Chronos (/ˈkroʊnɒs/; Greek: Χρόνος, "time," also transliterated as Khronos or Latinized as Chronus) is the personification of Time in pre-Socratic philosophy and later literature.

 

Huang Zitao is the smartest boy in the school, but most people don’t even know who he is. They see his name at the top of the principal’s list, he gets the highest grades in school, and almost nobody knows what he looks like. He wins awards for his academic achievements all the time, but he never shows up to collect them. He’s something of an enigma, and everyone wonders why someone so smart never shows up to brag about it.

The truth is, Zitao goes by Tao most of the time. Tao is a quiet little boy who keeps to himself. He doesn’t make much of a fuss about anything, he keeps his head down, he goes to school in oversized sweatshirts with his hood pulled up, never says a word to anyone. He flits between people in the halls, scurrying to and from class, head down and mouth shut. Some people at the school have gone their whole lives without speaking to him.

Outwardly, Tao is as quiet as a mouse. But the inside of Tao’s head is another story. He’s bursting with words and ideas, but he never says anything. There’s a reason for that.

Tao flickers in and out of real time like static on an old TV. Sometimes he skips when he talks, but not on purpose. He can control it, but only when he really tries. Most of the time, it’s out of his control. People wonder why he has such good grades, but anyone could get good grades if they studied for thirty hours in a twenty four hour day. Tao believes that he doesn’t deserve his awards, because he cheated to get them. Not on purpose, never on purpose. But he cheated nonetheless.

In movies and comic books, people with super powers are supposed to be heroic. They’re supposed to find a way to save the world. Not Tao. No sir, he could never. He can barely talk to someone, because if he tries they ask him why he’s stuttering, skipping around. He has to be careful when he walks, that nobody notices how he’s there one minute and gone the next. It’s exhausting, mentally and physically. If Tao could have one wish, it would be to switch his time-controlling abilities for invisibility. Or if he can’t switch, then tack invisibility on, because it would make moving around a lot easier.

It’s sort of eerie, being able to move around when everyone else has stopped. Tao’s been able to do it for as long as he can remember. But when he tried to tell people about it they would laugh at his imagination, or yell at him to stop telling lies. When nobody believed him, Tao stopped talking about it. When it slipped outside of his control, he stopped talking altogether. His parents are confused by their son’s silence, but as long as he brings home perfect grades they feel like they’ve got nothing to complain about. When he asked to go abroad to Korea to study, they said yes without hesitation—he had a full scholarship, after all.

Tao wishes he could be like Superman, or Spiderman. They use their powers for good, to save the world. Tao could use his power to save the world, if he knew what to do after he stopped time. He’s not strong enough to push two cars about to collide away from each other. What good is stopping time if he’s the only one who can do anything, and stopping time is the only thing he can do? Sometimes he does nice things, like stopping time so he can keep the waitress from spilling the food on the floor. Once he was walking home and heard a girl scream for help. He froze time and dragged the girl five blocks, away from her attacker. But he has to be careful with things like that, because people get curious. He can’t erase their memories, so they’re left wondering what the hell just happened.

Tao feels like he should be happy to have this gift. It makes him special, and different. Doesn’t everyone wish they could stop time? But Tao doesn’t want his gift. He wants to be normal. He’s so very lonely. Nobody wants to talk to someone who sounds like a broken record. Tao just gets so excited when someone speaks to him, and he’s noticed that the more excited he is, the harder it is to control his gift.

What makes Tao more excited than anything is when Lu Han notices him. He feels like the poor protagonist in an anime, waiting for senpai to notice him. But Lu Han looks like he stepped out of a manga—tall, beautiful, popular, talented, captain of the soccer team, and rich besides. His family has houses in China and Korea. He’s the hero of every book, movie, and song. And he’s nice besides that. he could easily be a bully, or conceited, but he’s not. He hosts parties at his house (mansion) in the country all the time, he invites the whole school and introduces new students to older students, he always offers help.

And Tao, because he watches Lu Han almost obsessively, sees that Lu Han is tired, too. it must be exhausting, having so many people look up to him and taking him up on his offers for help. Tao wonders why he keeps it up, but if he stopped suddenly he’d probably lose all his friends. If Tao was that popular, he wouldn’t want to jeopardize it at all.

But Tao wishes he could talk to Lu Han, if only to say that he understands. Instead, Tao is stuck talking to Lu Han while he’s frozen in time.

 

 

“Hi, Tao.”

Tao jerks his head up. Lu Han is there, smiling at him. The hallway is crowded, everyone is getting their books before school lets out for the day.

“Hi,” Tao whispers.

“How are—” Lu Han freezes. The whole hallways freezes, and all sound fizzles out. Tao waits a few seconds.

All the sound comes rushing back. Lu Han’s lips move, “—You—” he freezes again.

Tao stares at him, the little scars on his cheek and under his lip. He wonders how Lu Han got them. Maybe playing soccer? Maybe he got into a fight?

“—Doing today?” Lu Han finishes, smiling brightly. The hallway is noisy, a locker slams a few feet away.

“Good,” Tao says quickly. Lu Han opens his mouth slightly, very slightly, and then freezes.

Tao holds onto the freeze. He straightens up and lets his hood fall down.

“I’m okay,” He tells Lu Han’s smiling face, “Better than yesterday. I didn’t freeze too often today, maybe I’m getting better at controlling it? What about you, Han-ge? You look tired, I can see the shadows under your eyes. You should sleep more, take a step back from everyone else. You’re not a hero, gege. I wish you would take care of yourself.”

Lu Han’s smile never wavers.

“I know,” Tao laughs, “I’ll try to sleep more, too. I don’t know if I freeze time in my sleep, but I always wake up tired so maybe not.”

Tao brushes his fingers over Lu Han’s cheek. “It’s so tiring. I wish it wouldn’t happen. I wish it would just go away. I’d like to talk to you for real. Would you like me, if I did? If I came to school dressed like everyone else, if I didn’t have to hide and make myself small, would you look at me differently? Would I be brave enough to kiss you for real?”

How many times has he asked Lu Han these same questions, and he’s never gotten an answer. He and Lu Han are the same height, he needs only lean forward a little to be able to kiss Lu Han’s pretty lips.

Tao knows what he’s doing isn’t right. He shouldn’t kiss Lu Han when he’s frozen. But this is only ever as far as he goes—just kissing. He could do more, but he would never. He doesn’t kiss Lu Han the way people do in the movies, with their mouths wide open and tongues all over the place. He just touches their lips together, sometimes more than once. It’s still wrong, it’s so wrong, and he hates himself for it.

In middle school, before Tao’s control really got bad, he talked to Lu Han for real. He was careful, and he didn’t freeze time at all. Before Tao could stop himself he asked Lu Han what a kiss felt like. Lu Han grinned and kissed him—a light press of lips.

“It feels like tha—” Lu Han said. He froze, and Tao burst into tears. It took a while for him to stop crying. When he managed to stop crying long enough that Lu Han couldn’t tell, he allowed time to continue. He doesn’t remember what excuse he used to get away, but he ran after that. Since then, his control over time has gotten worse and worse.

Tao wonders if it’s all Lu Han’s fault, or maybe it was a coincidence. Maybe his control would have gotten worse even if Lu Han hadn’t kissed him. He’ll never know, but he secretly steals kisses from Lu Han because it’s not like he’ll never kiss anyone else. Someday Lu Han will move away for school, and Tao will never see him again, so does it really matter?

He gives Lu Han one more kiss. Then he pulls his hood back up and allows time to start again.

“Glad to hear it,” Lu Han says. “See you around.”

He walks away, and Tao watches. He freezes twice before he walks out of Tao’s sight. Tao continues to pack his bag, and then he leaves school.

 

 

A few days later Tao is scurrying through the hall to get to class when he happens to hear a door close. Ordinarily he’d think nothing of it, but he’s frozen time by accident. In the dead silence, he heard a door close. But how could that be, when he is the only one moving?

Time starts again, but Tao quickly freezes it once more.

“Hello?” He calls. “Is someone there?”

He strains his ears. He hears nothing, but he knows which door he heard close—the bathroom down the hall. He allows time to start and heads for the bathroom instead of his class. He darts into the men’s room, not keen on peeking into the girls’.

There’s one other person in the bathroom with him. He’s not wearing a uniform, and he looks older. He’s very pretty, but Tao thinks Lu Han is better looking.

“Who are you?” Tao asks. “This is a high school, you can’t be here if you’re not a teacher or a student.” Maybe he can stop time and drag this stranger out of the school.

“My name is Kim Jaejoong,” the man says, a small smile on his lips. “I’m not supposed to be here.”

Tao’s heart beats faster. He could do something about this. He stops time, and the stranger freezes with one foot raised in a step. Tao moves halfway across the room, then the stranger puts his foot on the ground with a resounding slap.

Tao is the one who freezes this time. The school is silent, he didn’t allow time to start. The stranger grins widely and takes another step forward.

Tao screams and scuttles back.

The stranger takes another step forward.

“Get back!” Tao screams. He loses his grip on time, it flickers around him. Stillness and motion, sound and silence.

The stranger his head to the side and grins. “Isn’t this what you wanted?” He croons. “Someone who could understand you?”

Tao’s back hits the door. He doesn’t know why he doesn’t just leave. “Wh-who are you?” He stammers.

“I told you my name, Kim Jaejoong. I suppose you can call me Jaejoong-hyung. Or Jaejoong-ge, if you want. I’m impressed with your Korean language skills, but then I suppose you have a lot of time to study, don’t you?”

Tao doesn’t know if he’s ever been so scared in his life. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he blurts, like he hasn’t stopped time a dozen times since he walked into the bathroom alone.

Jaejoong shakes his head. “Of course you know. Just like I know. I’ve been watching you, little Tao.”

“W-watching me?” He repeats.

Jaejoong nods. “For a long time, in fact. I can’t believe you didn’t notice me. But you only have eyes for Lu Han, isn’t that right?”

Tao was wrong—this is the most scared he’s ever been in his life. “You…how…” He raises a shaking hand to his mouth. His whole body is shaking.

“You must like him very much,” Jaejoong muses. “You kiss him an awful lot.”

Tao gasps and starts crying. He presses his hands to his mouth in an attempt to muffle his sobs. His chest is heaving and he’s sure that the whole damn world can hear him. This is the end, he’s been exposed. Lu Han is going to hate him. Oh god.

“Please, oh god,” Tao sobs behind his hands. He lowers them and his pathetic cries echo around the bathroom. “Please, please…” he can’t even speak.

Jaejoong is right in front of him. Tao flinches back, but Jaejoong wraps his arms around Tao’s shoulders and holds him. He’s laughing. This is the worst day of Tao’s life and this stranger is laughing at him.

“Why are you crying?” Jaejoong asks.

Tao sobs even harder. “D-don’t tell…Lu Han,” he begs. “Please…don’t…tell him.”

Jaejoong his hair. “Don’t you like him?”

“I can’t!” Tao wails, “I’ll never be able to tell him because I’m an awful person, I’m a horrible person, I know I shouldn’t have done it, I’m sorry, I’ll stop, I swear I’ll stop—”

“Shh,” Jaejoong soothes, rubbing Tao’s back. “Calm down, for the love of god. If I had known you were going to flip out on me I would have done this differently.”

Tao’s knees give out and he falls against Jaejoong.

Jaejoong grunts and barely manages to hold Tao up. “Really now,” he says, “There’s no need to freak out. I was just teasing you.”

Tao pushes Jaejoong away and falls to the floor. “You bastard,” he gasps. He’s still crying. “I hate you.”

“Now that’s just plain rude,” Jaejoong says. “I’m trying to help you out here. Haven’t you wondered why I’m able to resist your power?”

“No!” Tao yells, “I was more worried that you’d tell Lu Han I was molesting him!”

“Oh for the love of god,” Jaejoong says, crouching next to Tao. “I’ve seen better kisses from twelve year olds. Lu Han would probably find the whole thing terribly romantic. If you’re so upset about it, why did you kiss him in the first place?”

Tao pulls his hood completely over his head so he won’t have to see Jaejoong judge him anymore. “He kissed me first. He was the only one who ever noticed me and cared enough to try to talk to me, and he kissed me when I asked what it felt like. And it was so nice because it felt like he wanted me, and it felt like I was real. This whole time, I just feel like everything isn’t real. This isn’t supposed to happen, people can’t control time, so how can I do it? How is it real? What if it’s all in my head, what if none of it is real?” He starts coughing, he’s been crying too hard. “When he kissed me…it felt like I was normal. But I’ll never be normal, and I’ll never be able to tell Lu Han that I wanted him, and how much it meant that he kissed me.”

“You are such a drama queen,” Jaejoong sighs. “You could give Changmin a run for his money.”

Tao sobs again and buries his face in his knees. “Just leave me alone,” he moans. “Go away.”

“Hey,” Jaejoong snaps, “I’m trying to help you here. You’re not the only one with abilities like this. There are more of us, and we can help you. Look—” He drags Tao’s head up and shoves his wrist under his nose. “See this tattoo? It makes me immune to Chronokinesis—time control. I got it because of you.” He shows Tao his other wrist. “This one helps me control my own power, which I’ll tell you about once we get home.”

Tao gapes at him. “Home?”

“Yes,” Jaejoong says exasperatedly. “Where me and the other gifted young people live. You’re going to have to stay with us if you want us to help you control your power. Once you get control, you can live a normal life.”

Tao scowls at Jaejoong. “You scared me half to death, how can you expect me to trust you?”

Jaejoong shrugs. “The fact that I’m still moving when the rest of the world has stopped isn’t enough for you?” He grins smugly. “How about a kiss, then?”

Tao gapes at him.

“You said kissing made you feel real, right?” Jaejoong asks. “So how about I kiss you?”

Tao hates that he feels tempted. He would sell his soul for a chance to feel loved, he’s that starved for attention.

Jaejoong cups Tao’s face in his hands. “Hey, Tao,” he says gently, more gently than any other tone he’s used in this short amount of time, “This isn’t a joke. I’m not teasing you. I’m completely serious.”

There’s a lump in Tao’s throat that won’t go away, and it’s choking him. “What happens if…I go with you? What about my parents, and school?”

“We’ll take care of everything,” Jaejoong says. “Don’t worry about it.”

Tao feels like his brain is frozen. He knows time is still flickering, he can hear it in the static sound in the hallway, even though he can’t feel himself stopping it. Jaejoong brushes his thumbs under Tao’s eyes, wiping away his tears, but he makes no other move.

But he is moving. Somehow—he said his tattoo helped him resist Tao’s power? Tao reaches up with a shaking hand and grabs Jaejoong’s arm, lowering it so he can see the tattoo. He rubs his finger over it, and it doesn’t smudge.

“It’s real,” Jaejoong says. “All of this is real. The help I’m offering you, the home you’ll get to stay in, the people you’re going to meet, it’s all real.”

But does Tao trust him? Jaejoong has scared him, made him cry, given Tao every reason to hate him…but he said he was teasing. That doesn’t excuse him, but Tao’s done inexcusable things too. And now Jaejoong is being very gentle and caring. Tao feels like he’s got whiplash.

But in the end, this is about how badly Tao wants help with his power. And he wants it badly.

“Okay,” Tao says. “I’ll trust you.”

Jaejoong looks surprised. “Oh. So does that mean you don’t want that kiss?”

Tao’s face turns bright red and he ducks his head down with an embarrassed whine.

Jaejoong laughs again. “It’s no big deal, I’ll kiss you. I’ll kiss you whenever you want, I don’t mind.”

Tao peeks up at Jaejoong. “Really? It’s okay?”

Jaejoong stops laughing, and he looks quite sad. “You poor thing. How long has it been since you even touched someone?”

Tao shrugs. “I can’t. if I froze time and moved by accident, they’d know immediately when time started again. I couldn’t risk it.”

Jaejoong shakes his head. “Come here, baby.”

Tao kneels, lowers his hands. Jaejoong sits directly in front of him and, still holding his face, pulls Tao closer. Tao closes his eyes. His heart is going wild, the hallway is a mess of sound-silence-sound-silence

It’s different from kissing Lu Han. The feeling of motion is so different. It’s been so long since Tao touched someone who could move, even the slight motion of Jaejoong’s fingers against his face makes his stomach fill with butterflies. But the kiss is the best part of all. Jaejoong’s lips are so warm, and the slight huff of his breath against Tao’s mouth is even warmer. Tao’s mouth falls open in shock, and in a second Jaejoong’s tongue is in his mouth—

‘Oh lord, help,’ Tao thinks to himself. He feels like he’s going to melt, or float away, or wake up from this incredible dream.

Jaejoong leans back and Tao whimpers, trying to follow, but Jaejoong holds him back.

“Slow down,” Jaejoong whispers. “We can do that again later.”

Tao opens his eyes. He wonders if he’s going to start crying again.

Jaejoong smiles. “Isn’t is so much better when someone kisses you back?”

Tao nods.

Jaejoong lets go of his face and ruffles his hair. “Don’t get any ideas that I’m in love with you, kid. Love is complicated and messy. Kissing is just fun, understand?”

Tao nods again. “I don’t love you any way,” he blurts. “You’re kind of a jerk.”

Jaejoong doubles over with laughter. “Oh, I’m going to have fun with you!” He crows. He straightens up and holds out his hand for Tao to take, which he does.

“By the way,” Tao says as they walk out of the school, “I never told you my name. How did you know?”

Jaejoong smirks and doesn’t answer.

 

 

Jaejoong takes Tao to a large house in an upscale neighborhood. The house is completely ordinary, and Tao wonders why he’s disappointed about that.

Inside, they’re greeted by a tall red-haired boy with a ball of fire on his shoulder. Tao shrieks and almost runs away but Jaejoong grabs him by the hood of his sweatshirt and holds him back.

“Put that thing out,” Jaejoong orders the boy. “For christ’s sake, I said a million times we were having company today.”

“Sorry!” The boy says. The flame extinguishes and the boy holds out his hand. “Hi, Tao. I’m Park Chanyeol, pyrokinesis is my thing.”

Tao takes his hand—he’s burning up, but Tao supposes that makes sense.

“Where are the others?” Jaejoong asks.

“Baekhyun and Kyungsoo are here,” Chanyeol says. “Yunho’s in the kitchen—”

Jaejoong drags Tao along by his hood. They arrive in the kitchen a few minutes later, where an older boy is standing over the stove.

“Yunho!” Jaejoong chirps, letting go of Tao and throwing his arms around the older boy’s shoulders. “I’ve brought Tao.”

Yunho looks over and smiles. Where Jaejoong is pretty, Yunho is handsome. Jaejoong has narrow, delicate features, and Yunho is more broad and square. They look beautiful together.

“Hi, Tao,” Yunho says. He walks away from the stove. “It’s nice to meet you.”

Tao nods, but his words of greeting get stuck in his throat.

Yunho smiles understandingly. “It’s a little overwhelming, isn’t it? Don’t worry, we won’t do a lot today. Your belongings have already been moved into your room, and we’re notifying your parents that your residence has changed. We’ll take care of school too, that is if you want to continue attending. For now, we’ll just take care of your tattoo and then you can go to sleep.”

“T-tattoo?” Tao asks. “What are you talking about?”

Yunho frowns and turns to Jaejoong, who is currently fussing over the pot on the stove.

“Jaejoong!” Yunho says sharply, “Did you actually explain anything?”

“Yunho,” Jaejoong mimics in a similar tone, “Did you actually attempt to cook?”

“You’re such a child,” Yunho growls, and Jaejoong actually flinches. Yunho pays no attention and turns back to Tao. “Sorry about him. He showed you his tattoo, right? Explained that it makes him immune to the effects of your power?”

At the mention of his power Tao jumps and time suddenly stops. It quickly starts again, and Yunho frowns. “Did you just stop time?”

Tao nods. “Sorry,” he says meekly. “It hadn’t happened in a while.”

“It’s okay,” Yunho says. “It shouldn’t happen too often here, most recoils don’t. I know none of this makes sense to you right now, but I promise I can explain it later. Right now we really need to get you tattooed so we can get your power under control. Come with me.”

Tao follows Yunho to a set of stairs, and then up to the second floor. They go down a long hallway and end up in a small room with two chairs, a small table with a lamp, and a lot of mysterious vials. Tao gets one look at the room and turns around only to slam into Jaejoong’s chest.

“I’ve got Kyungsoo watching dinner,” Jaejoong says, turning Tao back around. “Hopefully he can save the madness you created.”

Tao feels like his heart is going to beat out of his chest. Normally time would be flickering like crazy, but now it’s not. Yunho sits in one of the chairs and pulls out an old looking, leather-bound book. He flips a few pages, then holds the book out to Tao, pointing to a design in the lower right corner.

“That’s the tattoo you need,” he says. “Pretty simple, right?”

It looks like an hour glass, and in the book it’s small.

“Is that, you know, actual size?” Tao asks.

“Yes,” Yunho says. “It’s very small, but it needs to go somewhere visible. The more visible is it, the more powerful it is. Have you ever seen the anime Black Butler?”

“No,” Tao says.

“Oh,” Yunho says, “Well, um…the tattoo is like a seal. It keeps your power from controlling you. It’s more effective if it’s in a visible place, one that you can see yourself, as well as other people. We usually put them on the wrist.”

Tao grabs his own wrist. “Is it a real tattoo? With a needle?”

“Yes,” Jaejoong answers. “But it only hurts a little, I promise.”

“As if your promise means anything to him,” Yunho sighs.

Jaejoong sticks his tongue out at Yunho. “Will you shut up if you’re not going to be helpful?” he turns to Tao and hugs him suddenly. “It’s better if you do this now,” he says. “So you can stop flickering in and out of real time. The tattoo is a brief bit of pain for something that will make your life a lot easier.” He pulls back and Tao’s cheeks. “You can be brave for a few minutes while Yunho tattoos you, right? It won’t take long.”

Tao shrugs. “I don’t know.”

Jaejoong smiles. “I know you can.” He plops down in the other chair and pulls Tao into his lap. “Here, we can sit like this—” he tucks Tao’s head against his neck, “And I’ll hold your arm like this,” he takes Tao’s left hand and guides it down until it rests on the table, then slides his hand up until he’s holding Tao’s forearm.

“There we go,” Jaejoong says.

Yunho is frowning again. “Don’t force the kid.”

“I’m not!” Jaejoong protests, “I’m giving a demonstration.” He takes his hands off Tao’s arm. “You can leave if you want to,” he tells Tao, “But you’re going to need a tattoo eventually.”

Tao squeezes his hand into a fist, nails biting into his palm. “It’ll make me stop…it’ll help with the flickering?”

Jaejoong nods. “It might still happen but not nearly as badly as it has in the past. Maybe once or twice a day, compared to the hundreds of times it does now.”

Tao turns to Yunho. “Do it. I can take it.”

He really can’t. He jumps when Yunho draws the tattoo on his wrist, he jumps when Jaejoong takes his arm and holds it down, and he jumps when Yunho turns on the machine that will engrave the ink in his skin. He cries the whole time, because it really does hurt, but Jaejoong tucks Tao’s head against his neck and tells him that he’s being so brave, and he’s so proud.

After only a few minutes the tattoo is done. Yunho sprays it with something numbing and covers it with gauze. “I’ll give you ointment to put on it tomorrow. Now you should go sleep.”

Jaejoong walks Tao to the third floor of the house and leads him to a room with two large beds.

“You’ll share this room with me,” Jaejoong says. “Do you want me to stay with you until you fall asleep?”

“Would you?” Tao asks.

“Of course,” Jaejoong says. He looks sheepish. “I know I didn’t…do this right. I’m a bit of a mess right now. But I promise I’m going to help you.”

Tao doesn’t fully trust Jaejoong just yet, but he’s starting to see that Jaejoong isn’t such a bad guy.

 

 

Over the next few days Tao gets introduced to more people than he’s ever been introduced to in his entire life. There’s the five older boys—Jaejoong, Yunho, Yoochun, Junsu, and Changmin. Tao doesn’t know what their powers are, and nobody will tell him they say he has to guess. The five of them are mentors, they take care of the other boys. Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Jongin, Kyungsoo, and Jongdae. Jaejoong says that there are more, but they don’t live in the house. Jongin can teleport, Baekhyun can control light, Jongdae thunder, and Kyungsoo has super strength. Jaejoong says that of all the boys they mentor, those five plus Tao have the most volatile powers, or recoil. The other boys are able to live with their families.

Recoil, Jaejoong explains, is the effects of their powers. In some cases, it’s very mild. Chanyeol’s recoil is his elevated body temperature. Tao’s recoil seems to be his lack of control, but Jaejoong says that it could be something they haven’t discovered yet. One boy, Joonmyun, whom Tao hasn’t met yet but who lives in the house most of the time, doesn’t seem to have a recoil. He’s in America for a semester abroad, but he’s Jaejoong’s student as well.

Tao spends the first few days getting used to his new home. He doesn’t have to go to school and he’s still trying to decide if he wants to go back. He’s been discussing it with Kyungsoo, who also doesn’t go to school. Tao thinks Kyungsoo is his favorite, but Baekhyun is a close second. Kyungsoo is a little odd. He’s owl-eyed, with heart shaped lips, a habit of staring at nothing and talking to himself, and a no-nonsense attitude. He reminds Tao of a motherly figure, but he’s got a violent streak. He frequently beats Jongdae, Chanyeol and Baekhyun with pillows and the odd wooden spoon when they make fun of how short he is, but he sneaks Tao snacks from the kitchen whenever he can—Jongin too, but Tao rarely gets a chance to talk to him before he disappears in a cloud of black smoke. Kyungsoo says that Jongin is really shy, he’ll warm up eventually. But the other three are pretty fun, Baekhyun especially. Baekhyun is Changmin’s student and Jaejoong always complains that Changmin raised him too well, he inherited Changmin’s sharp tongue. Tao likes it, because Baekhyun frequently targets Jaejoong. Nothing too bad, mostly it’s just sass.

Tao has a love-hate relationship with Jaejoong. On the one hand, Jaejoong is still a bit of a jerk, and Tao hasn’t quite forgiven him for the scare Jaejoong gave him at school. But on the other hand, Jaejoong is very genuine when he wants to be. Sometimes he says something really nice, and he lets Tao sleep in his bed with him without calling him a baby. And he kisses Tao whenever he asks for it, which isn’t too often.

“It must be very new to you, right?” Jaejoong asks on the third night. “Being so close to someone who’s actually moving?”

Tao nods and throws his arm over Jaejoong’s waist. The rise and fall of his chest as he breathes is fascinating, and Tao loves pressing an ear to Jaejoong’s chest and listening to his heart. But kissing is something he loves even more. Kissing requires people to be close, physically close, and Tao craves that more than anything. Besides that, it just feels really nice.

 

 

On the fourth day Tao is sitting in the kitchen with Kyungsoo when suddenly there’s a commotion in the front hall.

“Hello everyone!” A man’s voice calls, “I’m back for a visit!”

Tao almost chokes on his own spit. That voice is so familiar, but it can’t be…

He stands up just as Lu Han bounds into the kitchen. Lu Han, his Lu Han, is standing in the kitchen next to him.

“Tao!” Lu Han cries, “You’re here! You’re like me?! Oh my god!”

He runs at Tao and hugs him tightly. Tao can’t tell if he’s in heaven of having a nightmare.

“This is so great!” Lu Han screams, “I just knew you were different, I knew it!” He pulls back, a brilliant smile on his face. “You’ll love it here, everyone is so wonderful, I can’t wait to get closer to you! We’re going to be such great friends!”

Then just as fast as he appeared, Lu Han runs out of the kitchen, shouting for Yunho.

Tao stands frozen in the kitchen. Kyungsoo edges out of the room. Tao remembers a conversation he had with Kyungsoo just the other day—

 

“Do you have a girlfriend, or boyfriend?” Kyungsoo asked.

“Neither,” Tao said, “But I have a huge crush on a boy at school. His name is Lu Han.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes had gone even more owlish, but Jaejoong had appeared and dragged Tao away before Tao could ask Kyungsoo what was wrong.

 

Now Tao feels Jaejoong’s arms wrap around his waist and Jaejoong’s chin on his shoulder.

“Surprise,” he purrs in Tao’s ear. “Sorry I didn’t let Kyungsoo tell you, I wanted to see your reaction. Don’t worry, he still doesn’t know about you kissing him.”

Tao remains speechless.

“He has a huge crush on Yunho,” Jaejoong continues. “They’re kind of a thing, but it’s an open thing. Since Yunho and I also have a thing, I’m pretty close to Lu Han. I think, if you’re feeling brave, you could ask him to kiss you for real and he would. I’m sure Yunho would share.”

Tao finally finds his voice. “I really hate you, you bastard.”

Jaejoong laughs and kisses his cheek. “Now that’s just plain rude.”

 

 

 

 

 

I guess this is kinda like X-Men? IDK I never saw the movie/read the comic, all I know wbout it is whatever I pick up from tumblr. But they all live together with their one mentor, right? I really don’t know, please don’t kill me.

Also this has potential for continuation. I’ll mark it as complete though since I’m not sure when I would continue it but I kind of want to. I would just add on to the story if I did.