Kris could taste the iron from the blood on his lips. Whether it was Tao’s, his, or a mix of his and Tao’s, he did not know. He felt numb from the slap on his cheek.

Chanyeol put his hand on Kris’ shoulder and patted Kris. “You shouldn’t have.”

“You messed up big time,” Kai said pointedly.

“No wonder he calls you an ,” Baekhyun spat out.

Xiumin glared at Kris, “I have no words for you.”

“You don’t deserve Tao,” Baekhyun added.

Suho just shook his head sadly.

“Kris,” Chen began. He couldn’t finish and let out a sigh.

 “He doesn’t know about it,” Kyungsoo said softly.

“Why’d you have to do that?” Lay asked, referring to the violent kiss.

 “I… I don’t know. I just. I made a mistake. I-I think I need to cool off,” Kris said as he ran off.

******************************

“Lu!” Sehun exclaimed as he lay Luhan down on the infirmary bed.

Luhan spoke weakly, “I’m fine Sehunnie. No need to worry.”

Sehun held onto Luhan’s hand without saying anything.

Luhan smiled. No words needed to be said, but Luhan knew how much Sehun cared and worried for him.

 “Wait, what do you mean, ‘he doesn’t know about it’?” Baekhyun questioned as they all trailed into the infirmary.

“Yeah,” Xiumin nodded his head.

No one said anything, so Baekhyun pointed at Kyungsoo, “It was you who said it.”

“I uhh, no?” Kyungsoo tried to get out of it. “I didn’t say anything?”

“He’ll let you know if he wants,” Lay said.

After much prodding, Kris’ friends finally gave a short version of Kris’ situation, after everyone promised whatever is said will not leave the room.

“But you can’t tell Tao,” Lay finished.

“Why not?” Suho wondered.

“It’s up to them to fix it themselves. It’s up to Kris if he wants to tell or not,” Chen shrugged.

“First time I’ve seen you relatively serious outside of a basketball game,” Xiumin remarked.

Chen laughed in return, “I’m always serious.”

“Suuuurreee,” everyone said.

“Plus, you all promised,” Chanyeol finished. He groaned in pain as he received a kick in the shin from Baekhyun.

Everyone was beginning to speak loudly again when they were silenced by Sehun’s glare. Everyone shuffled out sheepishly as they left Sehun and Luhan alone.

Luhan sat up and tried to stand up. Sehun looked worriedly and immediately kneeled with his back facing Luhan.

“N-no, it’s o-okay,” Luhan blushed.

Sehun shook his head, refusing to stand up. Luhan gingerly placed his arms around Sehun’s neck and leaned against Sehun’s back. Sehun finally stood up to adjust Luhan on his back.

“Eek!” Luhan yelped as he held even tighter onto Sehun. Sehun smiled as he began walking them home.

******************************

Tao ran into his room crying. He buried himself under the covers and refused to come out, no matter how much his parents called him.

“Just leave him be,” Mr. Huang said as he quietly closed the door.

Mrs. Huang nodded, “Hopefully he gets tired and falls asleep soon.”

The two made their way to their own room with heavy hearts.

“It’s just, I can’t bear to see our little Zitao so sad!” Mrs. Huang sniffed.

“It’s okay honey, he’ll get over it and tell us what’s going on when he’s ready.”

“But honey.”

“Wait.”

“Yes, honey?”

Mr. Huang’s face contorted in anger, “Is it that Wu boy!”

Mrs. Huang gasped, “Could it be?!”

“I will personally go over and – ”

“Hush!” Mrs. Huang chastised her husband. “Don’t jump to conclusions just yet!”

“Hmph,” Mr. Huang folded his arms in front of his chest. “We’ll see.”

******************************

The next few days, Tao went to school with bloodshot eyes. Tao did not see Kris at all, including cooking class, so he assumed Kris was avoiding him. Tao decided to skip basketball practice for the rest of the week. It was Friday when he decided to take a peek at morning practice.

“Is he finally going to morning practice?” Mrs. Huang whispered.

 “He’s outside already, no need to whisper,” Mr. Huang rolled his eyes.

Mrs. Huang laughed, “Oh, how silly of me!”

“I told you it was the Wu boy!” Mr. Huang fumed.

“Dearie, calm down.”

“How can I calm down when he’s treating our son this way?”

“Now, now. There must be an explanation.”

“What kind of explanations are there to explain? He broke Zitao’s heart, so we need to crush his bones and – ”

“Tone it down!” Mrs. Huang glared at her husband. “Or do you wan