“Kai!” Baekhyun yelled, before grabbing the said boy by the arm, and dragging him out of the canteen, even before he had managed to sit down. He shot Kyungsoo an apologetic look, who had a confused expression on his face.

When they were a bit away from the canteen, Baekhyun let go of Kai’s arm, who in return shot him a glare “What the hell!?!” He said, before looking behind Baekhyun “And what are you doing here?!” He spat at Tao, who was busy texting, but who looked up from his phone “Oh, me?” he asked “I’m here for the same reason” he answered, and went back to his phone.

“What is this about?” Kai asked as he leaned back on the lockers, eyes glaring into Baekhyun’s “You are ignoring us!” Baekhyun exclaimed and gave Kai a pout “Is this why you dragged me away?” he threw back

"-also the fact that you’re gay and didn’t tell us” Tao shot in, his eyes not leaving his phone which got Kai thinking, since when did he text so much? “I-I-” he started out but was cut short by Baekhyun “Why didn’t you tell us?” he asked calmly “We’re the same” he continued, with eyes that made him resemble a kicked puppy, and Kai was stunned for a second “I just… I was scared okay?” he muttered, and averted Baekhyun’s eyes “Soccer players are supposed to be- Masculin and straight! Like steel pole straight- and I thought- maybe I was the only one, and I was scared of what you guys might think-”

“-Taeyong and Jaehyun already knew though” Tao shot in again with an attitude Kai nor Baekhyun had seen before. He was cold and said things as they were.

“What?” Kai asked shocked “How?”

“It’s kind of obvious what’s going on between you and Kyungsoo, we don’t mind, we just hate that you threw us aside-” “-you hate” “Okay I hate it” Baekhyun finished and Kai thought for a moment, while Baekhyun and Tao, who had put his phone away, looked at him “I don’t know, I just, I just needed to figure everything out?” he reasoned with a shrug of his shoulders, eyes still averting the others “Okay,” Baekhyun said, and Kai looked at him “Just don’t throw us away, we like you a lot, and none of us are judging you”

Kai slowed nodded his head “Okay” he said “Okay”

“We have a problem” Taeyong spoke to Baekhyun, Tao, Yuta, and Sicheng, inside of a supply closet at their school “What? And why are we inside here?!” Baekhyun spoke irritated “Because this important and secret okay?” Taeyong said again, his eyes wide, and slightly panicked. The others could clearly see his distress “Tao, I know you’re the captain on the team, and I should probably have confronted you about this earlier” he started out and  Tao’s interest sparked “What?” he asked, his eyes staring at the boy, while his arms were crossed. Was it about him not being a good captain? Was it something else? His uality? For all he knew, all of the “confirmed” gay members were standing in the room, except for Kai, but he wasn’t on the team anymore though.

“It’s Mark” he suddenly spoke after a minute or so “Wh-what about Mark?” Yuta asked, who had known Mark, almost as long as Taeyong had, which meant since middle school, maybe even longer “Tao, Baekhyun and Sicheng, you might not know, but Mark is religious okay?”

“So?” Baekhyun asked with a shrug of his shoulders, he didn’t really mind that, as long as they weren’t racist or anything

“Well” Yuta started, and the others turned their attention to the boy, who started to resemble Taeyong; His posture was slightly nervous, and he ran his hand through his hair "What is it?" Baekhyun asked

“When we were in middle school his best friend Haechan jumped out as gay to him, and Mark was the first person he had told” Yuta paused, and Taeyong continued “So when Mark suddenly started avoiding him, he was quite… broken. We, Yuta, Ten, Jungwoo and I didn’t know what was going on, so when we asked Mark about it, he just ignored us and walked away. Haechan told us later that he was gay and that’s why Mark’s avoiding him ‘Must think I’m the devil since it’s against his religion’ Haechan said to us once and just shrug his shoulders”

“And what’s going on now?” Tao asked, “Remember the conversation we had about Kai, and I told you about Ten?” Taeyong asked, and looked at the others, before sinking a lump in his throat "Yeah?” Baekhyun let out slowly “Wh-what about it?”

“Mark heard it, and now he’s avoiding me” Taeyong let out and walked around a bit in the small room. Tao didn’t like seeing Taeyong like this, it was frightening “It’s been like that for a week or two, and I’m afraid he’s gonna avoid you too” he continued after a while.

“Well does he know?” Sicheng asked, and Taeyong shook his head “He might know about Kai, and me too, but I’m scared he’ll come to the conclusion of you being gay too” he said, “What are we gonna do about it?” Baekhyun let out “Haechan told me to just leave Mark alone for now”

“What if that doesn’t work?” Tao asked, and they turned to look at him “What if Mark, never gets over it?” He could feel the panic rise in his chest, his heart sped up and he looked at Taeyong for an answer “He’ll come around okay? Don’t worry” he assured him “Let’s go. Practice starts soon”

To say it was awkward to step into the locker room, after knowing Mark is uncomfortable around them, would be an understatement. The five went in and started changing clothes, and Tao noticed how Mark would avoid them; he turned his back to them and didn’t even spare them a glance

“Hey Tao” a voice sounded beside him, and he turned to face Kris, and a smile became visible on his face “What’s up?”

“Wanna hang out today?” he asked, “Sure, yeah,” he said, and felt a bit giddy inside. But as soon as the words had left his mouth, a notification lit up on his phone. He took his phone and looked at it, and his smile faltered a bit.

Sehun: Remember we’re meeting tonight

 Tao: Yeah of course

Sehun: My house

“Hey Kris” He started out, and the tall boy that had turned to change, looked back at him “Yeah?”  

“I might not stay for long, I’ve got plans tonight,” he said and averted the taller’s eyes “Oh, okay,” he said and Tao missed how Kris’ face turned into a frown, and how his eyes filled with another emotion, that was far from happiness.

“So” Tao spoke as he stood on top of the bench in the room, just a minute or so later “On Friday we have our match against C high, and I wondered, should we keep up our old tradition and go to the BBQ after-” to which the teams roars and yells took over the room, and silenced Tao “Or should we let Yukhei throw a party?” he let out before continuing in a whisper “Of course, it’ll be in secret, so that others won’t find out- So what do you think?” Tao asked, and he didn’t miss the way Mark, seemed to avoid it all, just focusing on tying his shoes. His back turned to them all “A party?” Doyoung questioned. The boy was quite a pessimist, and a good boy, so it didn’t surprise anyone that he’d question it. Johnny rolled his eyes and Yukhei faked a cough and Tao continued “Yeah, a party, ‘cause we are high schoolers and we’ve gotta try it at least once okay? Most of us are graduating in a year, so let's make the most of it right Yukhei?”   

“YEAH” The said boy yelled and punched the air, and the others joined him. It always surprised Tao how extroverted he was, and how easily he could hype everyone else up “Can we invite the Music club?” Taeyong asked suddenly, and Tao knew it must have something to do with Jaehyun “Sure I guess, let’s invite the dance club too then, that way we’ll see Kai, and we’ll have girls too~” Tao suggested and the room filled with excitement, even though he didn’t really care about the girls, he’d rather drink and dance together with his team “Okay, I guess that settles it, let's go train”

The training went fine if you don’ t count the infinite times that Mark seemed to ignore Taeyong’s words and Tao’s orders. It came to the point that Tao almost went off and yelled at him.

Mark ignored the tactics they were playing with and did his own things, and instead of playing to Taeyong, he risked so much by passing the ball to Doyoung. It angered Tao so much because he didn’t just ignore him. He ed up their friendship and his friendship with the team.

“What’s up with Mark?” Kris asked Tao once during the training while Mark was being told off by the coach. Tao was filled with so much frustration and anger that it threatened to spill over right then and there. Just the mere mention of his name made him furious. To be honest he didn’t care that he wasn’t supportive of Taeyong, or him or Sicheng and Yuta. BUT he was NOT letting it destroy their team! They’ve got a ing match this Friday and if Mark can’t accept it, then they’re ing screwed! And it would be his fault!

“How should I know” Tao growled, eyes focused on Mark, a glare so intense it scared Kris. He’d never seen such a scary look in his eyes ever. Tao’s body was on fire, his fists and jaw clenched, his whole body was tense and Kris was scared, he was scared for Mark. He would never want his best friend to look at him like that. It was like Tao was gone, and replaced with an angry wolf. The eyes were red, and its teeth were sharp and ready to find your throat. Kris snapped out of it, but held his hand around his throat, scared by the image.

“Hey Tao” he calmly let out and grabbed his wrist, which made Tao turns to him, and his expression change “Please calm down,” he said, and Tao was back with that wolf-like look in his eyes, and Kris felt his own breath hitch “I am calm,” he said, before pulling his arm from Kris’ grip and walking away.

He watched his friends figure walk across the field, and Johnny’s figure running to him.

As he always does, he ignored whatever was stirring in his stomach and walked to the other members.

“So” Kris started out, and Tao let out a small mhm? “What’s really up with Mark?” he asked. They were on the way to Kris’ house after a horrible training, since Mark’s stupid act affected the whole team “It’s nothing” he said and hoped Kris would dismiss it “Really? Even if it is nothing, it’s still affecting us, so maybe you should talk-”

“-Taeyong’s tried already okay?!” Tao blurted out, which made Kris stop in his tracks. The shorter let out a frustrated sigh before continuing “And if he doesn’t want to talk to him, then why would he listen to me?” He asked, glaring into Kris’ eyes, before turning away and starting to walk again “You’re the captain Tao! He has to!” Kris said and followed him "Didn’t you see him at practice today? He ignored me! What can I do when he won’t listen to me?!- Not even the coach?!” Tao was practically yelling by now and Kris regretted he brought it up, almost regretted it.

“Then I’ll try talking to him. I’ve come to know that the younger members look up to me”

“You do that” Tao let out with a sigh “I won’t interfere in something that’s not about me” but that was a lie. It was about him. t was about him as a person and he hated it, even if it was to be expected since Korea might not be the best place for them to be open. But even so, it’s not like they’re really open about their uality, and Mark, Mark is from the West! Aren’t they supportive?! Johnny is supportive! Onew is supportive! So why can’t Mark support them?- or at least just Yua and Taeyong that he has known for so long?

“So, what do you wanna do today?” Kris asked, as his arm slung around Tao and landed on his shoulders.

Tao ignored the warmth that spread, and he ignored the fact that he wanted to lean onto Kris “I don’t know, watch a show?- Isn’t Joy and Sungjae on we got married right now?” Tao questioned, with a small smile. "I don’t know” Kris replied “I don’t really watch those things,” he said with a small laugh “I don’t really think it’s that real”

“It’s real!” Tao barked at him, with a playful voice “Of course it is!” Kris threw back sarcastically “What the Oh so great Tao says, so is thy law” He rolled his eyes before laughing like a maniac together with Tao ‘If only you knew’ Tao thought but kept laughing. He loved spending time with Kris, though he felt guilty for never asking him if they should hang out. It was always Kris who asked him, and often Tao would reject the offer, to distance himself from him, but that never works, because the taller always finds a way to smash himself into Tao’s life; Whether it’s by voicing his concern, or coming right when Tao needs him to. He keeps pulling Tao to him but pushing him when he finds a new girlfriend. Tao would like to know what Kris actually wants.

But there they were. At Kris’ house watching ‘We got married’ on his laptop while laying on his bed with Tao cooing the couple once in a while “Oh my god. They’re meant to be” he would let out, and Kris would shake his head but agreed anyway.

“How long has Yuta and Sicheng been together?” Kris asked, in the middle of an episode, and he saw the other freeze slightly but answer nevertheless “Uh, I think, a month or two, I’m not sure” his voice was shaking slightly, by the sudden question his best friend asked “Why?” he managed to ask, even though the word had a hard time forming in his throat “I was just wondering, since they’ve gotten closer lately, compared to last year” he explained with a shrug “Yeah” Tao whispered.

“They suit each other” Kris continued “They do” Tao replied and went back to watch the show “You know, I’m proud of them” Kris continued and turned to lay on his back and Tao just let out a forced “hmm” sinking a lump in his throat and listened to Kris’ words “Really, I think it’s cool that they are together, and even if they aren’t out about it, they don’t pretend it’s not there,” he said.

He awaited Tao’s reaction, but the latter didn’t say anything, so he continued “You know. I hope someday they’ll come out to us. Cause they haven’t yet” Kris glanced at Tao, and saw his best friend's body tense up “Right?” he continued and Tao muttered silently “No” Tao heard Kris rustle around, but ignored it “Then, how do you know?” Kris asked, his voice right at Tao’s ear, and when Tao turned to look at him, he was right in front of him. His face was mere millimeters away from his. His own wide, scared eyes looked into his cold, stern and calm eyes “Wh-what” Tao let out, as he heard his heartbeat louder and louder, as the taller made no sign of moving away.

“How do you know that they are dating?” he asked “I-I” Tao started out but fell silent as all he could focus on, was Kris’ lips, that were so close to his own.

“Hey, Mark” A high pitched voice sounded. The said boy wanted to ignore the voice and move along, but turned around nevertheless and faced his best friend “What?” he asked, his voice slightly cold and without interest “Heard about the party on Friday from Yuta, I’ll make sure to come” he said with a slight smirk “Cool” the Canadian said, and the other scoffed “Really what’s wrong with you lately?” he asked, and moved closer to his friend “It’s like, it’s just like middle school all over again!” he continued, and Mark could hear the frustration in his voice but kept his face emotionless “It’s not like middle school” he argued “Far from” haechan let out a small laugh “Not like middle school?” he let out “Not like middle school?!” he yelled at him, and the elder flinched “You are ignoring your friends, and messing up your friendship with them! Not only that, but you’re also taking it out on your teammates!”

“Haechan this has nothing to do with you!” Mark threw at him, his eyes piercing him “This has EVERYTHING to do with me!” Haechan growled at him “No it doesn’t!”

“It Does! Cause YOU accepted ME, so why can’t you accept Ten and Taeyong?!” His body was filled with frustration and Mark, just stared at him “You’re different” he replied “How am I different?! They are your friends just as much as I’m your friend! There is no difference!” Haechan let out a deep breath and ignored the burning feeling behind his eyes “There is a difference Haechan why can’t you understand that!?” Mark yelled back at him “Because we’re all friends!” he threw back, and went silent. It took him a moment to put himself together and continue in a shaking voice "You threw your religion aside when I came out to you so why can't you do that now?" 

"Because I can't" He just answered. It was the only reason why couldn't, and he didn't want his family to look down at him for being friends with fags

“Okay if you can't put your belief aside for friends, I guess we aren't really friends. Because friends accept each other Mark!” he said in his broken voice and walked away from Mark.

A/N- So what did you think of this chapter? It's been a few weeks, hasn't it? Well, I hoped you enjoyed it :D