Chapter 16

There was a long pause on the other end of the call. Zitao had almost thought that Yifan had hung up on him. If he had hung up, then…why? Was the name Yixing that important to Yifan? Why did the name sound so familiar to Zitao still?

“Hello?” he said into the phone, just to make sure Yifan hadn’t hung up. “You still there, Yifan-ge?”

“Yeah.” Yifan responded. “Sorry about that. What was his name again?”

“Yixing.” Zitao repeated the name. “Zhang Yixing. He’s based in Beijing, but comes to Seoul every so often too. Why? Does the name sound familiar to you, too?”

“Uh…” Yifan seemed to hesitate. “Yes. Because I know him. We know him. Remember…? He was your tutor in high school for the longest time.”

Zitao thought for a while. It’d had been only two years, but he forgot almost everyone he used to know in China. Didn’t he used to have a friend in China who was deaf…? Jeez. He really needed to go back to China and find some of his older friends. He did vaguely remember having a tutor, but he couldn’t recall his name or what he looked like. Maybe it was Yixing.

“Oh…” Zitao mumbled. “It’s been a while since I’ve been to China or talked to any of our old friends…so…I kind of…forgot, I guess…”

“Dude, I’ve been here longer than you and I still remember all of our old friends.” Yifan said. “We really need to go on a trip to Beijing.”

“To find Yixing?” Zitao asked quickly.

“That, and because you probably need it.” Yifan replied.

“Can…can we really go to China?” Zitao questioned slowly.

“I mean…if you want to…” Yifan responded. “Since you said he’s based in Beijing and only comes to Seoul occasionally… Wouldn’t you rather your little boyfriend get his vision back sooner than later?”

Zitao’s eyes widened and he broke into a huge grin. “Seriously?!”

“Sure. If I can get some cheap tickets…” Yifan said. “Jeez, you’re getting really excited aren’t you?”

Zitao bit his lip. “W-well…it’s been a while since I’ve been to China…”

“And you want Jongdae-ah to get his vision…?” Yifan offered.

Zitao stayed quiet. Of course he wanted to go back to China. Still…his current main goal was to get Jongdae’s vision back. Because he was sure Jongdae would love to see Zitao’s face and…well, everything. He laughed inwardly thinking about how Jongdae might react getting to see Candy.

“You’re thinking about him now, aren’t you?” Yifan’s voice on the other end of the phone call shook Zitao from his thoughts.

“S-so…we’re going to China then…?” Zitao stammered, attempting to change the topic.

“Depending on how expensive four tickets are.” Yifan said. “I’ll check around sites and get back to you.”

“Wait… Why four tickets?” Zitao asked, confused. “Who else is coming?”

Zitao could almost hear Yifan rolling his eyes. “Joonmyeon-ah, duh. I can’t just leave my boyfriend at home while you get to bring yours.”

“Oh…” Zitao said. “That would make sense… He is Jongdae-hyung’s brother.”

“That too.”

Zitao rolled his eyes. “So, we’re going to China.”

“We’re going to China.” Yifan agreed. “If and as soon as I find cheap tickets.”

Zitao grinned. “If this weren’t just a phone call, I would hug you right now. You’re seriously the best.”

“I try.” Yifan said, suddenly sounding narcissistic.

Zitao groaned, now regretting complimenting Yifan. “I’m hanging up.”

Zitao heard Yifan say good-bye before hanging up the phone and looking at Candy. He smiled and picked the tiny puppy up, holding her up to his face. “Looks like I’m going back to China!”

The next day, Zitao was excited to see Jongdae again. In retrospect, Zitao had always been excited to see Jongdae, though. Today, however, he was especially excited; he was going to tell Jongdae that they might be going to China so he can get his vision. He wondered how the older would react hearing it. Knowing Jongdae, he’d probably find a way to hug him.

He smiled to himself as he got dressed and fixed his hair. Candy was circling his legs impatiently, probably hungry. Everyone once in a while, she would yelp to try and get Zitao’s attention. He chuckled after the fourth or fifth time and looked down at the tiny white dog.

“You’re an impatient little one, aren’t you?” he asked, crouching down to look at the puppy. “Just wait another minute, okay, girl?”

Zitao stood back up and gave his hair one more look over, and then moved to the kitchen to get Candy some food, because what else could she be begging so hard for? Candy seemed to come running at the smell of her favorite food. Zitao laughed and placed the bowl of food in front of her.

While Candy ate, Zitao got ready to leave to pick Jongdae up. Sehun had (graciously) leant Zitao his car—since he did know how to drive; he just never had the money to get an actual car—to drive to Jongdae’s house. Not wanting to leave Candy alone again, Zitao had decided to take the dog with him, though he figured he would have to keep the pup in his jacket or on his lap until he could pick up Jongdae. Not that he figured Candy would mind too much.

He sauntered back into the kitchen to check on Candy. He picked her up and ran a hand through her soft fur. “Come on, girl. We’re going out.”

She just looked up at Zitao and his face. Zitao laughed slightly and carried her out the door and into Sehun’s car. He let the pup sniff around a bit before placing her in his lap and starting the car. However, Candy refused to sit still. Zitao thought he’d have to drive with one hand the whole way, holding Candy down with his other hand.

Thankfully, half way to Jongdae and Joonmyeon’s house, the pup fell asleep on Zitao’s left leg. Zitao sighed in relief, not particularly wanting to get into an accident just because his six and a half month old puppy wouldn’t sit still. He risked a glance at the Maltese when he stopped at a red light, smiling slightly at how cute she was. Almost as cute as Jongdae.

The thought of Jongdae made Zitao grin even more. The light turned green again and Zitao continued driving, now grinning like the Cheshire cat, Candy still curled up, asleep on his thigh. Five minutes later, he arrived at Jongdae’s house. Joonmyeon had told him their parents were both at work by six in the morning, so it was okay to knock any time after that until nine or ten at night. Zitao parked the car and got out, looking at the time.

It was ten in the morning, currently; long after Jongdae’s parents had supposedly left, just to be safe. The walkway was a mixture of dirt, cement, and gravel. Maybe they just couldn’t decide on just one and went for all three? The grass had either yellow-y green patches here and there, or not even there at all. The door looked like it would fall off its hinges any second. If their parents had a job, why couldn’t they just get renovations?

Zitao shrugged; maybe they liked the ‘old and broken down’ look on a house. He made sure Candy wouldn’t fall of his arm (the pup was still asleep somehow, even after being lifted up and repositioned) and used his other hand to knock on the door.

Joonmyeon answered, a friendly smile gracing his lips. Jongdae was behind him, holding his brothers arm. Zitao laughed at how cute Jongdae looked; almost as if he was hiding behind Joonmyeon. Jongdae, hearing Zitao’s laughter, stepped forward, searching for the source, primed and ready to throw himself at the taller.

“What’s that?” Joonmyeon asked, pointing to Candy. “Or should I say, who is that?”

Zitao looked at Candy, scratching her head. “Her name is Candy. I had to bring her or else she’d get lonely.”

Joonmyeon smiled. “She’s so cute! And look at that little bow~ Aigoo, how precious. How long have you had her for?”

“A couple months.” Zitao responded, noticing the grin on Jongdae’s face upon hearing Candy’s name. He laughed. “Aigoo, Jongdae-hyung. Just come here. You seem way too excited to see me.”

Jongdae, grinned even more, which Zitao didn’t think was possible, and somehow managed to accurately throw himself at Zitao. Zitao quickly moved Candy so she wouldn’t get crushed and hugged the shorter back. Jongdae nuzzled against Zitao’s chest like a huge dog or…cat. Which, oddly, Jongdae reminded Zitao a lot of. He chuckled and pulled away.

“Calm down there, buddy.” Zitao said. “Candy is asleep and if I don’t be careful, she’ll fall.”

Jongdae pouted. “Sorry. I just missed you.”

Zitao rolled his eyes, but smiled and patted Jongdae’s head. “You’re so cute. To be fair, I missed you, too.”

“Awww.” Joonmyeon cooed. “You guys are adorable. Almost as cute as Yifan-hyung and I~”

Zitao and Jongdae flushed in embarrassment. Zitao cleared his throat to quickly change the topic. “S-so…Jongdae-hyung, or Joonmyeon-hyung, does either of you want to hold Candy-ah?”

Jongdae’s eyes lit up, but he seemed to pretend not to care. Probably to allow Joonmyeon a chance to hold the Maltese puppy. Joonmyeon nodded enthusiastically, causing Zitao to laugh and carefully hand the still asleep (how the hell does this thing sleep so well?) puppy to Joonmyeon.

“She’s so soft.” Joonmyeon said. “And adorable. And like I said that bow is just so cute. Oh my God, I sound like a school girl or something.”

Zitao laughed, along with Jongdae. Joonmyeon gave the dog to Jongdae, knowing his brother wanted it. He turned to Zitao. “Well, I better get back in. I have chores to do, and if I don’t get back to them, I’ll be dead.” He patted his brother’s head. “Have fun, kids.”

Zitao smile and waved at Joonmyeon. “See you, hyung.” He reached for Jongdae’s hand. “Come on, Jongdae-hyung. Let’s get going.”

Jongdae nodded and let Zitao take his free hand. With that, Zitao led Jongdae to the car and helped him inside. Candy had woken up and was now padding around Jongdae’s legs. Jongdae seemed amused, despite not being able to see the puppy at all. Zitao eyed the older out of the corner of his eyes with a smile.

“So, where are we going?” Jongdae asked after a long, comfortable silence.

“Anywhere I can take Candy-ah.” Zitao replied. “So…park, dog café…pretty much.”

Jongdae grinned. “That sounds awesome.”

“And there’s a little surprise too.” Zitao added mysteriously.

“You’re making me impatient, Tao-yah~!” Jongdae whined.

Zitao chuckled and removed one of his hands from the steering wheel to put it on top of Jongdae’s hand. “Just wait, hyung. You’re going to love it.”

Jongdae couldn’t seem to keep that smile off his face; he had smiled for the umpteenth time within a span of ten minutes. Not that Zitao minded of course—if Jongdae could smile all day for Zitao only, he would be the happiest man in the world. It would probably hurt though, to smile for a whole day non-stop.

Ten minutes later, the couple arrived at the park and Zitao parked the car. He helped Jongdae out of the car and grabbed a leash from the glove box. He took Candy from Jongdae's arms and attached the leash to her collar, setting her on the ground carefully. He looped the leash around his wrist and took Jongdae's hand in his.

Jongdae seemed just as excited as Candy, who was sniffing the ground and tugging against the leash as if saying 'Hurry up! I want to go!' Thankfully, at least Jongdae wasn't pulling Zitao in the other direction. Zitao laughed slightly and tugged gently on the leash telling Candy to stop.

"Anyways. Let's go walk around for a bit." Zitao said. "Candy-ah seems eager to be out of the house for once."

Jongdae smiled again and nodded. They started walking, stopping occasionally to let Candy sniff the ground and do her business. Jongdae would ask about the scenery, too, so he can imagine in as best as he can. Zitao liked this; it felt really good to walk around with someone you really enjoy being around and talking to them, even if it was just describing what was around them because Jongdae wasn't able to physically see anything.

Soon, though, Jongdae would be able to see. Everything. And that made Zitao even happier to think about. Soon, Jongdae would be able to see Zitao's face, and Candy...and everything else in this world. He grinned. He really wanted to tell Jongdae about this now.

"Hyung, are you hungry or anything?" he asked. "We can just eat here and skip out on the dog cafe. I don't think Candy-ah will mind."

Jongdae tilted his head slightly to think, then nodded. "Okay. I can eat."

Zitao smiled and took Jongdae to the middle of the park where there was a small pavilion of food trucks; a variety of delicious looking and sounding foods. Zitao hummed in thought as he surveyed the trucks, trying to decide which one would please Jongdae. He shrugged and just went to the nearest one and looked at the menu. Amongst everything else, one thing caught Zitao's eyes, possibly because of how odd it sounded.

"Kimchi...Tacos?" he mumbled, mainly to himself.

Jongdae seemed to hear it and looked over at Zitao. "Kimchi Tacos? That sounds nice."

"Really?" Zitao questioned. "Well, okay. I just get two then."

Zitao ordered him and Jongdae the food and led the older to an empty picnic bench in the middle of the pavilion. He tied Candy's leash to one of the legs of the table loosely and pushed a tray of food in front of Jongdae. Jongdae seemed to be able to smell it fairly well.

"Be careful." Zitao said. "It might fall apart."

Jongdae nodded and somehow managed to easily pick up the small 'taco' without making anything fall out. Zitao moved to eat his own 'kimchi taco', which...wasn't that bad. They ate in silence for a short period of time until Zitao took a drink from his Coca Cola and cleared his throat.

"So, hyung." he said when Jongdae looked over. "I have some good news."

"Hmm?" Jongdae tilted his head. "What is it?"

"Believe it or not, but...we found someone who might be able to make you see." Zitao announced. "And we might get to go to China to see the guy."

Suddenly, Jongdae broke into the biggest grin Zitao had seen all day. Then, the older threw himself at Zitao, hugging him tightly. Zitao laughed and hugged the latter back. Jongdae pulled away slightly, still grinning. Zitao couldn't help but quickly peck Jongdae's lips. Without Jongdae even saying anything, Zitao knew he was really excited. That was good enough for Zitao.

Word Count: 2,492

A/N: Sorry for the delay. I got a new laptop. And other things. -cough-editingotherfics-cough- But here it is finally. Not much--running out of ways to end things. I'm so bad at it. OTL

I'd like to point out one thing: There actually IS such thing as a Kimchi Taco. I saw it at a food truck once. Never tried it because it was expensive (Like $5 or something). But it's a legit thing. They're like...really tiny though, so even with 3 (which it comes with), it's still not worth the $5. 

Anywho, yeaaah. I have something planned for when they go to China. c; Jongdae's blindness doesn't seem like a good enough conflict. Though I haven't quite decided how it'll play out. It won't be like serious. Just random character addition. (Props to whoever can guess who it might be; you've all been pretty good at figuring things out)