Click.

Click.

Click.

Chen’s eyebrow twitched.

Click.

Click.

“ it, you egg! Stop doing that!” The annoyed lad threw a paper ball in agitation towards Chanyeol who was playing with a pen at his table.

The make-shift ball hit the treasurer square on the head. Chanyeol stopped his clicking and looked up with a smile so big that it almost reached his ears. Chen grimaced.

“He’s coming!”

Kai who was sprawled on the sofa stared at him with a bored look, “We know.”

“I saw him earlier at the school office! He looks so much like a panda! Only…a lot more skinny,” Chanyeol looked down in disappointment at the end of his sentences.

Chen and Kai rolled their eyes and chorused, “Again, we know.”

“He’s also majoring in-”

“Academic. Came from China. We know.” Chen and Kai cut off the taller male in exasperation.

Chanyeol stared at the two of them with a frown for a few minutes as he mulled things in his head before he gasped loudly. Kai looked up from inspecting his nails while Chen ignored Chanyeol because he knew, that ball of sunshine was going to spout off nonsense again and he got a damn report to finish.

Kim Jongdae was right.

“You guys are long lost twins! I can’t believe it!” Chanyeol looked perfectly scandalized at his own remark.

Kai fell from the sofa at the exclamation and Chen’s pen that he was holding missed the place it was supposed to land on, resulting in a big gash of black ink across the paper. He cursed out and stood up from his seat to fret over his once almost complete report that was now ruined. Kai struggled to sit up from the floor and looked at Chanyeol like he was crazy.

Chanyeol continued to look between the two with a delighted smile. Chen groaned out in despair as he slumped back in his seat before thumping his head on the table repeatedly with his ruined report scrunched up in a ball near his head.

“What the hell, hyung? How did you come up with that?” Kai asked incredulously as he stood.

“Well, you guys talk perfectly in time!” Chanyeol beamed.

Chen stopped thumping his head and glared at the happy virus. He opened his mouth to let out some scathing insults regarding Chanyeol’s brain cells and if the treasurer had any brain at all when he was interrupted by knockings on the door. Three heads snapped towards the door and they glanced at each other.

“Come in.” Chen voiced out.

The door opened and a tall boy stepped in hesitantly. Kai took a step forward to address the boy but halted when Chanyeol whizzed past him. He gaped at what he saw; one moment, Chanyeol was shoving his face in front of the boy’s (really, Kai swore the tall treasurer never knew the meaning of personal space) and the next second, the treasurer was flung onto his back to the middle of the room by a kick from the terrified boy. It was like in slow motion, his and Chen’s eyes followed Chanyeol as he soared through the air and landed with a dull thud. The room was silent for a few minutes before Kai tried to take a step towards the boy and all hell broke loose.

~~*~~

“…he shrieked before running into the kitchen and the rest…you know what happened.” Kai finished lamely.

Kris stood there as he comprehended what the younger had told him. It was not the first time this happened with Chanyeol. He was often slapped in the face by the other gender because of his weird habit to shove up his face near the person who he had just met but it was the first for him to receive a kick and promptly fainted too. Kris hummed. Even if he was curious at the boy’s given reaction he still thought Chanyeol deserved it.

Kris turned his gaze onto the boy that was curled up against the wall. The sobbing had calmed into small sniffles but the boy was still terrified by the looks of it. Kris decided it would be best to first calm the younger down first.

He crouched in front of the boy slowly as to not scare the boy. The boy visibly flinched and scooted further against the wall. Kris ignored the raised pot and fork in the boy’s hands and locked eyes with him. From the corner of his eye, he could see Chen crawling out from his hiding place behind the sofa.

Kris searched the boy’s eyes and assessed the emotions swirling in those orbs. He saw fear and anxiety the boy was feeling. He frowned but when he saw the boy started to tear up again, the frown that marred his handsome features became deeper. Kris felt a twinge of panic as a new set of fresh tears rolled down the boy’s cheeks until he realized what had made the boy cried again. He eased the frown and soften his features. Tao saw the older quietly reached out a hand and squeezed his eyes tight, body trembling violently. His gripped tightened on the ‘weapons’ in his hands.

Tao eyes snapped open when he felt a gentle hand his head. He looked up and felt his cheeks warmed when he gazed into the almost serene eyes of the older boy. Kris was running his hand through the silky strands, amazed at the texture. Tao couldn’t help but slowly lean into the touch. He knew he should be getting away from the boy but found himself unable to. Tao stared, perplexed by his own behaviour but still wary until the boy in front of him smiled genuinely at him. Tao felt his eyes getting teary again and he lunged forward without hesitation.

Kai and Chen gaped at the sight in front of them. Behold, the cold Wu Yifan was comforting someone. Kai mocked fainted and Chen, instead of catching his best friend, moved his body from Kai’s that was falling. Kai groaned as he met the carpeted floor and glared up at Chen that was staring fixedly at the two boys at the corner of the room.

“Yah! You sh-”

A gasp from Chen and loud clangs halted Kai in mid-sentence and the latter followed Chen’s line of gaze to see what had had made his friend seemed so surprised. He stared open-mouthed at the boys at the corner of the room. The pot and fork were thrown carelessly on the floor and the panda boy was clinging to Kris like his life depended on it and Kris, the splinter in the , was rubbing his back soothingly in circular motions.

“I knew it. The world has come to an end,” Kai muttered before laying back and closing his eyes.

~~*~~

“What the heck is with this situation?” Kai grumbled as he looked around.

Kris, panda boy, him, Suho and Chen were sitting crossed-leg in a circle on the floor because panda boy refused to let go of his hold on Kris so they had to abandon the comfy sofas in place of the carpeted floor. Chanyeol was still knocked out and was laid on one of the sofas. Suho, meanwhile was staring amusedly at the president and the boy that was curled so close against Kris that he was half sitting on the president’s lap. Kris didn’t mind though judging from his nonchalant expression and Suho noticed his hand was still the boy’s hair for the past minutes.

“So, let me get this straight, Tao, right?” the boy in question nodded timidly, “Right, you’re saying you have some kind of a trauma with boys? And that’s why you’re sitting so far from us?”

It was true. There was a big gap between them and the two boys that were snuggling comfortably against each other. Again, Tao nodded and Suho’s looked on curiously.

“Then, why is it you’re okay with Kris?”

Chen snorted at the question, “Probably because Kris-hyung’s aual.”

Kai guffawed and high-fived Chen that was smirking gleefully. After a few minutes, Kai’s laughter receded until it was only snickers of amusement for another few minutes and all of it ended abruptly when a thought dawned on him. Kai looked at Kris in horror, “ing hell, you’re right Chen.”

Kris’s veined throbbed hotly at the two boys that were looking at him with genuine sympathy and he was only a second away from strangling them. Only when Suho chided the two boys for making fun of him did he soothe the twitch of his vein. Tao looked up at him with eyes that lit up with confusion at Suho’s earlier question and thought why indeed he was able to touch the older boy since he was not a family member.

Kris realized Tao was staring and quirked his eyebrow at the boy. Tao blushed when he got caught staring and promptly hid his face in the boy’s shoulder. Suho cooed happily at the sight of the boys, oblivious of the disgusted sneers from Chen and Kai as they scooted away from him.

“So, what’re you doing here?”

Tao peeked out from his hiding place and gave a look of befuddlement at the question, “I- I was called here.”

Suho and Kris exchanged looks before the both of them stared at Kai and Chen who suddenly found the white ceiling interesting. Kris gave a deep sigh, feeling tired all of a sudden and found comfort when the boy in his hold nuzzled his neck.

“Chen, your report… is it done?” Kris asked.

Chen froze at the question before he slowly rose from his sitting position and made a beeline for his worktable. He sat down quietly and started to scribble furiously on a sheet of paper. Kris shook his head bemusedly before detaching himself from Tao. Kris’s lips quirked when he saw Tao’s eyes flashed in panic. He held out a hand and Tao smiled shyly as he grasped the offered hand. Kris hauled him up and s an arm around the younger to steady him. Tao flushed at the intimate gesture and they stayed like that for-

“Okay, wow. That’s sweet and all but I think I’m going to puke.”

They broke apart immediately and Suho that was sighing dreamily just now as he watched the two boys, turned to smack Kai for ruining the moment with his bored drawl.