While Sehun was busy flirting with Luhan, Chanyeol arrived with a duffle bag full of clothes. He walked into the room and promptly laughed. “You’re still not wearing a shirt hyung?”

Kris finally seemed to realize his state of undress and his nervous habit kicked in, making him scratch the back of his head. “Didja bring the forms?”

“Yeah, they’re in the bag with your clothes. Did you know your boots weigh a ton? Cuz they do.”

“Sorry Yeol.”

“Eh whatever. Is that the kid,” he asked, pointing at Tao. Kris nodded and Chanyeol Kris’s bag into his arms to run over and get a closer look. Kris was just about to comment about how creepy it was to have someone leaning over and staring at you when he quickly straightened and walked back over to Kris. “Is he single?”

“What?!”

“He’s totally your style.”

“He is no-”

“Don’t even try to lie, I bet you think he’s adorable or something.” Well that’s true. “So is he single?”

Kris sighed. “His roommate came…he said he was…”

“If you don’t get his number, I’ll taze you.”

“WHAT?!”

“No I won’t. But seriously, get his number.” He checked his watch and let out an unmanly gasp. “, I gotta go. Send me some good news okay?”

“But-”

“BYE HYUNG!!!!”

“YA WHY BOTHER CALLING ME HYUNG IF YOU’RE THE ONE GIVING THE LECTURES?!” Kris looked back and breathed a sigh of relief that Tao hadn’t woken up. He finally put down the bag and pulled out the statement forms. Might as well do this now so I don’t forget Sehun’s statement…It took him a good ten minutes to fill it out and then he stretched. He considered leaving to find a bathroom to change, but paused before he could get up. What if he wakes up while I’m gone? What if he gets confused? What if he rips out his IV and hurts himself? What if his feet slip on the linoleum and he gets hurt? What if he has amnesia? Why am I over thinking all of this? Kris stood up to leave and then noticed the curtains that could circle around the bed. How did I not think of that?

He glanced out into the empty room, checking to make sure no one would walk in. He closed the curtains and glanced at Tao to make sure he was asleep. Suddenly he felt claustrophobic. This is weirder than I thought it would be. He turned around and opened the bag pulling out one of the pairs of jeans. He glanced back again at the sleeping boy before undoing his belt and pulling down his pants. I’ll just do it quick. He kicked them off and shimmied into his jeans. He reached down to pull out the white t-shirt Chanyeol packed for him.

“Nice……”

“!” Kris was so surprised he actually swore in English for once. Still holding the t-shirt, he turned around and saw Tao awake on the bed, still bleary eyed.”You’re…awake.”

“And you’re…?”

“Kris.” Blank stare. “Uh…Officer Wu, Seoul Police.”

“You’re a police officer?!” I seem to get that reaction a lot today… “…I’m sorry, I should have realized that…”

“It’s okay…um…should I call the doctor?” He nodded and Kris opened the curtain to give his claustrophobic mind a break. He pushed the call button and wrestled into his shirt. He had just pulled it down when Luhan came back in.

“Hey Luhan, he’s awake now.”

“Awesome, hey Tao, I’m-”

“Luhan. You and Kri-Officer Wu helped me at the scene right?”

Luhan nodded and began examining Tao, asking questions. “Do you feel groggy or confused?”

“No.”

“Kris, how was he when he woke up?”

“Confused,” Kris said, walking to the foot of Tao’s bed.

“I was?! I don’t remember!”

“Did he say or do anything?”

Kris cleared his throat. “He said I had a nice .” Luhan snorted and Tao turned red.

Luhan walked over to Kris and his eyes flickered over his jeans. He walked back to Tao and said, “You’re fine. Your brain to mouth filter just wasn’t functioning after regaining consciousness.”

Kris looked concerned. “What does that mean?”

“It means you have a nice ,” Luhan said, writing something down on Tao’s chart. Kris’s ears now matched Tao’s face. “You’re fine Tao, you can leave as soon as you’ve filled out patient paperwork and after Kris is done with you.” I swear Luhan did that on purpose. Luhan grinned slightly, confirming Kris’s thoughts. “Do you have any questions for me?”

“Um…no…oh wait! , where’s my camera?! Sehun is gonna kill me!”

“Kris’s friend, Chanyeol called him, he came while you were unconscious. I’ll text him that you’ve woken up-”

“How…?”

“Um…he gave me his number so I uh…could text him when you woke up…” Luhan was now flushing red.

Kris decided to be merciful and spoke up. “Your camera is on the bedside table to your right with your phone (Tao immediately launched himself at it and began checking all the functions). And the kayak was fished out. Your roommate said he would stop by the station tomorrow to get it.”

Tao nodded and bowed his head to him and Luhan who quickly made an excuse to leave. Kris sat down again on the chair next to the bed and pulled out a pen. “I apologize, but I need to take your statement from the incident to write my report. Do you mind if I do this now?”

“Um…sure.”

Kris once again wrote down Tao’s story on the form, putting down his pen after ten minutes of writing. “Alright, that’s it. Thanks for your co-operation.”

“No problem. Er…Kri-Officer Wu…?”

“Kris is fine.” Since when has ‘Kris’ been fine while I’m on duty?! This kid…

“Will you help me um…” he pointed to the IV. Luhan had either forgotten in his Sehun-induced embarrassment, or was playing matchmaker again.

Trying to maintain some form of professionalism, Kris replied, “You um…peel away the tape and pull out the needle…”

“But I don’t like needles!” Tao looked like he wanted to cry. Kris couldn’t refuse him now. He pulled his chair closer to the bed and immediately Tao grabbed onto Kris’s hand and squeezed his eyes shut. Kris grinned. Poor kid, but he’s cute. He realized the angle would be awkward to pull the needle out, so he sat on the bed next to Tao holding his left hand in his right.

“On three, okay?” Tao nodded, biting his lip. “One…” He untapped the IV. “Two…” He pulled it out and put his thumb over the small wound. “It’s already out.”

Tao opened his eyes to see Kris stand up and fumble in his jeans pocket, looking for something. From his front left pocket he pulled out a band-aid which he quickly put on Tao’s hand. “Why do you have band-aids in your pocket?”

“Somehow I always seem to come across kids that need them when I’m on patrol. After having five kids ask me for a band-aid on my first day I just decided to always carry them around.” Kris put down Tao’s hand and Tao smiled at the cartoon band-aid.

“A dragon? Isn’t that scary for kids?”

“…it’s my favorite animal…so…usually they don’t mind when I tell them.” Tao nodded and pulled himself to the side of the bed. He stood and began stretching his long limbs when suddenly he froze.

“Damnit…”

“What?”

“What happened to my clothes?” Tao was wearing a patient gown. Kris guessed it was put on him while he and Luhan were talking earlier.

“They’re still drying.” It looked like Tao was going to violently swear but at the last second he switched to Mandarin. Kris chuckled and pulled out the spare set of clothes from the bag, handing them to the swearing Chinese. “Here, I had my partner-”

“You’re gay?!”

“Yes, wait-NO! I mean yes but…Chanyeol has a boyfriend!”

“Who’s Chanyeol?”

“My partner. My police partner.” Kris was red from embarrassment again. “I asked him to bring me an extra set of clothes since Sehun couldn’t bring you any. He brought boots too.” Kris once again drew the curtains around the bed and heard the rustling of fabric.

“Kris?”

“Yeah?”

“Thank you for the clothes and um…sorry about the partner thing.”

“It’s fine.” Tao pulled open the curtain and immediately Kris snickered. “Shirt’s on inside-out.”

Tao looked down and rolled his eyes. Immediately pulled the shirt off of him, flipping it properly. “I always do that,” he mumbled. Kris didn’t know what to do with himself. He was standing in front of a hot Chinese guy, wearing his favorite black pants (which were a little too tight around the thighs), black combat boots and he had removed his plain white t-shirt revealing…eye candy to say the least. Damn he looks better when he’s fully conscious. What the hell am I even thinking?! “These fit pretty good,” Tao commented, snapping Kris back to reality.

“Yeah, we’re about the same size.”

“These are yours?” Kris grunted an affirmative, packing up his bag and reaching for Tao’s phone and camera. He handed them over and Tao bobbed his head in a bow. “Thank you…”

“No problem, do you need a ride back?”

“No thanks, I need to stop by the University to give back the camera and finish my portfolio.”

“For finals?”

“Yeah, it’s due Friday.”

“. I MEAN, uh…darn?”

Tao snickered, then held out his hand. “Give me your phone.” Kris handed it to him mystified, until he realized I’m getting his number. Tao called his phone, which buzzed in his hand and saved the number on both the phones. “I’ll call you this weekend to give you your clothes back, and I owe you at least a meal for saving my .”

“Uh, yeah. I have a shift on Sunday, but I’ll be free on Saturday.”

“Perfect. Well…I’ll see you on Saturday? I’ll text you where and when.”

“Sure.” Tao nodded, then bowed and left the room. Kris stood rooted in his spot trying to absorb everything that happened. Suddenly he got a text which he immediately opened.

I probably won’t be up before 10 on Saturday, so wanna do lunch? There’s a café/bakery on M Street I want to try.

~TaoZi

Kris smiled and replied back.

I’ll meet you there at noon.

~Kris

A/N: Next chapter is the end. Promise.