For someone like Tao, who have known life outside the countryside, three days was enough time for his relatives to get used to his presence and return to their lives normally. It has been almost two weeks since he arrived, but from the looks of things, normal wasn’t going to happen soon judging from the big family dinner his parents prepared for the evening. His relatives seemed to have endless questions about him and his life in abroad.

Aside from him, only his mother and a couple relatives have gone out of the country.

He rested his elbow on the table and his face on his palm. His eyes followed his young relatives roam around the house. It was noisy and rowdy but homey nonetheless. Tao kind of wished there was something to do aside from this.

He really needed a hobby seeing that he wasn’t ready to go back to Korea back yet. Almost two weeks and he’s still torn on whether to continue with the work he had or return home completely. Tao really don’t know what to do with his life.

The following morning, Tao decided to go out for a run for a change. The fresh air had tempted the young male to go out.  These past few days all he did was sleep late until and wake up until it was almost noon. He thought it was time for a change although he wasn’t sure yet on what to do with the rest of his time.

After the run, Tao went to the kitchen to get some breakfast. He stops in his tracks to see his friend, Minseok casually waiting with his family, eating breakfast as if he lived there. He didn’t expect to have any guest so early in the morning. The following day, Xiumin personally came to visit Tao.

"What do I owe you of this visit?" Tao recovered from his surprise and chuckled before grabbing a piece of bread and stuffing it in his mouth.

Knowing his friend well, the older male probably found an excuse to get away from the family restaurant.

Xiumin's head tilted slightly to the side with that mischievous smile of his and linked his fingers together.

"It's been so long since I've got an opportunity to mess around. You're the perfect excuse."

Tao grabbed a chair and grabbed more toast to fill his rumbling stomach. He threw a piece of his toast on his friend and ate the rest. "You're going to get in trouble once uncle Kim finds out you’re playing hooky."

Minseok simply brushed off the crumbs from the toast and waved his hand uninterested at the threat. “I deserve a break. It’s been months since I last took a day off” He reasoned.

“Fine ge. Then where should we go? Has anything interesting happened while I was gone?” The younger male simply relented. If he argued, he knew that his friend would still skip work now that he’s here.

“Now that you mentioned it…” There was that playful grin again that Tao had always known to be wary about.

“Is this what you planned for us today? Walk around? My goodness Minseok-ge can you be more original?! “ Tao glared at his best friend, never breaking eye contact as to make his irritation sink in to the older male. Unfortunately, Minseok doesn’t seem to care nor mind the looks his friend was sending him. He kept grinning which irritated the younger male more.

He huffed and turned away, walking ahead of the older male trying to cool his temper. He expected something better than walking around the town. From what he could see, little change happened while he was gone. There were new houses and some recently renovated ones.

While walking around, he noticed a flyer posted at the village hall.

Activities in such as small community were rare. He grew up in this place wherein the villagers only participate in a handful of events.

He took a closer look at the flyer, wondering what it said.

A cooking class? No one, not even Xiumin’s father; an owner of a restaurant, started a cooking class for the village. Most of the adults are busy to earn a living to spare time and teach.

Out of curiosity he took a picture of the flyer to show to his friend later. Lunch hour passed  

Xiumin grinned when he saw the flyer Tao saw. From the older male’s expression he knew what it was

 “I’ve attended a class once. The instructor is nice and talented. I learned a trick or two from him that father was impressed with.” He continued peeling the potatoes in front of him. “You got to try the class. It’s fun and will give you something to do while you’re here.”

“Are you saying that I’m acting like a bum?” Tao was a little offended. It was true that he’d been doing nothing he came back home. All he’d done was go around places and stare at nothing.

Xiumin looked at him sideways and smirked. “You said it, not me.”

The younger male snorted at the light jab of his friend.  He shook his head and looked at the flyer again.

“I’m not sure about this. I don’t want to look like an idiot.”

Cooking wasn’t his thing. To cook something else that isn’t fried or boiled has always been a challenge.  Some might say that he got that from his mother’s side. His mom was lucky that she married his father, who’s a great cook. Unfortunately, Tao didn’t get his father’s cooking ability.

“And that’s why you’re going with me. I won’t let you embarrass yourself and isn’t it a good thing? You’re going to learn something new in the process.”

“Wait. Don’t I have to sign up or something for the class?”

His friend laughed at him as if he left his mind somewhere. Minseok hooked his arm over his shoulders and messed up his hair. “What’s wrong with you Tao? We live in a town where the population hasn’t exceeded one thousand in years. We’re lucky that someone even took interest in teaching a class like this.”

The black-haired male groaned and removed Minseok’s hand away from his hair. He tried to salvage his well-styled hair but stopped when he realize no one would care about how he looked.  

Xiumin was correct to point that out. With all the younger generations opting to go to the city, the population of the village has been stagnant. Average age has been getting higher and higher. It was only thanks to people like his friend did the town had something interesting going on.

“Fine. Fine. I better learn something from this class so I won’t have to keep eating takeout when I go back to Korea.” Tao sighed and eventually relented to his friend. He really didn’t have anything to do in town other than this. Counting the remaining vacation days he has, there was still almost a month worth.  

“Back to Korea huh?” Minseok smirked. “You’re not back for good?”

The black-haired male shrugged. Even now, he still didn’t have a clue on what to do with his life. If he stayed, work would be a problem. Nothing interested him enough. While going back to Korea, the pay was good but most of the time, he would just lock himself in his apartment. Loneliness often made him think of unwelcomed thoughts.

“Be that way Taozi. If you stay for good, I’m sure my dad would have work for you at the restaurant and I have a junior to bully every single day.” Tao’s friend offered mischievously, sending the younger male laughing and shivering in horror at the thought.

“I value your dad’s reputation and restaurant. You’ll lose customers if I got employed in your shop.” Hard labor wasn’t Tao’s thing. He was more of a visual arts guy and no one in the village offers that opportunity. He was generally useless in this village. “Let it be gege. Leave it to fate.”

“Fate my .” Xiumin rolled his eyes and pushed his friend to explore their usual hangouts as kids.

In their small village, there were few places were the people can unwind and refresh themselves. For Xiumin and Tao, they grew up spending their youth on a hill overlooking their small village. Spring, summer, fall and even winter, they would spend their free time on top of the hill just thinking of the world outside. Now that Tao has seen what the world offered, that same hill reminded him of how simple his life before.

Tao looked at the view before him. His breath hitched as he slowly took in everything. A couple of years have passed since he came to this place and yet this was still the most beautiful place in the whole world for him. The scents, the sight and sounds were clear, crisp and familiar. It was home.

The older one playfully climbed on his back, sending Tao to almost fall over before regaining his balance. Xiumin laughed breathlessly at him which soon followed by a merry laugh from him as well. Such a simple thing and yet it was worth being cherished.

Still, Xiumin wouldn’t let go of Tao after the childish game. Being shorter, he used his friend’s height to look at the view in front of them. He grinned and kept his arms wrapped around Tao’s shoulders.

“Not much has changed for this place. It looks like untouched by time, isn’t it?”      

Tao adjusted his weight and supported his weight by hooking his arms over the older male’s legs. He nodded and smiled, showing how much he loved the place he grew up in. “I wish I have a camera with me now. It’s more beautiful than I remembered. Nothing could compare to this place even when I’m living in such a busy city. It’s all noise and pollution.”

“Yah Zitao~ Being a city boy has changed you. I want to see what you’ve seen.” The Korean male confessed wistfully.

Tao could hear the unfulfilled longing in the older male’s voice. He wished he could do something about it, but Minseok is as filial as ever. For the family’s sake, he would stay even though he had no interest in the family business.

“Maybe in the near future Minseok-hyung, you’ll be able to do that.” He used the male’s Korean name, a simple gesture that made the older male to tighten his hold on Tao.

As planned and in Xiumin’s insistent urging, Tao attended the cooking class with his friend. It was held in the town hall kitchen.

The room was enough to room 10 participants and there was enough spare for everyone to move into. It was clean and looked well kept. Even though Tao knew for a fact that the kitchen was rarely used, the town managed to keep it in shape.

There were less than 5 participants including Xiumin and Tao. The remaining three were female that Tao recognized as neighbours.

Having arrived 10 minutes later, Tao thought the class would start already but it looked like the instructor the was also late. He saw Xiumin at the back of the room wearing an apron, looking like he can’t wait to start.

“Slow poke.” Xiumin greeted him with a smile.

He just nodded and waited along his best friend at the back. “The instructor is still not here?”

“He’s always late.” The older one replied, completely at ease waiting for the class to start.

“Some instructor he is.” Tao grouched, hating to wait. He didn’t like waiting especially when he had to skip meals for it. While waiting, he regretted the snack his father offered before he went running just for this class.

Understanding the younger male’s demeanor, Xiumin simply patted his friend’s arm.

It only took another 5 minutes before the instructor finally arrived.

“Hey guys! I’m so sorry I’m late as usual...”He greeted the class with a smile and apologized sincerely in which the whole class chuckled in reply.

The instructor scanned the participants and beamed when he saw Tao, a new participant of his class. “I see we have a new member so I’ll introduce myself again. My name is Li Jiaheng but you can call me Kevin is you want. Now, we will be making...” Without breaking for a pause, he started to explain what the class will be doing for the whole two hours.  

Everyone began to follow the preparations while Tao remained rooted on his spot. The image in front of him knocked the air out of his lungs as he cannot fathom who he saw.

Kris?

Although impossible his eyes couldn’t deceive him. Whoever this person is, he look is a splitting image of Kris.

The name was different but he looked exactly like the man who had become a mere memory that haunted Tao for years.

The shock sent the raven-haired male’s struggling for breath. He gasped for air, leaning on to the table for his sanity.

Xiumin was about to call him for help but stopped short when he saw him in a state of distress.  “Tao? what’s happening to you?”

The older male frantically fussed over him, worried at the reaction his friend was exhibiting. Not once did the older male see his friend act like this. He grabbed his friend’s arm and fanned with his other male. “Tao!”

His loud voice caught the attention of their instructor, Jiaheng. “What’s wrong?”

The male instructor immediately approached the two and looked at Tao worriedly.

Tao wanted to breathe but he can’t. His lungs wouldn’t cooperate with him. The male who looked exactly like Kris up close, came closer making everything worse. He blindly reached for anyone, hoping they would help.

He saw Kris and the last thing he remembered was calling out for his name. “Kris.”