Kris finds himself being speechless in all aspects when Tao appears right in front of him--physically--in Canada. There are so many things that are on the tip of his tongue, but it, because Zitao is just there. He doesn’t hesitate on pulling his younger lover into his arms; dragging him into the handicapped washroom beside them and just kiss the out of him. His hands are squeezing Zitao’s lean waist; body pressing him hard against the wall as Kris starts panting when he pulls away from that kiss.

Tao has his fists on Kris’s chest, breath uneven and his legs quaking with the thrill between finally making out and making out in school. He squirms when Kris pulls away; a silver string of saliva connects them seemingly as proof of their intimacy. Fingers loosening their deathly tensed state, Zitao muses at how close they were once again in each other’s arms, as he leans his head forward for a chaste kiss on Kris’s lips, and backs away just as quickly.

“Hi,” Zitao giggles with both arms wrapped securely around the other’s neck. “I've missed you.”

Kris raises an eyebrow, lips glistening with saliva. “Missed...?”

“Someone obviously did not inform me that there are hotter guys around here.”

Kris scoffs.

“You’re mine,” he slides his hands further around Zitao’s waist, gently pressing a kiss on his neck. “Mine to touch, mine to hold, and mine to .”

In which Kris says that last phrase in English, but only because he knows Zitao has picked up a couple of English words from him.

(“God, I want to you through the computer screen.”

“What?”)

To a certain extent, Zitao does understand just what Kris is telling him and he roughly gets that it’s something he probably shouldn’t be understanding. The seeds have already been sowed, though. Considering that Kris had once flown all the way from Canada to China on Zitao’s birthday, the amount of hard work he has to put in to get into this exchange program is nothing. Yes, the wait was long and tiring, and yes, their time distance is exhausting, but it’s all worth it.

To be able to feel the other’s skin under your finger pads--warm and breathing--it all kind of breaks the tension in your shoulders when you get to see and feel that physical relief both of you receive.

It’s beautiful.

Somehow, this whole long distance relationship sounds just as intimidating as it gets; you’ll never know what is going on behind all the happy texts and masked pictures.

Mutual trust, really.

They seem to be so lost in the moment that it takes more than two knocks on the door to bring them out of their reverie. Parting with that slight bit of refusal, knowing that two weeks of having Zitao over really didn’t mean much at all. After all, once the exchange program is over, they’d once again fall back into their old routine of trying to compromise on their skype sessions (or sometimes none at all) and paying that extra ninety-nine cents a year for the renewal of their Whatsapp. Kris tugs on the hem of Zitao’s shirt to straighten it out for him, giving the other a peck on his forehead before pulling away fully and reaching for the door handle.

Kris is greeted by a (slightly) over-active Amber standing behind the door, as the grin on her face says a lot more than just a simple greeting. She’s quick to catch on that the boy standing behind Kris with a hand tightly gripped on her best friend’s shoulder is the Zitao.

“Wu Fan?” Zitao pipes up from behind, eyes meekly travelling from the back of Kris’s head, to Amber’s gleeful stare. “I have to go soon, or Teacher Feng would think that I’m missing. I’m supposed to be having lunch with my exchange host’s family today.”

There’s a moment of silence between all three of them as Zitao blinks blankly at Kris, unsure of the situation while Amber swears to God to have heard a mixture between a growl and the gnashing of teeth when he mentions ‘host’.

Given, Kris isn’t all that happy about having his very adorable and very attractive boyfriend staying over at another hormonal teenager’s bedroom. It kind of does set his heart ablaze in jealousy because that’s all Kris is entitled to, however, it still unsettles him even considering that despite Zitao is trained in martial arts--and could probably kick his pathetic skinny anytime--he’s a little too gullible for Kris’s liking. Really, what if, what if, his host tells him that he’s poisoned by a snack bite on his (what if)?

Not that it makes any real sense but yes; there are always two sides to a coin (or was it two sides to a story?).

Okay, so maybe Zitao wasn’t that gullible, but you get the drift... Or not. Kris knows that he should be placing more faith in his younger lover when it comes to defending himself in situations, and he does, honestly. It’s his host whom Kris doesn’t trust. There are so many possibilities and none of them ends up as good within his mind.

“--have to go now, see you later.”

Zitao presses his lips on his older boyfriend’s cheek before scrambling towards the direction of the school cafeteria, feet quick in bringing him to his destination. Although, it takes Kris approximately seven seconds till he realises that it’s just him and Amber standing in front of the handicapped washroom; Kris takes a huge step back in surprise and is so close to tripping on his own foot when he manages to stabilise himself by grabbing onto the nearby water dispenser. Clutching onto the front of his own shirt, he tries to calm himself from the shock while Amber has her hands fanned out in denial of having done anything towards Kris. The grin is still evident on her face as she inches closer towards him.

“So...” Amber starts, clasping her hands together in a wishful way. “How did the meeting go? It has been quite some time after all. Did you guys, y’know, eh? In the school washroom, I see, eh?” She whispers as though in caution of being heard, and wriggles her eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

“You knew? And I wasn’t told?!” Kris sighs in exasperation, fully knowing that it’s only time before Amber knew, especially since her girlfriend, Krystal, is the principal’s daughter.

But she actually knew of Zitao’s arrival before he did!

“Krystal told me that a week before when we were in bed--“

“Hold it,” Kris stops Amber before she could’ve gone into any further details. “Not interested in lesbian matters.”

“Or anything concerning girl stuff, if that matters.”





--





“That’s a really nice piece of jade you have there.”

“Oh, thank you... It’s... Special.”

Zitao has his fingers rubbing on the jade piece, a tiny smile splaying on his lips as he remembers that the simple accessory held more meaning than just being love tokens.

It holds history.

He’s currently waiting at the main gate with his host (Sehun, is his name) to be picked up by his parents for lunch together. It’s funny though; no one else has taken more interest in his jade more than Sehun since his arrival. It’s as if, that’s the first thing he’s taken interest on rather than Zitao himself.

Of course, lunch with them goes smoothly other than a couple of questions on his jade piece. Sehun’s parents were quite surprised when they’d first seen the beautiful green item around his neck, immediately asking Zitao where he’d gotten it. He doesn’t supply much, but just the surface answer of having received it from his late grandmother.

Shrugging off that weird feeling bubbling in his chest, Zitao excuses himself to the restaurant’s washroom and locks himself in for a couple of minutes to clear his mind. He’s finding that things were getting quite overwhelming, and his chest is burning up for no particular reason. Reaching up to press a hand against the burning area, Zitao realises that it’s the jade piece that is heating up, and he exhales painfully from the burn on his fingers. It hurts. He’s so close to shouting, but his voice is gone. It feels as though he’s hyperventilating, but no, it’s that piece of jade that’s burning his skin.

The main door to the washroom creaks open, and a soft ‘Tao?’ sounds from outside. Somehow the burn on his chest eases, but the pain is still there from before.

Zitao calms himself down before unlocking the door and nodding his head over at Sehun in gratitude while walking towards the water faucet.

“I know you must think of us as being strange for asking about your jade,” Sehun speaks in hems-and-haws, slightly fidgeting in his position.

“But that-- That jade--“ He pauses to take another look at Zitao’s chest, and Zitao swears that he sees a glimmer in Sehun’s eyes as they share eye contact.





“Is magic.”






--
Hi! Thank you guys for reading and here is a short chapter to kickstart the story! Maybe future updates would be around this length too, since I can't write long chapters to save my life :/ Anyways, how do you like the poster? Isn't it beautiful? Paula is also the person who made my posters for Checkmate 1 & 2, and she also makes TaoRis tumblr edits from time to time! Follow her on her tumblr! Adobofordinner!