A/N:  Ok, so it was babystar who suggested this (I checked!) I just had to do it, ahh! I did this quickly over two days, so omg I'm sorry if it's terrible. My lame sense of humour is all over this, ugh (/>o<\)

Archer Kris was just too hot! I was so shocked hahaha!

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this <3  I'll get back to writing WFTWK now!!! Bye~~~

edit: Oh yeah, and if anyone can hit me up with a good  poster-maker I'll be eternally grateful!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Arrows of Love

 

 

 

 

Kris sat at the back of the classroom, waiting for the register to be taken so he could go up and introduce himself. He had already discovered, just by having sat down for a few minutes, that his new school was no ordinary one. No, as the pretty girl beside him had said, eyes big and shiny as she looked upon the new student, this school had a collection of handsome males. A collection of handsome males who had formed a club. And, the girl had pointed out with a most excited grin, Kris looked good enough to be part of it.

 

“Alright, could the new student please come to the front?” Their teacher asked, smiling gently at him.

 

With a quick exhale of breath, the tall blonde got up from his seat and walked to the front of the classroom. He had been told just a moment ago that three of the club members were actually in his homeroom (Xiumin, Luhan and Suho, apparently), and so he scanned the classroom in search of them.

 

“Alright...Hi everyone, nice to meet you. My name is Wu Yifan, but you can call me Kris. I just moved here from Canada, but I was born in China. Uhh...yeah. That's it.”

 

Judging by the way a certain three people were exchanging knowing looks, Kris guessed he'd just found the club members. But something about the way they were staring at him made the blonde feel strangely uneasy.

 

For some reason, all of the most popular males in the school were not only talented members of various clubs, but also almost all of them had strange nicknames they liked to go by. Kris found it all very ridiculous, but he could hardly complain when he'd just announced his own nickname – and by the looks of it, sealed his fate as a future member of the 'popular-boy-club'.

 

Kris' fears were confirmed when their teacher called him over after class, suggesting – no, commanding gently – that he join a club due to his good looks. When he asked if joining a club was compulsory for all students, he was given a dismissive wave of the hand and a non-answer – which Kris took to mean 'no, it's not compulsory, but it will be for you'. Groaning internally, and then externally, when he left the classroom, Kris dragged himself in search of a suitable club.

 

 

 

He tried the dance club, where Kai and Lay could most often be found. They had given him a chance – or, well, Lay had given him a chance. Kai simply rubbed his eyes and allowed it to happen, which Kris took as a positive sign. However, once they saw how Kris lumbered about on heavy feet, almost colliding with the mirror at one point, the tall male was – kindly, by one of the hands – pointed to the door.

 

 

 

Football club came next. Luhan and Xiumin (he and Chen were both learning Chinese, apparently) didn't seem too thrilled to have someone disrupt their what Kris could only call inappropriate football time. Luhan did manage to detach himself from the other, though, and they did give Kris a ball to show them his skills with. Or lack of. By the time Kris was done, looking shamefully at his own large feet, the two footballers were howling with laughter while shaking their heads no.

 

 

 

He then walked towards the singing club, where D.O. (Kris really couldn't understand why Kyungsoo had decided to put periods in his own last name), Chen and Baekhyun (Whose nickname had apparently been eyeliner king, but that quickly was deemed too long) were practising. But as soon as Kris heard those dulcet tones flowing out from behind the club door, he simply his heel and went back the way he came.

 

 

 

Next came the club that Kris was most interested in – the music club. He'd been told that Chanyeol, a rap enthusiast, ran the club. Unfortunately, when Kris arrived outside the room, a certain rainbow-headed person was sat in front of it, focused on his phone. Now, Sehun was a mystery to Kris. He'd recently found out that despite being one of the 'popular boys', Sehun didn't have a nickname and he wasn't part of any club yet. The girl who'd told him the 'important' information had also informed him that this was due to Sehun being the youngest of the popular males. He apparently 'hadn't found his true calling yet', and it seemed as though everyone was waiting with baited breath for the kid to choose his 'destiny'.

 

“Hey,” Kris tried, “Could you excuse me for a sec?”

 

No response, although Sehun's eyes did flicker up for a moment.

 

“I'm sorry, I just need to get in there...”

 

Still no response. Clearly whatever Sehun was looking at on his phone couldn't be done while standing or sitting anywhere but outside the music club's door. Perhaps being a doorman – or even just an obstacle of some sorts – was Sehun's 'destiny'.

 

Eventually Kris gave up, muttering, “Fine. I don't even like rapping that much anyway.”

 

 

 

 

Kris had very nearly been into the student council. As soon as the door had swung shut behind him – the noise jolting the president's face out of his paperwork – he had been clobbered by the perfect student, Suho.

 

“Are you here to join the council?” He asked, eyes wide and shamelessly hopeful.

 

“Uh,” Kris glanced around the room, seeing only mountains of paper and books, “Where are the other members?”

 

“We don't have any. It's just me,” Suho let out a tired sigh and gave the room a rather dejected look, “As you can see, I'm being worked to the bone...”

 

Kris knew then and there that he didn't want to be stuck inside the dull, musty room Suho called home. He wasn't even smart enough to be in there anyway, and he suddenly felt like an idiot for wasting Suho's time. “I'm sorry, but I don't think my grades are – ”

 

“ – That doesn't matter!” Suho chirped hastily. “I can teach you! You're new, aren't you?”

 

“Uhhh...” Kris started to back away. This guy was desperate. “Actually, I really think I want to join another club.” He reached behind and carefully opened the door.

 

Suho came flying towards him. “No! Wait!”

 

But Kris was faster. He practically threw himself out of the room and slammed the door shut, letting out a huge sigh of relief as he made for the school exit.

 

 

 

 

There were a few clubs Kris didn't bother checking out. They included the art club – Kris shuddered when he recalled people's reactions to his paintings, the sewing club – too girly, the martial arts club – Kris knew he couldn't do that, and the archery club. Which was precisely where his homeroom teacher sent him last. She'd told Kris that there weren't many members at all, but perhaps he would enjoy that. He had wanted to see if there was a basketball club, but alas, there was no such club at their school. And Kris would be damned if he was going to waste his time rounding up a bunch of unenthusiastic kids just so he could shoot a few hoops.

 

 

 

And so Kris was left in the empty shack where the archery equipment was kept. He'd tried the sport as a child, and he supposed it was alright. None of the other members were there at the time, and so he decided it might be nice to have a try at it without the threat of being embarrassed. Using the laminated paper print out of 'equipment guidelines' that had been hung on the wall, Kris was able to gather the right items and, surprisingly, handled them with ease. He supposed he should probably have had some health and safety talk before he played with the equipment, but nonetheless he trundled out to the small patch of field outside the run-down shack. There were three targets line up next to each other – two out of three looked particularly old and weathered, so Kris naturally chose to use the newest. Once he was all set up, he took in a deep breath and aimed his arrow at the target. After counting one, two, three, in his head, Kris let the arrow loose. And hit a bullseye.

 

For some odd reason, the blonde male kept hitting bullseyes. He couldn't decide if he thought the target had some kind of magical super powered magnet hidden within it or if he was simply awesome. He looked around the area, hoping that there might be someone he could ask about the problem. Only, there was no one – no one but the black haired head poking out from behind a tree.

 

“Hey!” Kris called, feeling put-off by the fact that someone was not only watching him, but was hiding while doing so. “What are you doing?”

 

The head immediately disappeared behind the tree, and then Kris could just about see whoever it was take off at great speed into the building next door. He sighed, willing to let it go just once.

 

 

 

 

 

The next afternoon an emergency 'popular-boy-club' meeting was held. Suho was sat at the head of the large table – created by pushing together about about five double-seater desks. He had a wheely white board next to him and a black marker pen in his hand, ready to create a mind-map, or any other sort of map, should they need him to. One by one, the other members filed in and took their seats. Kai started to doze off almost as soon as his had hit the cold plastic on the seat, much to everyone's (non)amazement. Baekhyun pulled out his pocket mirror and began to reapply his eyeliner, using Chanyeol as a second, seemingly more reliable mirror than his own.

 

“It looks great, I swear!”

 

Baekhyun narrowed his eyes. “Are you sure? Is it totally even?”

 

Chanyeol tried to pull a convincing serious face. “Totally.”

 

Satisfied, Baekhyun turned his attention to Tao, who was sat opposite him. “Hey Tao,” He called, but the black haired boy was off in his own world, “Hey!”

 

“Huh?” Tao blinked. “Beef?”

 

The brunette rolled his eyes with a smile. “Stop daydreaming – you were the one who called for this meeting!”

 

Tao gave an apologetic shrug. “Sorry!"

 

“Anyway,” Baekhyun leant over the table a little, “Do you want any eyeliner?” He waved the precious item that he held safely between his delicate fingers.

 

“Oh!” Tao's eyes lit up. Baekhyun was a master at applying eyeliner. “Yes please!”

 

“After the meeting.” Suho warned, pointing his board pen at them.

 

Finally, Luhan and Xiumin came tumbling through the door in their football kits. Luhan appeared to be joined to the older male at the back, and the two of them only managed to separate when it became clear they would have to sit in their own seats.

 

“Have you two been playing football already?” Suho eyed two sets of dirty knees, “You're late.”

 

Luhan shook his head at once. “No, no, that mud is from this morning!” He lied, while Xiumin quickly bent over to brush the remaining blades of grass from both of their legs.

 

“Fine,” Suho narrowed his eyes. He didn't believe a word they had said, but he just wanted the meeting over so he could get back to his never-ending pile of council documents. “Alright, let's get this thing started. Tao, what did you want to talk about?” He gestured to the black haired boy.

 

All eyes fell on Tao. He inhaled deeply and rounded his eyes. “Have you all seen that new guy?”

 

“Who, Kris?” Kai opened one sleepy eye, and then the other followed. “The useless one?”

 

A round of sniggers spread across the table. “Kris,” Tao tested the new name, and then tilted his head to the side, confused. “Useless?”

 

Lay gave a small, almost apologetic smile. “He really couldn't dance...”

 

“At all.” Kai finished, folding his arms while smirking slightly.

 

“So?” Tao was unconvinced that having two left feet would render Kris totally useless.

 

“Oh, you should've seen him trying to play football then!” Luhan turned to Xiumin, “You remember, right?”

 

A huge grin spread across Xiumin's face as he recalled the tragic event. “His dribbling...wow.”

 

“Oh my god,” Luhan's own grin was face splitting, and he moved to get up and demonstrate the failure.

 

“No, Luhan, no.” Suho warned, waving his board pen at the doe-eyed male.

 

But the footballer ignored him, proceeding to get out of his seat and show everyone his own take on 'Kris' awful dribbling' – but without a ball, of course. He ended up getting a bit carried away, and within seconds Xiumin was also standing, acting as some sort of target for Luhan to crash into. No one had any idea what was going on by that point, and when the honey-blonde started to touch Xiumin slightly inappropriately – again – the others simply turned their attention elsewhere.

 

D.O. suddenly looked worried, or at least moreso than usual. “I never saw him in our club, did you?” He looked between Chen and Baekhyun.

 

“No,” The brunette shrugged, “He never came.”

 

A devious smile spread across Chen's face, and he was nearly laughing before he even spoke. “Of course not – he doesn't look the type to sing well, does he?”

 

Baekhyun couldn't help but let out a little laugh. “True,”

 

“He didn't want to join the student council either...I asked him so nicely!” Suho sighed, thinking back to the occasion. What had gone wrong?

 

“He doesn't look the type to do well in school, either.” Chen remarked, earning more laughter from around the table.

 

“I never saw him in my club either, you know.” Chanyeol spoke up, idly playing with the eyeliner Baekhyun had placed on the desk.

 

Suddenly Sehun looked up from where he sat next to Tao. “I think he might have wanted to join your club, actually.”

 

“Really?” The tall male frowned.

 

“Yeah,” Sehun paused thoughtfully, and then shrugged. “But he didn't try hard enough.”

 

“Oh,” Chanyeol continued to frown, but then he too shrugged. “Oh well.”

 

As the others started to chatter, Kai turned his attention to Tao. “Did he go to your club?”

 

Tao knew what Kai was trying to say. “No,” He said, “But I promise he's not useless!”

 

“Alright,” Kai leant back in his seat, sending the other male an almost challenging expression, “Go on?”

 

“Well, he's in the archery club – ”

 

The entire room stopped chatting and laughing, causing Tao to pause in confusion. There was silence as the other members exchanged disgusted expressions.

 

'Ew.' seemed to be the general reaction.

 

“He's in the...archery club? Why?” Luhan frowned, looking to Xiumin for an answer.

 

Xiumin simply shrugged, shaking his head as if to say 'I don't have a clue', before looking to Baekhyun, who seemed to have something to say.

 

Indeed, Baekhyun was trying not to laugh. “No one joins the archery club any more! I mean look at that shack they use, it's so old!”

 

“Don't they only have like three members?” Chanyeol chortled, nudging Baekhyun in the side. The two of them burst into a frenzy of laughter that engulfed the whole room. Even Suho was laughing as they ridiculed the long forgotten archery club.

 

Tao was not impressed that he still hadn't been able to announce the most important – the most vital – piece of information. “Guys!” He whined, trying to amplify his soft voice over the ruckus Chanyeol and Baekhyun were creating, “Guys! Wait! Listen to me!”

 

It was only Lay who sent Tao a gentle, encouraging look in response. “Go on, Tao.”

 

“He's great, guys. Like really great,” The black haired male looked around to confirm he finally had everyone's attention again. “He's amazing at it.”

 

The room was at once filled with 'really?'s and 'seriously?'s. Tao nodded to each and every question, affirming that Kris had actually been far from useless.

 

“Wow,” Even Kai looked shocked, “So he isn't useless?”

 

At that point it was as though the whole room had suddenly changed its opinion on Kris. Everyone seemed to be thinking about something, perhaps considering the new student again.

 

Pleased, Tao sat back in his chair and let out a small sigh. “He's kind of handsome too, isn't he?”

 

“Yeah, he's pretty hot.” Chanyeol replied far too quickly and far too surely.

 

“What?!” Baekhyun squawked, sending a fierce slap to his friend's arm.

 

Suho raised his hands, wanting to avoid any more commotion if he could do so. “Right, so we've established that Kris is actually both handsome and good at archery – ”

 

“ – and he has a nickname,” Xiumin supplied, “He's in our homeroom, remember? Wu Yifan, but goes by Kris?”

 

“Oh, yes, he has a nickname too!” Suho scurried to his board and began to jot down these facts, while the rest of the table groaned at his unnecessary actions.

 

Tao's eyes both widened and sparkled. “He's Chinese too?!”

 

“Yes,” Suho whirled around, “And you're going to invite him into our club.”

 

“Me?!”

 

“Well, since you seem to be so interested in him,” Chen smirked, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively, “It makes sense, doesn't it?”

 

 

 

 

 

And so it was decided. Tao was to ask Kris to attend a 'popular-boy-club' meeting, where he would officially be named one of them. The next day, Tao wrapped up wushu practise early to go and spy on Kris again. He felt compelled to watch the tall, handsome Chinese male as he shot arrows perfectly into the target. He silently stepped across the grass until he was hidden behind the same tree, before poking his head around just enough to get a good glimpse of Kris. And oh how magnificent he looked, wiping his brow of sweat under the blazing summer sun. Three arrows were firmly embedded in the bullseye, and Kris was holding his bow down by his legs as he gazed off elsewhere, looking every bit a fine archer. Tao could feel his heartbeat speeding up as the tall blonde slowly started to turn his head towards him. He quickly pulled himself back, hiding fully behind the tree.

 

 

 

 

Kris frowned. He was sure he'd just seen that head of black hair again, albeit for a mere split second. He hadn't seen the boy run off from behind the tree, and suddenly he had a strange feeling that he was being watched. Perhaps, Kris wondered, the strange stalker was still hiding there. He put down his bow, leaning it against the shack, and tried his best to silently pace towards the tree. When he reached it, he slowly walked around the bark until a tall – only a little shorter than him – male came into view. His back was pressed against the tree, a few strands of his familiar hair caught in between some of the lumps and bumps of the bark. Two intense, black eyes suddenly turned to look at Kris.

 

“I knew you were coming.” He said, voice almost shaky, but nonetheless coming off as incredibly intimidating when matched with his dark expression.

 

“Really?” Kris raised his eyebrows. “How?”

 

“I could hear you.”

 

“But you didn't run like last time?”

 

The other male inhaled at that, his face immediately flushing red. “I can't run,” He admitted, suddenly looking much more like a lost kitten than a fearsome dog. “I saw a ghost just now.”

 

“You saw a what? A ghost?” Kris' eyebrows rose up until they were hidden behind his fringe.

 

The smaller male gave a meek nod as he pointed towards the building next to them. “The ghost of the martial arts club!” He whimpered, eyes gleaming with tears.

 

“Is that...real?”

 

“Yes! They say he was killed by a sudden avalanche of equipment that had been stored badly in the cupboard, and now he haunts the club,” The younger male then pointed to a small patch of field, making a circular motion with his hand, “And that area there, too.”

 

Kris found the story to be complete and utter rubbish, but he didn't have the heart to break it to the boy who was so obviously distressed over it. “I'm sure it wasn't going to hurt you,” He tried, giving the other a (hopefully) nice smile.

 

“Why did they have to give me the haunted room? Why couldn't they move my club?” The black haired male carried on – he was even crying a bit now, much to Kris' dismay.

 

“Hey, hey,” The blonde hoped he sounded reassuring as he cautiously stepped closer, ready to give an awkward part on the shoulder. “Wait a sec – your club? Who are you?”

 

The other seemed to completely forget about the ghost. He spun around to face Kris, wincing slightly as his hair was pulled by the bark. “Oh yeah! I'm Zitao – but my nickname's Tao! I'm the leader of the martial arts club, next door to you!”

 

Kris looked between the building and Tao, adding things up. Part of a club? Check. Nickname? Check. Good looking? Well, Kris couldn't deny that Tao was certainly nice to look at, and strangely adorable to boot – not that he was going to admit that out loud. Check. “Are you one of those popular kids?”

 

Tao's face lit up and he nodded. “I am – and I'm here to invite you to our next meeting, Kris!” He started to rummage through his bag until he pulled out a small card, which he promptly handed to Kris.

 

The blonde male took the card, which simply had the time and room details on it, along with a little drawing of a winking panda face. “Erm, okay,” Kris frowned, “How do you know my name though?”

 

“We all know your name,” Tao smiled, “You're one of us. And also some of us are in your homeroom, remember?” He shrugged, waving a hand.

 

“Okay...so, do I have to go?”

 

“Of course!” Tao cried, looking utterly betrayed that Kris would even dare think otherwise, “You fit all of the criteria! And you're Chinese too, so I really want you to join!”

 

Kris raised his eyebrows again at the younger male's outburst. “Oh yeah, I guess you're Chinese too, right?”

 

Tao nodded. “You're a senior, right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Then...” The black haired male looked down for a moment before he settled his gaze back on Kris, “You're my gege, right?”

 

“Uh,” Kris muttered as he looked back into those sparkling eyes, unsure of what he was about to get himself into. “Yes?”

 

The smile Tao rewarded him with was possibly worth whatever trouble the boy might bring, though, even if it did involve comforting him after more spooky hijinks from the 'ghost of the martial arts club'.

 

 

 

 

 

And so, a few days later, Kris found himself sat in his very first meeting. Suho had sent him a rather uneasy glare as he filed his paperwork away, but Kris simply chose to look elsewhere. Kai was grinning lazily at him, as if waiting for something. Lay smiled kindly, while Chen smirked mischievously. Luhan and Xiumin had glanced at him, giggled a little, and then went back into their own little bubble. Baekhyun and Chanyeol were eyeing him – the former with a clearly unimpressed pout. D.O. had wide eyes, but he was smiling nonetheless. Sehun wore no expression whatsoever, although he did smile when Tao entered the room.

 

As it turned out, Tao was actually a bit of a fashionista when he wasn't wearing his wushu clothes. He had eyeliner on – which looked damn good – and Kris wondered if he could actually see the remains of lip gloss too. His ears were lined with piercings, some dangling, some studs. He had at least three bracelets on each wrist and a multitude of cute keyrings hung from his expensive looking school bag. He sat down between Chen and Sehun, opposite Kris.

 

“Right,” Suho rose up from his seat and pointed to the white board where he'd written Kris' name out in bold, “As you all know, Kris is going to be joining us this year. As you can see, he's fulfilled all of the criteria – moreso than some of you,” He narrowed his eyes at Luhan, Baekhyun, Chanyeol and Sehun, none of whom had bothered with nicknames yet.

 

“Whatever,” Baekhyun shrugged, “I tried.”

 

“Hardly.” Sehun quipped.

 

“Anyway,” Suho raised his voice and looked to Kris, “We'd just like to welcome you here. As a member of the popular-boy-club, you do have certain responsibilities now.”

 

Kris arched an eyebrow. What kind of responsibilities could a bunch of pretty boys possibly have? “Such as?”

 

“Well, for starters, you have to look good at all times.” Baekhyun informed him, gesturing to himself as a prime example.

 

Before Kris could say anything, Chen grinned and started to reach down under the table. “We caught Tao stalking you on the internet the other day,” He began, earning a shocked squeak from the black haired male, “And we found something very interesting...” With that, he pulled out an A3 print out of one of Kris' old school photos. His hair was dark and shaggy, and it looked as if he hadn't shaved.

 

Kris let out a noise that was somewhere between a feral cat cry and a squealing girl as he launched himself across the table, frantically trying to grab the photo away from a sniggering Chen. He snapped his head to look at Tao, eyes wide like saucers. “Where did you find that?!”

 

“Erm,” Tao smiled sheepishly, “Facebook?”

 

“Ugh,” Kris sunk back into his seat in defeat. He was sure his profile had been locked, but clearly it wasn't. He took out his phone and immediately fixed that problem. “What are the other things, then?”

 

“Just make sure you stay good at archery, because we always win first place for being the best at what we do – be it at sports day, the school festival, or the student council awards.”

 

“You're the only council member,” Kai mumbled, “Of course you win.”

 

Suho could only frown at who he deemed to be one of his more troubling 'children'. Elsewhere on the table, Sehun had started to laugh at Kai's comment, while Lay was daydreaming. D.O. had started humming, Baekhyun and Chanyeol were giggling over something, and Luhan was trying to pry Xiumin into his lap. Tao was no longer paying attention either, instead staring at Kris in awe. Suho could practically see the love hearts materialising over the boy's head.

 

Just when Suho thought Kris was the only one still listening, the tall male's phone chimed. He opened the screen and stared down at it, puzzled, before glancing at Tao. “You just sent me a friend request?”

 

Tao tried a cute smile as he scratched at his head with his phone. “I couldn't see your profile any more, ge,”

 

“You were still looking?!”

 

“Don't mind Tao, he's addicted to the internet.” Luhan waved a dismissive hand from behind Xiumin, who had eventually given in and settled into the other's lap.

 

Kris found it extremely hard to press 'not now' when Tao was staring at him with great big eyes. Somehow, even his eye-bags looked endearing. “I don't know...” He said slowly, unsure if he really wanted an internet addict-slash stalker, albeit a cute one, to be granted access to his account – although he previously had access, but that was besides the point.

 

Tao glanced around the room, as if seeking permission, and Kris swore he could see a few slight nods out of the corner of his eye. The younger male then slowly raised one hand to his face, and before Kris could understand what was happening, Tao made the most adorable expression Kris had ever seen, complete with a long, drawn out, “Pleeeaaaseee?”

 

Kris stared, stunned. “What was that?” He managed to ask, eyes still firmly glued on the attractive male sat opposite him.

 

“That,” Chen gave him a pat on the back, “Was Tao.”

 

After a few moments, Kris found that the words simply fell out of his mouth. “Alright,” The blonde pressed the 'accept' button on his phone, “I accepted you, okay?”

 

Tao quickly checked his phone to clarify the statement before beaming at Kris. “Thank you gege!!!”

 

The blonde male could only smile dumbly back, although when he heard stifled laughter from all around him he quickly regained his composure, drawing his thick eyebrows together and straightening his mouth. He looked to one side, where Chen was opening his wallet. Kris sent him a questioning look.

 

“Twenty bucks says these two will be dating by the end of the month,” Chen pulled out some notes and waved them around, grinning deviously.

 

Chanyeol snorted and raised a hand. “Three weeks!”

 

“What are you doing?” Kris looked from one to the other, a dangerous expression forming. His voice was deep, and Chanyeol bowed his head slightly in apology.

 

Chen, on the other hand, was unfazed. “I'm saying you two will be an item soon, gege.” He raised his eyebrows and looked suggestively at Tao. Beside them, Kai was smiling to himself at the situation.

 

Kris gulped.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The meeting soon ended on a good note, as D.O. had promised to bring baked goods to their next gathering. One by one, all of the boys got up and filtered out of the room.

 

“Hey, Tao,” Sehun called, standing beside Kai. “Are you coming home with us?”

 

The male in question looked up, then back down at Kris, who was still seated. He didn't know what to do, but he was embarrassed by how everyone could clearly see the little crush he was developing on the blonde. He didn't want to trouble Kris by being so obvious. “Yeah, I am,” He gave Kris a smile, “See you tomorrow, I guess?”

 

“Yeah,” Kris waved him off, watching with an odd sense of disappointment as the young trio disappeared out of the room.

 

Suho was the only person left inside with Kris. He wiped the board clean before sending the blonde an encouraging look. “They're not all bad, these guys. They're just...them,” He shrugged, “Anyway, don't forget – always look good, always do well. Okay?”

 

“Okay.” Kris nodded, although he wasn't entirely sure if he was up for this.

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the very next day, news of Kris' acceptance into the popular-boy-club was widespread, to the point that even the litter men seemed to acknowledge him with a new-found reverence. Girls whispered or squealed as he walked past, some even following him until he reached his next class just to get a good glimpse of the new archery hot-shot. Times had quickly changed, and suddenly archery was in. There were even rumours spreading that the old shack was going to get a makeover. At least ten boys had signed up for the club that morning, hoping to breathe in the sacred air exhaled by Kris so that they might obtain some of his skill with the bow and arrow. Girls preferred to simply come and watch, it seemed, if the huge crowd that surrounded the archery club's area was anything to go by.

 

“Kris! Shoot well! Do it for me!” One girl cried out, waving her hand in the air excitedly.

 

“No! For me!” Another shouted, pushing her to the front of the crowd.

 

The blonde could only smile handsomely in the hope that it would satisfy his new legion of adoring fans. He could hear the en masse inhalation of breath when he took hold of an arrow and pulled back, taking aim. It was slightly distracting, but it didn't affect him. He released the arrow and closed his eyes. The crowd squealed and applauded, and Kris knew he'd done it again. Bullseye.

 

However, as he went to take break, the girls seemed to think he was giving them permission to come and mob him with gifts – which he definitely didn't remember doing, given that he'd merely wiped off some sweat, put his equipment down and sat himself on a chair. Hardly an invitation, but apparently girls had a far more developed sense of body language than his own. Suddenly he had girls ing little bags of cookies and odd trinkets at him left right and centre. He tried refusing them, but the gifts ended up poured into his lap like some kind of offering to a divine being. Finally, he stood up, towering above the sea of perfectly coiffed hair.

 

“Excuse me,” He raised his hands, and the ocean parted, “Thank you, thank you...” He quickly shuffled through the gap that was quickly starting to close in on him again.

 

Once he had made it out of the crowd, Kris ran into the next building – the martial arts club. He desperately needed some time away from those girls, and, well, he also kind of wanted to see Tao again. Music was playing from behind a closed door, enticing Kris to push it open and take a peek inside. There he saw Tao, performing a wushu routine while some of the other club members sat, lined up against walls, watching.

 

If Kris learnt anything from watching that performance, it was that Tao was flexible. He could hardly keep his thoughts from drifting...elsewhere while he ogled the younger male. Oh yes, Tao had a wonderful body, by the looks of it. Kris wished he could just reach out and grab –

 

“Kris?”

 

The music had stopped and Tao was facing the blonde male, hands on his hips but a smile firmly stretched across his face.

 

“Oh, er, hi,” Kris realised his mouth had been hanging open, which he was quick to amend. He stood up straighter as he entered, making sure that any dignity he may have lost earlier was very much reclaimed, “I just came to escape the crowds.”

 

Tao nodded knowingly, beckoning Kris to come and sit down with him. “You're new, so it'll last a while before it calms down.”

 

“I hope it calms down soon...” The blonde sighed, joining Tao on the floor.

 

“You know, ge,” Tao began, shyly playing with the hem of his black shirt, “You should eat lunch with us.”

 

“Oh really?” The way the younger male was acting all timid had Kris thinking there was more to it than that – a blossoming school romance, perhaps? A new love affair between the school's newest, most handsome, greatest archer and the adorable resident martial artist with a strange fear of ghosts. Suddenly, the idea of having Tao all to himself seemed to be a great one, and he wondered if perhaps the others had been right in their assumptions – not that he would admit that out loud, either.

 

“Yeah, since you're a member now.” Tao shrugged, eyes finally meeting the other's.

 

Kris tried to hide his disappointment and slightly dented ego behind a nonchalant expression. “Oh, yeah, sure.” He shrugged back.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And so Kris joined the club members for lunch the next day. Their table looked just like the others, except it was a bit longer and seemed to emit some kind of aura that forced any lesser beings to stay away, judging by the way everyone else seemed to walk around it. In the twenty minutes he'd spent waiting for Tao to arrive, Kris had found that he quite enjoyed talking to Chanyeol and Lay. Chanyeol was a bit too hyper at times, it seemed, but the blonde couldn't deny that the other could make him crack a smile. As for Lay, well, the boy was about as offensive as a piece of toast – in a good way, of course. He was a wise piece of toast; toast that had been soaked in fine wine so often sipped by old, cultured intellectuals. Because Lay seemed to know everything about all of the members. Chanyeol had put it down to the fact that the quiet male was always watching, even when it seemed he was daydreaming. Once Chanyeol had gone back to chatting with Baekhyun, Lay shuffled his chair a little close to Kris.

 

“If you need any information on these guys, I can help.”

 

“Like what?” Kris was interested.

 

“Like,” Lay leant his head a little closer to Kris, gesturing slightly to where Chanyeol and Baekhyun were now laughing over something, “Those two are a thing,” He explained, his gentle voice almost unsuitable for such gossip, “Chanyeol fell for Baekhyun a long while ago, but our Baekhyunnie played hard to get.”

 

Kris nodded, swallowing a mouthful of pizza. “What about Luhan and Xiumin?” Their gazes shifted to the other side of the table, where a make-shift mini football match had been crafted out of french fries and rolled up sweet wrappers.

 

“Those two are inseparable,”

 

“Clearly.”

 

“Luhan is actually quite close to Sehun, but you'd only notice if Xiumin isn't in the room too.”

 

Kris glanced at Sehun, who was quietly talking to Kai and D.O. about something. Suddenly, they heard a loud cry from further down the table.

 

“Chen and Suho,” Lay smiled, shaking his head. Chen had just 'accidentally' managed to lose one of his greasy pepperoni slices from his pizza in Suho's council diary. “Chen likes to have fun, while Suho likes to do things perfectly. It might seem like they should be enemies, but they're actually really close.”

 

The blonde had to try hard not to smile when he saw Suho pick up the piece of meat with an utterly disgusted expression.

 

“Anyone else you'd like to know about?”

 

“Erm,” Kris pretended to hum and haw about it, “What about Tao?” He asked, hoping he hadn't been too obvious.

 

Lay sent him a most subtle but all-knowing look. “Tao's a bit unpredictable. He's close with Baekhyun and Sehun, so if you want him, you should probably get them to like you – Baekhyun in particular.”

 

A bright red blush forced its way over the blonde's face, and he frowned furiously in embarrassment. “Who says I want him?!”

 

The calm male didn't answer. He simply gave a small smile as he shrugged.

 

Kris scowled at his pizza, unimpressed, but then his gaze was directed elsewhere as their missing member finally strolled into the cafeteria.

 

Tao looked far too confident, strutting about with his multitude of piercings, cat-lined eyes – courtesy of Baekhyun – and a killer smirk spread across his pretty face. He momentarily paused to wave goodbye to the girls who had been following him before he proceeded to make his way to the popular-boy-club table.

 

Lay, noticing Kris' awestruck expression, quietly supplied him with some further information. “Tao's handsome-but-cute style is one of the reasons he was selected to be a member. He's confident, yet shy, cute and a crybaby, so be warned.”

 

The blonde nodded dumbly before he forced his normal, almost angry, expression back onto his face. He then gave another nod, this time far more cool and collected, as if he wanted it to replace the first nod.

 

Tao plopped himself down in the seat opposite Kris, his smirk immediately dissolving away into a sweet smile. “Hi, gege!”

 

Kris tried hard to keep his handsome visage firmly in place. “Hi,”

 

“Oh, is that pizza?” The younger male's eyes lit up and he immediately started to get out of his seat, but Kai raised an arm, as if wanting to stop him.

 

“There's none left.”

 

“What?”

 

Sehun looked up, confirming what Kai had said. “It's all gone.”

 

With a long sigh, Tao sank back into his seat like a deflated balloon, pout on his kitten-lips and eyes as sad as a kicked puppy's.

 

“What's wrong?” Kris asked, confused as to why it was such a big deal.

 

Lay offered him the answer. “Tao loves pizza.”

 

The black haired male gave a small nod of confirmation before glancing up at Kris gloomily. It was at that point that Kris could no longer keep up his cool attitude, and he sent Tao a reassuring look. “Do you want the rest of mine?”

 

Tao's eyes rounded, sparkling. “Really?!” He cried, his adorable smile already spreading out again, “Really, ge? You're the best!”

 

Kris couldn't understand why it was such a big deal – not that he would ever agree to give his pizza to anyone else, but whatever. He shrugged and pushed his plate over to the younger male, trying hard not to look smug when Tao sent him an incredibly grateful expression in return. Tao happily started munching on the delicious slice of grease, pausing only to his lips every now and again. Kris watched with great interest, but he suddenly became aware that everyone else was watching Tao too.

 

Luhan grinned. “First 'gege', and now you're giving him your pizza?” He sent Kris a sly grin.

 

“It's just pizza!” Kris nearly growled, coming off as far too defensive.

 

Kai raised his eyebrows and raised two hands as if protecting himself from Kris' outburst.

 

“You may as well marry him,” Chen winked, “He's going to be attached to you now.”

 

“No, no, no,” Chanyeol clicked his fingers, his grin wide, “Not yet. He has to save Tao from a ghost before that happens!” He slammed his hand down onto the table as he spoke, and the rest of the members started to laugh in agreement.

 

Tao's eyes rounded in remembrance at that. “Oh!” He gasped, soft voice loud and clear, “He did try, kind of,” He turned to look at Kris, who was grimacing and trying to convince Tao not to talk by subtly shaking his head, but Tao went on anyway, “Yeah, I saw the ghost of the martial arts club again when I went to ask Kris-ge to join us. He was really nice; he tried to comfort me, I think. Is that what you were trying to do?” He sent the blonde male a questioning look.

 

Kris could only let out a groan as he let his head fall into his hands. “Yes, Tao,” He mumbled weakly into his palms, “I was trying to comfort you.”

 

“Oh my god,” Chanyeol's smile faltered for a moment before reappearing even wider than before, “No way!”

 

“It is done,” Chen clapped his hands above his head, “They're married!”

 

“Not yet!” Baekhyun suddenly shouted, commanding the attention of every at the table – except Suho, who simply ignored them all. “Kris isn't getting one of our babies so easily, is he? He's only just joined!”

 

The table-members looked at each other, then to a blushing Tao, before finally staring at Kris, who was starting to return to them from behind his large hands.

 

“And besides, comforting Tao doesn't mean he saved him from the ghost!” The brunette folded his arms across his chest, “Therefore they can't be married – or dating, whatever.”

 

Kris wanted to send Baekhyun a thankful glance for having successfully subdued the teasing, but he knew the pretty male didn't really approve of him supposedly trying to get his hands on Tao – which, of course, Kris did not want to do. Only he did. He really did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After that day, there were a few developments. As Chen predicted, Tao started to follow Kris around like a loyal pet, albeit a very handsome, popular pet with the ability to kick the hell out of him if he so chose to. Luckily for Kris, Tao didn't like to hurt people, and was actually a very gentle being. In fact, the blonde male was rather pleased that the younger was so often by his side. Unlike some of the others, who had seen – or no doubt heard, at least – about Kris' club try-out failures, Tao seemed to look at him as though he were a god. It felt nicer than when the masses of females looked at him in the same way, and Kris could only explain it as being down do the fact that he had a unstoppable, ever-growing crush on the black haired male – which had only been made worse when Tao started sending him cute little facebook messages every night, complete with at least two infuriatingly good looking selcas each time.

 

 

The other development was an extremely cringe-worthy rumour going around that if Kris happened to shoot someone with one of his arrows, they would immediately become a couple. He had even heard a few girls saying they wanted to be hit by one of his 'arrows of love.' Now, Kris had no idea where this rumour originated, especially given that he could possibly kill someone by firing an arrow at them, but that didn't seem to stop the girls from launching themselves into his line of fire while he was taking aim. Granted, they did wear their backpacks over their fronts, probably full of enough thick, heavy books to take the arrow, but Kris wasn't going to risk it.

 

“Could you please move?” He sighed, sending away the eighth girl that day who had attempted possible suicide in order to be hit by one of his 'magical' arrows. He was sure that if it carried on any longer certain school authorities would get involved and he would be carried away under suspicion of attempted murder. And that would take him away from his precious didi, so Kris wasn't going to let that happen.

 

 

 

 

Later that day, as the crowds of girls finally dissipated, Kris saw the popular-boy-club members standing where the females had been. As time had gone on and Kris' status as one of the most handsome males in the school became more and more set in stone, the members had started to make fun of him less and actually sometimes showed him some respect, which Suho claimed was a great feat indeed. However, judging by the grins and smirks on many of the faces, the blonde assumed that today was not one of those days.

 

“Arrows of love, eh?” Luhan laughed, rubbing his hands up and down Xiumin's arms from behind.

 

“Shoot me, shoot me!” Xiumin cried out, managing to use a rather convincing female voice.

 

D.O. frowned, worried. “That sounds a bit dangerous doesn't it?” He turned to Lay, who nodded in agreement.

 

“That is classic,” Chen grinned, “You're never going to live this one down, cupid!” He began to howl with laughter, which set off Chanyeol too.

 

“You know, Kris, I think you should alert the proper – ”

 

“Shut it, Suho,” Kai gave the council president a light shove, smiling, “It's funny.”

 

Kris could feel his face threatening to heat up in embarrassment, and the tell-tale scowl was starting to emerge on his face. “Stop.” He said deeply, his expression dark. To his surprise, everyone did indeed stop. Perhaps his awesomeness was really getting through them. He looked to Tao, who was simply staring at him. “Tao,” He called, and the younger male shuffled over, his legs looking glorious in the extremely tight pants he'd chosen to wear for wushu practise. Kris wasn't sure if they were actually suitable for wushu, but he certainly wasn't complaining. Once Tao was close enough, he spoke quietly. “Could you help me bring this stuff back in?” He gestured to the equipment that he and some of the members had left.

 

Tao glanced back at the others before looking at Kris.

 

“I also want to get away from them.” The blonde finished, voice barely a whisper.

 

At this Tao immediately nodded, bending over to pick up a bow from the ground. Kris would be lying if he said he didn't take a quick peek – and then another, when he was sure the others weren't paying too much attention. Once their arms were full, he led Tao into the old shack and closed the door behind him.

 

 

 

 

Sehun's eyes widened. “Are they going to have now?”

 

“What?!” Baekhyun spun around, appalled by the idea, “Our Tao is not allowed to have with him yet!”

 

“Why not?” Kai smirked, eyeing the brunette and the giant standing next to him, “We all know that you and Chanyeol did it in the music block bathroom at least two weeks before you started going out.”

 

Chanyeol sighed fondly as he recalled the event. “He just looked so tempting, doing his make up all y like that...”

 

“Oh my god, shut up!” Baekhyun hissed, his face a furious shade of red as he smacked his boyfriend's arm.

 

Suho suddenly inhaled loudly, clutching at his council diary. “They can't! is forbidden on school property!”

 

“Didn't stop them,” Chen rolled his eyes at the couple, who were now looking into each other's eyes lovingly, “Or them.” He nodded his head at Luhan and Xiumin.

 

“Don't remind me,” Suho shuddered, “On the football pitch, right out in the open! Why?!”

 

“Hey,” Luhan managed to pull himself away from Xiumin just long enough to wave a hand in defence on behalf of the both of them, “It was dark out!”

 

“It was also parent's evening!”

 

The doe-eyed male simply shrugged and merged his body with Xiumin's once more.

 

“Anyway,” Suho sighed, exasperated, “I have to stop them!”

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tao carefully handed the equipment to Kris so the blonde could put it all away properly. Once they were done, Kris turned to Tao and opened his mouth to speak, only to be cut off completely by a familiar voice outside and banging on the shack walls.

 

“Tao! Kris! I'm not going to come in, just in case I see something I really don't want to see, but I'm afraid I have to tell you that it's forbidden to have on school property!”

 

The blonde shook his head. “Ignore – ”

 

“ – Forbidden! Okay? If I find you've even so much as touched – ”

 

“Okay!” Kris shouted, and finally Suho stopped talking. Well, for a moment at least.

 

“Alright, then! Promise me, okay?”

 

The blonde inhaled deeply, pinching at the bridge of his nose in frustration.

 

“Ahem.” A cough sounded from outside.

 

Tao rolled his eyes. “I promise, Suho!” He spoke sweetly, even smiling nicely as he did so, before he sent a sneaky grin to Kris.

 

“Oh, Tao!” That seemed to satisfy the council president, “Thank you! Alright then, I'm going now!” He called, and given that he didn't speak again after ten seconds, the two in the shack guessed he'd actually gone.

 

Kris looked at Tao, impressed and somewhat aroused by his previous innocent act – but perhaps the arousal was brought on by all the talk of , and, of course, Tao's wonderful pants. He smirked at the younger male, unable to keep his eyes from roaming the toned body. “Thanks for that,”

 

The black haired male shook his head, “He's always like that, you get used to it.” He suddenly froze when he realised that Kris was not only smirking at him, but also clearly checking him out. He bit into his lower lip, blushing as he felt the weight of the blonde's stare, “Gege...”

 

“Huh?” Kris' eyes snapped back to meet Tao's.

 

“What are you doing?” He asked coyly, sending Kris a cute, and yet flirtatious, look from beneath his lashes. Truth be told, Tao had chosen to wear those tight pants in the hopes of seducing his incredibly handsome gege. It was no surprise to him that Kris had been looking – Tao's thighs (and backside) had been deemed one of the wonders of the school, along with Chanyeol's legs, Xiumin's 'buns', the singing club's voices, the strange blockage in the maths block toilet (which never seemed to go away) and the ghost of the martial arts club (which, strangely, only Tao had ever seen).

 

“Me? Er, nothing?” The blonde lied, finding himself gravitating towards the younger male, “I was just thinking about how strange Suho is?”

 

Tao pulled an incredulous expression. “You were thinking about Suho?”

 

Sensing that he'd quite possible said something wrong, Kris was quick to right himself. “No, I was thinking about you, but – ”

 

“But?”

 

The blonde let out a frustrated noise, foolishly allowing his gaze to drop lower again. All he could think about was , , , , . “,” He blurted out, and then his eyes widened in realisation. His arms flew out to capture Tao by the hips – an instinctive move to prevent the younger male from running away after his rather telling outburst.

 

Tao's eyes rounded. Sure, he'd wanted to seduce Kris, but he hadn't expected them to do that already. “Are we going to...?” He blushed, silently noting how the taller male's large hands felt pleasantly warm on his hips.

 

“What?! Of course not!” Kris cried, releasing Tao from his hold at once, “Tao, please believe me, I didn't bring you in here to have . That would be weird, right?” It was true – he had never even thought about doing such a thing in such a place. But that was then, and this was now.

 

“...Right,” Tao smiled, unsure of what was actually going on and very disappointed that Kris had let him go, “Are you feeling okay, ge?”

 

“Not really,” Kris admitted, feeling every bit a fool. He should have just been a man and taken Tao then and there – provided the younger male agreed. But the blonde hadn't completely missed how Tao looked at him. There was something there, he knew it – or at least, he hoped. Though now Kris had lost his chance; the air in the room hung stagnant with awkwardness. “Let's just get out of here, okay?”

 

 

 

 

 

Kris feared he had royally messed up with Tao after that. How had he become such a bumbling idiot? Tao was hot, they were alone in a shack, and they had even been specifically told not to touch each other. Had there been any more reason for Kris to make his moves?! But he hadn't. And oh, if the others found out about his embarrassing antics he would be doomed. Doomed. He groaned into his pillow, only forced away from the feathery hiding place of shame when his phone chimed. There were a number of notifications waiting for him on facebook, the first being a message from Baekhyun:

 

You're an idiot.

 

Kris could only assume that Tao had regaled to his friend the earlier happenings. He shook his head and clicked on the other notification, which took him to Tao's latest status:

 

A certain one is like a walk on a beach alone, a cheese, tomato and bread delight, all topped with cake.

Although one is foolish, I have been shot.

 

Which was almost immediately followed by another status:

 

Omg, Beef just gave me cake!

 

Kris frowned. Was Tao an aspiring poet or something? He had absolutely no idea what Tao was trying to say in either status, other than that he had cake – unless that was actually a metaphor for something else.

 

Suddenly a message from Lay popped up:

 

- Did you see Tao's latest status?

 

Kris was quick to reply, hoping he could glean some information out of the knowledgeable member:

 

Which one? The beefcake one or the...other one?

 

- The other one.

 

Oh, yeah. I don't get it. Is it a poem?

 

- Tao's just like that; he writes some strange stuff sometimes ^-^ I think it's about you.

 

Me??? How???

 

About half an hour later, Kris could just about decode Tao's cryptic message. Apparently, Lay had told him, Tao claimed to enjoy walks on the beach, finding them to be very romantic. He also loved pizza and cake, so it was fairly obvious he had just been talking about something he really liked. And being shot clearly – Lay had put emphasis right there – referred to Kris and his archery. As for the other status, it simply meant that Baekhyun had given Tao some cake.

 

Does this mean Tao likes me?

 

- Oh, what are we talking about again?

 

…

 

- ???

 

Bye.

 

- Bye?

 

 

 

 

 

 

Kris' chance to win Tao came soon, in the form of the school talent competition. All of the clubs would have their own mini-competitions, with all the dancers competing against each other, all the artists trying to paint the greatest picture, all of the singers trying to out-do each other, so on and so forth. Kris already knew he was clearly the best archer in his club, especially given that most of the members were newbies looking to become popular, so he was hardly worried about maintaining his position in the school.

 

 

 

Suho had called for another meeting, and so there they all were once again, sighing as the council president scribbled the 'important facts' on the wheely white board. The pen squeaked annoyingly as he wrote, preventing a drowsy Kai from snoozing. Finally, Suho turned around and clapped his hands together, smiling.

 

“So! As you all know, we're going to be having a school talent competition soon. I know you're all great at what you do, but I feel that we should remind Kris of his duty to the club,” He looked at Kris expectantly.

 

“Yeah, I have to win the archery contest. No problem.” The blonde only glanced at Suho for a millisecond, irritated that he even had to pull his eyes away from Tao in the first place.

 

“Oh!” D.O. suddenly pulled a box out from his backpack, “I brought cake!”

 

Tao's attention was instantly snatched away from Kris as the black haired male gasped in D.O.'s direction. “Cake?”

 

Suho grumbled as the entire table completely disregarded his meeting, too busy stuff their faces with delicious baked goods. He looked sadly between his white board and his 'children', before finally accepting a cake from a apologetic looking D.O.

 

 

 

 

 

The talent competition soon rolled around. The archery competition was the last, and so Kris was able to get a good look at the other members of the popular-boy-club before he had to go and set up. Kay and Lay performed an amazing dance routine together, stunning the crowds. After that, D.O., Baekhyun and Chen stepped up to wow everyone with their brilliant vocals – Kris had to admit that for all his teasing, Chen was great, and the others were just as good. Chanyeol followed up next, performing a rap song that the blonde almost wanted to join in with. Compared to the other rappers, Chanyeol blew them all out of the water. When all of the categories in the main hall had finished competing, they went outside to watch Luhan, Xiumin and their team play a match against an opposing school's team. Naturally, the touchy pair's team won, and they were soon running around while holding the trophy above their heads. The next stop was the area of field outside the martial arts club, where Tao and some of his fellow members were competing with wushu routines. Kris – being totally unbiased, of course – already knew that Tao was by far the best that club had to offer, and so it was no surprise when the black haired male was handed the trophy after his performance finished.

 

“Thank you!” Tao smiled at the teacher as he accepted the item, and then he spotted Kris in the crowd. “Gege!” He beamed, rushing over to the taller male and enveloping him in a tight hug.

 

“Well done,” Kris ruffled Tao's hair before wrapping his arms around the younger, holding his body as close as possible, “You deserved to win.” When Tao pulled back, still showing Kris his winning smile, the blonde was tempted to press a kiss to his perfect lips. But he restrained himself – now was not the time. Kris had to get himself set up for the archery competition.

 

“Good luck, Kris-ge,” Tao said, his arms still wrapped around Kris like a koala, “Do your best!”

 

“Of course,” The blonde sent what he was sure was a smouldering look of confidence, “I'm one of the popular guys, aren't I?”

 

 

 

 

Kris didn't know when exactly he'd accepted his 'fate' as being one of the popular-boy-club members, he just knew he had. He didn't so much care for the fangirls, nor did he care for the awful meetings. But if it all meant he got to hang around with Tao, it was surely not all that bad. Besides, some of the other guys weren't too annoying, either.

 

 

 

 

And so Kris pulled back his arrow, aiming to hit another bullseye and win the archery competition. All of the members were watching, and Tao was behaving almost as badly as some of the girls, waving his hand around and shouting out 'Kris-ge! Kris-ge!' over and over again. It was almost distracting, had it not made Kris feel like a god. He let his arrow fly, smirking when it hit exactly where he wanted it. The crowd roared, and Kris picked out the next arrow. His winning streak continued until he was clearly the victor, and the other archers in the competition meekly backed away in defeat. Kris' name was called out as the winner, and the archery trophy was presented to him. Almost as soon as he had put it down on one of the plastic garden chairs, Tao came tearing through the crowds and straight into his arms again.

 

“You did it!” He cried, “You get to stay as part of the club!”

 

Kris let out a small chuckle. “Were you worried I'd fail?”

 

“No,” Tao shook his head, his black hair tickling Kris' neck, “But this confirms it!”

 

“Confirms what?” Kris hadn't been aware of any testing period.

 

“They all thought you were useless before, but I knew you weren't.” The younger male mumbled, rubbing his hands along Kris' back.

 

The blonde sent a glare to the other members, who were happily giving him thumbs ups and wriggly eyebrows. Of course they had thought he was useless, of course.

 

“Ah,” Tao suddenly drew back, “I need to go and put our equipment away. I'll come back soon, okay?” With that, he took off in the direction he came, leaving Kris to deal with the other members.

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Getting cosy with Tao there, eh?” Chen looked as though he wanted to swing an arm around Kris' shoulder, but he was too short.

 

“Hm,” Baekhyun looked him up and down with a faint smile on his lips, “You're pretty good. We'll see about you and Tao...”

 

Chanyeol pouted at his boyfriend. “Aw, come on Baekhyunnie! Don't you think they look cute together?”

 

Kris knew he'd made the right decision in thinking that Chanyeol was alright.

 

Before Baekhyun could respond, Suho stepped up towards Kris and smiled. “Well done on your win,” He paused, “Now, I need to ask – did you or did you not do anything with Tao in the shack that time...?”

 

The blonde could only send Suho a deadpan expression in sheer disbelief.

 

“Sheesh, Suho, why are you so interested in other people's business?” Chen asked, successfully swinging his arm around the student council president.

 

“I am not!” Suho cried, “I'm merely asking because if they did do something, I would have to, by the rules of the student council – ” He froze when Chen's mouth came oh so close to his ear, whispering something that had the president blushing furiously. “C-Chen!!! That's disgusting!”

 

“Is it?” The honey-voiced male sent an undeniably suggestive look, “Is it really?”

 

Kris turned away from the two, and it was at that point that one of Tao's fellow martial arts club members came rushing towards them.

 

“Please!” He shouted desperately, though he was clearly only talking to the tall blonde male, “You have to help! It's Tao!”

 

Kris immediately sprung into action, stepping forward. “What's wrong?”

 

“We were putting the equipment away when Tao saw the ghost! We managed to get out, but he's still stuck in there! He keeps asking for you, Kris.”

 

Something stirred in Kris' heart as he listened to the ludicrous problem. Tao was asking for Kris to come and save him? Of course, Kris was going to be a good (awesome) gege and he was going to save his beloved little didi. He picked up his bow and arrows, just in case there was – somehow – an actual problem in the room, and sped off to the building next door.

 

 

 

 

 

Kris could hear Tao's whimpering from behind the closed door as he entered the martial arts club building. The other members were waiting outside with wide, frightened eyes. The blonde male carefully pushed open the door, finding Tao to be crumpled up in the corner against a wall, crying to himself. He was wearing a large hoodie, making him seem all the more helpless. The sight was incredibly funny and cute to Kris, given that the situation was so absurd. But alas, Tao was truly scared, and Kris would much rather have had him happy than crying.

 

“Tao,” He spoke softly as he closed the door behind him, startling the other, “Shh, Tao, it's okay, I'm here.”

 

The younger male uncurled himself only so he could attach his arms around Kris when he crouched down beside him. “Gege, the ghost is in here!” He whined, pressing his face into the blonde's shoulder, “You have to get rid of it!”

 

“Alright, alright. Where is it?”

 

Tao carefully pointed to the corner of the room, where some metal armour had been hung up as a wall decoration.

 

“In the armour?”

 

“No,” Tao shook his head, “He's in front of it! Quickly, shoot him!”

 

“Erm,” Kris looked down at his bow, “Tao...I don't think that will work...”

 

But suddenly the younger male was looking at him with those big, shiny eyes again. “Kris-ge, it might disappear if you try to hit it!”

 

Kris wanted to explain to Tao that not only was the ghost most likely not even there, but it was not going to be at all affected by an arrow. Nonetheless, he readied his weapon and took aim...at the armour. Surely, he thought, this wasn't a good idea. Would the arrow actually get stuck in the metal, or would it bounce off?

 

“Ge!” Tao whimpered, urging him on.

 

The blonde sighed, hoping to god that at the very least he wouldn't kill anyone. He released his arrow, holding his breath as he watched it soar across the room. He gulped when it ricocheted off the armour and went upwards before slowly coming back down towards them. “Tao!” He shouted, attempting to drag the younger male across a bit, “We need to – ”

 

The arrow fell neatly into Tao's hood.

 

The frightened male looked up, turned to where the ghost had 'been', and began to beam at Kris. “It's gone! You did it!” He began to snuggle himself into the blonde again before he sent him a sheepish expression, “I'm sorry I made you come in here and do that...”

 

“It's okay,” Kris smiled. He was glad to make Tao happy – but if he didn't get permission to date the hot little crybaby after this then he was going to be very annoyed. “Oh, but...” He reached behind Tao and removed the arrow from his hood, holding it out for them to look at.

 

Suddenly there was an overwhelming amount of screaming coming from outside the window. Neither of them knew there had even been any spectators, but apparently a crowd of girls had formed outside the building after Kris went inside.

 

“Oh my god!” One screamed, “Tao's been hit by an arrow of love!”

 

“They're going to be a couple now!”

 

“Oh my god, oh my god, this is perfect!”

 

 

When Kris turned his attention back to Tao, the other male was smiling shyly with red tinted cheeks. “Did you really hit me with one?” He asked, glancing down at the arrow.

 

“Yeah,” The blonde nodded, “It fell in your hood.”

 

Having confirmation, Tao spoke with a little more confidence. “So..are we...?”

 

Kris looked at the other, thinking. He had just hit Tao with an arrow – which, according to rumour, was an arrow of love. That meant they had to become a couple. Although, Lay had warned him that he'd have to get past...no. No. Kris didn't need permission. Not only had he now saved Tao from the ridiculous ghost, he had also managed to somehow hit the younger male with a god-damn arrow of love, dammit! It was totally clear that the heavens were trying to tell them something – something that involved Kris' lips being right on top of Tao's (and a multitude of other, more intimate, things). He grabbed Tao's face and swept in, pressing a kiss to the younger male's lips with all the strong, manly, cool force he had previously been withholding.

 

When they parted, Tao's face even redder than before, Kris cleared his throat and finally asked the question. “Tao, will you go out with me?”

 

“Yes!!!” Came the instantaneous, squealed reply as Tao once again attached himself to the blonde.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The next day, the popular-boy-club was yet again sat around the pushed together tables, waiting for the meeting to start. There was a picture of an arrow drawn onto the white board, as well as a faded image of something a lot more obscene that had been rubbed out – an extra drawn by Chen, no doubt. Suho let out a knowing sigh, followed by a slight nod, when he noticed Kris frowning at the image. Finally, without standing up, the student council president raised his board pen in the air.

 

“Today our important announcement is going to be made by Tao.”

 

“Announcement?” Xiumin sounded bemused.

 

“We already know what happened,” Luhan's expression matched Xiumin's, “Why the fuss?”

 

Sehun looked up. “I want to hear.”

 

“Thank you, Sehun,” Suho smiled at the youngest member, “Now, Tao, please,”

 

Tao stood up, one hand hovering gently over Kris' shoulder. He looked down at his new boyfriend and then glanced around the table, meeting mostly bored faces – except Kyungsoo, who was permanently wide-eyed. “Okay, so you all probably already know this,” He raised a finger to silence both Kai and Chanyeol, “But I want to say it too! As of yesterday, Kris-ge and I are officially a couple!” He grinned at them all, and this time Suho was sure Tao was emitting some kind of positive radiation because suddenly no one seemed to be able to keep themselves from smiling back at him.

 

But although Baekhyun had smiled, he remained thorough. Leaning an arm on the table, he looked to Kris with suspicious eyes. “So let me get this straight. Not only are you handsome and the greatest archer this school has ever had, you also managed to save Tao from that ghost thing he sees?”

 

“Yes,” Tao answered for his boyfriend, snuggling up to his side once he'd sat back down.

 

“I like him.” Sehun said, and then he turned back to showing Kai something on his phone.

 

Baekhyun looked between Tao, Sehun and Kris with pursed lips before he gave an almighty shrug and sighed heavily, “What can I say? You're perfect for him!” He let his smile spread a little wider as an almost relieved look came upon his face, “And I have to say, I'm dying to see how hot you look with eyeliner!”

 

Tao's eyes widened, his smile stretching across his face, and then he threw his arms around Kris. “You were accepted! Thank you Beef!!!”

 

Kris played it cool and simply leant back in his chair, basking in his own glory. Of course he would be accepted. The story of the recent romance had already started to spread through the school like wildfire: He was Wu Yifan, nicknamed Kris, the greatest archer of the school and handsome member of the popular-boy-club. He was cool and manly – despite his frequent moments of awkwardness (that only the club knew about, thankfully) – and he was even a ghost hunter; he had saved his beloved Tao from the evil clutches of the ghost of the martial arts club by firing a legendary arrow of love at it. The heavens however, had magically changed the path of said arrow, sending it flying into Zitao, who was unharmed by the divine weapon. And so the two became boyfriends, fulfilling the prophesy of the previous rumours regarding Kris' arrows of love.

 

Yup, Kris shrugged, that story was definitely going to become one of the wonders of school. How could anyone have ever possibly thought he was useless?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A/N:  .___.;;;  <3?