Today was the day that Kris returns from his trip from Japan. Chanyeol informed Chen that he was going to pick him up, giving him more time to sleep. Tao was currently in his room sitting criss crossed on his bed, mending Kris’ scarf, while Yitao was taking a nap on his bed.

“Ouch!” Tao quietly hissed. He poked his finger for the 5th time and cursed again for the 5th time, even though he was following the book that he bought from the stand. The nanny sighed, but continued with his work. After many tries, he was able to fix it and as well add the heart patch. Tao still felt a little bit embarrassed for putting a heart patch on Kris’ scarf, but there was nothing else to put.

Tao lifted the scarf up to inspect it. ‘It looks okay…ha! For a first timer…I’m pretty good at this!’ He smiled at himself. He looked behind him to see Yitao still sleeping with his papa panda plush in his hand. Tao slowly got off from the bed and made his way to the door. He closed the door as quietly as he could and went to Kris’ office. Once he opened the door to his office, he placed the brand new scarf on the desk. Tao didn’t even bother in writing his name down; Kris should know who mended the scarf.

‘It’s the last thing I could do.’ Tao sighed. ‘After all…I crossed the line.’

He still felt that he was going to get fired from yelling at his Boss. He knew that it was wrong, but his brain was telling him to keep at it. Tao went back to the door and closed it. He suddenly heard little foot steps running in the hallway; he turned to see Yitao running towards him with tears forming in his eyes.

“Yitao? What’s wrong?” Tao asked as he knelt down. The young panda wrapped his free arm around Tao’s neck. “Were you looking for me?” The young panda could only nod. Tao chuckled and Yitao’s head. “I’m here. You know that.” The nanny picked him up and started to walk towards the living room. He started to swing him around while he was still in his arms; eventually, he bumped into a figure. Tao quickly turned around to apologize only to be surprised that the person that he bumped into was his Boss and Chanyeol.

“Oh, Sir,” Tao placed Yitao down and bowed at his Boss. Yitao ran behind Tao peaking at his father from time to time. Kris was talking to Chanyeol while rummaging through one of his carry on bags. Tao was expecting Kris to say that he is fried, but nothing came.

“Um, Sir,” Kris turned around to face the nanny. “Ah…are…are you going to fire me?”

“Hm?” Kris raised his eyebrow. “Why would I?”

Tao scratched his cheek. “Well…what I did before you left for Japan…it was wrong for me to yell at you and --”

“Tao…its okay.”

Tao looked at his Boss with a surprised expression. “O-okay? But I --”

“Tao, it‘s fine. I‘m not going to fire you.” Kris returned back into rummaging through his stuff. “Where is it…oh! Here it is.” Kris took out a small package and handed it to Tao. “For you.”

“M-me?” Tao grabbed the small package and looked at it. They were various Japanese candies all wrapped in a clear package with a red bow on top. “Whoa!” He looked up at his Boss. “Thank you Sir!” Tao looked down and smiled at Yitao. Kris knelt down and took out another package from his carry on and placed it in front of Yitao. It was another small package of Japanese candies and a small dino plush toy. Yitao was hesitant; he looked up at Tao for help, but Tao patted his head telling that it was okay. The young panda looked at his father, then back at the gifts that were presented to him. He stepped forward to grab the gifts. Kris was about to pat his head when Yitao took a step back and hid back behind Tao once again. Kris’ expression fell. He thought that if he gave his son some small gifts, he would smile at him, but his plan backfired.

Tao glanced at Kris’ reaction and felt sorry for him. He patted Yitao’s head once again and knelt down to at the same height as the young panda.

“Yitao…why don’t you give your father a hug...hm?”

Yitao looked at his nanny; he shook his head ‘no’. Tao glanced at his Boss and he knew that Yitao’s action broke Kris’ heart. Kris stood up and took his luggage from Chanyeol. He headed up to his room, not even bothering to answer Chanyeol’s calls. Tao sighed and picked up Yitao; he felt pretty bad about what happened. He really wanted Yitao and Kris to be in a happy father and son relationship.

‘Yitao is probably still scared of Kris…I have to work even harder for their relationship to be repaired.'

Tao turned around to face Chanyeol, who was also displaying a sad expression. “I…I uh, have a gift for you and Baekhyun.” The nanny gave a small smile. “It’s in my room.” He motioned with his head for Chanyeol to follow. Once Chanyeol got the gift, he went to the car to get Tao’s gift from them. “Thanks Chanyeol…drive safe okay.” Chanyeol nodded and left to go back home. The nanny went to the kitchen, with Yitao still in his arms, resting his head on Tao’s shoulder; the other workers were chatting and eating little snacks prepared by Xiumin. Tao took a seat and joined with the conversation. He placed Yitao on his lap and listened to what Chen was talking about. The nanny was listening, but his mind was on Kris and his expression kept coming back.

‘I hope Boss will be okay.’

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

Kris started to unpack his luggage. He sighed while he shook his head. He remembered what happened just a few minutes ago. Kris tried his best not to cry, but his tears betrayed him; he took out his handkerchief from his back pocket and wiped away his tears.

‘Tao was right…what kind of father am I?’

Once he was done, he went down stairs to his office to place some papers that he received from Japan in his folder. He opened the door and went inside; he placed the papers on his desk, but noticed that something was there. He looked over his papers and noticed that it was his scarf, all mended and perfectly folded. He lifted it up and inspected it; the mending was a little poor, but it wasn’t that bad. He saw the heart patch and tilted his head.

‘A heart patch?’ Kris chuckled a bit. ‘That was nice of Tao.’ He placed his scarf on the side and gave a faint smile.

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

A couple weeks passed since the incident and Tao just finished doing the laundry; he was done folding the clothes and started to ascend the stairs while carrying Yitao’s clothes. Once he got to the young panda’s room, he knocked on the door and told Yitao that he would be coming in. He opened the door and realized that Yitao was not in his room.

“Yitao?”

Tao looked around and placed the folded clothes on his bed. He checked his private bathroom and he wasn’t there. He started to get worried and exited his room.

“Where is he?”

As Tao closed the young panda’s door, he walked down the hallway trying to find him. As he was walking by, noticed that a door was half-open. Curious, he peaked in and saw Yitao sitting on a brown barcalounger. Tao knocked on the door making Yitao quickly look up, but relaxed once he saw that it was Tao.

“Can I come in Yitao?” Tao asked, in which Yitao simply nodded. The nanny entered the room and looked around; it was a small library with two black barcaloungers and a fireplace settled in between. Tao went to Yitao and sat on the arm rest; he saw that the young panda was displaying a sad expression on his face. The nanny looked at the page that Yitao was currently looking at and it was a drawing of a mother cat caring for a child.

“Do…do you miss your mommy Yitao?” Tao asked softly, but enough for Yitao to hear. The young panda simply nodded and Tao felt his heart clench. He Yitao’s head to comfort him. Yitao looked up at Tao with tears forming on his eyes; the nanny leaned down and wiped the tears away with his thumbs.

“It’s okay Yitao. Your mommy is watching you from above because she is an angel.” He said smiling at the young boy. “Smile please…because your mommy would want you to smile.” Yitao started to form a smile and slowly nodded at his nanny.

“And…and your mommy would love it if you can talk.” Tao said, but instead making Yitao talk, he chuckled instead.

‘Worth a shot.’ Tao chuckled at himself.

Yitao looked back at his book as if he was reading it. Tao tilted his head and glanced at Yitao.

“Hm,” Tao leaned over and grabbed the book from Yitao’s hands. “Do you know how to read?” The young panda stared at the book, but shook his head; he opened the book to the page of the mother cat and started to point at it. “Oh…your mommy is the one that reads to you huh?” Yitao nodded. “Well, I can read to you. You want me to read to you?”

Yitao looked at his nanny with wide eyes. He nodded his head and got off from the barcalounger. He patted the seat, telling Tao to sit down. The nanny took his seat and Yitao situated himself on Tao’s lap.

“Okay, let’s see.” Tao opened the book and started to read the book. Now and then, Tao would stop and ask Yitao questions, asking what happened to see if Yitao was paying attention. Surprisingly, Yitao was paying attention; he would motion what happened in the story and it made Tao praise the young panda.

“Yitao, you are so smart!” Tao said as he cupped Yitao‘s cheeks. "I'm proud of you!" Yitao smile and the nanny continued to read to the young panda.

Kris was walking down the hallway when he heard some voices coming from the small library. He crept up to the door and peaked through. He stared at his son and the nanny, who reading out loud, using different voices for each character. He watched as Yitao smiled and nodded to what Tao was saying.  Kris smiled; he slowly and quietly closed the door and went back to his work.

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

It was already February and Tao did his routine, send money to Ms. Lin and ask for the status of his family. They are still doing quite well and the nanny was happy to know that they are still doing okay. Tao went to the kitchen to get some snacks for Yitao; as he entered the kitchen, he saw Xiumin reading a cook book.

“Are you planning on making something?” Tao asked as he went to the fridge and got a juice box.

“Hm? Oh,” Xiumin flipped through the pages. “I’m making a cake.”

“Cake?” Tao grabbed an apple. “For fun?”

“It’s for Yitao. His birthday is this coming Monday. So I have to choose…which cake to…which do you think Yitao will like?” Xiumin turned the book over and showed the cake. “This strawberry cake…or…” Xiumin started to say as he was trying to turn in the page. “…or this fresh fruits cake.”

Tao looked at the cakes. “They…all look good. I kinda like the strawberry one though. Maybe he will like the strawberry cake.”

Xiumin nodded and dog eared the page. “Great. Let’s see…today is Saturday…hm, I’ll get started tomorrow.” the chef nodded and closed the book. “Thanks Tao.” He said as he smiled at the nanny.

“No problem.”

Tao left the kitchen and headed up to Yitao’s room. ’So Yitao’s birthday is this Monday. He will be turning 5!’ He knocked Yitao’s door and opened it. Yitao was sitting at his small desk, drawing with his crayons; he looked over his shoulder and smiled at his nanny. “Here you go Yitao. I brought you juice and an apple.” Tao placed the contents on his small desk.

While Yitao was drinking his juice, Tao looked at Yitao’s drawings.

“Aw, this one is cute!” Tao pointed at the red dragon. “This one is your dad right? Your dad likes dragons a lot you know.” Yitao nodded and started to draw again. Tao smiled; he was happy that Yitao still liked his father. The only problem was that he is scared to confront him.

“You want to give this to your dad? Why don’t we? I bet your dad will like this a lot!” Tao grabbed a red crayon and handed it to Yitao. “Here you go. Write to dad, from Yitao.”

Yitao stared at the red crayon then back at Tao. He tilted his head in the process. Not really sure what to do.

“Here,” Tao wrote on a blank piece of paper ’To Dad’ and ’Love, Yitao.’ “Copy this okay. And we will give it to your dad.” He said with a smile.

Yitao looked at the paper and copied the words on the red dragon drawing. Once the young panda was done, he lifted the drawing up and smiled. He gave the paper to Tao who looked over it. “Perfect!” He turned to face Yitao. “Your dad will love it!” He handed the paper back to Yitao. “You give it to him okay.” The young panda quickly turned to his nanny; he shook his head and pushed the drawing back.

“Don’t worry Yitao. I’ll be next to you.” Tao stood up and held out his hand. “Let’s go right now.”

Yitao hesitated, but he picked up his drawing and with his free hand, held onto Tao. They went to Kris’ office, knowing well enough that he might be there. Tao knocked on the door.

“Sir? Sir, its Tao and Yitao.” The nanny smiled and looked down at the young panda, who was shifting uncomfortable. He moved himself so that he was now behind Tao.

“Come in.”

Tao opened the door and lead Yitao in first. Kris looked up from his work and stood up from his desk. “Is there something wrong?”

Tao shook his head; he looked down at the young panda. “Go on Yitao.”

Yitao trembled a bit and hid behind Tao once again. The nanny comforted him and tried once again. “It’s okay Yitao. Show daddy your drawing.”

Kris coughed a bit when he heard Tao referred him as ‘daddy’.

“You okay Sir?” Tao looked up at his Boss, worried that he might be choking.

“Yeah. I’m…” Kris motioned that he was fine and he proceeded to fan himself.

Tao nodded and looked at Yitao. He knelt down and brushed some of strands from his from eyes. “Wanna show him now?”

Yitao looked up at his nanny and nodded. The young panda moved foreword and showed his father the drawing that he kept hidden his back. Kris knelt down and took the picture from his son’s hands.

“Oh wow! This is really nice Yitao." He looked at his son. "Is this for me? Can I keep this?”

Yitao smiled and nodded. He leaned closer to his father and pointed at the dragon then at Kris. He did it a couple of times, hoping that Kris would understand.

“This is suppose to be me?”

The young panda nodded and turned back to face Tao, who was smiling warmly at the father and son.

“I look good looking huh?” He asked his son, who ended up giggling at his father’s question. Kris smiled; he was happy that his son was slowly opening up to him. Even if it was a simple smile, Kris would be happy. He looked up from the drawing and noticed that Tao was whispering something in Yitao’s ear; the young panda nodded and turned to face his father. He leaped foreword, making Kris open his arms; the young panda gave his father a hug, wrapping his little arms around his father’s neck. Kris was surprised; he slowly wrapped his arms around his son. Slowly, a smile started to form on his face once again; he hugged back his son tightly. Kris tried hard not to shed any tears; he was just happy that his son hugged him since it’s been too long. He the back of his son’s head; he truly missed this.

Tao watched as his Boss hugged his son. He knew that Kris would like this. At least he was able to get them together.

‘I wish I had a camera right now.’

Yitao pulled away and smiled at his dad. He turned around and smiled at his nanny. He leaped over to Tao and hugged him as well, not wanting for him to feel left out. Tao chuckled and hugged the young panda back. Yitao snuggled against Tao; he pulled back and ran out the door. Both adults chuckled at the little boy’s action; Kris got up from the floor and held out his hand for Tao to grab. He pulled him up and both started to dust their pants.

“Your idea?”

Tao looked up and nodded. “Well, the drawing wasn’t my idea, but asking him to give it to you was mine.”

Kris nodded and placed the drawing on his desk. “Thank you.”

“Huh?”

“I said ‘thank you‘.” Kris turned around to face Tao. “It’s been a long time since he came to me and gave me a hug. I just figured that he hated me. I was starting to fear what when he grows up…he will hate me even more.”

Tao shook his head. “He doesn’t hate you. I know for sure that he misses you…but not hate you. That’s why you need to stop working and have some quality time with your son. And when you yelled at him…what two years ago…was just an accident --”

“How do you know about that?” Kris raised his eyebrow. “About me yelling at Yitao?”

“I…erm, well…I asked Xiumin and the others and they told me about it and…your late wife…who I admire greatly! She was an amazing artist!”

“She was.” Kris sighed.

Tao nodded. “So…please…just focus more on Yitao. He lost one parent…and with you doing work all the time…it looks like Yitao lost both his parents. I bet he misses you too.”

The nanny waited for his Boss you say something, nothing came. Kris went back to his seat and leaned back in his chair. To get rid of the awkward silence, he remembered that Xiumin was preparing a cake for Yitao’s birthday.

“So…um, what are you doing for Yitao’s birthday?”

Kris looked up; he was going to ask how he knew, but Xiumin came into thought.

“You are not busy are you Sir?” Tao hoped that he wasn’t. It would be messed up if a father couldn’t form his own kid’s party or even worse, not attend.

Kris looked down as his desk calendar which was a mess with lots of schedules and deadlines; he checked February 4th and it was showing that he had a meeting. An important one at that. Kris moved papers he had his desk to cover the desk calendar.

“I have nothing. I’m free.”

Tao’s expression lightens up. “Really? Great!!” He looked around for a chair. Once he found one he scooted close to his Boss’ desk. “So what do you think he would want to do?”

“Um…” Kris scratched his cheek. “I’m…not sure.” The man was at a loss. What could he do for his son on his birthday?

“Hm,” Tao was deep in thought. “Oh! Lotte world! How about that? I’m sure he will enjoy it!”

Kris nodded. “That sounds like a good plan. Lotte world…I haven’t been there in such a long time.” He smiled at Tao. The nanny slightly blushed at the smile that was directed at him. He looked down and nodded; he stood up and headed for the door.

“Where are you going?”

“Um…I t-think I have some, um, laundry t-to do.” Tao stuttered.  “Excuse me.” He went out and closed the door behind him. Tao started to walk and breathed in and out. He pressed his hand against his heart; the beat of his heart was going fast and he tried his best to calm himself. The nanny shook his head and quickly walked to the laundry room.

‘Need to fold. Need to fold Need to fold.’

--- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) --- (TAORIS) ---

Well it is 03:57 lol my sleeping pattern is so messed up.

Lets hope that it makes sense xD

Mistakes = i'm sorry ; 3 ;

comment if you like~