{Tao}

A man should never be afraid to see his girlfriend or ever fear meeting up with her; if he did, there's seriously something wrong with their relationship. But yet, here Huang Zitao was, dreading the moment he would have to face Jia Li and explain to her why he was limping and why he had a huge gash on his leg.

It wasn't that he feared his girlfriend (he loved her very much, actually), it was her temper that he was scared of. Tao knew that as soon as he hobbled into Jia Li's dorm room she would freak out and scold him about being irresponsible. And though he knew that he would deserve whatever lecture Jia Li would give him this time, he dreaded the thought of his girlfriend becoming angry, especially when he was the subject of her anger.

Xu Jia Li was a small person, but she was very hotheaded, and that was enough to make anyone cower in fear.

Tao squinted against the sunlight and looked across the green lawn separating him from Jia Li's dorm building. He took a deep breath and started hobbling across the field. The longer it took to get to her room, the better (okay, so maybe there was something wrong with their relationship).

He winced in pain at every step he took and saw that other students looked at him in pity and worry, though none approached him. Looking down at his loosely wrapped leg, he saw that the bandage his trainer had temporarily covered his cut with was starting to fall off. With a big sigh, he decided to sit down on the nearest bench and fix it before the whole thing unwrapped itself. Tao slowly adjusted it because he didn't want to accidentally brush his hand up against it or risk getting his cut dirty (and because he wanted to drag the time before he reached Jia Li's room out even longer).

While Tao was fixing his bandage, a shadow fell upon him and he looked up to see one of his friends standing there. “Oh,” he muttered, “hey Yixing.”

Zhang Yixing didn't know whether to laugh at or fret over the poor boy, so he did neither and just helped him stand up. “You know,” he said, looking at Tao's injury with a raised eyebrow, “Jia Li is going to kill you.”

Tao looked at his friend as if it was the final time he would see him (but knowing Jia Li, it probably was his last time seeing Yixing). “Yeah, I know,” he mumbled before sadly and slowly limping away.

Although Tao took his time and was definitely in no hurry to reach Jia Li's room, he was soon face to face with the door to her dorm room. He took a deep breath and held his fist about an inch from the wooden door. Even after the pep talk he had given himself on his way over, he still didn't have enough courage to knock on his girlfriend's door. He started to regret not calling her first and informing her of his current situation. Maybe if he had, she'd have had enough time to cool down and then he wouldn't be scared to knock on her door.

“Okay Huang Zitao, you can do this,” he said out loud, earning a few strange looks from the students walking past him. He shrugged it off, he had gotten enough of those looks when he limped across the campus. He drew another deep breath and nodded to himself, finalizing his decision to just knock and get it over with.

He rapped on the door a quick three times. Tao heard his girlfriend's sweet voice call out, “Coming!” and heard shuffling through the door.

This was the first time in their two year relationship that he did not want to see Jia Li's face (he hoped it would be the last time, though). He prayed that by some miracle he could just fall through the floor and disappear and not have to face Jia Li, but luck was not on his side as the door opened within seconds.

When Jia Li saw him, her face brightened. “Hey-” she stopped mid greeting and her pretty smile slid off her face as she saw the condition Tao was in. “Huang Zitao,” she said slowly as she narrowed her eyes at him.

Tao gave her a small wave and sheepishly smiled at her. “Have I told you how beautiful you've looked lately?”

Jia Li glared at him some more before pulling him into her room. “Flattery is going to get you no where, Tao.” She pointed to her bed. “Sit,” she commanded. “I'm going to get my first aid kit.”

He did as he was told without complaint and watched her as she pulled her first aid kit out of her closet. She always kept her medical supplies and kit near her, she was a nurse (or at least studying to be one) after all.

Jia Li took out four things from her first aid kit; a pair of gloves, cotton balls, a bottle of disinfectant, and fresh bandages.

“This is going to sting,” she warned him as she pressed the disinfectant soaked cotton ball against his cuts. “How'd this happen?” she asked, though she already had a pretty good idea.

“Ow, ow, ow!” Tao winced in pain and he grimaced as his girlfriend kept cleaning the gash on his leg. Jia Li sent him a look and he stopped yelling and explained how he managed to hurt himself, again. “Well, I was practicing martial arts and I slipped.”

Jia Li tsked at her boyfriend disapprovingly. “I've told you many times before that you should be careful. But no,” as she said that she dabbed extra hard against his wound, causing him to flinch and her to apologize insincerely before continuing her scolding, “you don't listen to me and you go hurt yourself, again.”

“I know and I'm sorry- ow!” he yelped in pain once more and tears started to form in his eyes. “That really, really hurt, Jia Li.”

She gave him an exasperated look, but apologized anyway. “You wouldn't be in pain if you had just listening to me in the first place and not decided to go kill yourself with your martial arts.”

“I wasn't trying to kill myself. I fell and my leg slid across the floor which is why there's a gash on it.” he explained. “I'm just lucky I didn't hurt my hip again,” he muttered that last part quietly.

As soon as Jia Li heard that, all hostility left her face and worry overtook her delicate features. “Oh no,” she whispered. There was panic in her eyes as she gently grabbed Tao's arms and looked him over. “You didn't break anything, did you? Is your hip okay? Does it hurt at all? Did you land on your arm weird or anything?” She fired these questions at him rapidly, leaving him no time to answer them, yet she still got upset when he didn't reply, “Answer my questions!”

Tao chuckled at her sudden change in attitude and shook his head, brushing her concerns away. “No, no, I'm alright. It's just my leg,” he reassured her. A playful grin formed on his face. “I didn't know you worried that much over me.”

An embarrassed little smile graced Jia Li's lips. “Of course I do,” she said softly. She leaned in closer to Tao and he closed his eyes, expecting a kiss. But instead of kissing him, all she did was say, “I'm a nurse. I care about all my patients.”

Tao's eyes snapped open and he pouted as soon as he realized that he wouldn't be getting his kiss. Jia Li saw his attempt at being cute and giggled. She couldn't stay mad at him for long, especially not if he acted like that. “But,” she added as she put a fresh bandage over his wound. She smiled and gave him a kiss on his forehead. “I worry about you just a bit more.”

A/N: Thank you to my beautiful 4 subbies so far! I hope you enjoyed Baekhyun's one shot and Tao's now! Kris' is coming up next! But it might not be for a bit because I have finals next week, but after that I'm free for winter break! So yeah! I hoped you liked this, so thanks again.