Chapter One

His mind loosely hangs over the edge of the bed's end, where the thin blanket just bare to falling down. Simple words and baby steps are what keeps Zitao up in the morning. Mornings are way too complicated enough just trying to escape the haze. Zitao was a sleepy person. He liked to sleep all time because time would fly away like the feathers would.

And as the wind blew, Zitao finished changing into the sharp navy and beige school uniform that even looked slightly military standard from the formal suit. Zitao’s beige pants pants barely fits, hanging loosely from his long legs. He straightened up the red tie and the edges of his entire uniform as he skipped down the stairs, picking and playing with the gold buttons etched in the sometimes itchy blue fabric.

“Good morning, auntie,” Zitao quietly spoke under the blowing of his breath. “Morning, Zitao,” she answered, just barely hearing his conversation start. Aunt Huang stacked several miniature kimchi pancakes on top of each other, and served them to Uncle Huang and Zitao. “Eat up, guys.”

Soon, after they all finished a thirty minutes breakfast, Zitao walked to school, just passing by the several houses next to him. “Zitao!” yelled someone from the behind, “Wait up!”  

Then a wild Yixing appears, just right next to the Huang when he catches his breath and then walks slowly again. Yixing is Tao’s best friend and neighbor. “Hey, I told you to wait up you rascal!” Yixing complains and hooks his arm around Zitao’s neck in play as he tightens it by every second. “Oh, please, why would I wait for a snail to move, ge?” Zitao counterstrikes with a laugh. “Hey! Mean!” his friend complains again and arranges a pout.

Zitao chuckles softly and sticks out his tongue, infiltrating his eye smile. “Ge, let’s go or we’ll be late.” Zitao finally says before the both of them rush their way through streets to school. They move through the front gate and swiftly surpass the security guards in the front. Their long legs move faster and they finally arrive in their homeroom class for roll. They stick their ordinary but even slightly stylish backpacks on the racks at the back of the 2-D classroom.

“Ready for the day, Zitao?” Yixing asks nicely, smiling ear to ear. “Yeah, ge, as long as it’s with you, I’m pretty sure I’ll get through,” he answers. “Jiayou!” Huang’s friend starts again, pumping a fist into the air when he does the same as a response. Zitao squeezes the star’s hand gently and says a kind thanks to the elder. Even if they were in the same classroom, Xing was by half a year older than Huang Zitao. Zitao was actually happy that he had someone to take care of his except for Auntie and Uncle Huang. Yixing has saved his from so many pinches, Zitao must owe him his life.

The whole class gathered into the classroom as their first period began. Zitao grabbed the first star's hand and squeezed it in anticipation. After all, Yixing has gotten used to it. "Zitao, you're squeezing too hard," or maybe not. "Sorry."

Zitao let go, arms gradually returning to his sides, but Yixing made a decision and snatched the hand back, holding it instead.

"Huang, Zitao. Zhang, Yixing," the teacher called out with an accent. "Here," the two said, almost simultaneously. The whole class rang to silence when the rest of the students' names were called from the roster. The two smiled at each other. Sehun did keep close observation of those two Chinese men flirting with each other in the corner of the classroom.

"Let us begin English class," teacher called out, booming over the tiny voices the loud one minimalized. Everyone calmed down and the classroom sounds subtracted to just the clock ticking, and the teacher's stiff voice that called out some questions for the awfully bored students just sitting at their square desks, tapping their pencils to a song they knew.

The clock ticked and tocked, by every movement another scrap of boredom swings by. Yixing would usually daydream or play games on his phone, maybe even text Zitao during this class. Despite his third rank, Xing was the kind of guy that was good at everything.

Huang Zitao was secretly kind of jealous of Xing, but don’t tell! Huang Zitao admired the man for his cunning beauty, his grades, and his kindness. Yixing made a large impression on Zitao. And the Huang did the same to him.

“Huang Zitao, please tell us the six parts of speech,” the teacher interrupted out in a blunt English. Zitao nodded, and opened his mouth to say, “Noun, verb, adjective, adverb pronoun, preposition, conjunction, and interjection.” He replied, also in English. “Very good, Zitao,” the other said in Korean.

Zitao nodded again, head down and up once.

Class got boring again, after all, English is such a vague language-If you only use the ordinary words, which were the majority of the time they spent complying. Xing lipped the words in Chinese exaggeratedly, "Check your phone!" And impatiently tapped on the screen of their phones.

"You bored?" Zitao texted, after sliding out his phone carefully.
"Who wouldn't be right now, Taozi?" That was Xing's nickname for him. Taozi. Peach.
"Xing ge, we should listen to the professor!" Complaints settled in the connection.
"I'm fine. But considering you trying to beat Oh Sehun, good luck, my friend."

Zitao sighed as he puffed his winds from his mouth, fingers sweeping through his matte, black and perfect hair. He pushed his phone away and worked on the exercises the teacher has put up on the board, right before the agonizing class ended. Who would've thought that this class took longer than a thousand years.

The star and the peach both walked down the halls together, after grabbing their backpacks at the racks down the classroom, and putting books down in small, confined spaces with a lock and key. Peach's locker was just one row down from the star's, and they end up always going to their lockers together. They grabbed a textbook, a pencil box and their notebooks, then they walked down to the classroom they had their next class in.

Oh Sehun had been skeptical about the two for quite a while, they did almost everything together. Though, he didn't see often that they had a date. Oh Sehun maneuvered his eyes in the direction of Huang Zitao and his mate, Zhang Yixing. "What a couple they are..." He whispered, breath releasing after as he stared suspiciously into the stones of eyes they had.

"Ge, after History and Calculus, we have lunch, right?" Zitao asked kindly. "Yes," Xing responded with a nod up and down. "Yay." Zitao cheered. The days in which he had the school's lunch was the best. His aunt never gave him a full portion of food. Zitao would sneak an extra container of rice and orange chicken or salad and eat it when he got home because dinner just wasn't enough.

Zitao tries his best not to let Auntie Huang find out. It would hurt her feelings, but if she did find out, she would never let him eat again.

After each one and a half hour period session of History and Calculus passed by, the two walked down to the cafeteria, several paces down their lockers, and a turn to the left. They went in line to receive their lunch, in which they buy themselves. Zitao accepted his portions as well as an extra half a serving for later.

The two received their lunches and sat down with each other. A new day is a good and fine one.  They pulled out some extra homework they wanted to finish while eating lunch. "Zitao, what did you get for number eleven on the Calculus homework?" Yixing asked as he chewed a dead and cooked thoroughly chicken in his mouth. "Haven't gotten to that one yet," the other said plainly.

Yixing sighed as he continued the rest of the problems on the assignment tjw old and bitter Calculus professor admitted. "Taozi, when are you going to surpass this, 'Oh Sehun'? It's been a month and you've only just got closer to him by a few more percentages higher than your usual. I'm not doubting you or anything but why are you doing this?"

"For mother," Zitao admitted, as he put his spoon and chopsticks down. "Yes, but she wouldn't like it if you were overworking yourself, would she?" Yixing responded. "I suppose not... But this is for me. For me to feel good, and I'd appreciate it if you gave me a little support," Zitao said, right before finishing his food. "Alright, but you absolutely cannot hurt yourself just trying to rank first in class, alright?" Star man allotted, and to his requirement, a response was made. "Alright." "Jiayou, Zitao!" Yixing beamed like the shining star he was.

Zitao smirked playfully and threw away the scrap garbage left from his lunch with Xing, and continued to the next period. They party sighed as they resumed to their seemingly boring classes with girls twirling their hair and mechanical pencils being clicked every ten or so minutes, and maybe even the God-awful sound of giggling and high pitched mini laughs and couplets of people behind their flimsy plastic covered textbooks.

“They really need to shut up,” Zitao says quietly to the star, one desk above him. “Well, you should go tell them that or they won’t shut their mouths,” Xing said, biting on his bottom lip just a bit. Zitao just ignored the comment and continued studying through the endless divisions of learning nothing but a fact or two with his coterie.

"Zitao... by any chance, are you okay?" Yixing asked him at the end of the day. "Why?" Zitao asks. The atmosphere between them of sparks drown in the past sorrows Zitao has had. Yixing raises Zitao's head and hugs him randomly as they walk past the school gate.

"Because... You've been through so much," Yixing says, sniffing up. "I don't wanna see you get hurt," the random but thought of question rings through Zitao's head. “Thanks, Xing. What would I truly do without you?” He finally risen to occasion to say. Xing sighed and conveyed his feelings, “I don’t really know, but I don’t think I’ll be able to do anything without you, Zitao, if it’s so bad over there, then don’t forget you have me, okay? Just come over if you need some help,”

“Xing, stop being such an , okay? I can handle this by myself. It’s time for me to learn anyways, but, thank you. I really can’t say that enough. You’re the best, and I love you.”

- i can't listen to your complaints right now bc it's okay 1.8k shHSHSHSHhhhhshshshhhhhh

- it was terrible though i think 

- for taoscoke <3 i know you've been waiting for this and 

- MAJOR TAOXING HERE i couldn't help it okay they are too cute

- i was listening to a thousand years by christina perri while writing it and wow i cant even like that song makes the chapter look and sound so good damn so i highly encourage for you to reread that with the music okay lol