“Hey, Tao!” Chanyeol yelled, running after the younger boy, “Wait up!”

Baekhyun trailed behind his sprinting boyfriend, still too tired to be running anywhere. Even if he did run, there was no way he would be able to catch up with Chanyeol. That boy ran too damn fast. It must be his long legs or something. Or his constant hyperactivity. Yeah, that was probably it.

Tao turned around, a questioning look on his features, “What?”

Chanyeol caught up to the raven-haired male, panting a little from running too fast.

“You said you were going to tell me what you were so upset about this morning,” he managed to get out in between his short, heavy breaths.

“Oh, yeah,” Tao’s eyes became sad once more, much like that morning, “I’d forgotten about that.”

Baekhyun walked over to the two, “Shall we go and find somewhere to sit? Somewhere quiet?”

Tao nodded. Chanyeol didn’t answer. He was too busy wheezing, bent over and clutching his knees.

“This is why you shouldn’t run everywhere, you idiot,” Baekhyun patted the tall boy’s back, as if he were a child.

Chanyeol shook his head, holding up a hand to show that he was alright. He just needed a minute.

The small group found a set of chairs in the college common room, near the back so that no one would disturb them. They could have gone to the bike sheds if they didn’t want anyone around at all but that would have gotten them some strange looks. Tao sat down first, in the corner, and the BaekYeol couple followed, drawing up two seats to sit in front of Tao.

“Now,” Chanyeol rested his hands in his lap and leaned forward a little, “What were you so down about this morning? Has something happened?”

Tao shook his head, “No. I mean, yeah. Well, not really. It’s always been like this but sometimes I notice it more than others.”

Baekhyun was confused, “What do you mean ‘it’s always been like this’? What are you on about?”

Tao was silent for a few seconds.

“Promise you won’t laugh?” He brought his eyes up to flicker between the two older males before him.

They looked at each other briefly before nodding, eager to hear what had made Tao so depressed. The raven-haired boy inhaled deeply, breathing out before he said anything.

“I kind of,” a pause, “like someone.”

Chanyeol’s eyes widened, “You do? Who?”

His voice raised considerably in volume, causing some of the others in the room to turn round and look in his direction. Baekhyun punched him lightly in the arm.

“Ow!” Chanyeol whisper-yelled.

“Be quiet, will you?” Baekhyun turned back to Tao and instructed him to continue, ignoring Chanyeol’s grumbles of ‘so mean’ and ‘such a y boyfriend’.

Tao cleared his throat, shifting in his chair.

“I’ve liked them for a while now but I don’t think I’ve got any chance with them. No, I know I don’t have a chance with them,” he corrected himself, eyes pointing to the floor once again.

“Why would you say that, Tao? You’re amazing. You’re handsome and talented and kind. Why wouldn’t you have a chance?” Baekhyun’s eyes turned sad, his hand reaching out to the younger boy’s arm reassuringly.

“You don’t understand. It’s complicated. I know that if I say anything, I’ll mess it all up. I know I will. That’s why I swore not to tell anyone. I’m going against my promise to myself by talking to you two now.” Tao sighed again.

“You never know unless you give a go,” Chanyeol offered his input.

Baekhyun nodded, “Yeah. Why not try it?”

Shaking his head, Tao laughed dejectedly, “No way. I don’t want to.”

“It’s obvious you do,” Baekhyun said, “If you like this person so much, you want to be with them, right?”

Tao shrugged. He wasn’t being very helpful right now but Baekhyun and Chanyeol knew it was hard for him. Despite his tough appearance, Tao was very sensitive. He was emotional and shy, not liking confrontation or anything that would frighten him. He cried often but only his close friends knew about that.

“Tao, listen to me,” this was Chanyeol, “Whoever this person is would be lucky to have you, okay? You’re an amazing person who is respectful, loving, generous and loyal. You’re a great friend to us and I can only imagine how much of a wonderful boyfriend you’d be. I can see that you really like this person. You wouldn’t be so upset if you didn’t like them. Am I right?”

Tao didn’t respond straight away, drawing his lips into a straight line. Eventually he gave a small nod. Tears were starting to fill his eyes, clouding his vision and blurring out his surroundings.

“Hey, hey,” Baekhyun reached for a tissue in his pocket, passing it to the younger boy, “Don’t cry, alright? It’s okay.”

Tao let out a choked laugh, wiping his eyes.

“Sorry,” he blubbered.

“Don’t be sorry. It’s alright.” Chanyeol smiled, scooting his chair closer to Tao.

They gave Tao a minute to calm down, to stop the tears that were threatening to fall and regain his regular breathing.

“Now, do we know this person?” Baekhyun asked, pulling Tao’s chin up so that he was looking at them.

Tao nodded slowly.

“Are they in our form?” Chanyeol inquired, trying to build a picture and figure out who was causing Tao this amount of pain and heartache.

A small shake of the head.

“Okay,” Baekhyun pondering for a moment before asking another question, “Did they eat with us yesterday?”

Another nod.

“So it is a boy?” Chanyeol perked up, pleased with his deducing abilities.

Tao nodded again, blushing slightly. He chose to ignore Chanyeol’s comment of ‘I knew it’.

“Well, it can’t be one of the new boys because you said you’ve like this person for a while,” Baekhyun thought aloud.

“Is it Luhan?” the taller of the two asked suddenly.

Tao shook his head. He could feel his heart beating faster, getting worried now about his friends finding out his secret – the secret that he’d kept hidden for so long. He felt scared about how they’d react but he knew it had to be done. There was no going back now.

“Chen?” Baekhyun offered.

Tao lowered his head and muttered something, too quiet for the couple to hear.

“What? What did you say, Tao?” Baekhyun leaned closer, trying to hear the younger one.

He repeated, a little louder, “Kris…”

Both Baekhyun and Chanyeol were shocked, their eyes widened more than usual.

“Kris?” Chanyeol whispered, “As in scary dragon Kris?”

Tao didn’t say a word, his head lowered still, fiddling with his own fingers.

“I’m sorry,” he mumbled, his voice cracking slightly.

“Why are you apologising?” Baekhyun chuckled, hitting Tao’s leg gently.

Tao smiled and looked up, shrugging once more, “I don’t know.”

“You should have told us before, Tao. We could have helped you sooner,” Chanyeol ruffled the younger’s hair, causing Tao to pout.

He was relieved that the two boys hadn’t made fun of him for it or shunned him.

Before they could talk some more, the bell rang, indicating that break was over and the three boys had to make their way back to their form room.

“We’ll talk about it when we get back to class, okay?” Chanyeol wrapped his arm around the raven-haired male’s shoulders as they walked.

Tao just nodded, feeling as if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders.