A/N: You know I don't own this.

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Tao was sulking, Suho noted dryly.

Not the cute, lips stuck out, wide eyed pout he gave while he whined for something. No, this was far too ugly for that, Suho thought staring at the tall Chinese boy nodding stiffly to Kyungsoo's instructions for setting the dining table.

Suho sighed. It was a Friday evening and it was their first day off in two weeks. Everyone was dead tired from the endless promoting and the exhausting practices that they had slept all through the morning and had only woken up lazily to Sehun's muffled whining of “I'm hungry~”.

Everyone but Kris and Yixing.

Suho felt a slight headache coming and he rubbed his temples before looking around at all s moving animatedly around the kitchen asking for plates to be passed, sampling Kyungsoo's dishes in between and complimenting loudly. He smiled fondly at Jongin hanging around Kyungsoo eager to help his hyung with whatever he wanted.

“Hyung, is there anything else to do?”, Tao's sullen voice cut through the moment and Suho turned away from the chopping board to address him.

“Hmm? Oh. Well, no. I don't have anything left to be done. Why don't you go wash up?”

Tao just nodded, turned away abruptly and headed to the bathroom.

“When is Kris hyung coming back?? I can't stand his moodiness”, asked Baekhyun, the moment Tao was out of earshot.

“Isn't he supposed to be back by tonight?”, Luhan supplied. Baekhyun snorted.

“You'd think he'd at least be happy by now.”

“He's just like you when I'm not around, except more quiet”, teased Chanyeol ruffling Baekhyun's hair.

“Yah, yah! I don't get moody, I get bored!”, complained Baekhyun, trying disengage the taller boy's hands from his hair.

“Well, Kris and Yixing have been away for week in China.”, quipped Minseok stretching on the sofa beside Luhan, “He said he would be back three days ago but then they caught up with some friends so they postponed the return trip. I don't think Kris realised Tao would get so mood off without him.”, he chuckled.

“At least you ain't on the receiving end of his temper, hyung”, Sehun moaned from in front of the TV, game controller clutched firmly in hand and eyes glued to the screen, “I tried to get him to play my new game with me yesterday an- whoopsie daisy”, he scrambled backwards into Luhan's legs as an alien tried to kill him, game controller still clutched tightly but shaking in childish excitement, “Well, long story short: he nearly bust the TV in half.”

Jongin looked like he was going to say a particularly funny incident but he closed his mouth as quickly as he opened it when he saw Tao emerge from his room.

“Ah, Tao's here. So shall we eat?”, said Suho, lightly while gesturing everyone to the table.

There was a chorus of agreement as everyone pulled up their chairs and started helping themselves.

“But, hyuuung~ I'm nearly there. Just one more level!”, wailed Sehun as Luhan started dragging him away from his game, “At least let me save the game!”.

Once everyone was seated, there was the usual babble of conversation around the table occasionally enunciated by Chanyeol's booming voice and interrupted by Baekhyun's witty rebukes.

Suho watched in amusement as Jongin lovingly savoured the food and praised Kyungsoo's kimchi spaghetti so much that Kyungsoo actually began to question others quietly on whether the food was good or not. He watched Sehun's cheeks bloom pink as Luhan tried to feed him some fried sausages. He laughed at Baekhyun and Chanyeol's soup drinking contest. He saw Chen inhale his food like a vacuum cleaner and Minseok delicately eat his food, his face beaming with happiness.

Suho looked to his immediate right and frowned.

Tao was eating with a glazed expression, glancing at the wall clock behind occasionally and frowning a bit more than the previous time. Suho had to stamp down the urge to comfort the younger man's frustrations and finally ease the cloud of despair looming over their heads.

For God's sake, make his plane arrive faster.

Tao got up first, quietly thanking Kyungsoo for the delicious meal and put his dish for washing in the sink. Sehun followed up almost immediately and both of them started their daily chore of cleaning up the kitchen.

Soon the dishes were piling up and the others started packing the leftovers to put them in the fridge. Kyungsoo had just opened the refrigerator door when he heard Tao exclaim.

“Wait! Kyungsoo, hyung. Shouldn't we leave some for Kris-ge? And Yixing-ge?”, Tao added on an afterthought.

Suho answered before he could stop himself.

“No. Kris hyung already said that they would eat dinner and come home.”

Silence.

Suho realized his mistake a tad too late. As he stared at a frozen Tao, he saw Jongin mouth “No, hyung”, from the corner of his eyes.

Oh .

Oh .

Luhan was partially covered by Sehun who looked like he was going to pounce on Tao if he moved. Kyungsoo's eyes were covering half his face as he looked from Suho to Tao and back to Suho. He groaned and closed his eyes and silently shrieked bloody murder, as he closed the refrigerator door.

Jongin had slunk to the shadows and Jongdae and Minseok looked almost amused by the dramatic turn of events. Baekhyun and Chanyeol looked ready for the impending explosion.

“I see.”, mumbled Tao, returning to his chores.

What.

Suho gaped at Tao and looked around to see nine other faces gaping at him as well. This was not the expected turn of events. They had fully expected to see Tao finally fly off the handle of logical reasoning and throw a tantrum on how Kris didn't tell him that he wouldn't be there for dinner, Kris didn't want to go back with him, Kris didn't call him for the past two days, Kris doesn't miss him one bit, Kris, Kris, Kris..

This was all Kris' fault, Suho concluded.

Kris had mollycoddled Tao too much. Kris gave him everything he asked for, even when he didn't ask for it. All Tao had to do was turn on his cute pout and Kris would pour out his heart if Tao wanted.

And Suho thought he pampered everyone too much.

He watched Tao silently do the dishes, not speaking to Sehun who still looked like he was going to tackle Tao down if he moved. The rest of members quickly finished cleaning the table and kitchen counters and hurried to their rooms.

It was depressing seeing their cute Panda cub like that.

Sehun kept looking back to his room where Luhan was poking his head out, looking worried but smiling gently at them.

“You can go. I'll do the rest.”

Sehun nearly didn't hear Tao's quietly spoken words. His face brightened slightly as he placed a hand on Tao's shoulder, muttering a thanks. He quickly shuffled along to his room, looked back at Tao one more time and closed the door.

Suho silently fled to his room. His roommate was also coming home and he wanted to wait up for Yixing, no matter what. It wasn't the same without him and Suho sighed as he lay back on his bed, staring at the ceiling. No matter how hard he tried, he eyelids just wouldn't stop closing. This off day was tiring as hell.

___ ___ ___

Tao felt like crying. He knew he was being stupid. But that didn't mean that he couldn't cry over it. Stupid Kris-ge and even more stupid Yixing-ge. They can go have their fun with their friends. He was having loads of fun here. Yep, definitely.

He hauled the cleaned dishes from the sink and proceeded to place them in their proper place. “This is going to take some time”, he thought.

Normally, Kris would be there to help him keep the dishes back, talking to him in Mandarin in a low voice, listening to him rant about the latest clothes he saw in his favorite shop, smiling at his silliness, pecking his lips when he would stop to take a breather and grinning at his expression afterwards and-

“Oh Tao, here you are.”

Tao did not even notice Yixing standing there, a backpack still slung over his shoulders.

Huh?

“Kris, he's here. In the kitchen.”, Yixing called out behind him.

Oh.

Oh.

And suddenly, everything was perfect.

Tao watched as Kris came through the darkness of the corridor of their rooms, dump his backpack gently on the floor beside him and come right behind Yixing, eyes shining with happiness even though they drooped tiredly.

“Thanks, man. Get to bed.”, Kris told Yixing, nodding at him.

Yixing merely shrugged and trudged off to his room quickly, body slouching from the tiring journey.

“Zitao.”

Tao just gaped at Kris for a second, before launching himself into his arms. His large, warm arms that Tao missed being in. His warm breath that tickled his ear as he chuckled in his deep voice. Tao had missed Kris so much.

“What's the matter, Tao?”, Kris was still laughing lightly as Tao clung on for life.

“I missed you, Kris-ge.”

Kris pulled him into a tighter hug and whispered, “I missed you too.”

And Tao forgave him just like that. He didn't need anything in that moment, not his fashionable clothes, his fancy goods, his precious selcas, anything.

“Why didn't you call me though?”, Tao whined, wiggling in his arms. He couldn't help it.

Kris laughed, “The rates are expensive, you know! But I did try calling, it just didn't connect properly. Plus, Yixing wouldn't let me near his phone.”, he replied, turning back to frown at the general direction the dorm rooms. He released Tao from his grasp to grin at him. Tao felt his knees turn to jelly.

“Did you miss me?”, Kris asked, his voice low and teasing.

“Yes.”, Tao half sobbed out the word, “ I missed you too much, Kris-ge.”

Kris bent down to give a peck on Tao's lips and Tao felt his surroundings blur. It wasn't a long and sweet “I missed you, I love you, come here” kiss. It was just a peck, like he got everyday when they washed the dishes or on lazy afternoons when they would just roll around on the sofa watching game shows or in a unseen corner during practice sessions. But it was enough for Tao. He could never get enough of it. The long sweet kisses would come later, followed by the wicked ones and the hungry ones but for now it was absolutely perfect.

Tao snuggled up to him and Kris instinctively held him tighter.

“Be with me.”

Kris smiled as he heard Tao whisper and he replied huskily.

“Forever.”

___ ___ ___

Suho felt a hand his forehead and he opened his eyes blearily.

“Good morning, sunshine”, said Yixing quietly, smiling at Suho's look of disbelief.

What he wasn't prepared for was Suho pulling him hard to bed, hugging him and exclaim a prayer to the heavens.

“Oh, finally! Thank you, God!”

- fin -

A/N: My first fanfic and its a Taoris. Wheeeeeeeeee. I hope you all enjoyed it! Forgive me for any grammar and/or other mistakes. Leave a comment below~