"How's the job search going, Tao?"

"Fine."

"...Didn't you say you already had a few good offers?  Why haven't you settled on a job yet?"

"... It's... I just..."

", Tao, you need to sit down and pick one before the end of the month, otherwise you won't be able to afford a new apartment."

"...I've got an interview lined up for tomorrow."

"Oh?  Who with?"

"Choi Industries."

"Isn't Choi Industries... Wu Corp's main competitor?  If this is about revenge, Tao..."

"What I do is my choice, Sehun."

-

I'll be honest, Mr. Huang.  Your resume piqued my interest enough for me to personally conduct this interview. 

Very interesting - up until... May of last year?  It doesn't seem like you have much practical experience at all. 

But starting in May, all of a sudden, you seem to have landed a high level job with Wu Corporations, kept it for more than a year. 

So tell me, Mr. Huang, why did you quit?  Why have you come here today, knowing what I'm sure you know about us? 

A man in a million dollar suit, a patent leather suitcase.

Tao looked back down at his hands.

-

...Why didn't you come after me?

...Why haven't you called?

...I thought you... I thought... you...

It was 3 AM.

He couldn't sleep.

Half of the boxes he had packed were stacked up shadows lined up neatly in a corner.  

The other half, marked with another name, sat in the hallway, ready to be shipped back to their owner.

The bedroom was oddly silent, oddly still, and the sheets oddly cool against his skin.

He settled on his stomach, leaving a hand to trail off the side of the bed as he stared out into the darkness. 

The glow of the cellphone by his bedside reflected in his eyes, but he had already checked - no new messages, no new calls.

Moonlight was streaming in through the window, and Tao turned his head to watch where it fell. 

The other side of the bed lay untouched, the sheets perfectly tucked in, a sole pillow laying on its own.

Every time he shut his eyes, he thought he could hear the faint sounds of snores, of warmth pressing against his side.

So Tao kept his eyes open, curling into himself, turning his head into the pillow.

He couldn't sleep.

-

The landlady opened the door with a look of surprise, taking the chain off and pulling the door fully open when she recognized the figure standing on her doorstep.

She took the keys offered by him with a look of bewilderment, holding them in her hand only to stare up at the departing young man, too much in shock to raise a hand to stop him from getting into a car already stacked to the brim with boxes.

Watching the car peel off from the driveway, her head turned to follow its trail even as her husband stepped out from behind her, asking her what was wrong.

"It's nothing, I guess," She began, her eyebrows furrowed in curiosity, "It's just - why did he return the key to me?  The apartment was paid in full already."

-

"Wait here just a minute, would you?  I just need to do one more thing."

Might as well get it over with, see the damage done in full.

"Yes, ma'am.  I'd just like a copy of my bank statement, if possible."

"Sure thing.  Wait one minute, I'll print one up for you."

Drumming his fingers along the countertop, Tao started when he felt his phone ring, pulling it out from his pocket only to frown at the unknown number. 

"...Hello?"

/Hello, Mr. Huang.  This is Seunghyun, I personally interviewed you the previous week about a project manager position in our travel unit -/

Tao stood up straight, eyes widening.

"Ah- yes, Mr. Choi, it's good to hear from you again."

/It's good to hear from you too, Mr. Huang.  I'm sure you've already guessed the nature of this call - I'm calling on behalf of the company to extend a formal offer to you -/

Tao was in shock.

"-a - a formal offer?!   That's fantastic - I didn't think... off the record here, I didn't think that I would be getting a call.  I thought my resume 'wasn't a good fit?'"

The voice on the other end chuckled.

/Well, it seems like you have a little guardian angel on your side, Mr. Huang.  I checked your resume again and was about to make some reference calls, when - speak of the devil - who calls me but your former employer CEO Wu of Wu Corporations himself./

"Here's your statement, sir."

Too busy gripping the phone with tight fingers, he paid little attention the white sheet that was slid in front of him.

"Kris... called?"

/Oh, you two were on first name basis?  I suppose that doesn't surprise me - CEO Wu was full of nothing but praise for you.  Said you were the most dedicated, hardworking employee he had ever had before - even contributed the success of the Lufthansa-Wu deal to you, and we're all aware of the shockwaves that had on the industry.  Told me that if I didn't hire you, he'd find someone "better" who would.  Hah, can you believe that!  Well, I said to him, if you were as good as he'd said you were, we'd-/

Tao stared down at the numbers floating on the page in front of him.

The phone slipped through his fingers, falling with a clatter to the floor.

-

He had waited so long before, that waiting a second time had been hell.

He'd hardly slept, hardly eaten, stayed in the office for long hours staring at the door.

But the day had finally come, even sooner than Kris had dared to hope, when Tao finally came back, flinging open those koa wood doors with paper in his hand, slamming it down on the desk in front Kris.

"EXPLAIN THIS TO ME!"

Kris looked down at the sheet, turning it slowly to face him.

"...it's your bank statement."

Tao ran his hands through his hair, gritting his teeth in frustration.

"YES!  ...with half a million dollars in it!" 

Kris looked haggard and withdrawn, his eyebrows furrowing in tired confusion. 

"I... I don't understand.  I thought you knew -"

"- KNEW?  KNEW?!  I thought you had taken all of my money out, not put more money IN-"

Kris stood from his chair, holding his hands out instinctively toward the man who was in the middle of a fit of bewildered rage.

"- Why would I do that?!  Tao- please- stop- you're going to hurt yourself-"

Tao stopped suddenly, feeling a cold wave of realization overtake him.

"You- you thought- I was angry- because you had added..."

Slowly pulling his hands down from his hair, he sank slowly onto the chair behind him, eyes wide with disbelief.

"You thought I was angry... because..."

. . . Oh, God.

Tao pulled the glasses from his face slowly, covering his eyes with the back of his hand as he squeezed the frames tightly within the grip.

The plastic frame cracked, shattering into pieces that fell into his lap.  Kris reached out, trying to pull it out of the other man's grip, only to find that when he had pulled the hand away, he saw the twin tracks of tears that other had been hiding, tracing their way down the other man's face.

"...Tao..."

Tao squeezed his eyes shut, sobbing quietly, his shoulders shaking with every breath.

"...why are you doing this to me?  ...Is this s-some twisted form of revenge?  To m-m-make me come crawling back to you, every- every single time -"

He fell harder into his sobs.

Distantly, he felt Kris kneel by his side, but didn't look up until he found something pressing against his face, gently wiping away the tracks of tears. 

"…Don't cry.  As someone once told me: you look ugly when you do."

Through shuddering breaths and watery eyes, Tao forced his eyes open, staring down at the faded yellow print of Winnie the Pooh, on a familiar, worn rag.

"You..."

Kris wiped the last tear from Tao's eyes, pulling the handkerchief back.  Returning his most precious item to the hands that had given it to him over a decade ago, Kris reached out to cup the other's still wet face, leaning in to press his own forehead against the other's.

"When I first saw you again, after so many years - all I could think of were of the things I would have to do, to push myself back into your life.  You see, I'd been searching for you for so long.  And... you might not remember everything about those days back then, but... I do."

He pressed a soft kiss on Tao's brow, nuzzling in close.

"You never had to apologize, you know.  I never blamed you for anything you did, because I'd seen the look in your eyes.  All that pain you've been hiding, for so long.  But when I needed someone the most, there you were, standing in the rain to offer me what little you had.  No one else had ever done that for me.  Because despite how much you pretended not to - you cared about me, didn't you?"

Kris pulled back, searching deep into Tao's eyes.

"And even if you don't, I'll always remember those days as the days we were in love."

Pulling the hands that were covering the younger man's mouth as he sobbed, he leaned forward, pressing a gentle kiss against those lips.

It felt like it lasted for hours. 

When Kris began to pull back, Tao looped an arm around the other man's shoulders, pulling him back in to press a tear-stained face into the other's shoulder, feeling droplets of warm liquid hitting his own.

"...this isn't some kind of stupid chick flick, you know.  You could have just told me everything from the beginning, and then we... we wouldn't have had to waste - all of this time!"

Tao sobbed harder, whacking Kris half-heartedly against the back. 

"I'm sorry I hurt you," He heard the muffled response back, "...I just wanted you to be happy, for once.  I mean, I didn't have any experience - I've never been good at this kind of thing.  It wasn't until Victoria told me how rough I was being that I realized just how much I was pushing you away.  So I thought, maybe if I tried to give you everything you never had before..."

"Wait - you mean to tell me, that all of those taunts... all the money you flung in my face... That was your attempt at flirtation?"

Kris grew quiet, and shy.

In a burst of hysterical, tired laughter, Tao clutched the man tighter to him.

"You're such an idiot, did you know that?!  It was never about money, you stupid, stupid jerk.  All I wanted was for you to love me as much as I love you.  ...and I do love you - so, so much."

Although Kris tried his best to hide it, Tao heard the other break into soft, heartfelt sobs at his admission, the older man's body sagging into his hold as it shook in desperate relief.

"I love you too.  ...I always have."

-

"And my contract?"

A drawer opening.

The sounds of something being torn to shreds.

"Does that mean... that I can come back?"

"I... never hired anyone in your absence."

"How the hell have you been coping?"

"...poorly."

Soft laughter.

“…well, I guess I can help you out.  But on one condition -"

"Name it."

"...You owe me a new pair of glasses.”

“Deal.”

-

Tao stood on the warm pavement, suitcase in his hand.

He worried his lip between his teeth, suddenly unsure.

But a hand extended itself out toward him, and Tao looked to see Kris reaching out toward him, from the steps of his jet.

"...I don't know if I can do this."

"Just breathe, love, and take my hand.  I'll be here with you the whole way."

Tao looked down at his small suitcase, huffing quietly.

"What if... what if your mom doesn't like me?  I-if she thinks I'm not suitable?"

Kris laughed quietly.

"She's the one who wanted me to invite you, idiot.  Besides, didn't you say you wanted to come with me to see my father?"

"-I do!"  Tao was already gripping onto his hand, stepping onto the first step with wobbly legs that knocked against each other, teeth chattering in fear.

Sighing softly, Kris leaned over, picking the man up in a bridal carry over squawked protests. 

"Well, in that case, Tao.  I'm taking that as a promise.  You can't run from me now." 

Tao laughed quietly, looping his arms around Kris' neck as the man began to walk back up those steps.

"I'm not sure I ever wanted to."

when he was younger, he'd stay up to watch the sun set, looking far beyond that shifting gold horizon to imagine what lay beyond those shores

the future had seemed so scary - full of unknowns and uncertainties

but then he thought of the man who had waited for him to come back - letting him fall back into his arms, time and time again -

and suddenly... it no longer frightened him.

Kris slapped the book from Tao’s hands, face green.

". . ."

". . ."

"... just how much have you been telling Luhan about our life?"

"... lllllet me go call Sehun, sir."