Day One; Encounter

Tao walked around the neighborhood looking for something worthy to do, but there was nothing to do. He decided to go visit his high school.

* I never appreciated this place… But I’ll surely miss it when I’m gone. *

He sighed and walked away from the school. He somehow came across another school.

* Was this school always here? How come I’ve never noticed? *

He saw some boys playing basketball at the school court. He decided to watch the game since he had nothing better to do.

“Yes! Goal!” Someone shouted.

“As expected of you, Kris.The king of basketball.”

*Kris? It couldn’t be the same Kris I met yesterday, right? My luck isn’t that good. * Tao shook his head and focused on the game. Someone tried to score, but the basketball bounced off the ___ and bounced towards Tao. He walked towards it and picked it up.

“Hey, could you pass me the ball please?” Someone asked, running towards him. Tao looked up at the guy speaking to him. *K-KRIS?! IT’S REALLY HIM!*

“Ah, you’re the guy at the beach yesterday! Hey Tao! It’s nice to see you again.” Kris patted Tao’s shoulder.

“Er- yeah, hey, K-kris. Here’s the basketball. I’ll be going now.” Tao handed the ball back and proceeded to run away.

“Hey wait.” Kris pulled Tao’s wrist.

“Here you go, boys. I’ll play with you guys some other time.” Kris tossed the ball back at them with one arm.

“Aww man, you were the best one on our team! Now we’re going to !” Someone said.

Kris shrugged. “Sorry, man. Later!” Kris pulled Tao’s wrist, leading him somewhere. “Let’s go to a close by store.”

Tao just obediently followed. They decided to go into Starbucks.

“I’ll take an Americano.” Kris told the cashier. “Tao, what do you want?”

“Uhh, nothing for me.”

“Come on. It’s my treat.”

Tao just met Kris yesterday, and he was already treating him to Starbucks, his all-time favorite coffee shop?! Dang, he was the perfect man. Too bad he probably had a girlfriend already. (A/N: it’s me LOLOL. JK I WISH.)

“Uh, then…” Tao looked up at the Starbucks menu plates. He was tempted to drink everything. “I’ll get a Caramel Frappuccino then.”

Kris paid for everything and the cashier went to get their drinks.

“Why are you treating me even though we just met?” Tao asked.

“That’s a good question. Hmmm, I think it’s because I have a liking for you.”

“A w-what?”

“Here are your drinks.” The cashier handed them their drinks in a tray. 

“Thank you sweetie.” Kris smiled and took the tray, heading towards a table for two. The cashier turned red and hid her face.

“Flirt.” Tao muttered under his breath, shaking his head.

“Come, sit here.” Kris pulled out the chair for him.

“Thank you.” Tao said, bowing his head a bit.

Kris smiled again. If smiles could kill, Tao would have been dead by now.

“So, Tao, is that your real name?”

“My birth name is Huang Zi Tao.” He stutters a bit too nervously.

“That’s a cute name~ Tao Zi.”

Tao gave him a glare. “I said my name is Zi Tao, not the other way around. And I preferred to be called Tao.”

“Well, Tao Zi it is.” Kris smiles again, taking a sip from his Americano.

Tao examines this stranger’s every move as if he’s never seen anything more elegant.

“Want a drink?” Kris offers, holding out his coffee.

“Um, no thanks?”

“Try it anyways.” Kris holds the coffee so it’s right in front of Tao’s lips. Tao unwillingly takes a sip.

“Yuck. Bitter.” Tao’s face scrunches up from the bitterness. Kris laughs as a reaction.

“I like sweet things more.” He drinks from his caramel frappucino.

“I’ll make a mental note of that. Do you remember my name by any chance?”

“Um, was it K-k-krease.. ?”

“Kris.” He says. “Kuh-ris.”

“Kuh-ris.” Tao repeats.

“Good job Tao Zi~ How old are you?”

“I just turned 18 a while back…What about you?”

“I’m 21. Turning 22 soon. So, where do you live?”

“Qingdao. It's pretty far from here. You?

"My parents are in Guangzhou, but I rent an apartment around here. What are you doing so far from home?"

"I-I just had a l-little check up at the hospital." 

"Oh, I see. You're all fine, right?" 

"Yeah, completely. Couldn't be better!" 

"That's good to hear. If you're done with your coffee, let's go for a walk."

Tao quickly nodded and sipped everything that was left in the cup. Kris stood up and brought the tray over back to the cashier.

"Do you have anywhere you want to go now?" Kris met Tao at the door.

"Not really." Tao pouted his lower lip out of habit. 

"Don't do that." Kris said softly. 

"Don't do w-what...?" 

"The lip thing." 

"Why? It's a habit..."

"I have a for lips. So please don't do that." 

"O-ok." He immediately stops biting his lip.

"So, where do you want to go?" 

"U-um, anywhere is f-fine."

"Hmmm... Then, let's go to the library nearby." 

"Library? Why library?" 

"I like to read books. If you don't want to go to the library, that's fine. We can always go somewhere else." Kris smiles. 

"L-Let's just go to library." He mutters and hangs his head down, he feels his cheeks growing warm.

-

At the library, Tao sits at an empty table for two, waiting for Kris to come back from his adventure of finding books.. Kris told him to wait for less than 5 minutes, but as Tao glances at his watch, more than 10 minutes has past. Tao closes his eyes and taps a soft beat with his finger on the table. 

"Sorry to keep you waiting Taozi! I got a little crazy finding books."

Tao opens his eyes to find Kris setting down a whole building of books on the table. 

"A-are you going to read all of that?!" Tao gasps.

"Yup." 

"Won't it take you years to read all of this?!" 

Kris shook his head with a slight smile. "One book takes me one week at most. And plus, I don't have fees for turning in books late. The librarian here treats me specially." 

"Wow...." Tao nods, impressed. *Must be nice to be popular around ladies with that face and height of yours, Kris.*

"Let's go check these out, Taozi." 

They proceed to the book check-out line. 

"Kris, you came again." The librarian smiles brightly as she takes the pile of books Kris has picked out.

"Yes. How are you, Librarian Lee?" Kris smiles back. 

"Oh,I feel great whenever I see your young face~" 

"Thank you for the compliment as always." 

"Here are your books. I hope to see you soon, Kris~ The library is such a better place with you around." 

"Haha, thank you. I'll see you soon, Librarian Lee. Have a nice day!" Kris took the bag that the librarian has put all the books neatly into. 

"Hey Taozi, do you want to come over to my house?" Kris said after they were outside.

"Uhm.. Sure. I have nothing else to do anyways." 

"Great, let's go!" 

-

and off they went to 'do it' at kris's house. just kidding~

sorry it took so long to update. i'm a very lazy author and for the past weeks I've had no ambition to write :P 

hope you all enjoyed this chapter. see you next time <3