Chapter 25

Jongdae opened his eyes. He looked around, slightly dazed still. Nothing seemed different from before. It almost felt as if he were still dreaming or something. He blinked again and suddenly realized what was happening. He shot up abruptly, causing Zitao to nearly fall over in shock and stare at Jongdae in slight confusion. Jongdae could feel Zitao’s gaze on him. The taller male was probably more anxious than confused now. Or just curious.

"H-hyung...?" Zitao asked slowly, gasping slightly as he seemed to get a better look at the still slightly groggy ‘visually impaired’ male.

Jongdae looked at Zitao, and immediately felt a wave of calmness come across him. A strikingly handsome blonde sat in front of him with wide eyes. Jongdae smiled slightly and pulled Zitao into a tight hug. Zitao hugged back immediately, and Jongdae can hear a pleased sigh come from the taller. Jongdae laughed quietly and pulled away. He cupped Zitao’s face, caressing and examining it thoroughly as if he were blind again and trying to imagine what Zitao looked like. Only now he didn’t have to.

"I-I can see you, Tao-yah...!" he said happily. "Oh my God, I can see you!"

Zitao grinned and put his hands on Jongdae’s shoulder’s gently. He shook the older slightly. "That??that’s amazing, hyung! I’m so happy!"

Jongdae chuckled. "You are...just as I expected you to be, Tao-yah. So handsome..."

Zitao blushed slightly. "I??I...Well...y-yeah...I guess..."

He hadn’t meant to act...easily embarrassed so early on. But hearing such a compliment from Jongdae caused him to go completely red. He rubbed his nape slightly, causing Jongdae to laugh. He patted Zitao’s cheek and stood up. Zitao followed suit quickly, slightly disappointed that Jongdae was already trying to leave.

"Where are you going?" he asked, trying not to pout.

Jongdae rolled his, now vibrant, baby blue, eyes. "To see the others, silly. Then I wanna see you do your wushu. Oh, and isn’t it Sehun-ah’s birthday today?"

Zitao smiled slightly. "Well aren’t you a busy-body now that you can see? Pretty sure we promised one thing before all this."

Jongdae chuckled lowly. "You thought I forgot, didn’t you? I just didn’t expect you to almost beg me. Now that you bring it up though..."

Zitao looked like he wanted to say something, but he couldn’t. His face turned red again, causing Jongdae to pinch Zitao’s cheek lightly. He messed up the taller male’s hair and leaned up to kiss him gently. Zitao, slightly pleased with himself now, kissed back. However, much to Zitao’s dismay, Jongdae pulled back quickly.

"Maybe if you’re good, there will be more later." Jongdae commented slyly, winking.

Zitao pouted. "You’re having way too much fun with you’re vision back. Was your blindness holding you back or something?"

"Nah. I just like seeing your reactions to things." Jongdae laughed and pecked Zitao’s lips quickly. "Can I go see the others now? It’s been forever since I’ve seen Joon-hyung and Minseok-hyung! And I need to personally thank the person who healed me."

Zitao nodded. "Okay, fine. Oh, hold on! I should probably tell you this now before you freak out about it later. Yixing-hyung told me there was a side-affect, if you could even call it that, to your vision being returned."

Jongdae raised an eyebrow. "And that is...?"

"Your eyes are a little...different now." Zitao hummed slightly, trying not to stare directly into Jongdae’s eyes too much, fearing he’d drown in them if he stared into them for too long. Even if they practically begged him to look at them.

"Different how?" Jongdae questioned. "I don’t feel anything different. They don’t hurt or anything. They did burn a bit before I woke up, but not anymore."

Zitao smiled. "They’re gorgeous. And just...impossible to not look at."

"How so?"

"Shall we show you?" Zitao hummed and turned Jongdae around, opening the door and leading him towards the bathroom. "Close your eyes. You probably don’t want to, but trust me. There’s no point in a surprise if you can see what it is."

Jongdae frowned slightly but closed his eyes and let Zitao take him inside the bathroom. Zitao pouted slightly at Jongdae’s frown, but squeezed the shorter male’s shoulders gently. He stood in front of the mirror and looked at Jongdae for a while before saying or doing anything else. He shook his head and rubbed Jongdae’s arms gently.

"It’s...a bit shocking at first." Zitao said. "That’s part of why I was so shocked when you woke up."

"Tao-yah, you’re freaking me out now." Jongdae mumbled. "Can I open my eyes yet? I don’t like this. It makes it feel like I’m blind again..."

Zitao chuckled slightly. "Sorry, hyung. Slowly. Open your eyes slowly..."

Jongdae seemed to in a deep breath. Zitao squeezed Jongdae’s arms lightly and Jongdae opened his eyes. He gasped slightly and blinked a couple times as if he figured he was seeing things. He glanced up at Zitao, then back at his reflection. Nothing changed in it. Zitao smiled slightly and leaned down slightly.

"Surprising, isn’t it?" he asked. "Yixing-hyung said that this was the ‘side effect.’ Though I don’t see what’s wrong with it."

Jongdae looked up at Zitao. "This is nice and all...but...I’m more concerned about how people will think. How...my parents will think."

Zitao pouted. "I-if it bothers you too much, you can just wear contacts... Or sunglasses."

Jongdae turned around and stared directly at Zitao, causing Zitao to rub his neck and try not to look away. Jongdae took Zitao’s hand gently, frowning slightly. "It looks like you can’t even look at me properly..."

Zitao’s eyes widened slightly. "N-no! It’s just...you’re eyes are so stunning and pretty...I’m afraid I’ll get lost in them. Or stare at them for too long and make things awkward."

Jongdae leaned up slightly to kiss Zitao gently. He laughed softly. "You don’t want to stare at me for too long? How do I know that’s not what you’ve been doing this whole time I’ve been blind?"

"So...you’re okay with it...?" Zitao questioned anxiously.

Jongdae shrugged. "I have a feeling you’re not the only one in this relationship who will be staring. I don’t think I’ll ever get used to how handsome you are." he dragged his hand across Zitao’s jaw, causing the smaller to shiver and blush slightly.

Zitao quickly got over his embarrassment after realizing what Jongdae was saying and grinned, clapping happily. He pulled Jongdae into a tight hug, almost lifting the smaller off the ground. "Yess! I love you so much, hyung!"

Jongdae laughed and patted Zitao’s back gently. "I love you too, Tao-yah. Now let’s go. I’m sure the others are itching to know the outcome of Yixing-hyung’s work."

Zitao nodded and let go of Jongdae, allowing him to leave the bathroom. He trailed behind the shorter happily, bouncing on his heels as if he were a child who just had a lot of candy. Zitao watched Jongdae look around excitedly at everything, touching things every so often and smiling, obviously pleased that he could see again. Zitao smiled as well to himself.

The first thing Zitao heard when they enter the main room was Yifan laughing for some odd reason. Zitao at first wondered if it was because of Jongdae’s eyes, but quickly realized that his old friend wasn’t looking at Jongdae at all; he was looking at him. Zitao was slightly confused and watched as Joonmyeon hit Yifan in the stomach. He sat down next to Jongdae.

"Is it bad that I was paying more attention to Zitao’s smug grin more than Jongdae’s eyes?" Yifan asked, still laughing. "Seriously, his grin was brighter than Jongdae’s new eyes. It looked as if Zitao had done something to Jongdae."

Joonmyeon hit Yifan again. "God, just shut up, Yifan. Zitao is obviously just happy that his boyfriend can see again. As am I"

"Whoa, hold up." Yifan said. "Aren’t you forgetting something? Like an honorific?"

Joonmyeon rolled his eyes. "Calm it, buddy. Or no chicken for you. Or anything else."

Yifan opened his mouth, but closed it again after hearing the other threat, which Zitao barely understood properly. Clearly the younger of the two had more authority in the relationship, which made Zitao laugh to himself. Jongdae chuckled out loud, however, shifting his position slightly to get more comfortable. After Joonmyeon was done dealing with Yifan’s , he smiled at Jongdae, who smiled back at him happily. Yixing smiled calmly off to the side.

"How does it feel to be able to see again, buddy?" Joonmyeon asked, reaching over to touch his younger brother’s hand. "Any expectations you had that weren’t a reality?"

"Like Zitao’s face?" Yifan laughed.

Joonmyeon slapped Yifan’s arm. "Just stop talking, hyung, jeez!"

"What? I’m not being rude or anything!" Yifan defended "It’s how I express my love for him. He doesn’t care. He insults me all the time!"

Jongdae laughed. "No, Yifan-hyung. Tao-yah looks exactly how I imagined him. Tall, dark, and handsome."

Zitao blushed as Yifan seemed to hold back laughter. Jongdae chuckled and touched Zitao’s hand gently. Joonmyeon cooed. Yixing chuckled as he drank a can of pop. Or...a can of something. Zitao, who had momentarily looked over to see what the ‘doctor’ was doing, couldn’t tell really, since the can didn’t have a proper label. He didn’t want to ask.

Minseok also had an amused look on his face. Zitao smiled slightly and turned his attention back to his annoying friend and his boyfriend as Jongdae laughed at his brother’s reaction. While the others weren’t paying attention, Minseok leaned forward as if wanting to join in on the conversation. However, as he leaned forwards and changed position, his leg got caught on the leg of the small table. He yelped slightly and toppled over.

Right onto Yixing. Both males toppled over and fell to the ground, Minseok almost pinning Yixing to the floor. The sound was loud enough to bring the attention of the two couples arguing and chattering. They looked over, Yifan smirking in amusement, Joonmyeon chuckling, and Zitao and Jongdae confused and shocked. Minseok gulped and looked over at them, them down at Yixing.

Word Count: 1976(?)

A/N: I'm not sure if the format of this will be what it looks like in the chapter editor, but if it does, I apologize. I was trying to fix the other format before because it was seriously pissing me off. 

ANYWAYS. Sorry for the delay. I only got a new word processor recently and had to finish a chapter for a different fanfic. (My Microsoft Word expired, just fyi) New chapter! And perhaps a new pairing? c; Tell me what you think about this pairing. I've never actually seen much, but there's no other members, since I think I'll only be adding Luhan in to just mention him. But we'll see how things go. If you guys would rather have Xiuhan, I'm totally cool with that. lmao.