As Kris is finishing Lu Han’s sandwich, which he really didn’t enjoy but ate anyway out of spite, he notices how eerily quiet the dorm is. He reaches over and taps Lay’s arm. “Yi Xing. Where’s Panda?” Lay shrugs. “Well you’re helpful.” He gets up and heads to Lu Han’s room, walking in without bothering to knock. “Lu Han. Wh –“

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry. I was just having fun with Tao. Don’t kiss me again. Leave my lips alone,” Lu Han interrupts Kris, covering his mouth as he says it.

Kris just rolls his eyes. “Please, I have absolutely no desire to do that again. Ew. I already paid you back for making Tao do that. I came to ask you where he is. I’d think he’d be latched onto your wallet since it’s gonna be paying for his food for a week.”

Lu Han drops his hands, clearing his throat. “Oh. Um… I don’t know. After vocal lessons, he left and told us he’d be home later.”

Kris glances at his watch. “It’s gonna be getting dark soon. How late did he say he’d be?” Lu Han tells Kris that he doesn’t know. “The people in this dorm are everything but helpful.” Kris heads to his room, grabbing his phone and heading towards the front door.

“Where are you going?” Lu Han asks him as he starts putting on his shoes.

“To look for Zi Tao. I don’t want him to be alone today.”

“What if he comes back when you’re gone?”

“Then call me,” is Kris’s response as he runs out the door.

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

The first place Kris looks, much like any other person who knows Tao would look, is the bakery by the dorm. It’s past closing time, but that wouldn’t stop Tao from looking longingly through the window. Kris is a little disappointed when he doesn’t find Tao there.

Next, Kris checks every ice cream parlor within walking distance between their dorm and the building where the vocal lessons are held, but to no avail.

After spending a few minutes thinking about other places Tao could go to, Kris decides to try the basketball court. They haven’t been there in weeks, but Tao always seems to enjoy it when they do get a chance to go. To Kris’s dismay, Tao isn’t there either.

Making his way to the nearest bench, Kris sits down, letting himself concentrate on Tao, and only Tao. “Where would I go if I was Zi Tao? I’d go… to some place that has food. But he isn’t there. Then I would try…Wushu. Of course.”

Pulling his phone from the pocket of his jeans, he dials a number, putting the phone up to his ear as it starts ringing. “Hello?”

“Min Seok! Yesterday, when you and Panda went to do your martial arts, where did you go?”

“Um… I don’t remember what it’s called.”

“Do you at least know where it is?”

“Why?”

“Because I need to find him.”

“Who?”

“Panda.”

“Why?”

“Stop asking questions and just tell me where you guys went.”

“O-okay. Um… you know the basketball court we go to sometimes when we wanna hang out together? There’s a building across the street from there. You can’t miss it either; it’s painted like… a blood red color.”

Turning around, Kris looks at the building directly across from him, the words “Martial Arts School” painted above the door in huge block letters. Feeling like an idiot, he finds it necessary to slap his palm onto his forehead. “Wow.”

“What?”

“Nothing. I’m just a bit of an idiot. Thanks, Min Seok.” Hanging up the phone, Kris sighs and walks across the street. Trying the door first, he finds that it’s locked. He decides to try knocking on the door instead, calling out for Tao. No answer. “Panda? Zi Tao!? If you’re in there, let me in? Please?” Still nothing.

Engrossed in the martial arts school and trying to figure out if Tao is inside, the phone suddenly ringing causes him to jump, letting out a small scream as he does. “Yes?” he asks as he hits the green phone icon and puts the phone up to his ear.

“Yi Fan.”

“Lu Han! Panda came home?”

“No, Zi Tao isn’t here. Actually… I wanted to know if you’d be home for dinner.”

“Not unless Panda gets there first.” He hangs up, mentally cursing Lu Han for wasting his time while he could have been searching for Tao.

Kris finally decides to call the one person who knows Tao better than anybody else in their dorm. “Yah! It’s not my fault you forgot to lock the door! Any normal person locks it when they take a shower.” It takes a minute or two of listening to the back and forth on the other person’s side, but they finally have a chance to turn their attention to the phone that they just answered, still grumbling about the idiot in the shower. “Yi Fan? What’s up?”

“Nothing. You solved my problem without even trying. Thank you, Baek Hyun. You’re a genius. Next time I see you, I’m buying you whatever you want.”

“Um… okay then. You’re welcome… I guess?” Before hanging up, Kris can hear Baek Hyun pounding on the door and yelling at the person inside the bathroom again. “Yah! Open the door! I didn’t get to pee!”

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

“Hi Yi Fan.”

“How’d you know it was me?”

“Your cologne.”

“You can smell my cologne from way over there?”

“You’ve been standing there watching me for a while now. It’s had a chance to reach my nose. Plus, I bought that for you. You think I wouldn’t recognize the scent I picked for you?” Turning around, Tao glances at Kris before standing up, wiping his hands on the legs of his pants. “How’d you find me?”

“A phone call.”

“Someone told you I was here?”

“It’s a long story. Short version; I just knew you’d be here.”

“How?”

“Because it’s where you kissed me today before everything went to hell. You wouldn’t stop apologizing, so it just seemed logical that you would come back here and think about it.”

“Oh.”

Taking the initiative, Kris makes his way over to Tao. As the space between them lessens, he can finally see Tao’s face clearly. Wet streaks are making their way from his eyes to his chin at an alarming rate, worrying Kris. “Zi Tao… Panda. Don’t cry. Everything’s fine.”

Tao’s silent cries turn into body wracking sobs as Kris wraps his arms around him. Burying his face in Kris’s shirt, he starts apologizing again. “I wasn’t thinking when I did that, duizhang. Please forgive me.”

Patting Tao’s head, Kris runs his fingers through his disheveled hair, as black as night. “It’s fine. I’m over it now. I was shocked at first, but it’s okay now. Already back to my old self. I even kissed Min Seok, Lu Han, and Yi Xing earlier for revenge. Sounds like duizhang right?”

Tao nods into Kris’s chest, his shirt already soaked through with tears. “I’m still sorry, duizhang. I promise I’ll make it up to you. I’ll… I’ll give half of my food to you every day this week!”

“I don’t need your food, Zi Tao. I just need you to be back to your normal self. I want my Panda back.” Tao nods again. “Shall we go back home then?”

“Okay.”

Kris turns around and squats down in front of Tao, looking back over his shoulder. “Get on.”

Wiping away the few remaining tears that are blurring his vision, he slowly climbs onto Kris’s back, wrapping his arms around Kris’s neck. As Kris slowly starts walking towards the door, Tao, his mind still focused on earlier, lays his head on the leader’s shoulder, looking at him. “You know you never answered my question earlier, Yi Fan ge.”

“What question?”

“Would you kiss me if I asked you to?” Kris nods instantly, no hesitation needed. “You would?”

“Of course. You’re my Panda, and I care about you,” Kris answers, and thinks quietly to himself, “And I’m not confused because of you anymore.” Kris briefly loses his balance as Tao gets off of his back without warning, but he quickly recovers, giving Tao a questioning look, full of confusion. “You could at less tell me when you’re gonna do that.”

“Duizhang. Kiss me.”

“Right now?” Tao nods. “Silly Panda.” Kris puts a hand beneath Tao’s chin and lifts it up towards him as he leans down and presses his lips against Tao’s. Laying his arms over Kris’s shoulders, Tao, much like he did earlier in the shower, gets on the tips of his toes, pressing back against Kris. And again, like earlier in the shower, Kris brings his arms up to wrap around Tao’s waist, successful this time. Kris, allowing his tongue to softly glide over Tao’s lips, is snapped back to reality when he hears a quiet moan, realizing it came from him. Slowly pulling away, he sees the look on Tao’s face, which can only be described as pure bliss. That’s when he realizes his heartbeat has sped up again. It isn’t the same as when he kissed Chen. This time his fast heartbeat is accompanied by a fluttering feeling in the pit of his stomach. Before letting himself dwell too much on that, he has Tao get on his back again before making the trek back to their dorm.

The whole way there, he just keeps repeating the same sentences over and over in his head. “I was so incredibly wrong. I am confused because of Tao. .”

____________________________________

A/N : Have I pleased my Taoris loving subscribers? I hope so. I actually had to take a break from writing this for a while because I put myself in Kris's shoes and got butterflies in my stomach as I described it. Haha. Writing is a magical thing like that.

Hmm... I think that's all I really have to say. Aside from my usual self promotion. ;D  If you have a Tumblr, feel free to follow me here. ^_^

Joey loves all of you readers. Saranghaeyo~. <3