He had never actually thought he would use the basic first aids his mom had taught him years ago, once he had sprained his ankle. He hadn't needed them for five years, but there he was. 

Tao had been running at a good pace, saving energy for the final kilometers. He wasn't particularly fond of the activity, but he understood why people were. It was relaxing. And liberating. He had thought it was kind of ridiculous when he found out about the race, but after all, what else could he expect from that school? Huge building, crazy people, big events. When he was around the second mile, a girl appeared in front of him, shouting.

"Hey, wushu guy!" Wow, he hadn't even been three months at this school and he already had a nickname. Nice. "Yes, you. You look strong."

Tao slowed down, and the girl approached, looking desperate.

"Look, sorry to bother you, but I was with my friend, and we took sort of a shortcut to avoid the strong sun. The thing is, it was all muddy and with branches, and she ended up falling. She can't get up, and I'm not strong enough to help her. I think she twisted her ankle."

Without even thinking about it, Tao ran behind her, looking for the girl. They were pretty far back, and only halfway he remembered about his bet with Kris. He cursed himself, but now there was nothing he could do. The first thing he noticed after arriving to the place of the accident was the cause. There was small ravine, covered with grass, which made it invisible and difficult to avoid. The poor girl had been crying, but as soon as she saw Tao she cleaned her face. He pretended not to notice. Her ankle was indeed sprained. Badly, in fact. It was all swollen, and he could already see the hematomas that would get darker hours later. His mother had told him that the first thing he had to do was get ice, but clearly that was impossible. So, he jumped to the only step he could actually do. He quickly removed his shirt, ripped it, and bandaged her ankle as best as he could. Finally, after a quarter of hour, he finished and lifted his head, startling the girls, who apparently had been checking him out. The girls blushed slightly and he smiled. After that, he spent several minutes trying to talk the girl into letting him carry her to the stop. She was very stubborn, and his difficulty with the language didn't help, but it would be way faster than to wait for them to look for help, and obviously she couldn't walk, so her friend ended up convincing her. She was very light, and Tao didn't have any trouble setting her on his back. He grabbed the back of her knees, and turned his head slightly, telling her to hold onto his shoulders. She blushed hard and nodded. It took another quarter to get to the stop. Tao wouldn't admit it, but it had been hard, and both his legs and his back hurt. Besides that, he was sure he had already lost the bet, and that didn't help his mood. As soon as the teachers spotted them, they run to her aid. Tao stood beside her until they called the ambulance and assured him she would be fine. The girls thanked him, and, after saying goodbye, he went to get a water bottle. He was already tired, and he hadn't even finished half the race. 

"Hey, Tao! What happened?" Lay approached, looking at him worriedly. That's when Tao remembered he was still shirtless, and probably looked muddy and disheveled. 

He summed up the incident for Lay, dismissing it when he saw his friend's worried face. After a couple of minutes, they parted, and Tao returned to the race. He really liked Lay. He was warm and understanding, always worrying about the wellbeing of everyone. Actually, he was close to all his friends. His teammates were the best he could ask for. Luhan had helped him a lot getting used to the new culture, and he and Minseok always made sure everyone was feeling fine. Baekhyun made everyone's mood better as soon as he entered the room, and Joonmyeon was the mother of the group, scolding them when necessary, but also taking care of them. Kyungsoo was always there to help him around, and sometimes looked like the only completely sane person in the group. They all worked really hard, and he was proud of them. He also spent a lot of time with Kai and Sehun because they were his classmates, and they were both really great guys. Sometimes kind of self-centered, sure, but also fun and caring. Chanyeol and Chen, the same as Lay, had slowly got into their group. Chanyeol had instantly hit it off with Baekhyun, and together they could make Tao laugh until he cried, and Chen was a weird mixture between prankster and caretaker. They were all incredibly sweet, and they cared about Tao more than anyone had ever had. The only one he couldn't seem to completely understand and befriend was Kris. 

He gave himself time to feel miserable about life. He wasn't used to losing, and he hated it. Especially against Kris, his nemesis. He didn't actually remember when he had started thinking about him that way... Oh right, the very first day they met, when Kris had shouted at him for the stupid half of the court. They had both been idiots. He wasn't one to fight, in fact he tended to avoid them, but Kris brought those feelings up on him. Tao knew he ought to respect him, after all he was older, and his tutor, but deep inside him, he wished they could just be equals, friends, just like with the rest of the team. They were all really nice, normal people, with their egos a bit high because of all that "exclusiveness of the basketball team" nonsense, but they were fun to be around. The thought of inviting Kris to join them at lunchtime had crossed his mind several times, but every time he tried to the guy's face showed indifference and irritation, and Tao hated feeling that he was being even more annoying than usual. He already knew that he was a burden to Kris, that he was only tutoring him from the scholarship he had admitted needing. And besides that, why would he need a scholarship? Everyone at that school was freaking rich, it was one of the most exclusive and expensive highschools of Seul. Not everyone could get in, and the only reason he was even there was because of his own scholarship, that he had to maintain every single day, going to tutoring with Kris even when the language didn't help, his tutor's hate even less, and he was generally worn out.

He blinked, focusing once again on the race, and sighted. He was going really slow, but his thoughts didn't seem to shut up and let him concentrate. He just wished they could talk to each other, have a good time together. They had really similar personalities. Then, the memory of the time they spent together in the janitor's locker hit him full force. He could still feel Kris flushed against him, his hand touching him, preventing him from talking, his mouth so close, wet and warm. He had to stop to catch his breath, his face feeling incredibly hot. It had been so... real. All of a sudden, he had the uncontrollable need of catching up with Kris, seeing him, beating him, just for the sake of it. To feel he is there. He still had a slight chance of winning, something could have happened to him. Maybe he could reach him, see his face when he lost. This last thought was enough to make him smile and boost his energy. He started running as fast as he could, overtaking several students, until he felt his lungs burn with the lack of oxygen. But he couldn't stop, the only thought on his mind was Kris, he needed him. He didn't know, didn't understand what was wrong with him, what he felt towards Kris. Finally, his body couldn’t keep going and he had to slow down and walk, breathing hard. He was already near the 6th km, the next stop was less than a kilometer ahead.

And that's when he saw him. Sitting on the floor, knees up and hand on his face, staring down at his cellphone with apathy. In that precise moment, Tao finally understood him. He was able to see him as he really was, just a common guy, with big ego just like his friends, but different at the same time. Kris didn't care at all about any of it, he just went along with whatever the rest of the school expected from him. The guy that had blushed after calling him Panda the day before, the one that had run like a scared puppy from the girls chasing him, the one who smiled at him after passing his exam and always explained patiently in Chinese everything he didn't understand, and congratulated him smiling softly when he finally got it right. That was the real Kris. The true one. The one Tao really liked and cared for. He caught his breath as fast as he could and approached him smiling.

"Hey, would you have lunch with us tomorrow?"

Kris raised his head and took a moment to focus. Then, his eyes widened and he jumped to stand up.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" he stuttered.

"Running," he smiled, "I had some sort of... mishap, but it seems that I can still win our bet, right?"

Kris looked at him with his mouth slightly open, shocked.

"Come on. I need water. I'm dying and I just want to rest. It's just one more kilometer until the next stop," he grabbed Kris' sleeve and pulled him into walking besides him, smiling brightly. He was pretty sure it was Lay who had told him about what had happened, and he had stayed there waiting for him. Well, Tao wasn't that lucky. Maybe there was another reason why he had stopped running.

"Are you okay?" he asked with conversational tone.

"Fine." 

"Were you waiting for someone?" his nonchalant tone wasn't very convincing.

"No... no one in particular. I was just tired, it seems like I'm out of shape..." he sounded so nervous it made Tao laugh. He was such a crappy liar. And quite a case. But at the same time, he was so... cute. 

They got to the next stop in silence, and sat together after fetching a bottle of water.

"Will you?"

"What?" Kris raised his head confusedly, looking like a trapped puppy, as if trying to avoid questions because he knows his secret has been uncovered. Sweet Kris.

"Have lunch with us. Just like Kai, Lay, Sehun and the guys," Tao smiled. "If you want," he added after Kris' long silence, "I'm not forcing you or anything."

The question felt bigger. It wasn't just about lunch now, although Tao wasn't quite sure what was it about. He stared down at his water bottle, avoiding Kris' look.

"Sure," he sounded uncomfortable, making Tao's previous confidence slip away.

"Hey, we have to move on. We don't want to end up last, do we?" he mumbled with a frown on his tone.

Kris stood up right away, getting closer to him than what was strictly necessary, "Right. Afterwards, we can go and buy the ice-cream you owe me," he flashed a smile.

Tao was puzzled once again. First he acted cold and uninterested, and a second later he was intimate and playful. He was full of surprises. Not that he was complaining. He smiled back teasingly,

"First you have to beat me." And then he bolted as fast as he could, surprising Kris, who took a second before running behind him. Jogging lightheartedly, they overtook a lot of people, although it was obvious that they would never be even between the first hundred, let alone win. But, one of them had to win. They mocked each other every time one took the lead, and started high-fiving every student they left behind.

Finally, they entered the home stretch. Kris, having rested more than him, took the lead. Just a couple of meters before the finishing line, he stopped on his tracks, turned around, and ran towards Tao. He grabbed his arm and suddenly Tao found himself being carried as a sack of potatoes. Kris was holding him from his legs, and the only thing he could do besides screaming from the shock, was holding tightly to Kris shirt. The students surrounding them bursted out laughing, making him cover his face from embarrassment. Just like that Kris crossed the finish line. He placed Tao back on the floor, giving him the most sincere smile he had ever seen. He stood there, breathless, just looking at him, feeling his chest compress. From the corner of his eye, he caught the glimpse of Chen and Baekhyun approaching, but he didn't seem to be able to take his eyes away from Kris, who was staring down at him as well. His breath was shallow, and not precisely from running. He didn't actually pay any attention to his friends until freezing cold water hit his . He squirmed and turned around, only to find the guys roaring with laughter. A moment later Minseok and Luhan joined them, ruffling his hair affectionately. He was kind of self-conscious, uncomfortable and annoyed, but then a low chuckle made him turn his attention back to Kris. He was smiling once again, sending a wave of warmth through his whole body. Tao lowered his head, feeling his eyes well up. The tightness inside his chest threatened to asphyxiate him, but at the same time his heart bet hard against his ribs, strong and alive. He felt his whole life had been leading up to this moment. He finally got it. He hadn't even considered it a possibility, but now he knew there was no turning back. A series of memories went through his mind. Every single day they had spent together. Every gesture. Every word. Every touch. He hadn't known how to label his feelings, but now he knew. He had fallen hard. He was crazy in love with Kris.