4 Years Later

            Kris stood in front of Tao’s grave with an assorted bouquet of flowers and a small portable IPod speaker. He set the flowers down before sitting in front of the grave with a boy by his side. He plugged his IPod into the speaker and started playing Can U Smile low enough for only them to hear before taking the hand of the boy he was with in his.

            “Hey there Tao. It’s been a year since we last talked and I guess a lot has changed since then…I met someone,” Kris hesitated in saying the last part. He knew he had to move on but a small part of him still felt like he was cheating on Tao.

            “His name is Chanyeol, I met him in Korea. You remember that I told you I moved there right? He doesn’t really understand Chinese so he has no clue what we’re talking about right now,” Kris let out a small laugh, “But I bet you would have loved him. He’s really nice, funny, and he makes me happy. He’s also tall like you were but you guys have totally different personalities. I wish you would have opened up to me more but I guess that’s in the past now…”

            Kris had to stop because he felt himself tearing up and he didn’t want to break down in front of Tao. The younger boy probably saw him crying over him all the time though, that is if he was watching him from the afterlife.

            “I’m playing the song for you. It always sounds a lot better when I’m not singing it right? Anyway, I hope you’re doing well. You’re with your parents so you’re probably doing just fine right? At least I know you’re happier then when you were here.”

            Kris finished up and stood up with Chanyeol. They both walked out of the cemetery hand in hand until they reached their rental car. Once inside Kris let out a deep sigh to calm his feelings and keep himself from breaking down. Even though he was dating Chanyeol at the moment, whenever he thought of Tao he had a hard time keeping himself from crying. It was probably because he actually saw Tao jump in front of his eyes. So no matter how many years passed he would still have that special place in his heart that was just for Tao.

            “Are you ok hyung?” Chanyeol asked as he placed a comforting hand on Kris’ shoulder. Kris nodded and gave Chanyeol a small smile.

            “Yea. It’s always hard visiting his grave.”

            “Well I’m sure he appreciated it.”

            “Yea. I told him about you.”

            “Really? Only good things I hope.”  

            “Yea. I told him that you made me happy and that he didn’t need to worry about me anymore.” Kris said as he started to drive back to their hotel.

            “He knows that no one can replace him though. He’s probably cursing my name right now and telling me to stay away from you.” Chanyeol said trying to make a joke.

            “Tao wasn’t like that. He was sweet and would never be mean or wish harm on anyone. I bet he’s happy to see me with someone instead of constantly grieving over him.” Kris said and Chanyeol felt bad for what he said.

            “Oh, sorry.”

            “What are you sorry about? Come on Chanyeol, stop being so gloomy. Where’s the happy virus that I fell for?”

            Chanyeol gave him a bright smile that made Kris smile back at him. They both spent a few more days in China before heading back to Korea because they had to go back to work. When Kris got back to his apartment after dropping Chanyeol off he set his bag down before heading in the kitchen to make some tea for himself.

            As he was watching TV and drinking his tea his eyes drifted to the picture of Tao on a shelf near the TV. He stood up and lifted the picture up smiling as a couple of tears left his eyes.

            “I hope you’re keeping warm up there Tao because it’s really cold down here.” He spoke to the picture before setting it down again and sitting back on the couch with a smile on his face, remembering what Tao had written on the back of the picture.

            I can always smile for you, so you should always smile for me.

Ok this story is over. I didn't make you cry too much did I? I probably didn't make you cry at all. It's fine though. I'm sorry that the last two chapters were so short but this was the way I wanted it to be from the beginning with Tao dying. Yet this story became a lot longer than I wanted it to be when it was only supposed to be a small drabble. Not a 15 thousand word short story. Anyway I hope you all enjoyed this story and thanks for sticking around until the end.

~Lolo