Warning: Language

Edited for grammatical mistakes (oops!)

O.o o.O

Tao fidgeted as Minseok carefully brushed on eyeshadow. It was just the two of them, Minseok having very firmly shoved everyone out and demanded one-on-one beautification time with Tao. 

“Gege,” Tao said, “we’re just going to Lotte World. I don’t think I need to be that made up for it.”

“Nonsense,” Minseok murmured, fully intent on his blending. “This is just gonna be simple, light makeup. Perfect for a day out.”

“It’s ten-thirty in the morning.”

“Gotta make you pretty for your first date.”

“Gege,” Tao tried again. “It’s just Lotte World.” His voice dropped until it was almost a whisper. “Nothing serious.”

Minseok leaned back to look at Tao, frowning ever so slightly. “It’s your first date - ever. I don’t care what anyone else says. This is a special occasion.”

“Do you really think so?” Tao was obviously unsure, blinking up at Minseok for confirmation.

“Yes,” Minseok said firmly. “Now hush, and let gege make you fabulous. Kris won’t know what hit him.”

Next door, Kris was fixing his hair in the mirror above the dresser, thoroughly ignoring Luhan, who was giving him a death-stare through the reflection.

“Don’t you dare this up for baby Tao,” Luhan hissed. “This had better be the best date he’s ever been on -”

“This will be the only date he’s ever been on,” Jongdae cut in.

“Remember the plan,” Yixing added, waving around a wrinkled piece of paper. “I even drew fireworks.” 

“Oh,” Luhan said, turning slightly. “I thought that was, like, artist’s rendition of spunk or something.”

“Speaking of which,” Jongdae held up a giant plastic bag, “you can never be too prepared. We have condoms, travel packs of lube -”

“What the ,” Kris snapped, finally turning from the mirror.

Luhan whirled around also. “There will be absolutely no ing -”

Kris fairly growled out, “Jongdae, there is no way in hell I’m bringing any of that with me.”

Yixing perked up. “Oh! That’s fine. You can just buy some along the way.”

“Staying safe is important,” Luhan conceded with a grunt.

“I’m not going to sleep with him -”

“You’re right, probably not on the first date,” Yixing mused, Jongdae nodded along.

“True, true. Minseok-hyung is definitely gonna tell baby Tao to make you work for it.” 

“Work it,” Yixing hummed, dropping into a body roll, Jongdae following with an awkward jerk of his hips.

“Oh my god, I’m gonna kill Minseok,” Luhan wailed dramatically. “We agreed that he was gonna give the ‘punch Kris in the face if he makes a move’ talk! Not the ‘make him gag for it’ talk!”

Jongdae looked around himself, ultimately dropping the plastic bag onto Kris’ desk. “I’ll just leave this here anyway, just in case.”

Luhan set his hands on his hips. “But if you think I’m just gonna let Kris prey on baby Tao like this -”

“Hey! You make it sound like I’m some sort of weird ual predator!” Kris’ glare would have decimated a weaker person, but -

“No, you’re just a regular old !” Luhan accused.

“I am not -”

“You sort of are,” Yixing said.

Kris could feel a vein in his temple throbbing. “I AM NOT -”

“Okay, let’s see.” Jongdae began counting off on his fingers. “Prep is important, have you cut your nails?”

“THERE WILL BE NO -”

Luhan levelled another menacing look at Kris. “If you even think of hurting baby Tao -”

Yixing grabbed one of Kris’ hands. “Nails, check.”

“Remember to use enough lube,” Jongdae counted.

Yixing peeked into the plastic bag. “Tons of lube, check.”

“Condoms are important, even if you’re both clean.”

Yixing stirred his hand in the bag. “Tons of condoms, check.”

Jongdae gave a satisfied smile. “Well, actually, that’s it. I guess all that’s left is to remember to make sure baby Tao is enjoying it. And that he’s relaxed. Deep breaths help.”

“Pain is not y.” Yixing paused. “Unless he’s into that sort of thing, I guess.”

Luhan gave a shrill gasp, hand splayed on his chest, eyes and mouth open wide. “Not baby Tao -”

“It’s always the quiet ones,” Yixing mused.

Jongdae rubbed his chin. “And we all know hyung is a sadist.”

“I AM NOT -“ This time it was Kris that cut himself off as he sighed, massaging the bridge of his nose with his other hand on his hip. “I’m telling you guys for the last time -”

Luhan choked out a fake sob as he patted Kris on the shoulder. “My baby - I’m entrusting my pure, innocent baby to you, you evil, erted monster.”

“Even if he’s into pain, forcing is still an absolute no-no,” Jongdae said. “Consent is y.”

“Safewords,” Yixing reminded. “Safewords are sooooo important.”

“Okay, that’s it. All of you, out.” Kris pointed at the door.

“Or hand signals,” Luhan added, “especially if the mouth is, uh, otherwise occupied.”

“Colours are also a good alternative to safewords,” Yixing continued. “Especially in a new relationship.”

“When you’re not quite sure where the boundaries are yet,” Jongdae agreed. “Kink negotiation is a must.”

“Talking it out isn’t super y, but maybe you can do it over tea,” Yixing said, reaching for the rumpled plan. “Lemme just make a few changes.”

“Out,” Kris said through gritted teeth. “Get. Out.”

Jongdae scrunched up his nose. “Ehhh, I don’t know, hyung. It could be y. Talking gets the imagination going.”

Luhan snorted, though now his attention was focused on his phone. “Krissy might just end up with a nosebleed.”

“Remember to bring tissues,” Yixing said mildly. 

“There are wet wipes in the bag,” Jongdae said.

“Got it!” Luhan waved his phone. “Love hotels with dungeon rooms!”

Kris’ eyebrow gave an involuntary twitch as he pointed at the door again and hollered, “OUT. GET OUT. ALL OF YOU GET THE OUT RIGHT NOW.”

It didn’t even take a split second before they all tripped over each other in the stampede out, Kris slamming the door shut after them.

Back in Tao’s room, he listened to Kris’ shout with wide eyes, jumping when the slam of the door came, hard enough that the walls shook. 

“Just ignore them, Peaches,” Minseok said, wiping at the streak of dark brown eyeliner that he accidentally drew over Tao’s cheek. “Kris just doesn’t know how to take a joke.”

To be honest, Tao had heard the muffled exclamations, but Minseok’s steady stream of chatter had distracted him enough from actually knowing what was said. “Min-gege, do you think…maybe we should just cancel. Or go do something else instead.”

“What? No.” Minseok dabbed at Tao’s face with a sponge to even out the smudged bb cream. “Don’t be silly.”

“But - but gege…”

“Trust me. It’s just nerves. Kris is probably nervous too.”

Tao couldn’t imagine Kris being nervous about anything, and certainly not about something as mundane as taking him to an amusement park.

There was a quiet knock on his door, and Minseok called out a welcome.

“Hey.” It was Kris, cool as ever, dressed simply in a white shirt and dark skinny jeans. He gave Tao a soft smile. “You almost ready?”

“Just give us a minute,” Minseok said, turning to block Kris’ view of Tao with his body.

“I’ll be outside. Take as much time as you need,” Kris said, pulling the door back closed gently.

Tao blinked up at Minseok, hands curling into fists in his lap. “Gege…what if…what if he gets bored with me?”

“Absolutely not,” Minseok said, no trace of hesitation whatsoever. “Remember - Kris asked you out because he likes you. Just be yourself, that’s more than enough. And also, remember that you’re out to have fun, alright? It’s okay to be nervous, but don’t let it get in the way of enjoying your date.”

Tao blew out a huge breath. “Okay,” he said, standing and smoothing down his shirt. “I look alright, right?”

Minseok gave him a thumbs up. “Go knock his socks off. Fighting!”

“Fighting,” Tao murmured, bumping fists with Minseok before heading to the living room. 

Kris was sitting on the sofa, staring off into space with furrowed brows, hands clenched into fists in his lap. For a second, Tao hesitated, before taking another step forward.

“Gege?”

Kris shot up from his seat at Tao’s voice. “Tao.” What remained of his breath left him as he took in the sight of Tao, of his faint blush, of his pink lips curved up into a small smile, of the bashful flutter of his lashes. “You, uh. You look great.”

Tao looked down at himself briefly, blush deepening across his cheeks. “Oh, um. Thank you. And thank you for waiting.”

“I’ll wait as long as you need.” Kris sidled up to him, reaching out to slide his fingertips down Tao’s forearm until he wrapped his hand around Tao’s. “Ready?”

Tao looked up at him, eyes shining, and Kris’ heart gave an excited skip. “Ready.”

O.o o.O

They were on the subway, having been lucky enough to snag a couple seats for the ride towards Lotte World, and Kris was already pretty sure he wasn’t going to make it through his date alive.

He had been so caught up in looking at Tao’s sweet mien earlier that he hadn’t paid any real attention to Tao’s outfit - and oh, how Kris wished he had, just so he could have had more time for his mind to process it.

This was Luhan’s fault. This had to be Luhan’s fault. The outfit had Luhan’s stink all over it - pale blue jeans that fit like leggings, a sleeveless tunic that dipped well below Tao’s collarbones, and a fuzzy, soft-looking oversized cardigan thrown on top, sliding tantalisingly down bare shoulders before Tao would tug it back up every now and then, long enough that it brushed around his thighs when he walked and clinging to the curves of his waist and . When the subway had come, blowing one side of the cardigan away, Kris had glimpsed a hint of Tao’s bare torso from the wide opening of the shirt, loose enough that it barely covered his .

He was going to murder Luhan.

And now, with Tao pressed up right against him, Kris had to actively concentrate on the words coming out of Tao’s mouth to make any sense of it. 

“…ice cream!”

“Uh.” Kris darted his gaze down to Tao’s lips. “Of course. Gege will buy some for you.”

Tao blinked, clearly confused. “Um. I was saying that Yixing-gege bought some more red bean ice cream. For tomorrow’s movie night.”

“Oh. Right.” Kris shook his head. “I, uh. Got distracted for a second there.”

“Um.” Tao gave a brief chew to his lower lip. “Gege, we can go back if you don’t feel well.”

“No!”

Tao reeled back, blinking in surprise.

“I mean, uh. No. I feel fine.” Kris reached over to hold Tao’s hand in his own, running his thumb over Tao’s knuckles. “Really.”

“Okay,” Tao said, cheeks flushing with a fresh wash of baby pinkness.

After that, Kris somehow managed to pay attention to every word out of Tao’s mouth by forcefully looking away every time he felt himself start to drift. Luckily, Tao didn’t notice, having migrated to his usual resting spot against Kris’ side, head pillowed on his shoulder. 

Both of them got a shot of renewed energy when they got their passes and entered the park, Tao immediately gravitating towards a stall that sold animal ears.

“Gege! These are so cute!”

“Pick one,” Kris said, enjoying the way Tao bent over to inspect the ears on the lower tiers. “Whichever one you want. Gege will buy it for you.”

“Pink? White? What do you think?” Tao held up two headbands, both with tiger stripes.

“Hmm.” Kris pretended to think - both would look good on Tao, but the way Tao looked to him, completely earnest in seeking his opinion - that was what Kris really liked. “Try them on for me.”

Tao did, one in each hand as he slid them haphazardly into his hair, pausing just long enough for Kris to nod seriously, hand on his chin. “What do you think?” he asked again.

“White,” Kris said, taking the headband from Tao to the stall supervisor, his other hand already reaching for his wallet.

“Gege, we should get matching ones!” Tao held another white tiger headband in his hands.

Kris hesitated, just long enough that Tao was already setting the headband down before Kris gave in, holding his hand out for it. “Come on then.”

Tao just blinked at him. “Really?”

“Yes,” Kris said firmly, turning away to hide the heat on his face.

The embarrassment was worth Tao’s smile and the sparkle in his eyes. “Gege!” Tao bounced excitedly, "let’s take a picture first!”

Kris didn’t like taking photos, but still posed willingly, slinging an arm around Tao’s shoulders to pull him close.

“Oh, oh! Let’s take one with the mascot too!”

“Gege, stand over there! I’ll take one of you!”

“Gege, take one of me!”

Kris found himself laughing along with Tao’s enthusiasm; if he had known a simple amusement park would make Tao so happy, he would have taken him here ages ago. “Do you feel like going on the rides yet?”

“Maybe after a snack?” Tao looked at him hopefully, biting down on the tip of his index finger. “It’s been a few hours since breakfast.”

“What would you like?”

“Churros!”

Kris could only give an indulgent smile, pulling Tao closer by their entwined hands. “Whatever you want.”

O.o o.O

“You’re back!” 

High pitched screaming greeted them as they entered the suite, hand in hand. Luhan fairly leapt off the sofa towards them, both hands reaching out to Tao, immediately yanking Tao’s cardigan down one shoulder and pressing his nose against Tao’s skin to sniff at him.

“Uh, what do you think you’re doing?” Kris asked, giving Luhan a hard shove, but Luhan blocked him by using Tao’s body as a shield.

“Smell test,” Luhan said. 

“Uh, yeah, okay, but why.”

Luhan just smirked. “To see if you guys went to a love hotel.”

“How was the park?” Minseok called from the sofa, waving at Tao with a beer.

“It was great!” Tao chirped, allowing himself to be manhandled as Luhan pushed his nose across the expanse of his shoulders, Kris reaching around him to try and shove Luhan away. “I had so much fun!”

“What the , Luhan! I already said no!”

“You guys are back pretty late,” Minseok commented. “Did you guys go to dinner?”

“Yes! It was…” Tao ducked his head in a soft blush. They had dinner at a cozy, dim restaurant, laughing as they stole bites of each other’s food, and Kris feeding Tao most of his dessert. “It was yummy.”

Minseok just laughed knowingly. “I bet it was.”

“The mind is willing but the body is weak,” Luhan hummed, running his fingers through Tao’s hair before sticking his nose against Tao’s jaw and sliding it down the column of Tao’s throat. 

“What the does that even mean,” Kris was grinding out, when -

“Ah.”

The entire room paused.

Luhan stood, frozen, Tao slumping against him in a full-body tremble, lashes fluttering and pink lips parted in a quiet moan.

“Holy ,” Minseok breathed out after a few heavy heartbeats.

Luhan shrieked, pushing Tao into Kris’ hold hurriedly. “I didn’t mean to! I didn’t mean to! Oh my god what was that?!”

“Oh,” Tao blinked dazedly, hand on his throat, cardigan still hanging around his elbows. “Lu-gege, it tickled.”

Kris held Tao against himself possessively, shielding him from Luhan and yanking Tao's cardigan back up around his shoulders, hiding all that delicious golden skin from sight. “No more touching.”

Luhan backed off with both hands held up. “Dude, I am not going anywhere near that.”

“You alright?” Kris leaned back slightly to look at Tao, who blinked up at him innocently. 

“Of course. Uh. Should I not be?” Tao frowned, eyes sliding towards Luhan who had his tongue stuck out as he fake-retched.

“Ugh, gross, too much information!” Luhan staggered towards Minseok on the sofa, gagging the entire way as he clawed at his own face. “Ack, way too much information!”

“Serves you right, you ,” Minseok hummed, tilting his head back to finish off his beer.

“Come on,” Kris pulled Tao towards Tao’s room. “Let’s get away from these erts.”

“Don’t lump me in with Luhan,” Minseok yelled after them, as Luhan gagged again, loudly.

“I REGRET EVERY SINGLE MOMENT OF MY LIFE UP ’TIL NOW.”

When Kris had Tao’s door firmly shut, he turned around just to see Tao pouting.

“I don’t understand,” he said in his soft voice. “What was Lu-gege talking about? Do I…do I smell bad?” He lifted up the loose collar of his shirt to his nose, frowning quizzically before doing the same with the sleeves of his cardigan. “I didn’t put any perfume on today…maybe I need a shower?”

“No,” Kris said, going to hold Tao’s hand in his, lacing their fingers together. “No, Luhan was just being an idiot. You’re fine.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.” Kris tugged at Tao lightly. “Did you have fun today?”

Tao lit up in a bright smile. “Yes!”

“Good. So did I. Let’s go on another date.”

“Really?”

“Yes. In a couple days? Would you be free?”

“Of course,” Tao said, allowing Kris to draw him even closer, easing him into a hug. Kris’ hands went around his waist, large and warm, sliding under the cardigan so only the thin cotton of Tao’s tunic separated their skin. Kris spread his hand across Tao’s lower back, fingertips mapping out the curve of Tao’s waist, sighing softly at the familiar weight of Tao leaning on him. “I really enjoyed myself today, gege,” Tao whispered. “Thank you.”

Kris hummed, cheek pressed against Tao’s hair, wondering if it would be too soon to ask for a kiss.

Too soon, he decided, as Tao pulled back, lips still curled up happily. 

But he could still settle for something else - Kris cupped Tao’s cheek in one hand, leaning in slowly to touch his lips lightly at the very edge of Tao’s smile.

The flush on Tao’s face was almost instantaneous, skin heating up under Kris’ hand as his eyelashes fluttered and his mouth pouted, dazed. 

“Go get ready for bed,” Kris said in his low voice. His sharp eyes caught the way Tao tried to hold back a shiver, and his smile widened, utterly satisfied with the response. “It’s late.”

“Alright. Good night, gege,” Tao whispered, head lowered shyly as Kris stepped away from him. He wrapped his arms around his torso, chilly now without Kris’ heat. There was just a flash of his dark eyes before he looked away again, his blush having settled into a rosy pink. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Yes. Tomorrow. Good night,” Kris said, closing Tao’s door behind himself gently.

The click of his door had Tao burying his face in both his hands, collapsing onto his bed and squirming into the unmade covers as he bit down onto his lower lip, barely containing his squeals of happiness. 

After a few moments, Tao to his back breathlessly, reaching for Mr Panda and hugging it tight against his chest. 

It wouldn’t be wrong to hope now, right?

O.o o.O

/Part 20: First Date

O.o o.O

A/N: I AM SO SORRY! To everyone that's still reading this - thank you SO MUCH. Thank you for being patient, thank you for giving my story a chance, thank you for your interest! I actually rewrote this chapter a few times because I wavered in the direction that I wanted the story to go. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! The end is nigh...!