Xiumin and Chen left the hotel room to go scout for some steamed buns that Xiumin was craving. Luhan and Lay sat side by side on the couch watching some UK TV show while Kris and Tao sat at the dining table, not knowing what to do. Tao shifted side to side in his seat, feeling uncomfortable at the fact that Kris was so close to him.

"Tao." Kris finally broke the silence with his whispering. "Do you want to go shopping?" 

Tao straightened up and brightened. "Can we?" Tao's eyes sparkled as he  started getting giddy. 

"Yeah, come on." Kris took Tao's hand in his and pulled him up. "Luhan, Lay we're going shopping, okay?" 

Lay mumbled okay and both of them didn't even look up at Tao or Kris.

With Tao's hand in his, Kris took his wallet off of the kitchen counter and pulled Tao out the hotel.

--

Once they were outside, Kris let go of Tao's hand and put them in his pockets. His hands were starting to sweat and he didn't want Tao to feel that. 

Tao skipped ahead of Kris, happy to go shopping once again and Kris trailed behind, watching Tao amusingly. "Gucci first, okay?" Tao smiled. 

Kris nodded and laughed. He ran up so that he can be the same pace as Tao. Once Kris caught up to Tao, Tao slowed down and watched Kris. Luckily, Tao was shorter than Kris so he could stare at him all he wanted and wouldn't be caught. Kris seemed more handsome since his features were softer now. Tao was too busy staring at Kris, he didn't realize that they were in front of Gucci already. Tao turned to face the store doors and ran in towards the section where they put the bags at. He searched for the bag that he was going to buy when he met Kris, but failed to find the black backpack. Defeated, Tao sulked.

"Tao, what's wrong?" Kris was getting worried.

"The- The bag is gone!" Tao was on the verge of bursting into tears again.

Kris laughed. "Don't worry Tao." DON'T WORRY?! THE BAG IS GONE. IT WAS LIMITED EDITION TOO. Tao sullenly followed Kris to the cash register. Kris was flirting with the cashier when Tao stopped lamenting. What is he doing? Tao felt a pang of jealousy as Kris winked at the girl. This . Tao was ready to get up and wushu her when Kris turned around and smiled at Tao. The cashier left and came back with a Gucci shopping bag and handed it over to Kris giggling. Kris thanked the girl then walked over to Tao and waved the bag in his face. 

"A present for you." Kris smiled and pulled Tao outside the store to a table outside a coffee shop. Kris placed the shopping bag in front of Tao and jumped up and opened the bag. It was the backpack! 

Tao jumped up and down and started squealing. "Thank you!" he ran over to Kris and hugged him tight.

Kris was shocked and stayed stiff. Tao sent this electric shock through Kris' body and he wasn't sure how to react. 

"Uh your welcome." Kris replied monotonously as Tao clung onto him.

All of a sudden, Tao's phone beeped as he let go of Kris and ran towards the beeping device. I'm not expecting any texts.. Who could it be? He held the phone in his hand and studied the screen. Unknown number. It can only mean one person.

 

One week left. Tic toc, tic toc, the deadline is approaching quickly. If I don't have them by that date, you don't want to guess what would happen next.

-A.T.