Kris still couldn’t believe that it was happening… Tao had actually agreed to leave the dining hall, WITH HIM. They walked so close that their shoulders were almost bumping and he could feel himself visibly shaking with happiness as he chanced a glance at the slightly shorter male.

What he didn’t notice were the looks people were giving them as they made their way through the quad and back towards the dorm rooms. He also missed a small group of Tao’s friends, Sehun and Luhan included, waving thumbs up signs at Tao as they passed.

 As he stared at the tattooed swimmer he tripped on his own feet and would have fallen onto his face had not Tao been there to grab his arm and keep him balanced. Deciding to concentrate on trying not to embarrass himself any further Kris began small talk and hoped that Tao wouldn’t find him an idiot.

‘So which dorm do you room in? I’m in Winthrop which is right next to the gym which is kind of nice because, well, you know…it just is…’ Kris trailed off as he realized he was rambling.

Chuckling Tao folded his arms and looked up, meeting Kris’ eyes and catching him off guard. ‘I make you nervous don’t I?’ Tao asked in his semi-high pitched voice.

Trying to keep eye contact but failing when he felt his cheeks begin to turn red Kris replied with a mumbled ‘I don’t know’ and was relieved when they finally made it to his building. As he reached for his key card to the front door he was surprised when Tao pulled out his own and beeped them through.

‘You don’t leave your dorm room very much do you?’ Tao asked as Kris looked dumbfounded. ‘I live in the dorm directly under you, you would have known if you ever came to the meet and greets.’

The look on Kris’ face was beginning to make Tao feel a little regretful that he hadn’t told him earlier but it was just too amusing to pass up.

‘How long did you know that I lived above you?’ Kris asked as he pieced everything together and threw his hands in the air narrowly missing a rather short guy with big eyes who was trying to get by them. ‘Why didn’t you say something in class? We could have been friends! We could have avoided the whole Suho and Lay thing!’

Tao, not being able to hold it in anymore, burst out laughing and as Kris menacingly glared at him he laughed even harder. ‘I’ve known since the first day of classes when I sat beside you because you were the only familiar face.’ He wheezed as he tried to catch his breath, ‘I didn’t actually know you, I’d just seen you walking up the stairs to your dorm room a couple of times. All you did was stare at me in class so I was waiting until you said something first, but you never did. I was going to just let it go but then your friend Suho talked to me in class and I decided I couldn’t wait any longer, I wanted to meet the guy who stared at my tattoos like he loved them as much as I do…’

The last part was whispered and both boys found themselves staring at each other and standing in the middle of the hallway, students walking around them like they were invisible.

‘I do like your tattoos.’ Kris finally broke the silence, ‘…do you want me to make you lunch?’

Chuckling at the awkwardness as much as the reply Tao nodded his head and followed Kris up the stairs to the room he had wondered about ever since he had seen the tall, then black haired, guy unlock the door while simultaneously reading a book on Charles Daniels (a famous American swimmer). He remembered how he spent that night wishing he had said something to him and hoping that somehow he’d get another chance to meet him. When he’d walked into class the next week and saw the same guy tucked into a desk near the back of the room he’d smiled and made his way over. When he’d caught the same guy staring at him in the dining hall and realized that he stared at his face almost as much as he stared at his tattoos he’d known that he had found the one. Suho’s little “talk” with him during their art class had simply made up his mind that he needed to something about it.

With a startled yelp Tao found himself coming out of his thoughts and back to reality, bumping into the back of Kris as he suddenly stopped to unlock his door.

‘You okay?’ Kris asked with a slight grin forming on his face. ‘You looked super deep in your thoughts or something. Anything you wanna talk about?’

‘Maybe later’ was Tao’s reply as he stepped into the doorway ‘definitely okay thought.’

As they made their lunch and talked about everything they loved and had in common Tao and Kris found themselves happy that the dreaded 8 am class had given them what seemed like a lifelong friendship and maybe something even more.