As Jongin left the room with tears forming in his eyes, he almost stumbled into Tao who were standing in the hallway. He mumbled an apology before hastily walking away from the Chinese member, only to get pulled back by that same guy. Tao didn’t say a single word; he only pulled the younger guy into his embrace and hugged him tightly. Jongin had expected to get showered with questions about his current state, but felt puzzled when not getting any questions at all. Tao only held him towards his chest, intending to let Jongin cry as much as he wanted without getting interrogated about it.
 

Tao had almost immediately realized what had troubled the younger since he had been keeping his eyes on him ever since coming back to Korea for promotions. It had hurt him to see the complicated relationship between Sehun, Jongin and even Luhan. But he didn’t want to make anything worse by asking about it. No, he didn’t want to bring anymore tears to any of those three guys. He sincerely cared for each one of them and wouldn’t ever want to do anything to make their relationships to break apart or get even more complicated than they already were.

“W-why are y-you doing this?” Jongin let out between sobs, his voice muffled against Tao’s shirt.
 

“Shh...” Tao patted the younger’s back comfortingly. “Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone about what happened.” He assured him with a soothing voice, caressing Jongin’s soft hair.
 

Jongin felt strangely comfortable in Tao’s embrace, a feeling he hadn’t felt for a long time actually. The last time he had felt this calm was a few days before debut when Tao had spent time alone with him at the beach. Tao had shown Jongin his favorite place when being in Korea, a place where he could take it easy and just think. It had been a really nice evening together with the slightly older, watching the sunset in total silence.
 

Tao’s usually calm and understanding nature was something Jongin was slightly jealous of. Jongin was also quite calm though, but not like Tao. Tao’s calmness was something else, something more soothing. Tao didn’t even have to do anything, he just had to stand there and everything seemed so peaceful. Jongin thought it was strange to actually think about a human that way, but he couldn’t really help it. There was something about Tao that made Jongin get drawn to him, almost like a magnet.
 

Now that he thought about it, Tao had always been there for him whenever he was troubled or sad. Even when Jongin was mad, Tao was there to make him feel better. Not that he minded; on the contrary, he kind of liked the feeling of someone caring about him as much as Tao did. So he had somehow gotten used to Tao’s presence by now and Jongin quite enjoyed it actually.

“Do you feel better now?” Tao carefully whispered into Jongin’s ear, making the latter shiver from the hushed voice.
 

“Yeah…” Jongin simply answered and pulled away from the comfortable hug, making Tao reluctantly let go of the younger.
 

“You sure you’re okay? Want to go out for a while?” Tao asked with a small smile spreading on his face when Jongin nodded in approval and linked their arms together.
 

Tao got almost dragged away by Jongin who was seemingly happier now and really eager to leave the dorm. He didn’t even need to be asked to follow, as he gladly would comply whatever the younger wished for. No matter the price.

The weather had gotten better since this morning when it was cold and windy, now it was quite warm and really comfortable to be outside. It was nearing seven in the afternoon and it was oddly quiet outside, almost no one was outdoors so the two guys didn’t have to worry about getting caught by some fangirl. Or fangirls…
 

It felt so natural to just walk hand in hand with Jongin, mostly because they had spent quite a lot time together before debut. Now it had been a while since last time though, so Tao had sometimes felt a bit depressed going to the beach all by himself. Jongin had been busy with his own problems, mostly love problems though, so he had declined all of Tao’s offers lately. This had made Tao a bit sad, because he had really been looking forward to Jongin’s company but something always had to come between.

“Wait! Where are we going?” Tao let out after being silent all the way so far, not even realizing that he followed the younger unconsciously.
 

“To your favorite place... No wait, to our favorite place.” Jongin corrected himself and pulled Tao towards the place he was talking about. The beach.
 

This was the first time that Jongin took the initiative to go there, so Tao got a bit surprised when he finally had recognized where they were heading to. A smile formed on his lips as he took a look at the back of the younger, feeling quite happy being able to once again come here together.

They were strolling near the water, taking of their shoes before so they wouldn’t have to worry about their shoes becoming wet. It was really peaceful walking together and watching the waves in the sea making its way towards the sand, washing up seashells and other things. It would have been a perfect day if it hadn’t been for that incident this morning, but Tao didn’t want to complain now that he finally could talk to Jongin like they used to. Jongin turned around and faced Tao while walking backwards with his hands behind his back.
 

“So… what are you thinking of?” Jongin asked with a smile, feeling much better now.
 

“You.” Tao simply answered, earning a slightly surprised expression from the younger.
 

“Why?” Jongin questioned, not really understanding why Tao would think about him at a time like this.
 

“Why not?” Tao shrugged before continuing. “So, have you gotten over your little crush yet? I mean, you always change who you’re having feelings for… Last time it was Joon Myeon, the time before that it was Kris, and now it was Luhan… Don’t you get tired by changing your feelings so often? Or believing that you’re in love with someone when in fact you’re not?” Tao bluntly said with another shrug.
 

“That’s not true!” Jongin defended. “I don’t change that often! And for your information, it was Kyungsoo not Joon Myeon that I had feelings for.” He continued and pouted unhappily before slumping down on the sand just a few meters away from the water.
 

“Whatever. You still have liked Joon Myeon too, even if it was a while back.” Tao tiredly said and sat down next to Jongin who was now lying down. “Why didn’t you ever tell anyone about your feelings before? You told Luhan today, it must have been the first time you confessed to someone right? Even if it wasn’t the smoothest confession in history…”
 

“What do you mean by that?!” Jongin jokingly hit Tao’s arm, earning a small pout from the older. “I just… didn’t have the confidence before…” He let out while sitting up again.
 

“What confidence? You got agitated because Sehun did it first, right? You wouldn’t had a chance anyway though, since both of them have been loving each other for so long already and not even realized it until now… kind of…” Tao lazily laid down, earning a glare from the other because of his statement.
 

“So what? It’s not like I had planned to actually tell him that I loved him, I just asked him out on a date earlier this morning but he refused…” Jongin sadly let out before lying down once again with his arms under his head as a pillow. “At least I got some experience right?” He soon added with a small smile towards Tao’s direction.
 

Tao returned the smile and then stared at the darkening sky, hoping that the stars soon would come out. They had already been out for an hour or two, they didn’t actually know for sure since no one of them had been checking the time. Not that they had brought anything with them to actually keep track of the time, not even their cell phones had they taken with them. But they didn’t care. At least they had the key to the dorm if they were coming home late.

Tao was content by the relationship he had with the younger, even if he sometimes wanted them to be just a little bit closer. He wasn’t like Jongin; Tao didn’t change his feelings as much. Well, he didn’t change his feelings at all as it seemed like and had been in love with Jongin for quite some time actually. In fact, he was counting how long he had been crushing for the dancer and had now come to loving the younger for 1½ years. He didn’t expect the feelings to remain for such a long time, thinking that it would soon fade away if he just ignored them. This wasn’t as easy as he had thought it would be though.
 

Tao glanced over to Jongin, noticing that the younger had closed his eyes. He stared at the handsome features of the younger, feeling almost blissful for having this opportunity of being close to Jongin like this. It kind of reminded him of the old times when they would spend as much time as they could at the beach, playing around in the water and just feeling free to do whatever they wanted...
 

“Hey…” Jongin suddenly said, making Tao snap out of his little daydream and notice that Jongin was now staring back at him. “Why do you keep staring at me like that? It’s kind of creepy… especially with those dark circles around your eyes.” Jongin joked and flicked his finger at Tao’s forehead, making the latter rub the now sore place with his hands while making grimaces.
 

“That was totally unnecessary!” Tao burst out and flicked Jongin’s forehead as revenge.
 

“Ouch!” Jongin yelled out. “Wasn’t that also unnecessary?!”
 

“No. That was payback. This is unnecessary.” Tao said and jokingly pecked the sore spot on Jongin’s forehead, making the latter widen his eyes at him.
 

“That was so unnecessary!” Jongin answered back and Tao stuck his tongue out at him. “What about this then?” He soon added and pecked Tao’s nose, making Tao’s eyes huge because of shock.
 

Jongin smiled brightly when he noticed the redness of Tao’s face, he chuckled a bit as he placed another unexpected kiss on the latter’s cheek instead. Tao didn’t know how much longer he could take it. Getting showered with unexpected kisses from the one he’s been longing for to touch for such a long time, made him lose his usually unlimited supply of patience almost as fast as lightning. But he still tried to keep himself from attacking the younger.
 

Tao had been practicing wushu for a very long time, and he was really thankful for that now. Self-control was something he was quite good at, and it was what he needed at this time, even if it was on its way to crumble any minute…

“Do you like this that much?” Jongin teasingly asked while putting another peck on Tao’s cheek.
 

“Ye-“ Tao abruptly stopped himself from finishing that word. “I mean! No! Or… wait!” He was flustered and didn’t know what he was doing anymore, which obviously must have looked rather funny as Jongin suddenly burst out laughing.
 

“Really? You do?” Jongin let out, smiling even more brightly at the flustered Tao.
 

When Tao suddenly stood up and faced the sea instead, Jongin couldn’t help but think that the older was really cute at the moment. He hadn’t really thought about the possibility of Tao liking him in any way other than as a friend. But he felt quite happy to say the least, when realizing that Tao had feelings for him. It made him realize how dumb he had been for not seeing it before. It was kind of obvious now that he thought about it. The older’s longing stare whenever he thought that Jongin wasn’t looking, or when Tao offered to stay at the dorm with him when he was sick. Also whenever the two where here, at the beach, playing around like children and without any worries had the older been really close.

The reason for Jongin’s ever changing feelings was quite simple actually. He had started to like Tao more and more ever since meeting the guy the first time. He had been afraid to actually have feelings for a guy. Not that he thought it was wrong or anything, it was just that he didn’t see himself being together with a guy like that. Not in a relationship. But nothing could stop his growing feelings for the other so he had to do something to somehow stop it from escalating too much. So Jongin’s simple plan was to force himself to like someone else then Tao. Anyone, as long as it was someone else than Tao that filled his head. Jongin had always thought that Tao had feelings for Kris. Especially since seeing how clingy he was towards the Chinese leader. But now that he knew it wasn’t so, he could play around a bit, tease Tao for a while before confessing anything.
 

Lying to yourself was quite tiresome really. And Jongin had finally realized that. Now maybe he wouldn’t feel so tired all the time for forcing himself to think about someone else than Tao…

“Is it true? Did you like it that much?” Jongin teasingly asked again, still with a smile plastered on his face as he stood up.
 

He didn’t get an answer. Tao let his head down in embarrassment, not even noticing that the younger was sneaking closer to him. As Jongin was close enough to Tao, he circled his arms around Tao’s waist, making the latter jump out of surprise. Jongin nuzzled his face into Tao’s black hair, content about the day’s outcome. Tao hesitantly held onto Jongin’s hands, not sure if Jongin was teasing again or not. But he could always take revenge later if Jongin really was teasing…
 

“I liked it too…” Jongin soon whispered into Tao’s ear, making a shiver run down the latter’s spine.
 

“Why would you like it?” Tao let out a bit annoyed, because why would Jongin enjoy it in the first place?
 

“I have this secret that you don’t know about…” Jongin teasingly said. “But I’m not going to tell you about it until you have spilled out why you enjoyed it.” He continued with a smirk forming on his lips, proud of coming up with this perfect little plan taking form in his head.
 

“What?! No… I’m not going to-“
 

“Really? So, you don’t want to know then?” Jongin interrupted with a hint of surprise in his voice. “Then… maybe I should let go of you?” He added while pretending defeat and slowly releasing Tao.
 

“No!” Tao burst out, surprised by his own desperate sounding tone of voice. “I mean…”
 

“What? Just tell me. You always tell me to confess whatever’s in my heart…” Jongin slowly said, while letting go more of Tao’s waist.
 

“That-” Tao let out before shutting his mouth to think before speaking. “You probably already know anyway…” He whispered, irritated at himself for not wanting the younger to let go of him.
 

“I don’t think I heard you.” Jongin teasingly said, earning a small mumble from the older. “What did you say?”

“I…” Tao started before running his fingers through his black soft hair tiredly. “I… love you… okay?!” He let out higher than he intended, making an old lady stare at them with wide eyes before hurriedly walk away. Where did she come from? Tao thought as he widened his eyes in shock, almost forgetting that he had just confessed his feelings towards the younger male hugging him from behind.
 

“That’s better…” Jongin whispered contently as he tightened his grip around Tao’s waist again.
 

“Huh?” Tao felt confused by Jongin’s strange statement, not grasping what would be better by him confessing like that.
 

“You love me right? Then it’s okay for me to stay like this, right?” Jongin whispered into Tao’s ear and smiled happily as he tightened the hug even more.
 

“Stop that! You’re going to squeeze me to death if you keep doing that!” Tao suddenly let out, having problems breathing because of the younger’s tight grip of his waist.
 

It was almost starting to hurt but Jongin finally released his grip a bit, just enough so that the older wouldn’t die because of being hugged. Even though Tao felt somewhat puzzled by the really strange behavior of the younger, he didn’t mind it at all. He felt really happy just being able to stay like this even for a short while. But then he realized something…

“Wait! What’s your secret? You promised to tell me!” Tao suddenly said, making Jongin smile mischievously.
 

“I won’t tell you… yet.” Jongin said before releasing the older completely and running for his life towards the dorm.
 

“Wha- Wait!” Tao yelled out in disbelief and ran after Jongin.

He wouldn’t want to let the younger get away with it just like that, so Tao started speed up as much as he could. He knew that he was faster than Jongin and therefore he knew he would sooner or later get to the guy. Jongin turned his head just to see Tao running in the speed of light towards him and he widened his eyes in fear of getting caught so fast. He stumbled forwards while trying his best to speed up too.
 

“No way am I letting you catch me!” Jongin yelled out, feeling the dark aura of Tao come nearer every second.
 

“And I won’t let you get away, so we’re even!” Tao yelled back and continued chasing Jongin with a huge smile spreading on his face.
 

Just you wait… I’ll get you sooner or later anyway… Tao thought as he used even more energy so he could catch up with the guy. He was a lot smarter than Jongin would ever know, so that little secret that Jongin had? He already knew what it was…

Author's note:

Just wanted to tell you that I felt a bit bad about making Kai sad in the last chapter, so I decided to make this sequel ^^

I hope you liked this pairing as well :)

Angela90s