"Finally..." Tao lets out an exhausted sigh as he makes it to the last step of the staircase.
He hasn't set foot in his dorm for the past twenty four hours, and now at nine o'clock he's finally done for the day.
Why is it that he has to encounter the fluffiest, cutest, tiniest kitten he has ever seen in his life when he smells like his stinky cousin and desperately needs a shower and change of clothes?
He met the little thing on his way home from Sehun and Jongin's apartment, near the park opposite his dormitory building.
He just had to stop and play with it; the mere thought of leaving it made him want to burst into tears.
He plopped down onto the grass and scratched behind its little ears, feeling himself slowly melt into a puddle of goo each time the little ball of fluff let out an adorable high pitch mewl.
By the time the mother cat came and ran off with her baby's scruff between her teeth, Tao realized he had five minutes to get to his class, and of course he ran straight to his lecture hall instead of going home like he was supposed to.
Why is it that he doesn't have anything but his wallet and phone with him when he has a full day of lectures?
He had to make do with recording the lecture in his phone and taking notes later, ignoring the judging glares from his neighbors, possibly from the stench of his cousin and also the fact that he's just sitting there with his phone while the others are scribbling down equations and diagrams madly.
Why is it that on his busiest day of the week the grumpy old manager is on duty at his part time job instead of the nice motherly manager?
After hopping from lecture to lecture and a 5 minute lunch break of wolfing down four bananas and a carton of milk, he ran to the coffee shop on campus and barely made it on time, with the hawk eyed manager death staring him as he put his apron on hastily and ran away with his rubber gloves.
What have I done to deserve this shame?, Tao thought glumly as he stood straight and proper while the manager yelled at him with his hoarse dying-crow voice, spit flying all over his face; he caught Tao practicing wushu with the mop, and he demanded that Tao stay for overtime work because he slacked off.
Why is it that his bus pass runs out of money when he just wants to get home as quickly as possible and have an early night?
Tao again had to suffer the unfriendly stares of the ahjummas onboard, possibly heading home after a long hard day of shopping and gossiping, as he gets off the bus with a kicked puppy expression.
The distance of a ten minute bus ride took him almost forty minutes, and by the time he got to his dorm there were five flights of stairs waiting for him.
With every step he felt more and more like crying from pure exhaustion.
You're a real man Zitao, real men don't cry alright?, Tao pats his own chest as he drags his feet towards the door of his dorm.
To his surprise, the door swings open without him even touching the handle, and there stands his mutant roommate, glaring down at him with the scariest expression ever.
Tao feels his legs turning into jelly and his whole body starting to shiver from fear.

"Y-Yifan-"

"Where were you!? You didn't come back last night! You think it's okay to just disappear off without telling anyone where you were going? You think it's okay to not leave anyone your contact info so nobody is able to get through to you for the past twenty four hours? The warden almost called the police! You could have been dead for all we know and-"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!" Tao bursts into tears in front if the doorway, complete with squinted eyes and wide open mouth.
He likes it better when his roommate doesn't talk; he's really too tired for another lecture right now.

"F-first I was late to class and then I didn't h-have my laptop or books and then I didn't e-eat much for lunch and then I h-had two lectures in the afternoon and then I was almost l-late for work and then the old git c-caught me practicing w-wushu and gave me overtime w-work and then all these ahjummas on the bus were g-glaring at me because my bus pass c-credit ran out a-and... AND NOW YOU'RE YELLING AT ME TOO AND I STILL SMELL REALLY BAAAAAD!!" Tao wails in Chinese, ignoring the fact that it's nighttime and other students who want an early night will be in bed already, and the ones who aren't will hear him too.
And also no one will understand a word he's said, but not that Tao cares.
He wishes either his cousin or Jonginie were here to hug him and pat his back and tell him it's okay.
He's about to reach up and wipe his tears because his friend and cousin aren't here to do that for him, when he feels a hand circle around his wrist and pull him into the dorm.
And the next thing he knows is he's in a pair of warm arms with large hands on his back and the back of his head.
He registers that they belong to none other than his mutant roommate; it feels good, and he sinks into them immediately.
His parents, Sehun and Jongin have always been shorter than him, so Tao doesn't remember the last time he's been held by someone taller, larger than him.
But that doesn't matter anymore now, because here's his mutant roommate, hugging him tight and most importantly not minding that he reeks of his little cousin.

"I'm sorry." Yifan's low husky voice sends chills all the way from Tao's ear through to the rest of his body, and he regrets ever thinking he'd rather Yifan didn't speak.
Because the moment Yifan breathed those words into his ear, he is addicted to his voice.
Tao feels his heart beating hard against his chest (and possibly Yifan's) and color creeping up onto his face, all courtesy of Yifan's chocolatey voice; he hides his face in his roommate's shirt.

"I-it's okay." Tao mumbles against Yifan's shoulder and buries his face deeper in until his eyelashes are batting against the tall man's pale slender neck.
He can't help but notice just how good his roommate smells compared to himself; something soft and warm yet masculine, like sandalwood with a hint of vanilla.
No, that's exactly what he smells like.
Sandalwood with a hint of vanilla.
Tao can feel his cheeks burning, the heat so intense that it's radiating off his face and bouncing off Yifan's shoulder back at him.

"I didn't mean to shout... It's just everyone's running around trying to find you for so long including me, and I was frustrated. I didn't know you had such a hard day." Yifan gives Tao a small pat between his shoulder blades; exactly where he likes it.
Can you please just stop being so contrasting to what you were like for the past two weeks?, Tao groans a little and continues to melt into Yifan's touch.
Then something springs to his mind, and he feels like there's something weird, but he can't quite put his finger on it.

"Hold on!" Tao pushes himself away from his mutant roommate and holds his shoulders so he can take a good hard look at him.

"How did you know I had a hard day?"

"You... said it yourself?" Yifan raises an eyebrow.

"B-but I said it in...Chi...nese...?" Tao is hopelessly confused; he juts his bottom lip out and gives Yifan a 'Please explain I don't know what's going on and I'm confused out of my mind and I don't like it' look, practically pleading for an explanation with sad puppy eyes.

"Yeah, so? I'm Chinese, I was born and raised in China for the first seven years of my life. Didn't you think it was odd that a Canadian transfer student looks no different to the locals?" Yifan gives a small snort and a wry smile, then pats Tao's head, as if to tell him to use that little machine in there.

"O-Oh..."
What Tao initially thought was his mutant roommate turns out to be a tall guy with warm arms and hands who smells like sandalwood with a hint of vanilla who has a voice deeper than a blackhole and understands Tao when he speaks in Chinese and is actually Chinese and most importantly doesn't mind that he smells like week old laundry and sweaty armpits.
Why is it that of all days it had to the crappiest day of his life when Tao finds himself falling in love?

Author's Note:

Tao pls.

His face just screams OMG THIS FEELS AMAZING I FEEL EVEN BETTER THAN WHEN I SMOKE TOP GRADE WEED