, "T-that's not necessary!"

"It is. I'm Wu Yifan, you are?"

Tao smiles, "I'm Huang Zitao."

"Come on, you need to change." Yifan tells him. Tao agrees.

Tao thinks as he walks beside Yifan, 'What could have happened if we tried harder? Will Sehun be with me today? Will he meet the guy with him now?' He looks up to take a quick glance at Yifan's face. 'Will I meet you?'

Yifan smiles at him when he notices that Tao is looking at him quietly. The shorter boy returns the gesture and walks beside him in silence. Tao thinks, 'Maybe this time, Yifan and I won't be strangers again.'

"It's nice to meet you, by the way. Though I'd much prefer it in better circumstances." Yifan chuckles, Tao beams. "Yeah, but I guess this is okay, too. We might not be meeting another way, anyhow."

"I guess." Yifan looks at Tao and smiles. Tao shrugs playfully.

Until then, they know, this is a new beginning.

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Author's Notes: Because really, you should have expected something like that from me. ^_^  But I like TaoHun, NOT a huge fan but still, i like. And what am i doing writing fics? Well, technically, i still dont have anything to do at work and all i've done is stare off the white walls for 8 hours.