OH MY GOD!!! Thank you all for reading and supporting this story! *hugging everyone* You guys are awesome!! AWESOME!!

So, here is chapter 2 of the story :D

Have fu~un ;)

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“It’s Kris”

Kris.

Kris

KRIS!!!!

“Listen, Tao, don’t do anything –“ but Tao was already out of hearing-distance. As quick as lightning, he had side-stepped his manager and bolted towards the main hall. One name the only thing in his mind.

Kris.

Kris!!!

“… stupid” Qiang sighed as he realized that he was talking to thin air.

Great.

With slumped shoulders, he trudged after the boy, already bracing himself for the scandal that was bound to happen tonight.

Great. Just... great.

Arriving slightly panting in the main hall, the purple haired boy looked around frantically, searching with excited yet agitated eyes for the one whom his manager had talked about.

He didn’t have to seek for long – the man was standing out like a grand dragon in the midst of low rats. It was impossible to look past him.

“Kris!!” Tao shouted the moment his eyes found the elder, having forgotten the reporters surrounding them, having forgotten where they both were, what positions they were supposed to be in.

No.

He only saw Kris, his Duizhang, the one he loved… the one he had longed for ever since he had seen him for the first time.

And there he was, standing in the middle of the red carpet, surrounded by reporters and cameras… but only staring at him, Tao.

A few minutes earlier

Taking a deep breath, Yifan excited the backseat of the black car, stepping directly on the red carpet that lead to the event location.

‘That’s it…’ he thought, as he took one step after the other in a hurriedly yet lordly manner towards the entrance, his manager trailing closely behind him. He could feel the eyes on him – incredulous, dumbfounded, shocked even. Stares of reporters that couldn’t believe, what was happening in front of their very eyes, gaping gazes of other guests that were standing on the red carpet as well about to get photographed or answering a question from the media.

All of them, frozen in shocked stupor.

It was enough time for Yifan to walk over the red carpet in long, fast strides and entering the main hall, before any of the attendant crowd could even react and delay his arrival at the actual event.

The moment the heavy doors closed behind them, all hell broke loose in front of the building.

“Lucky bastard” his manager grumbled from behind him, causing the actor to chuckle.   

“That was just the beginning” Yifan whispered, not willing to let any of the people around him hear his words.

“I know…” the elder sighed, before following his protégé out of the protective shadow of the entrance  in which they had hidden for a few seconds to catch their breaths.

‘Here it comes’ he thought. And he should be right. The instant Wu Yifan set foot into the brightly lit main hall, the second the other guests caught eye of the actor, silence spread with lightning speed. Dead, scandalized silence.

Everyone stared at the newly arrived, and no-one believed what they were seeing.

Wu Yifan.

Kris.

Attending his former band-member’s solo-release.

…

Were they dreaming?
Was that real? Was this reality?!

The silence though, only lasted a few seconds, a few instants that everyone needed in order to grasp the situation. Crucial instants that served no other purpose than convincing every single person in the room, that no, this wasn’t a dream.

No, this wasn’t an alternative universe.

This was real.

This. Was reality.

And the second this particular realization settled in, an uproar unlike anything Yifan had ever experienced, erupted, crashing down on him.

Cameras went off, flashes blinded him and the yelling voices of all the reporters that clustered around him like moths around a light, blurred into one. Question over question was thrown at him, almost drowning him.

But he didn’t notice… didn’t hear a single word of what they said to him. Because his eyes had found the one his heart had yearned for.

Tao.

Tao.

Standing only a few meters away from him, the latter’s gaze intertwined with his own. And Yifan’s breath hitched, heart almost leaping out of his chest.

Tao.

Tao… the one he loved with all he had… with all he was.

“Kris!!” the younger shouted, silencing the reporters effectively with only the taller man’s name.

Silence.

Once again, as everyone let their gazes wander between the two males, anxious for what was about to happen.

Two men, once sharing the same dream, once standing on the same stage… once being friends… once being Duizhang and Maknae… once calling each other brothers.

What had they become?

What would they do? Seeing each other after more than a year of being apart.

Two men… facing each other after so many obstacles, so many problems… so much hate and cruel words.

What would they do…?

And as if the weight of the whole world had been lifted off his shoulders, Tao’s lips curled into a smile, relieved… happy… blissful even. Slowly, he set one foot in front of the previous one. Hesitantly shortening the distance that separated him from his Duizhang with every step he took.

One…

Two…

His pace fastened, faster and faster – until he broke out into a run, and jumped – literally jumped – into his love’s arms.

Startled, Yifan let go of the gift he had carried up until now, to catch the purple haired boy in a secure grip, wrapping his arms instinctively around the younger’s thighs to keep him in place, as Tao slung his arms around the taller man’s neck and his legs around the actor’s waist.

“T-Tao…” Yifan stuttered, eyes wide as dinner plates as he stared into the dark orbs of his panda, not understanding anything.

What was happening?!

Did… did Tao really just jump into his arms?!

Was he really clinging to him? Like a koala?!

Right now?!

As if to reassure himself that no, this wasn’t his imagination, not his mind playing cruel tricks on him, he griped the muscular legs wrapped around his waist tighter, holding them in an irony grip – and with no intention of ever letting him go.

Tao.

“Kris!!” the younger sobbed, his emotions getting the best of him, as he buried his face in his brother’s shoulder, arms still tightly slung around the man’s neck, not willing to let go anytime soon.

“Kris…” he whimpered, not being able to say anything else. Only that name.

That name… that had dominated his dreams and was missing in his reality.

That name… that stood for the man he loved… the one he had loved all along, and would love until time would cease to exist.

That name… that made his heart flutter and his chest tighten at the same time.

That name… that brought a smile on his face and tears in his eyes regardless.

That name that was capable of everything and anything.

Kris.

His Duizhang.

Not knowing how to react, Yifan only stared at the younger in his arms, forgotten where they were, or that they weren’t alone. Far from it, actually, still surrounded by dozens of reporters and guests who had parted like the red sea when Tao had begun running towards the actor.

People who, by now, were observing their every move with hawk eyes, dead set on not missing out a single second.

But neither of the two idols paid them any mind. Those people weren’t important. Right now, the world only consisted of them, of Zitao and Yifan… of Kris and Tao.

Only them and their embrace.

Out of all the scenarios the actor had played out in his head, this wasn’t one of them. Definitively not.

He had expected to be screamed at… to be ignored… heck, to be thrown out, even! But not this. Not Tao jumping in his arms and almost suffocating him due to the too firm hold he had around his neck. Not Tao uttering his name over and over again. Not Tao crying a river into his shoulder.

Not that Yifan minded, of course. He was merely confused.

Very confused.

“Tao…?” he croaked out eventually, trying to get the younger’s attention and get him to lock his gaze with his own. He wanted to see those eyes. Those black-rimmed panda-eyes.

“You’re here…” the boy in his arms mumbled instead, face still buried deep in the actor’s shoulder – seemingly with no intention to change their position anytime soon.

“I am” Yifan replied soothingly while shifting the purple haired boy in his arms around a bit, so that he could actually hug him back without having to set the other down. He liked Tao where he was just fine – securely in his arms and body pressed closely against his own. Yeah… it was a feeling he could get used to.

A feeling he wanted to get used to.

“I… I can’t believe you’re here…” Tao continued, gripping at the expensive fabric of the blonde man’s suit beneath his fingers “I… all those months, I… I missed you so much! I… I missed you” again the singer cried, not being able to contain his feelings. They were too intensive. Just too much.

Everything was simply too much, everything he felt, everything that happened.  Too many things he didn’t expected to experience tonight. Had hoped for, yes, but never thought it to be possible.

Kris.

Right in front of him! He in the elder’s arms!! Was he dreaming?

“I missed you too” the blonde mumbled against the crock of Tao’s neck where he himself had buried his face into. Daringly, he ghosted his lips over the sensitive skin, causing the boy to shiver at the intimate contact.

“You know…” Tao murmured, his voice hoarse and almost inaudible against the elegant fabric of the elder’s black suit against his mouth, “I… all of that” he crooked his head slightly towards the event playing out around them, towards the hall they are still standing in the middle off… towards everything that marked his, Huang Z.Tao’s, solo debut.

“… all of it… I did it for y