He was happy. It had been too long since Tao had been able to say that. But now he truly was. Sure, not everything was perfect, but he had learnt with time to be grateful for the good things in life and try to change the bad ones. So that's what he did. His new school was everything he had hoped for when applying, and now felt as a second home for him. The wushu team, his team, had had a lot to do with it. The guys weren't just his teammates, they were his friends, real, caring ones, the kind he had never had before. They were also dedicated and hard working.

After the first wushu exhibition, now a month ago, a couple of students had taken an interest in the sport. There were now ten members. Besides him and his friends, there were two boys from first year, JongHae and Daehyuk. The first one was shorter but pretty strong, and although neither of them had the slightest idea about how wushu worked, they were eager to learn. Hyungsoo, who was in his last year, had never trained seriously, but was pretty good with martial arts in general. Finally, Mineun, one of Baekhyun's classmates, was their best incorporation. She had trained for years, and when she found out about Tao's presence at school, she had been thrilled and entered the team. She was insanely good, and helped them all, specially the other new boys, improve their techniques.

The relationship with the basketball team had also improved, and now not only did they hardly argue about the field but also they had gained their respect. Sometimes, a member of the team would get to their practice early, just because they were impressed with Tao's abilities. The academic part of his life also seemed to be going well. He had had a hard time adjusting to the language and the subjects, but his teachers had been very helpful and understanding, and soon he was just as good as everyone else. Almost.

Of course, Kris had had a lot to do with his improvement. Tao had been so relieved when they started getting along. The way he had opened up after the race proved Tao's theory that he was just scared of showing his true self. Sometimes, when they were having lunch together or studying, he could see the real Kris, and he wanted to get rid of the facade forever. But he could still see clearly the line the guy had traced between them. He demanded respect. He barely shared information about his life outside the school. He didn't go to see him practice. I was silly, probably, but it hurt Tao's feelings. He liked Kris, he really did. He was in love with him. That realization had hit him hard. He hadn't expected to fall for anyone, never had. And even less for a guy. He had freaked out at first, but then he understood it was too late. Kris had mixed himself in almost every fiber of his life, in every thought, never mind how childish it sounded. Tao sometimes found himself thinking about him at random times, wondering about him, wanting to know more about the person behind the mask. That's why he had never felt happier than after hearing him call him Panda. Ninja, he hated it, but the way Panda had slipped from his mouth made him realize that Kris did think about him, did care. He hadn't known back then, but in that moment everything had changed. Since then that line had begun to disappear. Kris was sometimes hard to understand, with his constant mood swings, but Tao had learnt to just be patient and wait for him. And Kris caught on. And they began to talk. To really talk. 

The festival. It sounded so pretty and enjoyable. And theoretically, it was. Every team or club prepared something special to share with their friends and families one day a year. There were shows and food and fireworks. Pretty cool, right? But it was actually quite complicated. Tao had been working even harder than usual, trying to get everything ready. After not much discussion, the team had decided to do a movie like performance showing their skills. It would be dramatic, intriguing, perfect. They had worked endlessly and it was finally ready. Two days to go, everything was running smoothly. Except for one little detail. The gym. They had thought it would be just right for them. After all, it was dark and spacious. Then, Tao found out that other two teams also needed it. Okay, they would have less room, but Tao could share. But Kris couldn't. He had barely accepted the wushu team's presence, and they had shared the gym for two months. When a couple of boys from those teams appeared at the gym that evening, Kris had told them politely but firmly that the gym was already taken and that they would have to go somewhere else. Of course, as usual, they obeyed. Despite having learnt about the school's hierarchy quite a long time ago, it still amused Tao. He found it hard to believe that the same guy he spent his evenings with was considered a prince that had to be obeyed and worshiped at all times. As they were about to leave, Tao stopped them. 

"Just wait a second, okay? I'm sure we can work it out," he strode towards Kris, who was still preparing his team's game as if nothing had happened. 

"Hey, Kris." He turned around and smiled shyly at Tao. It made something inside him clench and his heart stammer. But now it wasn't the right time for this. 

"What's up, Panda?" Tao pushed down the wave of fondness that invaded him. 

"Why did you tell those boys to leave? You know perfectly well that there is plenty of space for the four of us here." 

Kris' smile fell and he folded his arms moodily, "No, there is not," Tao rolled his eyes. Why was he being so stubborn? "Hey, I already let you guys stay here. Don't push it, Tao."

Tao felt a surge of anger inside of him, "You- You let us?" Kris winced at his tone, hardening his look, "Who the hell do you think you are to decide if we can use the gym or not?" He had raised his voice, once again. They didn't seem to be able to have a single discussion without doing so, although Tao wasn't even that mad. 

"Well, someone has to, right?" His hands were pressed into tight fists, his whole posture looking tense, "And why are you here talking to me? If they had a problem with what I said, why didn't they come talk to me themselves?"

"Because apparently, I'm the only person in this freaking school who can talk some sense into you!"

Kris blinked down at him, taken aback. His posture relaxed a fraction, and with a different voice, filled with something Tao couldn't quite grasp and wide eyes, he replied:

"Yes. Yes you are."

He heard a chuckle and turned around to find all his friends gathered, looking annoyingly amused. Apparently, they were just a show for them. Great. The other boys were practically gaping, mouths open and eyes round, speechless. 

"Hey, guys! I'm talking to you."

Just then, a petite girl materialized in front of them. They had been so caught up in their fight they hadn't noticed her asking about how much space they needed for the festival. It looked like she was one of the girls in charge of organizing the whole event. Poor soul. If Tao had trouble reaching an agreement with just one person, he couldn't even thing about dealing with the whole school. They drew apart, looking apologetic. The girl smiled.

"That's better. So, could you please tell me how much space will each of you need? You know, to have everything clear from now on."

Kris coughed, "We'll use half the gym. You can share the other side."

"What!? What the is wrong with you!? You don't even need that much space."

The guys had excitedly commented that they had prepared one of those games where a person throws a basketball aiming for the mark, hoping to make the person sitting on top of a water tank fall. The designated victim, Chen, wasn't exactly thrilled about it. Theoretically, he had been chosen for being relatively short, but Tao was pretty sure it was a just a small payback for all the pranks he had played on the rest of the team.

And just like that, they begun fighting again. Another girl joined the first one, talking nervously, demanding her attention. From the corner of his eye, Tao could see her getting desperate.

"Shut up!" she screamed, making them both withdraw. They hadn't noticed they were so close to each other. 

"I'm really, really sorry to bother you, but we don't have eno-" 

The first girl raised a finger, "Let me think," three pairs of eyes were fixed on her face, "You," she said, turning to the nervous girl, "Need more cakes to sale," she nodded, "and you," she turned to face Kris, "I'm not sure what your problem is. But let's do something. Tomorrow, you guys will bake the cakes," she fixed them with a look as they were about to protest, "The one who makes the best ones will decide what to do with the gym. Just let me know by the end of the day. Do you agree?"  

They both nodded and the girl left, followed closely by her friend. 

Tao turned around and smiled at the two boys, "Don't worry. We'll work it out," he realized it was only his ridiculous pride and eagerness to win making the decision, but he was convinced he would beat Kris. The guy didn't really look like he knew how to bake. 

After they left, the leaders turned to their teams expectantly. 

"No. Just. No."

"Sorry guys. Football practice."

"Yeah, me too."

"I have an exam next week I really need to revise for."

"You got yourselves into it. You work it out."

"Really, do you even know how to bake?"

"Ugh. I can't. Because... Yeah."

"Idiots."

"This is between you two. Don't drag us in."

He couldn't believe it. Just when they needed them the most, they turned their backs on them. The festival was only two days away and they had to prepare a dozen of cakes. And truth to be told, he wasn't exactly sure how to bake either. 

The following day, after practice, Tao dragged himself along the corridors towards the school's kitchen. It wasn't exactly how he wanted to spend his Friday evening. Not that he had anything better to do. After wandering around the school for a couple of minutes, he finally found it. Come on, this was getting ridiculous.  When he had heard about the school's kitchen, he hadn't actually expected this. A huge room, filled with industrial appliances that cost more than his house, everything shiny and squeaky clean. He had at least expected to have cooking as a subject. It'd be useful. But no, it was only used by the cooking and the bakery clubs. And, of course, in cases like his. He sighed and put on one of the aprons by the door. He should have gotten used to all these exaggeratedly large installations by now. They had decided to work there, as they wouldn't need to buy anything and there would be more than enough room to work. Kris hadn't arrived from practice yet, so he took the chance to look around the place. Not long after, he found a shelf filled with books. Cooking books. He picked one called "Baking for Dummies", opened it and begun taking the ingredients for a basic chocolate chips velvet cake. He had seen him mother prepare it thousands of times, and was pretty sure he had the hang of it. 

Finally, Kris got into the room. Sulking. Tao still couldn't believe how he felt every time he saw him. It was both the worst and the best feeling on earth. Like drowning in a pool filled with chocolate or being stabbed by a rose. At least he thought that was pretty close. He felt warm all over, his vision sharpened and he couldn't breathe. Kris was so gorgeous, so perfect, it made his heart skip a beat. His smile could literally light up a whole world. Tao's world. And he looked way too endearing for someone who always tried to act tough. Getting to uncover little parts of his personality had become one of his favorite things. He loved spending time with him, just talking. It had hurt him knowing that things weren't good at home, that he felt alone. He had wanted to change that, forever.

"What?" Kris asked as he was putting his own apron. Tao shook his head. He hated not being able to talk to him. He hated these stupid fights they kept getting into. He hated not being angry at all with this stupid, stubborn guy whose pride had gotten them into all these trouble. 

Turns out, baking was quite more difficult than what they had thought. Ten minutes later, Tao faced a bowl of disgusting looking batter. If you could even call it that way. Kris didn't look any better. His face was covered with flour and his apron was filled with egg yolk. How had he even managed to get himself so dirty? 

"!" he had dropped an egg as he was about to crack it. So, there was the explanation. The guy was clumsy. Surprisingly so for someone so generally good at everything. Tao couldn't help but to burst out laughing, "Shut up," Kris mumbled moodily. He grabbed a handful of flour, throwing it towards Tao's direction. Kris' pout disappeared once he saw the shocked look on Tao's face, and instead he lowered his guard and laughed too.

"Oh. I've already told you you didn't want me as an enemy," Tao grinned, deciding the batter had a much more useful purpose than being baked. Not long after, there wasn't a spot around them not covered with food. It had been quite even. Kris' apron was covered with batter, the same as his face. And Tao was pretty sure the paste he had on his hair would take really long to get out. They both stood in the middle of the battle field, breathing heavily and beaming. Kris was trying to clean his face with a cloth. He was making everything worst, and Tao couldn't believe someone like him could even exist. 

"Here, let me help you," he approached him, and the next thing he knew Kris' arms were around his waist, preventing him from falling after slipping on the filthy floor. They were close. So close. Tao could feel his breath warm against his cheek. He lowered his gaze towards Kris' lips, the sudden urge to kiss him invading him. He felt him shift slightly, making him gain full consciousness of their position. Heat crept up his face, as Kris' eyes widened and he blushed. Tao tried to free himself as calmly as possible, failing miserably. Once again he almost ended up on the floor, but managed to keep his balance. When he looked up, Kris was staring at him with an amused look, his face still a little red. He made Tao ache.

"Uh... Thanks."

"Yeah, sure. Okay."

They stayed in silence for a whole minute, unsure of what to do. Tao really wanted to do it. To close the distance between them and kiss him like there was no tomorrow. And he thought Kris wanted that too. But at the same time... What if he had been misreading the signs all along? That would only make things awkward between them, and Tao really liked him and would hate to see them fall apart. Kris' phone rang, startling Kris and taking him out of his thoughts.

"Lay. Yeah. Really? Oh, thanks! Right, see you guys!" he hanged up, grinning at Tao, "All the guys are coming here to help. They felt sorry for abandoning us," he smirked.

Less than five minutes later, the kitchen was filled with noisy guys. They had decided that it was useless to keep the competition going. Instead, they would join forces to complete the task. Both Kyungsoo and Chanyeol ended up having quite a bit of experience in the kitchen, instructing everyone of what to do. Two hours later, a dozen cakes were in the oven, and the boys sat around waiting for them to finish baking. It was a really nice feeling. Having all his friends, sitting together on the dirty counters, joking around and eating the leftover goods. Having Kris besides him, his back relaxed against the wall and smiling fondly at the scene. 

"I think we're better off as a team, right?" Tao beamed, the homey feeling washing over him. He turned to look at Kris, to find him gazing intently at him.

"What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"

Kris' eyes opened wide, seemingly getting out of his trance, "N-No. Just. Sorry," he lowered his gaze. He looked so young and unguarded every time he did so.

Tao tilted his head, trying to figure him out, "You tend to stare a lot, don't you?" he let out a little breathlessly.

"Actually, just you..." He said it so lowly that if Tao hadn't been so close he would have missed it. He wanted to believe he had actually said it, he really did. His attempt to put his thoughts in order died the moment he felt a warm, soft hand land on his forearm. Every nerve of his body seemed to react to the touch. He raised his eyes to meet Kris', soft and fierce. His eyes on him made Tao's heart beat pick up and his breath become shallow. His mind was clouded, he couldn't seem to understand what was going on. Kris leaned forward, and Tao finally got it. He drew a breath, leaning forward too, feeling Kris' heat surround him. He could almost taste his lips, tender and warm, safe.

"Hey guys, I think we should clean up. The cakes are almost done and the school is about to close," a deep voice echoed.

No. This couldn't be happening. Not now. He blinked and drew apart from Kris, feeling cold immediately. Kris winced almost imperceptibly. They turned to their friends, who were gaping at them.

"Come on. Chanyeol is right, we need to clean," Kris jumped from the counter and begun piling the dishes. Not long after they were done, the cakes in the fridge ready to be delivered to the girl and kitchen squeaky clean again. As they were leaving, Tao caught Kris' eyes. He smiled warmly, and Tao couldn't keep his own bright smile from his face. He couldn't wait for the festival to begin.  

A/N: Hey everybody! We thought we'd come around to thank you so much for all the comments, subscriptions and upvotes. They made our day! We honestly thought nobody would even read it, and don't worry, we don't plan on abandoning it any time soon. So, keep reading and telling us what you think. If you wanna talk to us, we practically spend our day on Tumblr, so feel free to stop by. See you next Friday!