Yi Fan missed him so much. He missed the times they laughed and cried together.

He missed the times when Tao wouldn't hesitate before jumping into his arms, whining about the large cockcroach he'd encountered in the hallway.  He missed the times when Tao would do his adorable aegyo at him, those puppy eyes urging Yi Fan to go shopping with him (and to pay for all their purchases). He missed the times when Tao would bring home a pair of earrings and blush shyly as he passed one to Yi Fan, the other already hanging from his ear. He missed the times when they'd get home after practice, stinky and sweaty, but still laughing as they undressed each other, Tao spraying Yi Fan with the showerhead, before the other retaliated with splashes of water.

Yi Fan remembered Tao's G-Dragon phase, during which he'd sing 'Crayon' at the top of his voice all the time.  G-Dragon's provocative personality seemed to have rubbed off on the panda-eyed male, at least from what the elder could tell. He'd pinch the taller's cheekily, declaring their love to be a rainbow full of colours as droplets of water danced around them.

“Come on! Come on! Come on!” Tao yelled repeatedly, his mop of inky black hair whipping around crazily on his head. His hands had danced around Kris' body, touching and teasing as the lyrics of the rap part flowed from his tongue, his broken Korean making it all the more endearing. The song ended, but the pleasure reached a new peak. The next one on the playlist, 'That XX' started to play, and this time, Kris sang along, slowly and gently pushing into Tao's body.

That remained submerged in that shower of paradise for a long while, taking their time touching and pleasuring each other, enjoying every moment of contact, enjoying the taste of happiness on their tongues. For the both of them, it was heaven; it was eternity.

Heaven wasn't the limit; they reached further than they could have ever imagined. They extended the breadth of their paradise to the galaxy; to the bright and shining stars that sparkled around them.

“I think we just found the magical world,” Tao whispered into Kris' ear, limbs entangled in a giant mess on the bed, after they travelled to the galaxy they always dreamt about. The elder laughed, voice hoarse from being overused.

Tao pouted.

"It was fun! I wanna go there again, Kris? Can we?" The panda-eyed boy turned to his lover, mustering his best aegyo.

“Whenever you want, babe, whenever you want,” Kris whispered back softly, afraid to break the calm atmosphere.

“I love you, Kris-ge.”

“I love you too, babe.”

“Promise me that we’ll be together forever. Promise me you’ll never leave me.”

“I promise.”

“Seal it with a kiss? Pwease?"

Kris chuckled again; his Tao was so adorable. He gently pressed his lips to the younger's, revelling in the somehow sweet taste of the other's lips. He pressed their lips closer, willing for him to feel his promise of forever.

“I love you.” Kris suddenly felt the need to repeat as if confirming the promise again.

“I love you more, ge. Now go to sleep, or Hyunkyun hyung will scold us tomorrow."

--

To Kris, it was better to let Tao hear a broken vow than to let him see how his lover get tortured by his inner demons, his slowly dying heart. It’s better to let him break free of all the love they had, to let him forget all memories they built, to let him move on and find a new forever,to let him enjoy his life without a burden, to let him be happy always and forever.

To Kris, it was always better to stay away, to never let him know, that sometimes, forever isn't real.

At least not theirs.