(( A/N Hey everyone! I know this is several hours later than usual, since I'm always updating before 1am on Fridays. Sadly that may change a bit. Updates will still happen on Fridays but it may be later in the day since school has started and on Thursdays I'm up for 12 hours by the time my last class is over. Last night I came home, ate a little and then went to bed because I was so exhausted.

So updates will still happen on their usual day, the when of that day will depend on if I get time before heading to class Friday mornings like right now. This story will also always update before my other one in the chance that I only get around to last minute beta-ing one chapter of something.

Another important thing; if you're only here for one specific pairing, I would suggest checking back every two or three months rather than vague statements about wanting more of a specific pairing. Yes I have mentioned before that you should say what you want, but you're going to have to be more specific and understand that this story has 7 dating pairs through out it, and Angel and I work hard on making sure that each pairing gets an equal amount of love!

So if you do want something for a pairing(like you have a date you really want them to go on, or you wanna know how they would deal with a certain situation) either send me a pm on here or send in an ask to our tumblr! If the ideas fit into the time line we have then it will show up here, other wise, when I have time, I will be having them in a different story thing on here like I have with almost all of the scenes that I have plotted out. Some will show up here, but not many.

Comments are fantastic and the motivate me to keep writing and they give Angel a chance to interact with you all since she's in charge of responding to comments, but I would love to ask that you refrain from the same comment every week because that doesn't give her something to talk to you about and doesn't give me much to go on.

Okay, rant over. I don't even know if any of you will pay attention to this, it's just a lot of stuff that Angel and I have been talking about and decided needed to be addressed. Time to introduce the final member~ ))

Chapter Fourteen:
Misguided Protection
 

Yifan’s eyes trailed up to the clock, a small sigh passing his lips before he rested his chin in the palm of his hand, propping his elbow up on the desk. Ten more minutes until this class ended and he had to go for his second exciting day as a mentor. He looked back at the board where the professor was writing down important due dates for the term, saying there would be no exceptions, and blah, blah, blah. As the professor went on for the whole ten minutes the thought of skipping out on the mentorship all together crossed his mind. There had been three mentors without mentees after people had been paired up, which meant that they didn’t need him, right? As if they were going to get any more mentees this term.

The professor finally dismissed the class and he slid his book and notebook into his bag, filing out of the class along with everyone else. He made it halfway to the mentoring classroom before changing his mind and direction. They weren’t going to need him, and with any luck the pianist he had seen practicing for and playing at the end of the year reception would be practicing in one of the music rooms. As he continued down the hall through the thinning crowd his focus escaped him, his head filling with thoughts of the blond Chinese man… and the images were soon followed by the memory of him kissing another blond’s cheek after he had played at the end of the year recital.

He was brought to the real world, his mood a little soured, when he knocked shoulders with someone. He looked behind himself to see the person running down the hall, calling ‘sorry! Emergency!” over her shoulder before she disappeared around the corner of the hall. Yifan turned back to the direction he had been going and that she had come from, stopping. There were five guys, shoulder to shoulder, facing a corner while most of them laughed at something.

“He can’t even say where he’s trying to go,” One snorted, tossing his head back in a cackle, giving just enough of a window for Yifan to see blond hair. He ran over to the gang, grabbing the back of the one who had spoken’s shirt and gave a hard yank back. The male stumbled back and his grin was stripped from his face, as he looked at Yifan with slight alarm. Not that Yifan noticed as he was looking at the blond he had revealed- far from the one he had expected to see, but the moment he registered the tear streaks on the boy’s cheeks he shot a glare at the guy he had pulled back.

“Leave him alone,” He said lowly, shifting his glare around to all the faces that were now watching his. The one that he had pulled back straightened, then raised his chin and sneered at Yifan.

“Cry baby needs someone to fight his battles from him,” He laughed, though it cut off when Yifan took a step towards him. “Let’s go,” He sniffed before turning and walking away. Three of the others followed immediately, the last staying back long enough to shove the blond hard enough to send him to the floor before hurrying after his friends. Yifan glared after the group until he heard a sniffle from behind and he turned his attention to the other, dropping beside him.

“Hey, are you okay?” He asked. “Are you lost? Is that why they were picking on you?”

“L-lost,” The other copied, nodding, his voice thick with an accent Yifan recognized.

“You’re…” He trailed off before starting again. “Are you part of the exchange program?” he asked, switching to Chinese and the other looked up at him with wide eyes still laced with tears. He nodded quickly, reaching up and wiping at his eyes, sniffling again. Yifan stood, offering a hand down to the other as well as a small smile.

“My name’s Yifan. I’m one of the mentors,” He introduced, pulling the other to his feet when he took his hand. The blond swallowed hard, then tried to smile back.

“ZiTao.”

~

“I’m sorry, Yifan-ah, but you’re already assigned to a mentee,” The head of the exchange committee said, looking between Yifan and ZiTao. “We have a few mentors he can choose from, if that would make you feel better,” She said, looking back down at ZiTao’s file.

“Then one of them can have the girl you paired me up with yesterday,” Yifan argued, his eyes giving a quick scan of the room. “She’s not even here, so I don’t see why it matters.”

“Yifan-ah, if we let everyone pick their own pairs for this there would still be people who wouldn’t get picked and it wouldn’t be fair because we would have to pair them up any way. That’s why we pair everyone up at random. I’m sure his mentor will take care of him.”

“I’m the one who found him, so I should be the one to take care of him,” Yifan’s voice rose a little, gaining the attention of several others in the room, and ZiTao reached out, taking a light hold of his arm. Yifan looked to him, taking in a deep breath. Yelling probably wasn’t going to get this to end how he wanted it.

The committee head looked from one to the other before she signed, closing his file and interlocking her fingers, setting her hand on top of the file. “I’ll make you a deal,” She started and both looked back to her. “ZiTao-ssi, being a first year, has to live in the dorms. He currently is set up to move in with two others in a four person dorm room,” She explained, looking from one to the other slowly. “You can take on the role of being his mentor… If, and only if, you move into the dorm with the three first years,” She said, watching Yifan’s eyes light up before his eyebrows knifed together.

“You mean I would have to babysit two other first years?” He asked.

“If you don’t want to, I’ll put him in someone else’s care,” She said, reaching over for a file that said ‘Mentor’ and Yifan reached out.

“No!” he exclaimed and she looked up at him, arching an eyebrow. “I’ll do it. Just… tell me what dorm, and I’ll go pack once we’re done here,” She smiled, opening ZiTao’s file again.

“Dorm room 347,” She replied, her tone a lot more pleased than Yifan’s, who sighed in response. “And today the mentors are supposed to be showing their mentees around the campus, so you two are free to go,” She added, writing in ZiTao’s file that Wu Yifan was his mentor and turning to the stack of matched mentors and mentees to pull out Yifan’s to change the information in it.

“Come on,” Yifan said to ZiTao, leading him out of the room. “Let’s get you home.”

“I don’t understand why they didn’t assign you to a dorm of other exchange students,” Yifan muttered as they walked down the hallway towards the dorm. ZiTao looked to him before back ahead, giving a small shrug in response. He still hadn’t spoken since giving Yifan his name, which was starting to worry him. They eventually got to the correct dorm room and Yifan hesitated for a moment before knocking on the door. There was a pause before the door lock clicked and opened slowly to reveal a blond and a dark haired pair. Yifan noticed ZiTao shift a little closer to him and he resisted the sudden urge to pull him into his side.
 

“I’m Wu Yifan. I’ve been assigned to your dorm to watch over the three of you while I mentor Huang ZiTao,” He explained, feeling ZiTao grab onto the back of his shirt lightly.
 

“You’re the exchange student, right?” The blond in the doorway asked and there was a pause before ZiTao gave a slow nod. The dark haired male beside the blond gave a tug on his arm.
 

“Sehun, let them in,” He said and Sehun looked at him before to the Chinese pair, stepping back. Yifan and ZiTao entered the dorm, ZiTao still partially hidden behind Yifan as the elder closed the door.
 

“Which room is ZiTao’s?” Yifan asked and Sehun pointed to the door behind them.
 

“Jongin and I took the other one, so you two can share that one,” He explained, noticing ZiTao take a small step closer to Yifan, looking down at the floor. He looked to Jongin, nudging his shoulder a little. “You’re staring again, Hyung,” He said and Jongin snapped his attention to him, blinking.
 

“He…” Jongin looked back to ZiTao. “He looks like he’s been crying…” He pointed out softy, intending for Sehun to be the only one to hear him, but the way ZiTao’s grp tightened he knew they had heard him as well. Yifan took a deep breath, wrapping an arm around ZiTao’s waist before he lead the younger through the door Sehun had pointed to.
 

“Here, sit,” Yifan nudged and the other sat on the bed by the window, Yifan kneeling down in front of him. “I need to go pack up my apartment and explain my sudden leave to my landlord. Plus get keys to the dorm for you and me. I’ll be back as soon as I can, alright?”
 

“I can go with you,” ZiTao replied, frowning. His eyes flickered to the doorway, catching the duo peaking in before they disappeared.
 

“ZiTao, you’ve had a long enough day today. Stay here, you don’t have to worry; I’ll tell them not to bother you. You should rest, and we’ll go out to eat or something if you want, when I get back. Okay?”
 

ZiTao’s frown hadn’t left his lips but he gave Yifan a nod and Yifan reached out, petting the other’s head. “I’ll be back soon,” He assured as he stood, ZiTao turning to follow his touch as Yifan pulled back. ZiTao slid out of his shoes before he moved up on the bed, lying down so he was facing the wall and Yifan felt his heart throb a little before he exited the room. He closed the door halfway, lancing back inside before he turned his attention to the duo on the couch.
 

“He seems to be having a hard time learning Korean, or he wasn’t taught much before he came here. I found him being harassed by a group that were enjoying making him cry because he was lost and didn’t know how to say where he was trying to go,” Yifan explained, watching Jongin look to the door and grip at the fabric of his jeans. “I need to go get my things and sort out a bunch of this. It was decided I would live here about half an hour ago, can you two…” He looked through the doorway once again. “Can you watch over him while I’m gone? I don’t think he’ll ask for anything, but,”
 

“We’ll take care of him,” Sehun said, Jongin nodding as his eyes were still locked on the door. “It’ll be like with a little kid who doesn’t know many words. We’ll find a way to figure out what he needs if it comes to that; Jongin’s great with kids,” He continued.
 

“You can count on us, Yifan- Hyung,” Jongin said, looking to him finally. “We won’t hurt him,” Yifan was still hesitant, but he made his way from the dorm to take care of things.

 

Sehun and Jongin looked at each other, Sehun being the first up from the couch to peek through the ajar door once again. Jongin joined him and they looked at each other before Sehun opened the door and they padded their way towards where ZiTao way lying. Jongin saw the way ZiTao’s body quivered and he grabbed onto Sehun’s arm to stop him, ZiTao tensing at the new sound in the room. ZiTao shifted a little, looking over his shoulder to the duo and Jongin tightened his grip on Sehun’s arm as ZiTao curled a little more into the ball his frame was already folded into, hiding his face wand dampening his shirt with the tears there. Sehun tried to step closer and Jongin tugged on his arm, shaking his head when Sehun looked at him. Sehun gave a single nod and Jongin released his arm, watching as Sehun sat on the edge of ZiTao’s bed, the older shrinking a little.
 

“We’re not going to hurt you,” Sehun said, slowly and softly, shifting loser as Jongin joined him on the bed. He reached out and felt a little less like this was a bad idea when ZiTao didn’t flinch under his touch. Sehun pulled ZiTao’s arm down so it wasn’t hiding his face and after a moment ZiTao sat up, facing the two.

“You’re safe with us,” Jongin said, ZiTao sniffling in response. “Do you… understand that?” He asked and ZiTao nodded after a moment. Tears welled up in his eyes again and he slumped against Sehun’s chest, the younger a little surprised. Sehun wrapped an arm around him gently and ZiTao shifted a little closer, a faint whine escaping him before Jongin moved to his other side. Jongin and Sehun looked to each other before Sehun tilted his head, resting his cheek on top of ZiTao’s head. Jongin rest his own against ZiTao’s shoulder, wrapping an arm around the sniffling figure as Sehun had, hearing him mumble something in Chinese.

Yifan finally got back, bringing up a couple boxes of things from his car, four hours later. He hadn’t gotten everything packed, not by a long shot since he quickly ran out of boxes to pack his things in, but he got things he would need in the next few days; his school books, some clothes, toiletries, and the perishables from his fridge. He set the box holding food beside the fridge, looking around. Where was the duo he had left ZiTao with? He stepped to the open door to his and ZiTao’s room, taken aback by what he saw.
 

Sehun was resting against the headboard of ZiTao’s bed, the older tucked into his side while Jongin laid halfway on top of the two blonds one arm and leg draped over them. Yifan’s shoulders relaxed and he leaned against the doorframe, crossing his arms over his chest as he smiled. Sehun’s eyes opened, and Yifan mouthed ‘thank you’ to which the blond nodded, closing his eyes again, Yifan stepping back and turning to go get the rest of the things from his car. He put the food away in the fridge, carrying the rest of his boxes as quietly as he could into the rom. Once he had, he moved over to the trio, tapping Sehun n the shoulder.
 

“If you and Jongin want to, you can leave him to me,” He said softly when Sehun looked to him. “That doesn’t look like a very comfortable position to sleep in,” Sehun looked down at ZiTao and Jongin, nudging the ladder with his foot to wake him. “Thank you both. I had no idea this was what you would do when I asked you to watch after him.”
 

“He was scared… We wanted to make him feel safe,” Jongin said. “We didn’t know what to say to him to do that.”
 

“Touch has always helped us when one of us was upset,” Sehun said, looking from Jongin to Yifan. “That might be because of our bond, but it didn’t seem like it would hurt to try it with ZiTao. He didn’t pull away, he leaned into me,” Sehun explained, Yifan reaching to pull ZiTao up a bit so Sehun could move out from under him. Sehun stood, moving to stand by the foot of the bed where Jongin was sitting, ZiTao finally opening his eyes. ZiTao looked up at Yifan as he started to lay the younger back onto the bed, and Yifan offered a smile to him.
 

“It’s alright, you can go back to sleep ZiTao,” He soothed and ZiTao sat up instead, pointing to Sehun and Jongin, who were very apparently confused as he started talking in Chinese. Yifan nodded and replied before looking to them. “He was telling me about you two coming to comfort him,” Yifan explained, looking back to ZiTao, asking him something. ZiTao looked to Sehun and Jongin, lowering his hand.
 

“Kausahanida,” He said, Yifan wincing a little as he smiled, correcting the other, who tried again. “Thank you,” he said, and the duo offered a smile.
 

“Goodnight,” Jongin said, slid off the bed as Sehun lead the way out of the room, closing the door as they exited.
 

“Are you still tired? Yifan asked, and ZiTao looked to him, nodding. “I have a shirt you can wear. Your things should be here tomorrow afternoon according to the help desk for the dorms,” Yifan said, making his way to one of the boxes he had brought, opening and digging through the folded clothing. He pulled out a short sleeved white shift that was loose on him and a pair of sleep shorts, handing them to ZiTao who had followed him to the other side of the room.
 

“Here,” he said and the other took the sleepwear before making his way into the bathroom in their room to change. Yifan pulled out a shirt for himself, changing into it and finding a pair of pants for himself by the time that ZiTao came back out of the bathroom. “They fit you alright?” Yifan asked and ZiTao looked down, pulling at the waistband hidden by the length of the shirt.
 

“My hips are bigger than yours,” he replied.
 

“You don’t have to wear them, you can sleep in just your boxers,” Yifan said, and ZiTao shook his head. Yifan gave a small shrug, taking his turn in the bathroom to change into his sleep pants. When he came back ZiTao hadn’t made his way back to his own bed, and he messed with the hem at the bottom of Yifan’s shirt. “Are you okay?” He asked and ZiTao nodded before swallowing hard.

“Can I… sleep in your bed?” He asked, peeking through his bangs at Yifan. “Just for tonight…” He added and Yifan nudged him towards his bed, crawling in under the covers after him.
 

((A/N So Angel is fantastic and was able to track down the interview where, I think it was Yixing, told the broadcast how ZiTao used to say thank you. She found it literally only knowing it was a thing and that it was in one of their many interviews so she deserved a lot of applause for that. ))