17: Rebuilding

---

Kris had difficulty navigating his Jeep around the island. Several times they had to take a detour on a side road before finding their way back to the main one. The damage was much worse than Tao had anticipated. Trees and branches blocked streets. Houses were either damaged or completely destroyed. Power lines were strewn here and there. The ironic thing, though, was that the skies were a sunny and crystalline blue. The seagulls were still shrieking and the breeze was warm and salty. If Tao closed his eyes, he could almost trick himself into believing that this was just a normal day, that everything was fine and would look beautiful once he opened his eyes. Unfortunately, when he opened his eyes, all he saw was destruction.

Tao had grown to love the island, so much in fact, that he might actually like it more than the hustle and bustle of the city. The island was a peaceful place that didn’t deserve what it’d been handed. It made him angry just thinking about it. Suddenly, he was nudged by a bony elbow.

“You okay?” asked Kris, brow furrowed and eyes searching.

Something wet trickled down Tao’s cheeks. He quickly wiped it away with a sniffle. “Y-Yeah. I’m fine.”

“It’ll be alright.” Kris looked back to the road. “The people here have been through this before. They’ll get back on their feet just like they always do.”

The vigor, determination, and kindness of the people were what made the island. Tao thought about how he’d been treated since his arrival. Kris had accepted and given him friends who also accepted him despite his many flaws. Luhan had given him a job without hesitation. Kris, Lay, and Minseok had even opened their homes to him. Tao felt a fresh wave of moisture collect in his eyes and rubbed it away.

“Are you sure you’re alright?”

“Yeah.” Tao took a calming breath and forced a weak smile. “Just… I’m sorry for being a jerk like… eighty percent of the time.”

Kris reached over and ruffled Tao’s hair. “More like ninety-eight percent,” he chuckled, “But you didn’t have to tell me. I already figured that out.”

Tao glared but it quickly dissolved into a natural smile. Kris returned the gesture before taking another detour to avoid a fallen tree.

“So where do you think your dad went?”

Tao gulped. The fact that he didn’t know his father’s location was highly worrisome. He hadn’t heard from him since before the storm had hit. “Let’s try my place. Maybe he already went back home to check on the house.”

With a destination in mind, Tao’s anxiety escalated with the number of horrible things that could’ve happened. He was afraid of what they'd find once they got there. What if his dad was missing? What if something had happened to him? What if their house was destroyed? Tao closed his eyes and focused on the breeze. The firm hand grasping his was the only thing keeping him grounded right now.

It took twice as long to make it to the road that led to Tao's house. He held his breath as they rounded the curve but almost laughed out of sheer relief when the house came into view. It was still intact. In fact, the entire neighborhood was in better condition than he'd expected, given its location near shore. Just like everywhere else, power lines were strewn across the road and sidewalks, and the storm surge had left a layer of wet sand on the road. Tao and Kris pulled into the driveway behind Mr. Huang’s car, and Tao all but launched out of the Jeep to run up the sand-smothered driveway. They ran up the porch and through front door, which had been propped open with a kitchen chair, and called out for Tao’s father.

“DAD ARE YOU THERE!”

The instant Tao stepped through the threshold, the rug squished beneath his feet and his nose was suddenly hit with the stench of fishy salt water. Out of reflex, he shielded it with the back of his hand. None of the furniture was where it should’ve been. For the briefest moment, he wondered why everything looked so chaotic, then he saw the stain that wrapped around the walls. The storm surge had invaded the house.

“Tao?” Mr. Huang stood in the open doorway that lead to the back deck.

“Dad!”

“Oh thank God, you’re alright!” The elder crossed the space between them and wrapped his son in a lung crushing embrace. “I was so worried!”

A pesky lump rose in the back of Tao's throat as he hugged his father. “I’m fine. We camped out at Minseok's place all night.”

Mr. Huang released Tao and placed a hand on Kris’ shoulder. “Thanks for taking care of him. I knew I could count on you.”

Tao glanced between Kris and his father and scoffed. “You mean to tell me you guys have been talking about me behind my back?”

“Your dad gave me the top secret mission of looking out for you.” Kris gave one of his lopsided grins.

Tao rolled his eyes. “Jesus freaking Christ,” he grumbled under his breath, “Can’t do anything without being spied on.”

“Well the water damage is pretty bad,” stated Mr. Huang, “Everything downstairs is ruined. The sheet rock is going to mold. I’ve got insurance coverage but, I don’t know how long it’s going to take to fix this nightmare.” The elder looked about the area and sighed again. “We’re going to have to stay somewhere else for a while.”

“We’ll figure something out,” said Kris.

“I worked so hard for all of this. And now look at it.”

Tao felt horrible. His dad was a hard worker. Even as a child, Tao remembered how dedicated his dad had been to his work. Just because his father had been missing from his life for a long time didn’t mean he deserved any of this. No one deserved to have their home reduced to such a pathetic state. At the same time, Tao was grateful, because it could’ve been much worse. They were lucky to even have a house because there were people on the island who hadn’t been quite so fortunate.

“It’s okay," Tao patted his father’s shoulder, "The important thing is that we’re all okay.”

A rarely seen emotion flickered in his father's eye. He looked… proud. “You’re absolutely right. When did my son get so smart?”

“Tch! I’ve been this smart all along! It’s not my fault you were too dumb to realize it.” Tao clamped his mouth shut. Only the sound of the unsettled ocean echoed throughout the room as Kris and his father stared wide-eyed at the words that had flown out of his mouth.

“Damn!” chortled Kris, “There’s never a dull day with you, is there?”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less from my son!” Mr. Huang laughed heartily.

Tao laughed too, although, more tepidly than the other two. He really did have a bad habit of speaking before thinking things through. But hell, he was just being honest.

Mr. Huang threw an arm around their shoulders. “Come on you two. We’ve got some cleaning up to do.”

While they were dragging out furniture, curtains, and mats to hang on the deck to dry, Tao had another thought. If he’d blurted out such a rude thing before, it would’ve resulted in a battle of sharp words between he and his father. This time he’d received acceptance. Maybe he could do this father-son thing after all.

Kris draped a mat over the railing next to Tao and tilted his head down for a better look of the teenager. “You’ve had that look all morning. Like you just woke up from a really ty sleep.”

Tao snickered at Kris' spot-on statement. He was beginning to see things for what they were instead of what he wanted them to be. “You know, I think you hit the nail on the head… for once.”

Kris nudged Tao. “Don’t get cocky on me now!~ I’ve got enough ego to share between the both of us!”

“That’s for damn sure!” Tao walked back into the house.

“Hey! Just what in the hell is that supposed to mean!” Kris stomped across the wooden planks and nearly wiped out when his sandal met with the wet floor inside.

Tao peeled into laughter. Kris cursed while attempting to regain his footing.

“Boys!” called Mr. Huang from somewhere within the house, “Stop horsing around and come help me with this!”

“Coming!” replied the two surfers in unison.


-


After surveying the house more closely, they discovered that the upstairs was virtually unscathed, minus a couple shattered windows in the spare bedroom. Tao was relieved to find all of his belongings perfectly intact, as well as most of the family pictures Mr. Huang had collected throughout the years. His mother must have been sending her ex-husband pictures. Tao wondered if his father had requested them or if his mother had sent them out of the kindness of her heart. Maybe someday he'd muster the courage to ask.

Mr. Huang called his insurance company and was put on hold for over an hour before finally getting through to a representative. Due to the mass influx of claims from the storm, they were informed that it'd be a while before an agent would be available to assess the damage.

“You guys can stay at my place,” suggested Kris as they sat on the back porch, munching on Tao’s secret stockpile of potato chips.

Mr. Huang dusted some chip crumbs from his hands. “Are you sure? I’d hate to be an inconvenience.”

“It’s fine. I live alone anyway. The extra company will be nice for a change. Right, Taozi?”

If Tao could shoot venom right now he’d do it. “I don’t…” Suddenly Kris wrapped an arm around his head and slapped a hand over his mouth. “MMHMMM!!!!” screamed Tao.

“See,” grinned Kris, “Tao agrees with me.”

Tao’s father shook his head. “You two are a mess,” he chuckled.

Tao flung the hand from his mouth and gasped for air. “Don’t I have a say in this!”

“NO!” Kris and his father replied in unison.

Tao huffed and crossed his arms. It seemed like the closer he got to people the less freedom he had. This was turning into a disturbing pattern. But perhaps it was an even trade after all.


-


Although Kris had an older home, it was sturdy and suffered only some minor damage to the exterior. Tao knew it wasn’t anything that the surfer couldn’t fix. Plus his father had volunteered to help with the repairs as payment for Kris’ generosity. Of course, Tao was grateful for Kris' offer, but he was also anxious. Each time he spent the night with Kris, he got way more than he bargained for. The odds were not in his favor. And he didn't like it.

With the three of them stuffed under one roof, things got awkward very quickly. Occasionally, Tao and Kris would argue. Mr. Huang would watch them curiously, like he couldn’t quite figure out what was going on between his son and the blonde surfer kid. After a week of Tao swatting Kris away when he’d try something funny, only for his father to walk in on the ordeal, Tao was almost positive that his dad sensed something was going on between them.

How was he supposed to handle this? Come clean about his feelings for Kris? He hadn’t even found the guts to tell his mother yet. She was more likely to be understanding of his ual preferences but Tao still didn’t know his father all that well. What if he came clean and his dad rejected him? Tao didn’t think he could handle being ditched twice. It’d hurt enough the first time around.

This bothered Tao enough that he finally spoke to Kris about it while they were curled up in bed one night.

“What should I do? Do you think he’ll be angry?” Tao rolled onto his back and sighed.

“He seems to really care about you,” deduced Kris. “The only way to find out for sure is to just tell him.”

“I don’t think I’m ready for that yet.”

“We've got all the time in the world, Taozi. I’m not going anywhere,” promised Kris.

Which wasn’t true. Actually they had until the end of the summer.

“What about you?” Tao asked.

Kris arched a brow. “Me?”

“How did you tell your friends? Because they seem fine with us being together.”

“I didn't really tell them. I guess it wasn't hard for them to figure out once they saw me date a few girls and a guy here or there.”

Tao wasn't all that surprised. Kris was an open book. He lived life exactly how he wanted to and with no apologies or regrets. Tao had a lot of respect for that. But it also made him look more closely at himself. Perhaps it was time that he start living his life more honestly. It was certainly something for him to think about.

"Exactly how many people have you dated?" It was probably a really shallow thing for Tao to ask but he was curious.

“Three girls and two guys. None of them worked out. You’re the first person I’ve ever been genuinely interested in.”

That didn’t make Tao feel any better. He’d been so mean to Kris, not to mention insulting at times. Why had Kris stuck with his sorry for so long?

“I can hear the gears in your brain cranking.” Kris rolled over to face Tao.

“I was just wondering… why? Because--”

“I thought we already went over this at Minseok’s place.”

“We did but--”

“Do I need to show you again?”

Kris wrapped his arms around Tao’s midsection, nuzzled his nose against the sensitive hollow of Tao's neck, and planted a kiss there.

“S-Stop!” whined Tao, squirming out of Kris’ grasp.

“Why should I?”

“Because my dad is outside you idiot!"

“And?”

Tao responded with an are-you-serious look before flicking Kris’ forehead.

“Ow! You know what! This is an abusive relationship!” complained the blonde.

“And I should care because...?"

Kris snorted, and in a move similar to what Tao had done a hundred times, crossed his arms against his chest and pouted. “Well you can just sleep on the floor then.”

They glared each other, expressions unrelenting, before Tao scoffed. “Yeah right! Nice try wipe!” Then he kicked Kris out of bed and onto the floor.

Suddenly there was a knock at the door.

Mr. Huang’s voice sounded from the other side. “Is everything okay?”

“Y-Yeah! We’re fine! Just talking!” Tao cringed.

“Alright then. I’m going to sleep now. I’ll see you boys tomorrow.” replied the elder.

“Okay!”

Once Mr. Huang’s footsteps had faded into obscurity, Kris started laughing. Tao grabbed the nearest pillow and whacked the surfer in the side of the head.

“It’s not funny!”

“You know what else isn’t funny?” asked Kris, undeterred.

“What?”

“This!”

Kris lept onto Tao and proceeded to tickle him.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING!” Tao thrashed beneath the surfer's lanky form. “AHAHAHA! ST-STOP IT! HAHAHAHAHA!”

Tao might have socked Kris in the nose in self-defense. Maybe.


-


A few days later, Mr. Huang left early to meet with an insurance agent about the damage his house had sustained. Meanwhile, Tao and Kris were getting ready for a day at the surf shop. Luhan had been in touch with them twice that week. They’d been relieved to hear the shop was still standing, however, Luhan had also said that they’d have a lot of repairs to do.

“Milk or orange juice?” asked Kris as he set a plate of two partially burnt waffles in front of Tao at the breakfast bar.

“Uh…” Tao eyed the food cautiously. “I’ll take milk.”

He missed the glorious pancakes they ate at the restaurant after surfing in the mornings (which they’d neglected to do because of more pressing matters). But Tao was starving and beggars couldn’t be choosers. Once a glass of milk had been given to him, he slathered his semi-burnt waffles in syrup and ate them without complaint. He just was happy that Kris had gone through the trouble of cooking him breakfast. At this rate Tao was going to get spoiled very quickly because living with Kris felt like home.

He stopped mid-chew and stared at the sticky syrup that oozed over his waffles. But this wasn’t home. It couldn’t be home. Tao had to leave at the end of the summer. He caught Kris staring from the corner of his eye and quickly regained his composure. Tao shoved an obscene amount of food in his mouth and chewed. There was a clinking sound as Kris sat down his fork and reached out to wipe a drop of syrup from the corner of Tao’s mouth.

“Slow down. You’re eating like I do.” He brought the sugary drop to his mouth and it off the tip of his thumb.

The sun was shining through the windows, casting a brilliant beam of light through the surfer's hair, creating a golden halo that illuminated his skin. Tao gulped down his food and found that he couldn’t tear his eyes off of Kris. Since the night at Minseok’s house, they had yet to kiss or do anything that could’ve been considered romantic, other than cuddling up in bed at night.

Kris cupped Tao’s cheek with his hand, leaned forward, and stole a lingering kiss that had Tao dropping his fork to the floor. Just when he’d had enough time to process the action, Kris pulled away, and Tao was left hanging at the prospect of the almost-perfect-kiss.

“Eat up, Taozi. We’ve got a long day ahead of us.”

Tao spent the remainder of breakfast stilling his racing heart while he washed off his fork and finished eating his scorched waffles.


-


“We’re almost there,” Kris said while tapping the steering wheel.

Tao had never seen Kris this nervous before. It was evident in the way he kept running a hand through his hair and sighing every couple of minutes.

“Remember what Luhan said," Tao reminded Kris, "He said the surf shop is still there. Even if it’s really messed up, with all of us working together, we can have it back up and running in no time.”

Kris smiled. “You’re right. I just hope it’s okay.”

They squinted as the shop come into view. At first they held their breath, but once they crossed into the gravel parking lot, they exhaled in relief. The surf shop was, indeed, still standing. The frame looked a little wonky and part of the roof had caved in, but it’d made it nonetheless. There was a large pickup truck full of plywood parked out front, along with two other vehicles which Tao recognized as Luhan and Jongin’s parked at the side of the shop.

Right as Kris parked the Jeep beside of the other cars, Jongin, Junmyeon, and Jongdae popped out of the employee entrance.

“Well lookie here!” sang Jongdae while making his way over to the Jeep and giving Kris a bro-hug, “The lovebirds made it after all!”

“Lovebirds?” Junmyeon looked from Kris to Tao before forming a quiet “O” face.

Tao must’ve blushed a million different shades of red. It didn’t help that Jongin was smirking either.

Kris was more than prepared for his friend’s trolling. “Now, Dae…” His tone was sugary sweet. “Let’s not forget about your disaster with the arcade girl.”

Jongdae turned a sickly pallor. “K-K-Kris. I thought you said you’d keep that a secret.”

Jongin stole the opportunity to into the conversation. “Oh do tell. This sounds interesting.”

“Nothing major happened.” Shrugged Kris. “Except her dad walked in on them ing on the air hockey table.”

“Air hockey table?” asked an astounded Junmyeon. He looked as though he were trying to envision such a ridiculous thing, then blanched at the scarring image.

“KRIS! YOU ING ! I THOUGHT WE WERE BROS, MAN!” Jongdae exploded.

Tao and Jongin chortled. Then Luhan and Minseok poked their heads out of the employee entrance.

“Uh-oh!~ Sounds like someone just revealed the air hockey incident!” chirruped Luhan, who looked pointedly at Minseok.

Minseok huffed, pulled out a wad of cash, and forked it over to Luhan.

Jongdae pointed accusingly at each one of his so-called friends. “I HATE ALL OF YOU." Then he stomped away in pursuit of what was probably his third or fourth beer that morning.

Tao and Jongin caught each other’s eye and wiped the grins off of their faces. They still weren’t on good terms yet. But at least they weren’t at each other’s throats.

“Well after that disturbing mental image," said Junmyeon, "I guess we should get back to work.”

After seeing the state of his own house, Tao expected the interior of the Black Pearl Surf Shop to look just as bad, if not worse. He was relieved to find that the water damage wasn’t as bad as it could’ve been. The shop stood further from the shoreline than his father’s house, therefore, only about an ankle’s deep worth of water had invaded the building during the storm. All was not lost, but there would be a lot of things they’d have to replace, the roof and a supporting beam being one of them.

“She made it.” Luhan rested his hands on his hips as he looked about the shop proudly.

“Yeah but now I’ve been forced into slave labor.” Sehun popped out of the back room.

“Quit whining you ungrateful little ,” Luhan scolded, “You’re just not used to doing actual work.”

“See what I mean?” Sehun deadpanned.

“Yeah and who’s to blame for that?” Minseok glared at Luhan. He was probably still hurt over losing another bet.

“How’s Baekhyun?” asked Tao.

Out of the other group of surfers, Tao liked Baekhyun the most. Before leaving Minseok’s house the morning after the storm, Baekhyun had hopped up to him, injured ankle dangling in the air, and presented Tao's mp3 player and ear buds:

“You can keep them for a while. Just give them back to me later,” Tao said.

“Are you sure?” asked Baekhyun, “Won’t you need them later?”

Tao thought it over for a few seconds before shaking his head.

“Nah. I don’t think I need them quite so much anymore.”

“He’s doing fine,” replied Junmyeon. “I visited him at Chanyeol’s place yesterday. The doctors said it wasn’t broken, but he sprained it pretty bad. He’ll need to stay off of it for a while.”

“That’s good to hear!” Kris hung an arm around Tao’s shoulders. “Since the competition was rescheduled out another week, maybe he’ll be able to compete after all. I was looking forward to toasting his !”

Tao rolled his eyes. “So Luhan, where do we start?"

“Excellent question!” piped the bleach blonde surfer. "Why don't we clean up these floors first?"


-

Everyone made the best of the situation, and gradually, things went back to normal. Luhan and Sehun were forever bickering (which Tao found rather amusing). Minseok fell victim to several more bets gone sour, courtesy of Luhan and Jongdae. Chanyeol and Baekhyun stopped by as well. Tao snickered as he watched the squirrely Chanyeol wait on Baekhyun hand and foot. Not ten minutes after arriving, Baekhyun was stretched out in a beach chair with his foot propped up, a cold beer in one hand, and a large umbrella shielding him from the sun.

"Looks like you've got it made!" Tao plopped into the sand next to Baekhyun.

Baekhyun flashed a vulpine grin. "Of course I do. I'm gonna milk this for all it's worth."

They both chuckled as they watched their friends performing various tasks and repairs around the surf shop.

"I wonder if I could get Kris to be that whipped," Tao mused.

"You guys are like an item, right?"

Tao was hesitant. He didn't know Baekhyun all that well, but for some untold reason, he felt comfortable enough to open up to him.

"Yeah. What about you and Chanyeol? Are you guys...?"

"Us?" Baekhyun arched a brow. "Naaah!~ We're like brothers."

"Oh. Sorry I thought--"

The other male quickly waved off Tao's apology. "No worries. You're not the only one who's thought that."

They were quiet for only a minute before Tao changed the subject.

"So how's the ankle?" He motioned to the surfer's bandaged foot.

"It's doing better. The swelling's gone down some. To be honest, I was sorta debating whether I should drop out of the competition anyway."

"Really? Why's that?"

"I don't know. I guess I just like surfing as a hobby. I'm afraid if I get too engrossed in competitions, that it won't feel the same way to me anymore."

Tao allowed that thought to roll around in his head. Now that he thought about it, he felt the same way too. Tao enjoyed surfing for the sense of peace it brought. To tack the stress of a competition on top of that would ruin it for him.

"I think I know what you mean."

"So! Did you recently move here?"

"Ah. No. I'm just down here for the summer."

They observed Kris and Jongin working dutifully on repairing the roof. Over the course of the week, the two rivals appeared to have joined forces for the sake of Luhan's surf shop. Tao wondered if it was permanent or only temporary.

"But you and Kris..."

"I haven't really figured that out yet."

"Well you can always come back right?"

"I guess so. I haven't given it much thought. I've been trying not to think about it." Tao drew shapes into the sand with the tip of his finger.

Baekhyun nodded and took a sip of his beer. "You seemed to have made a lot of friends since you've been down here. Even Jongin has taken a liking to you, which is saying a lot," he chuckled.

Tao watched as Kris nearly lost his balance at the edge of the roof before Jongin reached out and steadied him.

"I don't know," Tao smirked, "He seems to be shaping up nicely if you ask me. He just needed a reality check. Which he got."

"You mean that morning you tore up his ? That was ing epic!" Baekhyun gave Tao a playful punch to the shoulder.

"Uhh... thanks?"

"Just for the record, sometimes he pisses me off too. Like one time..." Baekhyun leaned in and spoke more quietly, "He ripped my favorite pair of swim trunks that I let him borrow. So the next time I was over at his house, I took a pair of scissors to the all of the crotches of his swim trunks."

"Oh my god!" Tao grinned rakishly. "How did he take it?"

"Not well. But it was worth it."

It was now official. Baekhyun was Tao's spirit animal.

"TAO!" someone belted.

The teenager looked up to find Luhan standing outside of the surf shop.

"Yeah?"

"YOUR ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED IN THE BULL DEPARTMENT."

What in the hell was going on now? With a quick wave goodbye to Baekhyun, Tao followed Luhan into the shop to find Sehun trying to hammer a shelf into place with his wimpy arms. Obviously he was failing since the shelf already looked crooked.

"Need some help?" Tao asked with an exaggerated grin.

Sehun glared out of the corner of his eye. "What in the do you think?"

"Please help him hammer these in straight or else I'll have some sort of avant garde shelving system protruding from my walls."

Tao laughed as he held the shelf into place for Sehun. Luhan nodded approvingly before giving Tao a pat on the back and leaving to survey everyone else's progress.

Sehun huffed out his words with every downward swing of the hammer. " - bang! - THIS - bang!- ING - bang! - !" He wiped a bead of sweat from his brow. "IF I KNEW HAVING A BOYFRIEND WAS THIS MUCH TROUBLE I WOULD'VE DROWNED MYSELF IN THE OCEAN!"

Tao really did try his best to hold in his laughter. "YOU'RE TELLING ME! AT LEAST YOUR BOYFRIEND'S SMART!"

There was a pause as the two youths looked at each other before Sehun relented with one of his almost-smiles. "You win," he stated plainly while hammering the rest of the shelf into place.

Tao was content that he'd won their competition of boyfriends, although, he wasn't so sure that he should be proud of the reason why he'd won.


-

He'd never witnessed people working together so passionately before. On top of that, the entire surfing community had pitched in to help repair the Black Pearl Surf Shop. There were surfers Tao had never seen before who took up a hammer or paint brush. Some of Kris' students even dropped by with cold drinks and their best homemade dishes. No one went without food or drink, which was a godsend, especially when the sun blared down on sweaty backs and sun burnt necks.

Probably the best part was tackling the waves just before sunrise. Tao learned a lot, not just from Kris, but from other experienced surfers as well. Although he was a rookie, they welcomed him into their ranks and cheered him on. Even Baekhyun rooted from shore with his busted ankle propped up on a sand mound. It was kind of embarrassing. But Kris seemed to enjoy watching Tao put himself out there.

When surfing was over, everyone put aside their boards and launched straight into work. And just as Tao had predicted, the shop was quickly restored to its former glory, with a few added improvements to top it all off.

"Thanks everyone for all of you help!" piped Luhan while standing on the back of the pickup truck. Everyone had gathered around to hear what the shop owner had to say. "If it weren't for you guys, it would've taken weeks to fix everything. As payment for your services, I'm throwing a re-opening party at the shop tomorrow night and you're all invited!" Everyone cheered in response. "Bring your own beer though. I'll take care of the food. Deal?"

Several people agreed while several more volunteered to bring extra food. Tao stood beside Kris with a smile. It felt as though he'd helped accomplish the impossible. A party seemed the perfect way to celebrate. In a few days time the first surfing competition would be held. Then a week later, the second one. After that would be the finals. Tao couldn't believe how fast time was flying by. He looked to Kris, who was cheering and clapping loudly for Luhan, and found himself wishing that summer would never end. Suddenly his cell phone buzzed in his pocket.

"Hello?"

"Tao? How are things going at the shop?" inquired his father.

"Good. We actually just finished wrapping things up."

"That's great news! Listen uh..." paused the elder, "Work called. Some issues have popped up since the storm and they need the extra help. I'll be gone for a couple of days."

Tao looked to Kris who tilted his head curiously. "Oh."

"Just don't get into trouble while I'm gone. And call your mother. She won't stop texting me. She's driving me nuts."

"Okay."

"I mean it."

"I said okay!" Tao snapped.

"Alright. I'll call tomorrow to check up on you."

Tao thought it was ridiculous that his father had to call and check up on him but he wasn't going to argue. He'd never been trusted with this must freedom before. "Okay."

"See you soon."

"Bye." Tao stuffed his phone back into his pocket.

"What did he say?" asked Kris.

"He's leaving town on business. So it'll be just you and me."

"Oh really~" mused Kris with a devious grin.

"I don't know what in the hell you're thinking but you can ing forget it. Nope. Not happening. Goodbye." Tao stomped off towards the surf shop for a cold soda.

"What! Why not?" whined Kris, trailing after his fussy boyfriend.

Tao whipped around just before reaching the door. "Because I don't trust you."

"That hurts my feelings." Kris' words said one thing but his cocky grin indicated otherwise.

"Uh-huh," replied Tao unsympathetically.

"I'll be on my best behavior. I promise!" There was that sunshiny grin again. The one that scrambled Tao's thoughts as if they'd been stuffed into a blender.

Tao huffed, wrenched open the door to the shop, and shut it in Kris' face. Perhaps he should purchase a taser just to be safe. He smirked as he opened a can of cold soda and gulped down the fizzy liquid.