"Oppa!"

The first word Xiumin ever heard falling past Tao's lips. At the time, he had been confused. Where was the girl who had called out to him? But there was no girl. Only the cat-faced boy with a shy smile, hoping he had done everything right. It hadn't taken long at all for Xiumin to find that this boy was extremely sensitive and sweet, trying his hardest to please others as well as improve himself. He stuttered his way through ten months of tongue slips and accidents, not quite grasping the language so many of his elders spoke. He'd been embarrassed to find that "oppa" was a term used by a girl, and had apologized again and again to Xiumin, who was the only one he had actually said it to.

Xiumin had pulled him into an easy hug, telling him it hadn't bothered him at all. While Tao had still been a bit red-faced, he had accepted that answer, but still made a strong effort to call him hyung. All in all, Xiumin thought it was adorable. Especially when his tongue slips led to the flustered teen calling him "oppa" time and time again. Eventually, he had managed to sooth the embarrassment of the word, and Tao stopped panicking when he said it. For a while, it became almost a nickname that only Tao could use, but as he practiced and time went on, it was used less and less often. It came to be a tool for Xiumin to recognize when Tao was tired, or upset, or just feeling vulnerable.

The night Tao woke him up from a sound sleep, only a few months after their debut in China, his head bowed slightly as he crouched beside the bed, Xiumin wasn't sure which of the three he was dealing with. Maybe a combination, based on the expression on Tao's face. His eyelids looked heavy, but his eyes were damp. The rest of his face was pulled into an expression most commonly seen on small children fearing they were going to be told 'no,' and Xiumin blinked at him in a confused state.

"What's wrong, Panda?" Xiumin asked, reaching out to fluff the younger's hair affectionately. Tao leaned easily into the touch, his eyes closing as he took a breath.

"Oppa...could I...could I stay with you tonight?"