“You two know each other?” Jongdae asked in confusion, looking back and forth between the two young men.

 

Sehun, who had been looking down at his phone since he’d approached, glanced up at the question. His eyes shifted over to Tao before widening in disbelief.

 

“Tao? You’re kidding….” he muttered in awe. Sehun suddenly smiled brightly and moved over to pull Tao into a tight hug. “Wow, this is amazing! I didn’t think I would see you again!” he exclaimed.

 

“Neither did I….” Tao managed to stutter out in the other’s warm embrace.

 

“Alright, could one of you guys fill me in, here? I’m afraid I’m a bit lost.” Jongdae said with a small smile.

 

“Ah, sorry.” Sehun apologized as he stepped back. “Tao and I grew up in the same orphanage back in China when we were kids. But I got adopted when I was ten, and my parents moved to Korea, so we got separated.”

 

Tao simply nodded, still in a state of shock. What were the chances of him somehow meeting Sehun again? And working with him of all things? His heart was jumping around in his chest and he had to convince himself that he wasn’t in bed, and this wasn’t some sort of crazy dream. But if he had the chance to pinch himself, he already knew that it wouldn’t change things.

 

This was reality.

 

“Well isn’t that a strange coincidence. Tao will be in charge of your safety for the next few weeks. He’ll be joining the security personnel.” Jongdae informed.

 

“Ah, that means you stuck with your martial arts training. That’ll come in handy, there are some crazy fans out there.” Sehun joked. His phone rang in his hand, and he excused himself to take the call.

 

“I trust that he’ll get you up to speed with how things work around here, so I’ll leave you to it. Welcome aboard, Huang Tao.” Jongdae said with a polite nod of the head, then returned to his office.

 

Tao thanked him and gave a bow, his eyes then shifting back to Sehun. He was still having a hard time comprehending what was happening. Oh Sehun, the boy he had grown up with, was right in front of him. When he was adopted, Tao thought that he would never see him again. With countless miles between them, he thought that Sehun was out of his life forever. But there he was, standing right in front of him. It seemed surreal.

 

Fate sure worked in mysterious ways.

 

Tao couldn’t help staring at his long-lost best friend. A lot had changed, but he still looked like the same little boy he used to be so fond of. His brown bowl cut had been replaced with blonde hair that fell around his face in delicate wisps, and Tao could swear that there were pinkish streaks in between. Sehun laughed at something that the person on the phone said, and Tao recognized the wide grin that had so many times been aimed at him. It was then that Tao realized the quote, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder”, was much truer than he’d thought. He also realized that time had done nothing to deteriorate the crush he’d had on his best friend.

 

“I’m sorry about that, Hyung needed to speak to me about something important.” Sehun said, coming back over to where Tao stood.

 

“No, it’s fine.” Tao smiled.

 

“So how have you been? Ten years is a long time to be apart. And you’ve gotten so tall! I remember I always teased you for being shorter than me even thought I was younger. But now it seems you’ve got a few inches over me.” Sehun chuckled.

 

Tao grinned and shook his head at the memories. “I’ve been doing the same as usual. Practicing, going to school. I just moved here a few months ago. It’s so much different, how did you get used to it?”

 

“I kinda had to.” Sehun answered with a light laugh. “Come on, let’s go someplace where we can sit and talk. And I’m guessing you haven’t been around the city much, there’s so much to see.”

 

Nodding as he followed Sehun through the glass doors and to a car waiting outside, Tao wondered exactly how he had ended up here. Sehun had never said anything about singing or dancing when they were younger, or about performing in general. What was he doing at SM Entertainment?

 

The thought stuck with him as they climbed into the car, Sehun asking the driver to take them to some place he didn’t recognize.

 

“I’m still kind of in disbelief. I was so excited to be adopted, but then I realized that I would be so far away from my best friend. After we left and came back here, I cried for days. My parents couldn’t understand why it was so serious, but you were the best friend I ever had, Tao…”

 

“So you cried for that long? I told you that you were a bigger crybaby than me.” Tao teased. His friend simply rolled his eyes and slapped him on the arm, which only brought a light chuckle from him. Even if he , Tao understood exactly what Sehun meant. After he had left, Tao had been kind of lost without him. He had been his partner in crime, his right hand man. Tao had always been rather quiet and kept to himself most of the time, but Sehun had been so bright and out-going that Tao couldn’t help but come out of his shell a bit more. But Sehun’s leaving only left him to retreat back into himself. He had gotten by the rest of the years on his own, but he still had missed his best friend.

 

“We’re here. Hopefully you’ll like this place.” Sehun smiled as the car slowed to a stop in front of a nice looking restaurant. “I come here with some of the other idols sometimes. They have cute waitresses.”

 

As he followed Sehun into the restaurant,Tao made a mocking face at his best friend’s suggestive grin, not commenting on the fact that he wasn’t particularly interested in waitresses. “Speaking of which, you’re a singer now? Where did that come from? I didn’t even know you could sing.”

 

Sehun waited until they were seated at a small table towards the back before answering his question. “Well to be fair, I didn’t either. It all started back in high school. My friend, Jongin, wanted to do this talent show thing that our school was putting on. He was doing a dance number, and he was really good, but he wanted to win really badly, and he said it would help if he had someone to sing while he danced. There was this other guy in our class, named….Baekyun, I think it was. He was a great singer, and he was happy to help. But the day before the performance, Baekyun got really sick. Jongin was freaking out and panicking, and he didn’t know what to do. The next day, he was about to drop out of the show, but I stepped up and offered to sing in Baekyun’s place. I’d been to all the rehearsals, so I knew how the song went. And the show seemed so important to Jongin, I didn’t want him to have to quit.”

 

“So how did it go?” Tao asked, interested in the story.

 

“When I stepped out on stage, I was so nervous. I had never sang in front of an audience before. But I just went for it, and as soon as the song started, I felt relaxed, like I was just standing in my bedroom or singing for a bunch of friends. It was fun actually, and we actually won the talent show. After that, I couldn’t stop singing. I took voice lessons, joined the school choir, and my parents even bought me a guitar so I could play that as well. Then in my second year, there was a really big talent showcase at our school. I didn’t know it at the time, but a representative from SM Entertainment was there to look for possible trainees. I sang a solo, a really old song actually, and I only won second place. But after the show, this older man came up to me and asked me if I’d ever considered singing professionally, and gave me this card. I talked it over with my parents, and we decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea. Long story short, I went through about 3 years of training and auditioning and performing until I debuted in a rookie group. I spent a few months performing with them until SM decided that I would be better suited as a solo artist. Shortly thereafter, I worked on my own album and it was a hit. And that’s how we’re sitting here right now.”

 

Tao blinked as he took in all of the information. It seemed that Sehun’s life after he’d left had been much more eventful than his own. Even so, he could see the excitement on his face as he told his story. The light in his eyes showed that Sehun really enjoyed singing and his job. Just seeing him speak with such happiness was enough to bring a smile to Tao’s face.

 

A few hours later, Tao stifled a yawn and collapsed on his couch with a sigh. He was exhausted. After their dinner, Sehun had insisted on taking him on a quick tour of the city. They had walked around for hours, going into shops, taking pictures, and eating random snacks from street vendors. It had been fun, but now the young man just wanted to rest.

 

He screeched loudly when he felt a hand come down on his shoulder and nearly jumped off of the couch. Cursing his best friend, who was laughing heartily behind him, Tao turned and swatted him on the arm. “You were always a little jerk.” he muttered, ignoring the idea that Sehun wasn’t so little anymore.

 

Sehun grinned as he sat down on the couch next to him. “I guess some things never change….but either way, I’m glad to have you back Tao. Even if I have all of these great people around me to support me, it’s not the same as having my best friend back.”

 

Despite the sinking feeling in his chest, Tao smiled happily. Although he was doomed to be nothing but a friend to the person he’d fallen for, he would gladly stand through it if he got to see the expression on the younger man’s face.