"K-Kevin?," Tao exclaimed in disbelief, his mouth hanging open. 

It took Kris exavtly five seconds to recover from the initial shock of Tao actually standing just a few metres in front of him. And then there was the next two seconds where he was lost for words, his mouth opening and closing like a fish. 

"Uh, what?" Kris said, finally rewarding Tao with a reply after approximately seven seconds. Kris then realised how dumb he must have sounded, completely opposite to the CEO that he was meant to be. He cleared his throught, straightening his tie. "I don't know who Kevin is, but my name is Kris Wu."

"Oh," Tao said, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion. Kris could tell that he wanted to say more but was trying his hardest to keep his mouth shut. 

Kris tried his very best to dismiss the memory of the shock, trying to convince Tao- and himself- that he didn't know Tao. It was getting significantly harder with the way that the red head was studying his face. So he cleared his throat- yet again, giving Tao a hard stare. 

Tao looked away, his eyes bouncing around the room, then settling on something on the table. 

Kris looked to see what the younger was staring at so intently. It was the block of wood that read 'Kim Suho' in fancy golden text. Kris snatched a post-it note from the pile and scrawled a 'Kris' onto it in capital letters before slapping it across Suho's name. The block was alot longer so poking out from the post-it was a golden 'ho'. 

"I used to have a friend in China, but he came here- to Korea for University. I just thought you were him," Tao blurted out, visibly sighing as if he couldn't hold that information in any longer. 

Friend...

There was a sudden feeling of both nausea and guilt that washed over Kris and he wished that the ground would swallow him whole. He found it astonishing how Tao could consider him a friend after all the terrible things he did. 

"The room number you need to go to is three hundred and thirty seven. You'll find all you need there. If you need any help getting there, or with anything else, just call for someone called Xiumin at the reception," Kris said quickly, not meeting Tao's eyes. He picked up a few important papers and handed them to Tao. 

"Okay," Tao said quietly, looking at the papers while turing around, walking to the door. As he opened the door, he lifted his head, as if remembering something. "Bye." He smiled before walking out, giving Kris a small wave. 

"Bye..." Kris muttered half-heartedly, not sure if Tao heard or not. 

The bang of the door closing brought Kris back to himself. And just like that, millions of questions bombarded his head. 

Was Huang Zitao really standing in front of him just a few seconds ago? What was the big coincidence that brought Tao to the same country and company as him? Why did he look so different? What that weird feeling in his stomach when he saw him? 

But most of all, why did Tao still consider him as his friend?

Kris slumped down in his chair bringing his head down to the table. 

Bang

The first time Tao saw him after so many years, and he on the floor with a pink mini-fridge between his legs. 

He picking his head up and brought it down again. 

Bang

Tao had actually recognised him and he just pretended that he didn't know him. 

Bang

Kris mentally punished himself. Why would he do that? What good did it do to lie? And how was he supposed to keep up the act if they were going to work together in the same company? 

Bang

Tao still considered him as a friend. 

Bang

Why did he mess up so badly? 

Bang

Why did he even agree to this job? 

Bang

"What are you doing?"

Kris lifted his head to the sound of the voice, surprised that he hadn't heard the sound of the door opening. Luhan was standing there, an envelope clutched in his hands. Kris sighed. "Regretting all my life choices," he replied, feeling disheartened. 

His mind flashed back to the time when he had first boarded that rickety cheap plane that had brought him to Korea. He remembered how he had vowed that if he ever saw Tao again (obviously he was hoping that would never happen since he was completely leaving the county) he would apologise for being such a terrible person. 

He also remembered how bad the food on the plane had tasted. It was like putting a car tyre which was dragged through pee in your mouth. He had vomited that day. All over the seat in front of him and his own clothes. He felt sorry for his former self, remembering how difficult it was to find a ride to his new home after that. 

"What happened to you?" Luhan asked, walking towards him cautiously. "And why is there a fridge in the middle of the room?"

"Suho's," Kris said, deliberately not answering the first question. 

Luhan didn't seem to notice as he bent down to open the small door of the fridge. "Ah. Bubble tea!" he exclaimed excitedly. "I'm taking one back for Sehun as well, okay?" He was already sipping on one, holding another out for Kris to see. 

"Whatever. It's Suho's. Why're you here?" Kris asked, annoyed. 

Luhan stood up, juggling the two cups of bubble tea the envelope in his hands, walking to the table before slamming the envelope onto the wood infront of Kris. "Xiumin wanted me to deliver this message."

Kris picked up the envelope, only then realising that it had already been opened. He raised an eyebrow at Luhan. "You already opened it."

"You expect me not to be curious about a letter from Xiumin."

"Obviously." Kris slip the paper out and unfolded it. He flipped to the other side. "It's blank," Kris stated, looking at Luhan questionably. 

"No duh."

"What did you do with the real letter?" Kris deadpanned. 

"Wha- I didn't do anything to it. That's it. That's what Xiumin sent. I didn't know you thought so badly of me." Luhan the last line a bit too dramatically. 

"A blank paper?"

"Yes."

"And why would he do that?" Kris asked, flipping the paper to the other side and back again, making sure that it was actually completely blank. 

"I don't know. Maybe to tell you that he has something to say?" He shrugged. 

A chill ran down Kris' spine as he remembered how he had told Tao to ask Xiumin for help. He was going to be in deep trouble. His pay rise was at stake here. 

"You oka-" Luhan was interrupted by the sudden noise of the Hello Kitty theme song. He scrambled in his pocket, pulling out the source of the sound- his phone. 

"You have Hello Kitty as your ringtone?" Kris raised his eyebrows. 

"Don't judge," Luhan said, answering the phone. 

Kris wondered how he could not judge a grown twenty-five year old man for having a Hello Kitty ringtone. 

"What?!" Luhan shouted abruptly. "We have a shooting in a few minutes!"

Kris wondered what the problem could be.

"Okay," Luhan stated. "Stay right there. Don't move and don't do anything else that's stupid. I'm coming." Luhan hung up, stuffing the phone into his pocket. He met Kris' questioning stare. "Sehun had a sweet stuck in his hair."

Kris raised his eyebrows. "And how did that happen?"

"Kai," Luhan said, as if that explained everything.

"I see."

"Well, bye then. See you at lunch." Luhan picked up the two bottles of bubble tea and walked out of the office, leaving Kris alone again with his thought and the creepy empty letter.