“Gege? Is that you?”

Turning his eyes to the floor, Kris turns around, ashamed to look him in the eye. He feels fingers beneath his chin, gently lifting it until the person in front of him can see his eyes.

“Why gege?”

“Panda, I – “ Kris is cut off when a fist connects with the same cheek that Chen slapped just minutes ago. Not Tao’s fist though; Su Ho’s.

“I can’t believe we just had to see this. You, take Zi Tao home,” Su Ho turns to Lay as he says that. Nodding, Lay grabs Tao’s hand and pulls him away, the bag he was holding falling to the floor. Su Ho has to stop Tao when he turns around to pick it back up, motioning for Lay to keep going with Tao. “I’ll be needing this bag for now.”

As they watch them walk out of the store, Kris and Tao make eye contact before he’s dragged around the corner and out of sight. Turning around towards Su Ho, Kris looks at him through watery eyes.

“Don’t even. If you shed even one tear right now, I swear I’ll hit you again.” Pointing at Chen, he motions for him to lead the way. “Take us somewhere that we can’t be bothered. Now.” Roughly pushing Kris’s shoulder to make him move, Su Ho pulls out his phone as they walk, dialing a number and putting the phone up to his ear.

“Hello?”

“When you and Zi Tao get home, just go straight to your room and ignore everybody else,” he tells Lay, hanging up before he has a chance to reply.

------------

“Why is the beach so dead?”

“This spot’s always dead. Yi Fan and I found it a while ago.”

“Of course you did,” Su Ho says, shooting both of them looks they’d both rather not be the recipients of.

“That was before all of this happened, Su Ho.”

Sitting down on a shaded patch of sand, Su Ho pats the spots next to him after he puts the bag Tao was holding between his legs. When Kris moves to sit on his right side, Su Ho tells him to move over to his left side instead. As Kris moves over to sit on his left side and Chen sits to his right, they both give him confused looks. “As much as I’d enjoy making both of you suffer in this heat, I’d rather put Yi Fan in the unshaded part more right now.”

Reaching into the bag, Su Ho pulls out a box and throws it onto Kris’s lap. Picking it up and reading the front of it, Kris gives Su Ho another confused look. “I don’t understand the importance of this at all right now.”

“For our last day here, Zi Tao used his own money to buy that. He kept going on and on about how his gege makes the most delicious cake and he wanted all of us to taste it. Then he wouldn’t shut up about how good you are to him. Then he kept talking about how happy he was to have Jong Dae as a friend because he helped you two get together.” Reaching into the bag again, he pulls out an orange and tosses it in Chen’s direction. “This is for you by the way. He thought it would be nice if you had something to snack on while Yi Fan was making a cake. He made sure to let Yi Xing and I know that nobody else was to touch this and that he would make sure to practice his Wushu on anybody that did.”

Reaching into the bag for the last time, he pulls out two matching bracelets, tossing them at the members who still haven’t been able to look him in the eye for more than a second before looking back down. “I’m sure I don’t have to explain this one to you at all. They both match. They also happen to match the one Zi Tao has on his wrist as well. Even though he was hanging out with Yi Xing and me, he made sure that all of the money he’s been saving up was spent on only you two. Only his two best friends were good enough for that.”

Standing up and reaching behind him to brush the sand from his pants, he looks at both of them one more time. “I’m not gonna sit here and lecture you both on why you both just won the award for worst best friends of the year because I don’t think I really need to. I’m sure the look on Zi Tao’s face when he saw you will forever be burned into your memory. I’m sure you both know what you just did to that boy. I’m sure you both know he’s probably locked up in the bedroom right now. I’m sure you both know he probably hasn’t stopped crying since he got home. I’m also sure you both know that I’m using all of my willpower right now to not haul off and beat the living out of you. So you both just sit right where you are. And don’t even think about leaving those spots and coming back to the dorm until you both fully understand what horrible friends you’re being.”

Slapping the back of both of their heads for good measure, he makes his way back to Tao.

------------

They just sit there for half an hour not talking and not moving; doing nothing but sitting there looking at the things Tao bought. The tears Su Ho wouldn’t let Kris shed started falling as soon as he left.

“I’m horrible. I don’t know what Zi Tao or you even saw in me. I’m the worst kind of person. I’m not even a person. I’m just the worst kind of thing.” He tries to put the bracelet on his wrist, but stops himself before it’s fully on. “I can’t even look at this because I just see his face. Did you see his face? I can’t believe I’m the reason he looked like that. It was like he had just watched someone run over his puppy.”

Reaching over Chen wipes the back of his hand over Kris’s cheeks. “Don’t cry, hyung. Zi Tao thinks the world of you. All you’ll have to do is say you’re sorry and he’ll forgive you.”

“Which just makes it even worse. He’d actually forgive me for doing that. Right in front of him. That’s horrible.” Grabbing Chen’s wrist, Kris pushes him away. “And please don’t touch me. Just because we got caught doesn’t mean it makes me any less confused around you.” Putting the box and necklace down, he uses both of his hands to hit at the sides of his head. “I’m such a ing idiot. I don’t know what the hell I was thinking.”

“You were thinking you wouldn’t get caught.”

“Don’t even. That wouldn’t have happened if you’d just stop kissing me.”

Chen, visibly seething at that, reaches over again to slap the same cheek he slapped earlier.

“! What the hell is with you people and this side of my face!?”

“Stop ing blaming me each time this happens. Even if I’m dumb enough to kiss you, you’re dumb enough to always lean in instead of away. You’re just as much to blame as I am.”

Opening his mouth to yell back at Chen, all that comes out is a strangled cry instead. Crawling over to lay his head on Chen’s lap, he turns his head to bury his face in Chen’s stomach so nobody can see him as he breaks down.

“We’re really bad, Jong Dae. We’re horrible friends. Horrible. Horribly horrible. We don’t even deserve to know Panda.”

Chen just reaches one hand down to rub Kris’s back, combing the fingers of his other hand through his hair. “Let it out, hyung. You’ll only be able to think straight when you’ve let it all out.” As heartbreaking as it is to see – and hear – Kris cry, Chen can’t help but feel slightly disgusted when he feels tears and snot start to soak through his shirt, making contact with his skin. He can’t help but physically cringe when Kris reaches up into his shirt, grabbing onto it and blowing his nose.

“Yah! My shirt is not a tissue!”

Apologizing, Kris slowly pushes himself into a sitting position, apologizing again.

“You’d think with a face as attractive as yours you’d be an attractive crier as well, but that is definitely not the case.”

Kris shoots the meanest look he can seem to muster up at Chen, which quickly turns back into a depressed look. “I don’t know what I’ll do if Tao and I can’t work things out.”

“I already told you not to worry, Yi Fan. You’re like a god to Zi Tao. He’ll probably forgive you before you even ask him to.”

Shaking his head, Kris stands up sweeping away all of the sand stuck to the back of his pants. “I’d rather just go home now and get this over with.” Picking up the box and bracelet from, he slips the gift into his pocket before turning and heading back to the dorm, Chen following closely behind.

------------

When he walks through the door, the first thing he does is peek around the corner to see who’s in the living room. Kai sees him instantly and runs over to him.

“Finally! I didn’t think you were ever gonna be home. Where’s my drink?”

“Oh, uh… it’s at the store.” Reaching for his wallet, as empty as it is, he pulls out the last bit of money he has and hands it to Kai. “Here, take the others with you and get your drinks.”

Squealing and running back to the couch, he tells everybody to hurry and get their shoes on. “Yi Fan hyung gave me money so we can go get our drinks!”

“Woo!” can be heard coming from the mouths of the other members as they run through the door to find the nearest store.

Making his way to the room Chen and Lay share, he quietly knocks on the door. When he gets no answer, he knocks again, a little bit louder.

“Who is it?” Su Ho asks.

Kris can hear the sounds of Tao sniffling behind the closed door and he can feel fresh tears threatening to blur his vision again. Wiping the back of his hand over his eyes, he clears his throat. “It’s me.”

“Is Jong Dae with you?”

“Yes,” Chen answers timidly.

Opening the door, Su Ho looks back and forth between the two, making sure they can both see the judging looks he’s giving them. “Both of you. In. Now,” he harshly says as he opens the door for them, quickly shutting it behind them when they’re in.

Slowly lifting his eyes from the floor to look at Tao, it feels like someone’s grabbing his heart and squeezing it. Tao’s quietly crying, his face buried in the crook of Lay’s neck while the older boy holds him close, rubbing his back and whispering in his ear. When he quietly calls Tao’s name, he can see the younger boy stiffen instantly, wrapping his arms around Lay and hugging him closer.

Slowly sliding hid hands up and down Tao’s back, Lay lets him know it’s okay. As Tao turns around to face him, Kris can see how red his eyes are; he can see the trail of tears that keep falling down his cheeks. Biting his bottom lip, Kris turns to Su Ho and asks if it’s okay if they talk alone.

Walking over to Tao, Su Ho kneels down behind him, rubbing his back. “That’s up to him; not me.”

Barely nodding, he lets go of Lay’s neck and moves from his lap to the bed, looking in Kris’s direction but never making eye contact. As the other guys are leaving, Su Ho turns back when he’s at the door, looking at Tao. “If you need Yi Xing or me, just yell. Okay?” When Tao nods, Su Ho turns towards Kris as well. “If you give him a reason to yell for us though, I will make you regret it,” he half threatens, half promises, as he shuts the door behind him.

------------

Sitting himself down on Chen’s bed, Kris looks over at the younger boy that’s currently sitting on Lay’s.

“Panda…”

Tao replies so quietly that Kris can’t even hear him, but he’s able to read his lips.

“Panda, look at me.” Tao shakes his head. “Then can I sit next to you so I can hear you when you talk?” After thinking about, Tao nods but points at the corner of the bed farthest away from him. Slowly making his way over to the other bed, Kris sits down on the corner of the bed. “Thank you.”

“Uh huh.”

Reaching into his pocket, Kris fiddles with the bracelet inside, sliding his fingers over the thin silver chain. He decides to get off of the bed, choosing to sit on the floor in front of Tao instead so he can look up at him. Pulling the bracelet from his pocket, he reaches up and gently places it in Tao’s hand, the younger boy looking at him for an explanation as he tries to give it back to Kris.

“No. You keep it. I don’t deserve it right now.” Tao nods in agreement. “I want you to keep it, and I want you to wear it with the one you already have on. Don’t ever take it off. You stay in our room; I’ll sleep on the couch. I’m gonna do nothing but think about what I did. For a month. Let’s not talk for a month unless we need to. And after a month has passed, I’m gonna do all that I can to make you forgive me. So don’t even think about forgiving me for at least a month, okay? Don’t even think about it. Even if, at the end of the month you decide not to, that’s fine; just don’t think about it for a month. As your duizhang, I forbid it. Okay? Nod if you understand.”

With fresh tears in his eyes, he nods, still not looking Kris in the eye.

“Good. Now remember, no forgiving me until then. Even if I ask for your forgiveness earlier than that, just hit me or something and tell me that I’m not done self-reflecting. Got it?”

And again, Tao nods.

“When that time is up, and if you still want to give us another try, then you can give that back,” he nods towards the bracelet. “And if you decide that what we had is really over by then, return it. I’ll accept whatever your decision is, good or bad.”

Standing up, Kris makes his way to the door. “I miss you already, gege,” is what Kris can hear Tao quietly say behind him as he closes the door behind him.

__________________________________________________________________________________

A/N: First off, WOW at the comments. I woke up to about 20 or so new ones, and they've just been piling up throughout the day. I don't think I've even gotten that much in a 24-hour span since I started this story. So thank you to all that commented.

Second, I would like to recommend this story to all of you that are reading mine if you haven't already read it. I just realized how low the subcriber count is for that story. It's such a shame because that story is amazing. Even if you aren't a HunHan lover, I suggest reading it. You will not regret it.

Now then! Reading this over for typos, I realize that the ending seems really rushed. For that, I apologize. I think I can kind of feel this coming to a close (or maybe I just wanna get this out before the M! Countdown stream. Lol). But I think I'll end up writing something else when I'm done. I feel like, as I've written this, I've improved, even if it's only a little bit. What couple would you guys like the next story to be focused on whenever I do write it? Leave your suggestions in the comments!

My lovely Tumblr full of Exo and B.A.P is right here if you want to follow me. ;]

-Stretches-
A lot of comments to reply to today.
-Turns on Exo playlist-

@UndergroundMemories - I'm glad people seem to enjoy y Chen. Lol.
@farafim - I hope this doesn't break your Taoris heart! D;  It might. OTL
@legna_angel - Haha, you just want some . ;D  As for Wushu revenge, who knows? I'd imagine they would want to kick some , but have to restrain themselves. Which . 3
@ryokimayuu - Yay! A lover of OTP drama. My kind of reader. :D
@simple_dream - Update for the namdongsaeng! <3
@VitaminBuns - The start of your comment made me giggle. Lol. I guess if Tao crying breaks your heart, you're hating on me right now. Hehe. I'll definitely have to throw in some HunHan bullying though! I miss it.
@ChoKyute - Yay! Another lover of drama!
@Gyu_428 - Ooh, Kris is your second bias? Who's your first!?
@aznmusiklife - Was this update fast enough!? D;
@xxjenjaexx - If you actually stalked AFF for this, I love you. xD  And who wouldn't like an idea that includes an Exo ? Lol. I think we all want that.
@starkey - Ah, another one wanting a . Lol. You guys sure do love your !
@Aliceinsujuland - It was indeed our cute little Panda.
@sapphire_blue - Gah, thank you for your comment! <33 -Hugs for you-

And to the rest of you that commented about updating, here you go! Lol.
I'm glad you all seem so anxious to see what happens next. :D

Now then! I hope you all enjoyed this update!
-Runs off to watch the M! Countdown stream-
So excited for today's show.