Sport is a subject that Sehun will never ever like in his lifetime.

“Today you’re going to start the three-legged race to prepare for the upcoming school carnivals in a few months!” The teacher shouted as he looks at the class roll. “I’m going to pair you up with someone around your size, so make sure to introduce yourself and make new friends before we start this practise race!”

As he calls out the names of the people of his class, Sehun has a bad feeling that this sport class is just going to get worse.

Sure enough, it does. He gets paired up with Tao.

“It’s you.” Tao growls when they get close enough.

“It’s you.” Sehun mimics, scrunching his face up mockingly as he does so. They both glare at each other.

As everyone excitedly takes out cloth to tie their legs together, Sehun and Tao stand at least one metre apart from each other, refusing to even look at each other.

“Hurry up.” Their teacher booms at them. Both of them are about to protest. “HURRY UP!” They have no choice but to comply, Tao putting his left foot and Sehun putting in his right foot close together.

“Ew.” Sehun’s fingers brush against Tao’s shoes and he drops the cloth as if he’s been burned. “Just … you do it. I don’t want to touch you.” Sehun wipes his hands on Tao’s shirt.

“Oh my god.” Tao sighs loudly, rolling his eyes before picking up the cloth. “You’re such a woman.”

"I'm not." Sehun glares, and is tempted to kick Tao's fingers away, but the teacher is watching them intently. Moments pass, and Tao's still tying the cloth together. Sehun gets impatient. 

“You’re taking such a long time. What are you, a snail with panda eyes?” Sehun snickers at his ‘joke’.

“Why don’t you do it then, Mr I-am-not-a-woman-but-I-actually-am?” Tao tightens the cloth on their ankles just as he finishes speaking. They both glare at each other once again, then the teacher calls them to line up to begin the race.

“You better try hard, students!” The teacher shouts. “The ones that don’t come first place will have to wash my socks. By hand and water. Until it smells like flowers. I got a whole pile up in my laundry.” The teacher grins. Everyone stiffens and suddenly the air becomes tense with determination to win. Everyone knows how stinky their teacher’s socks are, even Tao, who had just arrived a little more than a week ago.

“You better not let me down.” Tao growls under his breath as the teacher yells “Get Ready!”.

“Tch. You’re the one who should be worrying, someone who can’t even spin a stick properly.”

“GO!”

Immediately, Tao and Sehun start setting out, their arms around each other’s shoulders as they see nothing but the finish line. All around them it’s like a battlefield, with people shouting, trying. It’s like a slow motion war movie, because the soldiers around them are all falling one by one, screaming out dragged NOOOOOO’s and thumping on the scarred dirt ground with their dejected fists. Some have tears leaking out of their eyes as they shake their fallen comrades, others lying on their backs and waiting for death to take them, and it’s just Sehun and Tao and a few others that are still up, still fighting.

One, two. One, two. Their steps fall in sync, their breaths mingling together until they’re one, and their arms swinging side by side in unison. Right now, nothing matters but that finish line, because damn, if they don’t win, they’ll be stuck in the worst kind of torture, one worse than death.

It’s the moment the tips of their shoes touch the red line at the exact same time that they wake up from their momentary trance, looking up just as the noise comes rushing back in their ears. And they’re back in the normal world again.

They win.

“Great job, boys!”

Only the teacher’s clapping, because everyone else’s groaning, some crying, and others too mentally traumatised to speak.

“Both of you are definitely considered to be added to the school team to compete with other boarding schools. We’ll contact you if you’re on the team.” As the teacher moves away, Tao and Sehun break out from their trance and begin pushing each other away.

“I cannot believe I just touched your shirt.” Sehun shudders and tries to kick Tao off with his foot. “Tao germs are the worst.”

“I cannot believe I just felt your breath on my skin earlier.” Tao replies, tone just as disgusted. They try to shake each other off for a long while before they realise that they can just untie the cloth from their ankles.

“After this, I’m going to take a long, long shower.” Sehun sighs to himself, unaware that Tao’s listening.

“No, I am.”

They glare at each other.

“Why don’t you guys just take a shower at the same time?” A random girl passing by asks, and they both shout ‘I’d rather die!’ at the same time back at her.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At least I get my bed back. Sehun sighs in relief as he stuffs his face in his pillow, feeling the comfort envelop him like a mother’s embrace. The shower felt good too. After all, he was stuck for four hours feeling clothes stick to his body because he was sweaty from sport. And Tao had won over the shower. And his shower took exactly one hour, 14 minutes and 55 seconds. After that, they had been forced to go downstairs for a school assembly. Then there was dinner. Sehun never wanted to feel like such a dog again, and watching Tao’s face light up in a victorious smirk made it even worse.

The night feels peaceful for some reason. That’s when Sehun realises that the loud music that usually fill the air are not bursting Sehun’s eardrums. It’s an unusual quiet that Sehun feels uncomfortable in.

That’s when he hears the other bed creak loudly as Tao gets out of bed. Sehun realises that he must’ve turned off the music. He pretends to sleep, but his ears are perked up, listening to any subtle sounds, afraid that Tao might crack up a prank in the middle of the night.

But he doesn’t. Instead he puts on his slippers and unlocks the door, the gets out, closing the door quietly behind him.

Oh. He’s only going to the toilet. Sehun feels almost disappointed, then decides to go to sleep once and for all, unaware that Tao doesn’t come back until an hour later.

 

 

 

 

 

 “Aah!” Tao yelps when he opens his book and sees ugly gibberish like ‘Yehet!’ and ‘Ohorat!’ all over it. He sends a death glare towards the other side of the room at Sehun. Sehun receives it with a large smirk.

“What’s all this?” Their teacher asked, voice loud and demanding an explanation. Tao shrinks back and looks away. Sehun’s not afraid, because he knows Tao would never rat him out – it’s not a manly thing.

“I … uh, I was really bored, and …”

“Detention on your evening free time, by my office!”

When the teacher moves on, Sehun sends another smirk and receives another glare in response, and in the small part of the back of his mind, he can’t help but find those angry eyes a little y.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sehun finds Tao leaning against the wall alone during their afternoon free time, eyes trained on his phone, an unreadable expression in his original eyes.

“Loner!” Sehun calls, despite the fact that he too is alone. Usually at this point, Tao would retort back something just as smart (or just as lame), and it would go on and on and on until they are forced to be separated.

But this time, there is no response. It’s like Tao doesn’t hear Sehun at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sehun’s heart is beating with the ticks of his alarm clock.

He can see it’s around two in the morning. That’s usually the time when Tao would switch off his music and go off somewhere – he’s so used to it by now.

In fact, he’s decided to use this as an advantage.

Sehun’s going to go to wherever Tao’s going (most likely the boys’ washroom), and pretend to be a ghost, just to scare the heck out of the other, because he knows for sure that Tao’s scared of ghosts (even though they don’t exist).

When Tao switches off his music and gets up from bed, Sehun waits until 10 minutes pass, then quietly gets up and follows outside.

Sehun has never been outside at night – he’s usually too scared to get out of bed, for fear that there might be a murderer outside waiting for him (even though the concept is technically impossible). The hallway lights are dim, almost ominously dim, and as he tiptoes, he begins to regret it.

Seeing Tao’s frightened face in his mind though, is what makes him keep going. He’s decided that these past few weeks of pranking Tao gives him pleasure, especially when he sees Tao’s reactions. There are times when Tao ignores him, and that angers Sehun more than anything – these past few days are the perfect examples.

“You just want his attention.” Junmyeon, one of Sehun’s upperclassmen and close friends, had teased when Sehun had complained about Tao. “You’re adorable, Sehunnie.”

“No.” Sehun bites back immediately as he takes another mouthful of soup. “His reactions are just really funny. Besides, I hate him. I don’t want his attention. Why would I?”

He nears the washroom, and is delighted to see light spill from the cracks under the door. Grinning madly, he opens the door quietly and is glad for once that there is a wall blocking the showering department, the sinks, and the toilets of the washroom.  Just as he nears the end the wall though, he hears something that he never expected to hear.

Sniffles.

Sehun blinks. Maybe he’s heard wrong, maybe it’s someone else; but as he peeks around the corner from the wall, he finds Tao’s hand gripping the end of the sink, the other lifting to wipe something from his eyes. His cheeks are red from the cold or from the tears and it blends in with his tan skin, and if Sehun hadn't found himself watching Tao's face every now and then in class (even though he tells himself that he's only doing so to make sure Tao doesn't do anything to him), he would never have known the difference. 

The scene stuns Sehun until he’s frozen on the spot, and he doesn’t know why.

He doesn’t know he’s staring until Tao turns around and looks at him with those mysteriously beautiful red-rimmed eyes.

“Go laugh all you want.” Tao’s voice is hoarse as he speaks, which once again stuns Sehun speechless. “I don’t really care anymore.”

Despite Sehun’s inability to empathise and understand emotions, for some reason the tone of Tao’s voice strikes a chord in his heart strings. There’s a silence as Tao continues to sniff and begins to pick up pieces of himself from the ground, as if something threatening had shattered him to pieces. Sehun can sense the cautiousness in Tao’s movements, but at the same time a sort of carelessness too.

There’s a tense silence between them, one where Tao gives up and Sehun doesn’t know what to do.

Before Sehun knows what’s happening, he’s already by Tao’s side, and he lays a hesitant hand on the shaking shoulder.

“I-I …” He begins, and the awkwardness of it comes out blatantly obvious. Sehun hesitates, because he’s taking a risk, putting his pride on the line. “I’m sorry.”

Tao visibly blinks. “What?”

“I-If I was … uh, giving you a hard time … I mean, I didn’t know that … I …” Sehun trails off, because he doesn’t know what else to say. Surprisingly, Tao lets out a choked laugh.

“You think I’m upset because of you?” Tao laughs again, but it’s not the usual retarded one that Sehun’s used to hearing. This one’s more conservative, more bitter. “Geez, how narcissistic can you get?”

Sehun’s about to splutter, but he changes his mind because he’s afraid to do anything else that might upset Tao even more.

“Don’t be stupid.” Tao continues. “The reason I came to Korea was because I've been having family problems over in Qingdao. My parents have been fighting because my dad found out that Mum cheated on him around the time they were married, and now they’re arguing on whether or not I’m my father’s child.”

Sehun’s quiet as he listens, and to be honest he doesn’t really care, but he knows that right now Tao needs someone to listen. It’s a gut feeling, just like a gut feeling whenever they fall in sync unintentionally.

“My parents now refuse to acknowledge me because I’m the cause of their problems, and they’re also ignoring each other. They’re trying to issue a divorce, and my grandparents are against that, and now all my relatives give me this dirty look, and I … my friends don’t even want to talk to me anymore, I just … ” Tao keeps blabbing on, and he’s shaking. Sehun doesn’t know what he’s doing, and before he knows it, he’s pulled Tao closer in a slightly awkward hug. Sehun doesn’t usually do this, and the way he’s pulled Tao in doesn’t work well, because now Tao’s head is somewhere under his arm and against his collarbone, and Tao’s so tall he has to bend down. For a moment, Tao stops sniffing because he’s shocked. After a few moments though, he moves his head up until it’s buried on Sehun’s shoulder, and then he starts sobbing again.

He must really miss them. Sehun thinks to himself because Tao doesn’t bother trying to keep it all in. He lets it out as if he’s wearing his heart on his sleeve – something Sehun has found out through living with him every day.

It’s charming, but at the same time extremely risky.

They leave when the sunlight peeks over the horizon, and once they go back, Sehun feels a force telling him to let Tao use his bed, since he hasn’t slept properly in days, which is obvious in the way he walks and the way his eyebags look heavier and definitely more unnatural than usual.

And he does.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Things turn completely around. They don’t fight anymore.

Actually, they occasionally squabble, but now the situation’s different.

Sehun knows that Tao doesn’t get up in the middle of the night now even though he still plays loud music.

They take turns exchanging beds and have negotiated to put certain amounts of clothes in the wardrobe that they have to share.

It’s nice and calm, and Sehun finds it strange that he likes this even more than when he watched Tao’s reactions to his pranks. It’s really strange.

 

 

 

 

He talks to Sehun whenever he feels emotional. At first, Tao never thought Sehun would be the type that would spend his time listening to someone else’s troubles. He thought Sehun was the type to leave the moment he senses extra emotion in the air.

Maybe that’s what he used to do.

But now he listens quietly. He does it every time.

 

 

 

 

And Tao’s glad for that.

 

 

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IDEK why i'm writing author's notes at the end of every chapter when i'm uploading them all at once LOLOLOL

author is gaytard