“Tao, it’s ok.” Lay said softly, and Kris glanced up in time to see the still weepy-eyed boy sit beside him.

“I know.” He said, dropping his head on the desk. “It’s just a bad day.”

“What did Xiumin say?” Another boy asked. Kris silently noted that he looked way too young to be in their school.

“The same thing he always says.” Tao said softly. “It’ll get better. Then he asked me what I wanted for dinner.”

“It’s my turn to cook, so go easy on me.” The other boy said with a smile. Kris raised a brow slightly, wondering if this was Luhan’s younger cousin, Sehun.

“I know, hyung.” Tao agreed. “But don’t let Xiu eat it all.”

“I’ll do my best.” The boy said, shrugging. He wrapped his arms around Tao a moment later, the embrace looking comforting and sweet. “You know we love you, right? Me, Xiumin, and Sehun?”

“I know...” Tao said, leaning on him slightly. Kris turned away from the scene, feeling slightly uncomfortable. That was definitely not Sehun. “Thank you, Luhannie-hyung.”

Kris glanced back over in mild surprised. Luhan? There was no way. This baby-faced boy couldn’t possibly be older than him. He looked younger than his last foster brother, who had been fourteen. He redirected his gaze to the desk in front of him, silently reminding himself that he was surrounded by Asians now, instead of white people. They certainly aged differently.

“Gege.” Lay said, and Kris found himself lifting his gaze once again. He was immediately filled with embarrassment as he realized Lay hadn’t actually been addressing him at all, but rather, Luhan. He turned away, deciding it was better if he didn’t assume he was the one being addressed anyway. If Lay only called him gege, then there was a potential for attachment. That, as far as Kris was concerned, just wouldn’t do.

Still, though, Kris felt slightly uncomfortable as the small group around him chatted. His eyes darted over to them without his permission, and he was slightly startled to find Tao staring back at him. They studied each other in silence for a short time, Kris taking in the others face, his expression, his eyes - everything he could absorb. He knew Tao was taking something from the encounter as well, but he couldn’t be sure of what the other saw.

“Hello...” Tao finally mumbled out, inclining his head in a small bow.

“Hey.” Kris greeted in return, his head also dipping momentarily.

“I-I'm Tao. Are you new here?” Tao asked, and Kris nodded. He opened his mouth automatically, a response on his tongue, but it never fell past his lips.

“Huang Zi Tao?” The teacher called, and the black haired boy jumped about a foot in the air. “Come up here, please.”

Tao offered Kris an apologetic look before scurrying off to the front of the class where the teacher’s desk stood. The light conversation that had been taking place between Lay and his friends was silenced as the teacher spoke to the boy. He looked shaky as the teacher explained whatever it was that he needed, and Kris found himself facing a rare emotion - anger. How could the teacher bother him when he was so obviously upset?

As much as he tried to shake off the unwelcome feeling, reminding himself that he shouldn’t even care, it refused to leave, and Kris wanted to protect him. Slowly, he managed to pry his eyes off of the boy, but ended up flickering them around the room to see who else was paying attention. It was more than he expected, to say the least. Lay and Luhan, of course, but there were two others as well, and they were all very aware of the other boy - and they made no secret of it.

When Tao was finally released he went right back to his seat and stared at his desk, his expression one of humiliation and obvious upset. Luhan was on him in an instant, his skinny arms wrapping around the younger boy as he fought off a fresh wave of tears. It didn’t take long for Lay and the two he didn’t recognize to make their way over and begin petting Tao’s hair and face, offering soft and concerned glances.

“What did he say?” Luhan asked, his tone low. Kris glanced over at him, and while he did indeed look very protective, he was hardly intimidating. It was almost laughable to see the baby-faced elder playing mother hen to the obviously fit youth.

“He wants me to get a tutor.” Tao said softly.

“But it’s the first day.” One of the strangers deadpanned.

“He said that since English isn’t my ‘strong point’ I should get help early.” Tao explained, not meeting anyone’s eyes. Lay looked right at Kris.

“Gege-” He started, and Kris’s eyes narrowed.

“No.” He said dismissively.

“But, gege..!” Lay whined. Kris sighed.

“I said no.” He snapped, and Lay pouted.

“But you need to make friends. Besides, look how cute he is!” Lay said, poking Tao’s cheek. Kris looked at the boy in question, then shook his head pointedly.

“Lay-hyung, it’s fine-” Tao started, but Lay clapped a hand over his mouth and whispered into his ear. Tao sighed, pushing Lay’s hand away. He turned to Kris, raising his hands to his cheeks and curling his fingers in a similar movement to the one made when revving a motorbike. “Buing, buing.”

His voice was low and pouty, and Kris found himself nodding before he even realized how completely unable to refuse the boy he was. Tao’s hands fell away, and he smiled for the first time (that Kris had seen, anyway). Luhan, however, looked skeptical, and he leaned back to get a slightly better look at Kris. The boy currently facing the elder’s scrutiny let out a small sigh and raised his eyebrow.

“Can you even speak English?” Luhan finally asked, and for once Kris appeared highly offended.

“I lived in Canada for five years. Of course I can speak English.” Kris spat, proving his skill in the language. He had to remind himself to remain calm - Luhan didn’t know any better, after all. Kris’s affinity to languages had always made him kind of proud, so having it questioned bothered him immensely. Luhan, for his part, had the decency to look surprised.

“Sorry..” He said, bowing slightly. “I just don’t want to toss him off on some random person.”

“I wouldn’t do that.” Lay said, looking slightly hurt. Luhan glanced at him apologetically.

“I know that. It’s just...he was so against doing it to begin with. I was just wary.” Luhan explained. Lay crossed his arms and pouted, but nodded his understanding anyway.

“Kris-gege is a little shy at first, but...he’s not mean.” Lay said. “And he’s very smart. He speaks four languages.”

“Four?” One of the nearly forgotten strangers burst out. “I have enough trouble with one.”

“Baekhyun, be quiet.” Luhan said, fluffing the boys hair. The boy in question pouted, then turned to the final, still unnamed, boy.

“Kai.” Baekhyun said, and the other graced him with a bored expression. ”Did you remember to ask Tao about-”

“Tao-hyung.” Kai said, tilting his head up slightly. Tao turned his eyes to the speaker. “If it’s ok with Xiu-xiu and Lulu, do you want to go dancing this weekend?”

Kris couldn’t deny that he was amused by ‘Lulu’s’ reaction. The elder honestly looked quite offended, but this ‘Kai’ kid really didn’t seem to care. Kris rolled his eyes, catching sight of Lay from the corner of one, and focusing on him. He looked a little bit sad, and Kris couldn’t help but wonder if it was because he had been left out of the plans - nor could he erase the thought that Lay’s exclusion might have something to do with his moving in.

“I dunno. I’ll bring it up when we go home.” Tao answered vaguely, and Kai nodded as though he had been expecting such an answer.

“Dìdì.” Kris said, and Lay glanced up at him in surprise. “You okay?”

“I'm fine!” Lay said, producing a nod and a grin that seemed genuine. Kris didn’t buy it for a second, but shrugged and turned away anyway. If Lay wanted to pretend that everything was perfectly fine, then that was his own business, and Kris wouldn’t get involved.

“Lay-hyung.” Tao called softly, and Lay looked over at him. “Are you going to-”

“No.” Lay said quickly, cutting him off. “Maybe next weekend.”

“Oh.” Tao said, his eyes finding his desk again. Luhan his hair.

“It hasn’t really been that long.” Luhan said, and Tao pouted.

“It’s been more than a month.” He said, his voice sad. Kris kept his eyes trained hard on the book he had opened on his desk. There was no doubt in his mind, now, that whatever was going on definitely had something to do with his presence, and he felt kind of bad for interrupting Lay’s life.

“Well, how about we invite some people over?” Luhan suggested, and Tao shook his head.

“There’s not enough room.” Tao said, his voice a little bit higher than normal. “Kai could fit in with Sehun, but other than that-”

“Alright, alright.” Luhan said, glancing around at the others. Lay finally moved in to help settle the boy.

“I’ll talk to umma.” Lay said, and Tao nodded slightly, seeming at least slightly appeased. “It’ll be ok.”

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Alright, that took a little longer to write than I had hoped for. I've been updating a lot recently, though, so I guess it evens out. :3

Also, if anyone's interested in JongYu, I just started a new one called The Wonder Years (<--- Click it, you know you want to :3)

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