Tao cursed the day Kris had dragged him screaming and crawling into hell.

The man had changed - and one thing was for sure - boy, could he hold grudges.

He took sadistic pleasure in making Tao pay, every day, for every single thing Tao had done to him in high school.

Karma was a .

Day 0

"Alright, I'm here, on time, so bring it on.  What the you want me to do first, sir?"

"First things first, you little street punk - standard english only, I better not hear a single 'da kine' or dis/dat from you from now on.  Also.  No swearing."

"'Street punk'?!  You moth-"

"- And you've already proven yourself predictable.  No pay."

Day 7

"Five copies of this document within the next..." Kris pulled back his sleeve, looking down at his watch. "...five minutes."

Tao rolled his eyes.

"Yes, sir."

It turned out the fourtieth floor printer was jammed, so Tao was forced to run down a floor, picking up the copies from the thirty-nineth, and then back up the flight of stairs to hand it off to a waiting Kris.

Kris scowled down at the papers in his hands.

"Did I say five copies?  I meant ten."

Oh, you motherer.

"...yes, sir."

Down one floor, up one floor.

"Why aren't these double sided?  Go print them again."

"But-"

"Did I ask for an opinion?  No pay."

Day 15

Tao jerked to the sound of his name being shouted out through the office, hurrying to Kris' office only to see the man leaning back in his chair, arms behind his head and long legs propped up on top of the table.

"I'm hungry.  Go get something from the bakery down the street."

"Yes, sir."

Tao flew down the street, hurriedly picking up a -

"-Ham and cheese sandwich?  A ham and cheese sandwich?  I hate cheese."

Tao's eye twitched.

"Okay, I'll go get anoth-"

"Did I give you permission to speak?  No pay."

Day 30

"Tao."

Tao rubbed a hand over his face tiredly, sighing in resignation.

". . .?"

"You look filthy today.  Take a bath next time before you come in and stink up the office.  No pay."

...ing dickwad.

-

Tao might not have been book smart like Kris, but his talent had always lain in his quick wits.

"I asked for red pens, not blue."

Liar, Tao thought, my memory works perfectly fine.  You're just trying to make up more excuses for me not to get paid, jerk. 

Tao took out the extra box he had been hiding behind his back, tossing it onto the table while quirking his eyebrows in challenge.

A box of red ballpoint pens.

Kris picked the box up slowly, examining it closely.  When he looked up, he gave a grudging nod.

"You're learning, Zitao.  I admit I'm impressed."

Tao felt a trickle of pride, for just a second-

"-But this isn't the right brand.  Go buy them again, only this time make sure and actually read the labels, you idiot."

Kris tossed the unused boxes of pens over his shoulder with a smirk, hearing them land straight into the trash.  He ignored Tao's choked, offended noises.

The younger man grumbled the entire way back out, muttering dark curses under his breath that had Kris' secretary, Victoria, looking over in concern.

Whatever, Tao thought, rolling his eyes, at least I haven't been deprived of pay, this time. 

Small victories.

-

"Ah!  You're back!"

Victoria stood up from her desk, running over to help take several bags of office supplies from his arms and setting them onto the ground.  Tao wheezed, putting his hands on his knees as he panted for breath.

"Okay - this should be everything he needed - twenty spiral bound notebooks, five padfolios, two staplers, 20 erasers, 5 boxes of his stupid "special brand" ballpoint pens - although I don't know who in their right mind needs this many supplies -"

Victoria interrupted him, waving a hand and shaking her head hurriedly.

"- no time, Tao.  Kris has been calling for you for the past ten minutes!"

"- but I just got back!"  No excuses.  Victoria was already shoving at Tao as he whined futilely, turning him to face the office doors and pushing him in without a second word.

He stepped inside with a sigh, turning around to close the door quietly behind him, only to whirl around when a loud voice shouted in his ears.

"Where have you been, Zitao?!  I called your phone and received a dial tone every time - that is completely unacceptable behavior."

Tao rolled his eyes.

"Sorry, sir.  I was out buying those supplies you wanted me to get."

Kris waved his hand dismissively, too busy buried in a pile of papers to look up.

"Nevermind the supplies - I want you to go get me some coffee -"

Tao took the coffee he had been holding in his hand all along, setting it in front of Kris with a smile.  "I got your text already, that's what took me so long."

Kris looked up, mouth forming a thin line of displeasure. 

"...if you got my text, why didn't you answer my calls?"

Still, he set down his pen, picking up the cup and leaning back in his chair to stare down at the lid of the innocuous white cup.  When he looked up, Tao was staring back at him, a look of challenge in his eyes.  Keeping his eyes on the man that stood before him, Kris took a sip-

Only to spit it out, tossing the rest of the contents at Tao whose eyes widened comically, managing to just barely duck the flying projectile in time.

"What is this?!  I asked for soy, Zitao!"

Tao grasped the table, using it to pull himself back up from the ground, while simultaneously reaching into his pocket for his cellphone (a new iPhone, courtesy of Kris, so that he could bother Tao at all times of day), pulling up the text only to squint down at it.

"Oh.  Fu- ...fudge, my bad."

Kris slammed his hands down on the table.

"I give you one simple job, Zitao.  If you can't even get a coffee order right, what am I really even paying you for?"

Who the hell calls an 'iced-ristretto-venti-4-pump-sugar-free-cinnamon-dolce-skinny-SOY-latte' simple?

Tao groaned, running his hands over his face.

"Now go and get me my coffee.  The right order, this time."

"Yes, sir." 

Tao forced a tight smile, saluting the man sarcastically before turning. 

His smile immediately became a sneer as he shoved his hands down his pockets, stalking back out the door.

Victoria watched Tao leave with a sigh, entering Kris' office with a packet business requirements that needed to be signed off on.

"You shouldn't be so harsh on him, Kris."

Kris was back to his documents, bending over them with a pen in hand.

"And why not?  I texted him my specific order."

Victoria slowly placed the packet on the table, frowning slightly.

"Exactly.  You haven't noticed?"

Kris paused.

"...noticed what?"

-

. . . ?

Tao was immediately on edge the moment he walked in, freezing in place when he realized the usually closed doors to Kris' office were aleady open, the man in question standing in front of the desk looking straight back at him. 

". . .what's going on?"

Tao took a step forward, only to be stopped by Kris when the man lifted a hand, forcing him to stay where he was.

"Tell me what this reads, Zitao."

Kris was gesturing at a paper in his hand.

Tao squinted at the blurry white square in the distance, his lips in concentration.

He watched the black lines blur in and out, the words swimming around him in the distance.

"...I... H...Huan..Huang-"  His eyes lit up, realizing that it was his contract that the other man was holding.

"I, Huang Zitao, do agree to the following condi-"

Kris sighed impatiently, cutting Tao off.

"You're just trying to recite what you remember.  I knew you might do that, so I filled the page up with nonsense besides the first few words."

"What?!  You tricked me.  Let me see that-"

Tao furrowed his eyebrows, gripping the papers in his hands tight, jogging toward the office and able to make it a few steps in before-

THUNK

- smashing into a solid glass panel.

With a shrill shriek, Tao tumbled backward, the papers in his hands sent flying through the air, falling into a disgraceful pile of tangled limbs and scattered paper.

Kris hummed, walking around the glass panel with his hands in his pockets to stare down coolly at the man holding his head in pain.

"Hmm.  Victoria was right.  You're almost legally blind, aren't you?"

Tao gaped.

"You could have just asked, you know?!"

Kris folded his arms with a much too satisfied grin.

"I could have - but where's the fun in that?"

Tao looked back at the glass wall, eyes narrowing a fraction.

"Wait a minute- let me get this straight- you had a glass wall installed here just to prove a point?  What the actual f-"

Tao lifted his hand, just barely catching the catalogue that was thrown at him.

"Your work performance is suffering from your poor sight.  Go buy a pair of glasses from this catalogue.  I don't want to see you back until you can do your work properly."

Tao spluttered, opening up the catalogue, eyes falling immediately on the price tags on the name brand glasses. 

"These?  But these are so expensive-"

Kris pulled Tao's real contract out from behind his desk, staring at the other man with raised eyebrows, daring him to say more.

Tao bit his lip, a look of irritation flashing through his eyes.

"Yes.  Sir."

-

"...Holy , man.  No."

"Sehun!  Please~!"

"Tao, that's like my entire paycheck."

"Please, Sehun, I can't afford to get fired -"

"So ask your freaking boss to give you some money."

"As if he'd give me anything.  He's doing this on purpose - he wouldn't give me jack .  Pleaseeeee, Sehun, you're my best friend.  Don't you know how much this means to me?!"

A few minutes more of silent pleading, followed by an exasperated groan.

"...fine.  But only if you do me a favor."

"Anything!"

"Okay, listen.  My uncle is looking to expand his shrimp truck franchise and he's just opened up a late night stand - he needs help, but you know, that doesn't leave me very much time to meet up with Luhan after work..."

-

To his great surprise, Tao came in the next day with a pair of new, black framed glasses that framed his face well, Kris passively noted. 

Kris was pleased at the sight, petting Tao on the head absently, only to have his nose wrinkle when the curious strong smell of seafood wafted out from the other's clothes.

Kris dismissed it with a shrug, mind already running through the day's torturous tasks he would set the other man.

As the days passed though, Kris came to the realization that although Tao could at least see now, it didn't seem to boost his performance.  If anything, the man seemed more distracted.

For example, the current situation - Kris had asked Tao for a few copies, ten minutes ago, something that had become so routine that it should have been an easy task. 

But ten minutes later...

Kris narrowed his eyes from the window of his corner office, frowning as he continued to watch Zitao struggle not to fall asleep over the copier.

-

It was seven o'clock in the evening, and Tao was already working hard on the first shift of his second job.

"Number twenty-four!  Shrimp scampi!"

Tao shouted, ducking his head out from the small truck window, only to see that there was no one there to take the order.  Tao pushed his glasses back up the bridge of his nose, frowning.

A soft crunch of grass beneath him drew his gaze, allowing him to see for the first time the wide-eyed little boy who had been standing there the whole time, holding a stuffed orange doll in the shape of an octopus that was as big as he was tall.

Tao melted at the endearing sight, cooing down at the boy as he leaned down toward him.

"Hey there, little guy.  Is this your order?"

The boy nodded, holding up the receipt that had been given to him, the correct number standing out prominently on it.

"Are you sure it's not your friend's food here?"  Tao teased softly, nodding towards the boy's stuffed animal. 

The boy shook his head roughly, clutching the doll closer to him.

"Okay, okay, if you're sure it's yours - here you go."  Tao leaned further out the window, placing the food carefully into the boy's outstretched hands. 

"Make sure to save a little piece of food for your friend, okay?"

The boy nodded, and Tao gave him one last smile before looking up.

The smile froze, color draining from his face as he caught sight of familiar long legs, walking up quickly toward the truck.

Reaching out with lightning-quick hands, Tao snatched the doll from the boy's arms, shouting a muffled apology to the surprised boy as he held it up in front of his face, just in time for Kris to walk up, hands in his pockets, eyes preoccupied with the menu.

What followed next was the most awkward exchange Tao had ever had in his entire life.

". . ."

". . ."

". . .Can I order my food now, or am I supposed to stand here and wait?"

"- OH! - OH YES - WELCOME TO GIOVANNI'S SHRIMP TRUCK, CAN YOU- UH, C-CAN I TAKE YOUR ORDER?"  Tao spluttered, trying his best to conceal his voice, only succeeding in sounding like a crack addict version of himself. 

Kris' eyebrows furrowed, doing a small double take.

"You sound... familiar.  Haven't we met before?"

Silent screams of horror.

"NOOOOOOooooo WE HAVE NEVER EVER EVER MET BEFORE.  I AM, UH, GI-OCTO-VANNI, THE, UH, MASCOT FOR OUR NEW LINE OF FOOOOOOD."

Kris leaned even closer, eyes narrowing.

"No, I'm sure of it now.  I've met you somewhere before-"

"- DID I HEAR YOU SAY SHRIMP SCAMPI?  YES SIR, RIGHT AWAY SIR, YOU WAIT HERE WHILE I UH - WHILE I PUT IN YOUR ORDER."

Crabwalking to the side until he was able to slam the window shut, Tao spun in a frantic circle, grabbing the cook's arm.

"Uncle, I uh... I need to... My stomach feels bad.  I need to poop.  Bad.  Right now."

"- But Tao, your shift just started-"

"- I'll make it up to you tomorrow!  I really need to go!  Sorry sorry sorry!"

Without a further word, Tao slipped out the back door, leaving the doll by the door as, for the second time now, he fled from Kris, disappearing into the distance, wailing in terror.

Sehun's uncle, on the other hand, calmly took up the spot that Tao had been occupying, sighing as he wiped his hands on his apron and opened the window once more, revealing the disgruntled looking young man who waited on the other side.

"I'm sorry, could you repeat your order?"

Kris wasn't looking at him though, instead leaning sideways as he stared past him and searched the inside of the truck with his eyes.

"Where'd your other worker go?"

"Ah, Tao?"

Kris froze.

Sehun's uncle shrugged, gesturing behind him vaguely.

"Said he didn't feel well, and left straight away.  First time I ever seen him like this - it's been two weeks already and he's never bolted off before.  Usually such a hard worker, you know?  But I guess when you're living that kind of life with that kind of diet, things do start to take a toll on your health."

"What... kind of life?"

"Poor kid's homeless.  Lives in a tent in the reserve.  Sehun's a park ranger, so he sticks out for him, lets him stay out there without a permit.  Even invites him over to sleep at the house sometimes, but that boy's got a damned strong pride.  He comes over to charge his phone every day, but never stays for more than a night."

The words washed over Kris numbly as he froze on that single realization.

"...he's what?"

-

Tao would have been lying to say that he wasn't scared out of his wits when Kris called him into his office the next day.

His old classmate gestured at the chair in front of him, and Tao slid into it, unable to meet the other's eye as his mind ran crazy with thoughts.

Did he recognize me?  Should I say something? Am I going to get fired?

His thoughts were interrupted when something was thrown onto the desk in front of him, startling him back into reality. 

He stared down at what was on the desk - a small silver key - gazing back up to Kris with a questioning look.

"You live out of the city, right?"

Tao nodded numbly.

"I've noticed that you always cut it extremely close when you come in every morning, so I want you move into the city.  No buts.  The key is to an apartment downtown, talk to Victoria afterwards, she'll give you the directions."

Tao stared down at the key, mind completely blank with shock.

"... I can't possibly afford-"

"- I'm covering the apartment charges, for now.  You'll be paying me back with some overtime."

Tao stared up at him with unseeing eyes. 

"Which reminds me -"

Kris reached into his wallet, pulling out a credit card and tossing it onto the table as well.

"From now on, here's a corporate card.  I set up an account for you, so you can charge expenses onto it.  Now you don't have to keep interrupting my work asking me for money to buy supplies.  It was getting annoying.  Just don't go crazy with it, or I'll make sure it's coming out of your paycheck."

Tao picked up the card with trembling fingers, eyes wide and shining. 

"That's all.  Now go get me a coffee.  Grande - iced - with soy milk this time."  Kris sat down at his desk, dismissing Tao with a wave of his hand as he began to pull papers from his drawers.

For once, Tao had nothing snarky to say as he slowly and silently gathered the items from the desk, bowing deeply to the man who paid seemed to pay no attention to him, slipping out from the doors and closing them quietly behind him.

The shock didn't set in until Victoria had called him over, pulling out the lease forms and showing him the apartment he would be staying in.  And then, when it did, it was with overwhelming confusion, and a tiny, budding spark of affection, for the man that he was so sure he hated.

Still, Tao remained wary.

-

"I don't know, Tao, maybe he's not as bad as you think."  Sehun shrugged, once again focusing intensely on the TV set in front of him.

"There has to be an ulterior motive.  The guy's been an this entire time, what's got him acting so different now?"  Tao bit his thumb, staring up at the cracked ceiling above Sehun's bed as he waited for his phone to charge next to him.

"He's only an because you were an first, Tao.  What's goes around comes around.  Besides, he's not all that terrible if he gave you that new phone, right?"

"That was different though.  I can't make any calls out of it, I'm only allowed to receive his calls and texts."

Sehun whistled, stirring his steaming bowl of oatmeal as he blew lightly on it.  "Sounds like classic possessive behavior to me.  That 'you can only talk to me and no one else' plotline.  Guy's probably gay for your .  Probably, probably."

Tao shot off the bed, rolling over to his side to gag drily, shooting Sehun a dirty look. 

"You've been reading too many of your boyfriend's stories,"  Tao muttered, referring to Luhan's job as a writer of gay a.  "Don't make me puke."

Sehun grinned dirtily, making Tao roll his eyes.

They fell back into brief silence as Tao flopped back onto Sehun's bed, face flushed as he remembered the event's of the other day.

"I was so sure that when he called me in he was going to say that he saw me at your uncle's truck the other day.  , my heart was about to explode."

"Oh yeah, that reminds me,"  Sehun said, sitting up straight and turning to Tao, "you don't have to cover for me anymore.  Seems like my uncle found another hand to help him out at the truck." 

Tao sat up, blinking.  "Really?  I didn't know he was openly hiring."

Sehun shrugged.  "He wasn't.  I don't know how, but somehow he got enough money to hire someone full time."

"Huh."  Tao said, eyebrows furrowing.  "Well, good for him."

-

That night, Tao opened the door to his new apartment, letting it creak open slowly as he stared in with wide eyes.

It was homey, but it was fully furnished - and best of all, it was Tao's.

Tao had never, ever -

He rolled around on the wood floors for hours, breathing in the scent of- warm - clean - new.

Tao sighed, closing his eyes and giggling happily to himself.

-

It was barely perceptible - but Tao noticed the change the moment it happened.

"Tao,"  Kris was saying to him, "make a few copies of this file for me."

And then, a word that Tao hadn't been anticipating at all:

"...please."

"....yes, sir...?"

"Thank you."

Tao couldn't help but stare.