SUNGMIN was grateful for Ryeowook's help today. His friend was a great cook and Sungmin had asked him to make two bento boxes for him today. It made him feel like he was giving a lunchbox to a middle school crush but he didn't know what else he could do since Tao seemed to be okay with just getting his number in exchange for saving his life.

It's been a week and he had yet to get a request for any kind of help from Tao. All that he got was a "How are you now, hyung?" the morning after. After he said that he was okay but suffering a dreadful hangover from the police station situation he didn't get anything else from Tao. Not a single emoticon. Sungmin was not the kind who liked owing people anything. He figured he could reply Tao slowly so he would be appeased.

"Meet me at the food quad. Noon. Don't be late." simple and direct. It wasn't like he was asking him for a date. And if anyone reads the sms they would not think it was anything suspicious.

"De." was the frustrating reply. Sungmin couldn't help but compare how Kyu used to reply. The latter would probably say something like "Whoa, sure you want to be seen eating with a celebrity?" Kyu was a campus icon because of his great talent. He had actually started doing musicals when he got to New York. It wasn't surprising that he was able to get acclimated easily. Music can be so universal that it could bridge cultural gaps. And Kyu could sing beautifully in Korean, English, Japanese and Chinese. That alone would land him so many auditions over there. Soon, he would probably have to come back home if any of the entertainment companies were smart enough to scout him. Kyu wasn't particular to pop but he could sing anything and it would be amazing.

Why are you comparing a dongsaeng and an ex? He caught himself at that juncture. Kyu is different from Tao not just because of who they are but what they meant to him. It wasn't likely that he'd make the same mistake twice. Dating a student was a trap. They all end up graduating eventually. He wiped a rouge tear and sighed when he got to the quad and saw that Tao was already sitting in one of the tables where student and teachers alike could sit in a circle and eat. Some of the students had their laptops next to them while eating. The generation of multi-tasking minds. He wondered if the food they were eating tasted like paper because of all the stress they were under. He preferred to eat without having to do anything else but wait for it to digest.

He got some bows and nods on this way to the Tao table. He saw that Kris was also there. He panicked when he realized that he only had food for two people!

"Sungmin-nim is the person you are waiting for?" Kris looked surprised. Tao had laughed at his friend's expression of shock.

"Yeah, didn't I tell you? I guess it slipped my mind." Tao was clearly messing with his friend.

"I didn't bring enough for us three..." he placed the bento boxes on the table.

"Oh, no worries, ssam. I'll go buy my own. I have a particular craving for having tteokbokki for lunch." Kris grinned and got up to go buy some.

Tao shook his head then pointed at the bento box. "Is this really for me?"

Sungmin smiled at the innocence that was painted on Tao's face. "Yes. Is it too much?" he didn't want to bring it up but he had to. "I was wondering how to help you out. You were not smsing me anything that you wanted. So I figured that I could pay you back slowly with little things."

TAO was shocked that the gesture for the bento was still about the debt that Sungmin thinks the latter owed him. But he found himself giddy when he was opening the bento. His had a panda themed rice rolls. And he couldn't help but clap. He didn't want to eat his panda brothers but he was too hungry not to eat anything.

Kris came back and saw the little pandas and has laughed. "How did you know that he liked pandas, ssam?"

"You do?" Tao nodded vigorously.