He was spending way too much time at the library for someone not that interested in books. Tao sighted and looked outside the window dreamily. The day was beautiful, sun shining, and birds chirping, all those lovely things one was supposed to enjoy on holidays. Like that day. It was Labor Day, and truth be told, he was tired. He had been sitting with Kai, Sehun and Kyungsoo the whole evening, watching them do a group project for some class he still didn't understand. 

"So, I guess you spend a lot of time here lately," Kai started in a conversational way. The guy could hardly stand one minute without talking. The silence must be driving him crazy. The other boys dropped their pens and leaned back in their seats. Apparently, it had been enough work for a day. 

"Yeah, I do. Not my decision, though," Tao answered gesturing to the general direction where the imaginary Kris was, "I honestly still don't get the guy," he sounded upset, kind of desperate, but he just didn't know what to do anymore. They didn't seem to be able to have a single conversation without shouting. The biggest problem was, he actually didn't think he was so terrible. Sure, he was an egocentric idiot, didn't have any patience and liked bothering Tao, but... Forget that, the guy was a jerk. Just thinking about him made Tao roll his eyes. Kai, sensing his exasperation, burst out laughing,

"You must be the only person in this school to make that expression while thinking about Kris."

Tao frowned, starting to get annoyed, "Then I must be the only sane person at this school," he was joking. Kind of. Actually, no, he was being dead serious. 

Kai kept on laughing. Seriously, what was even that funny? Kyungsoo, on the other side, looked worried.

"Is he really treating you that bad?"

He didn't feel like answering, so he just went back to staring out of the window. It looked like he was quite a show, as Kai didn't seem to be able to stop laughing about his expressions. 

"Don't be so hard on him. He is just not used to people not treating him like a prince." They were close friends now, but sometimes Tao still startled when Sehun opened his mouth. 

"Yeah, that's right," Kai finally got himself together, "Everyone is nice with him and treats him respectfully. Most girls would kill for being where you are, having the chance to see Kris every day," he snickered. Well, not completely together. Once again, Tao couldn't help but rolling his eyes.

"Seriously, Tao," now it was Kyungsoo's turn, "Don't misjudge him. Kris is the kind of person you have to get to know well to realize they aren't what they seem."

"Yes," Kai and Sehun nodded vigorously. 

"Kris isn't the captain just because, he is top of the school and counselor of the basketball team. Once you really get to know him he is one of the most loyal guys in the world. Is just that you started with the wrong foot."

Tao sat there quietly. He knew what others thought about Kris, this wasn't the first time he had had this conversation with his friends, but he just couldn't believe their points of view were so different.

"Maybe you are right. It is possible that I have misjudged him. If you all like him so much there must be a reason. But he is also misjudging me."

"Don't let yourself be fooled by Kris' cover. He can be a helpless puppy when he doesn't know how to react to something. He just defends himself roughly, that's all," Kai's tone was both amused and fond. Tao was still unsure. That was until some memories flooded his head. He remembered Kris face a couple of weeks ago, the day after his accident. And the evening before that, when he had taken him to the infirmary. He looked so worried and pained, trying to cover it up with unkind words he obviously didn't meant. When he apologized, Tao had never seen someone so defenseless. It was as if Kris had been ripped open and set under a new light, and all of a sudden, he understood. 

"A tortoise hiding on its shell to avoid getting hurt," he whispered the Chinese phrase his mother used to say, finally understanding it's meaning, after all those years. He snapped from his deep thoughts when he noticed his friends' confused looks, and quickly gestured with his hands that it was nothing. They dropped the subject then, and continued with the project.

Tao's brain was a turmoil. It kept showing him pictures he wasn't sure he wanted to see. Kris tired, Kris hurt, Kris surprised, Kris laughing. Kris letting his guard down. His stomach twisted. He liked that Kris. The true one. The one he hated was the cold, mean one, the cover. What had hurt him so much he felt the need to keep it up?

"So, what are you planning on doing tomorrow?" Kai interrupted his suffocating thoughts. 

"What?"

Kai rolled his eyes, but he was grinning hugely, "Tomorrow. May 2nd. Your birthday, don't know if you remember."

Well, of course he did. What he didn't know was how they knew. He hadn't told anyone.

"How do you know?" he asked confusedly. He couldn't figure out how they had found out.

"It's a secret," and once again both Sehun and Kai begun practically giggling. Kyungsoo rolled his eyes fondly as they put their books out and started making their way out of the library.

"But seriously, what are you going to do?" Sehun asked, beaming.

"Nothing. I don't usually do anything special for my birthday. It's just another day." His friends' faces fell slightly, and Kai whined,

"But it's your birthday. And it's Friday. We can go out!" he bounced around excitedly, making complicated plans for the following day. Tao smiled. He really had awesome friends.

He wasn't one to particularly enjoy being the center of attention, so when he entered the classroom the following morning and spotted Kai with a ridiculous party hat, the first thing that went through his mind was escaping. That was, of course, until Kai saw him and dragged him towards the back of the class, ruffling his hair and gabbing with a faked emotional tone about how he had grown so much in the month they had known each other. What was the deal with him and birthdays? He was usually crazy, but today even more. Both Kyungsoo and Sehun wished him a happy birthday, and just when Kai seemed to be about to start singing, the teacher came in and saved Tao from further embarrassment. 

Lunch time went by in a blur. His friends greeted him and presented him with a couple of presents, and finally, to Kai's delight, they sang him "Happy Birthday". Tao could feel the eyes of everyone else on their group, but despite the fact that he preferred to avoid being looked at, he was so happy that he didn't care. He had never had close friends before, let alone friends who would care so much about him, to the point of making sure that he was enjoying his birthday. He got somewhat emotional and may or may not have cried a little.

He wasn't expecting much when, a couple of hours later, he headed to the library. Truth to be told, classes had gotten better. Sure, Kris was a jerk, but after what he had realized the evening before, he felt somewhat closer to him. Many of his gestures and actions now made sense, and most of Tao's frustration over not understanding him was gone.  They had heated discussions a lot, but he could tell neither him nor Kris took them seriously. He now realized that he had been a little bit too overdramatic when he had talked to his friends.

He headed to their sun bathed spot. It was one of Tao's favorite places, one he shared with Kris only, and that made him kind of excited, although he wasn't sure why. Kris was waiting there, and when he raised his eyes from his book to look at him, Tao saw what he thought was a flash of a smile. Then he blinked and it was gone. Class went by as usual: some bickering here and there, some annoying each other, some studying. An hour later, Kris got up from his seat while Tao was still putting his books away. 

"Hey," Tao raised his eyes to find Kris standing awkwardly on the other side of the table, avoiding eye contact, looking just like when he had apologized after the accident, "Happy Birthday," Kris finally looked at him, and he knew he should thank him or something, but he could just stare, probably with his mouth open in a completely unattractive way. Why did he feel like that every time Kris did something nice for him? He tried to shake himself, and managed a slow nod. Just like that, Kris turned around and stalked out. What the hell? Only after he finished packing everything he noticed the chocolate cupcake with blue icing left in front of him.

Tao was wandering around school when he spotted him. It was Wednesday, second period of the day, and Tao had been sent to get some documents from the Principal's office. Kris was leaning against the wall outside his classroom, shoulders slumped, hands in his pockets, eyes closed and head leaned against the wall. He looked defeated. He had obviously been asked to leave the classroom. Teachers only did that as punishment. Tao mentally scolded himself. Here he had the proof that his first impressions where right. He was an idiot, believing that the Kris he had gotten to know this past few weeks was a nice person, getting attached to him. It hurt, somehow. He wondered how could his friends have told him that he was a good and honest person. He walked past him without sparing a second glance.

"Good thing that you don't have practice today, or Kris wouldn't be able to be there." Minseok commented at lunchtime. Kai and Sehun nodded, and then continued stuffing their mouths with food. God, how could they eat so much? Tao hated to admit it, but he had thought about what he had seen the whole morning. So, aiming for his most innocent face, he asked:

"Why wouldn't he?" He had gotten a note from Kris cancelling their studying session that evening, with no further explanation.

"Didn't you hear? He got detention," Luhan explained. Oh. It must have been something worse than what he had thought

"It was so unfair, though," Minseok interrupted, surprising Tao.

"What do you mean?"

"This poor kid, one of our classmates. He was being practically bullied by our teacher, just because he didn't know the answer to some stupid question," Luhan took a bite from his food. 

"And Kris, of course, had to be the knight in shiny armor. Long story short, he told the teacher to stop harassing the guy, and the teacher thought he was being disrespectful and deserved a punishment. What a jerk," Minseok finished.

Around them, most of their friends kept on chatting and laughing. But Tao remained silent. He didn't know what to feel. On one side, every day he understood less this school. A crazy, warm, kind of creepy Principal, royalty, fan clubs, and now this, abusive and idiotic teachers. But on the other, he felt so relieved that it almost knocked him over. It didn't make any sense, honestly, but now he was sure that Kris was only tough on the exterior, but was someone warm and kind inside. And he felt stupid. He had done what he hated the most: judged him wrongly without stopping to reconsider it. Both when they met and when he saw him outside the classroom he had been wrong. 

As he always did when he had spare time but not enough to go home, Tao went to the park. He liked to seat on a remote bench, almost completely hidden by bushes, with an enormous tree shadowing it. It was beautiful, and there, he could just sit back and think. And that's what he did. He thought about Kris. Every gesture, every look, every word. He couldn't understand how had he been so oblivious about everything for so long. They had known each other for more than a month now, and spoke daily. How had he missed the fact that he was just hiding his true colors? Day after day he got little clues about that. From their friends' comments to the little gift he had given him for his birthday, everything pointed to a warm, caring person. He groaned with frustration and dug the heels of his hands against his eyelids.

It had been one of the worst practices he had had so far. He was thankful that his teammates seemed to realize that and let him be, but he had been unfocused and lost, and generally an awful leader. He couldn't stop thinking, wondering, his mind reliving every moment, trying to get what his heart had understood so fast. He slowly dragged himself down the empty corridors. He was worn out. Suddenly, he heard steps, and soon he saw a short, scrawny kid running past him. He turned round the corner, and his steps started to fade.

"Kris! Kris! Wait a second, please!" Tao arrived just in time to see the kid reach Kris, who had just closed his locker and had started walking, but stopped as soon as he heard his name. When he was in front of him, the kid bowed deeply,

"Thank you so much! You didn't have to. Thank you!" he looked as if he was going to cry. From his hidden place, Tao saw Kris' face relax.

"Don't even mention it. The guy was mistreating you for no reason, someone had to do something about it," he patted the guy's shoulder, "Now, come on. It's pretty late, isn't it?" And he left with the crying boy. 

Tao leaned back against the wall. He was now a hundred percent sure he had been wrong all along.