Requested by: Francelovestruck

Characters: Tao [EXO] & Danielle Lewis [OC]

Premise: High School Romance

Author: Admin K, DivinestSense

Implicit Interest 

She first met him freshman year.  The two of them had been the new kids, the center of everyone else's attention.  Simply walking from her locker to class had felt more like being on display at a zoo.  She would do her best to ignore the others not-so-quietly whispering to each other, to do what Korean students were supposed to do and study, but some days it was futile.  The sounds of their voices would crash around her head.  They would do the same to him, the only difference being they attempted to be a little more discreet in their judgment.  He was tall, dark and handsome, the other kid, but that did not matter--her peers could not get past tall and dark.  He never seemed malicious or harsh, but his facial expressions gave him a serious demeanor.  

The two of them had class together.  When she noticed it, she was convinced the principal felt bad for the two outcasts and hoped they would find solace in each other.  It was a sweet notion with good intentions and she wished she could tell him that, but her inability to tell him that was the main problem.

She was a student from America who only understood Korean.

He was a student from China who only understood Korean.

Initially the language barrier isolated her.  There was so much she wanted to say, so much she dreamed of saying--most of which she could not say.

Even though they did not speak to each other, they had a mutual understanding of sorts.  When she arrived to class every morning, he would already be there tapping away at his phone.  After giving her a small smile and nod of acknowledgment as she sat down, he would continue texting away.  When the instructor commanded the attention of the class, they would drone back the proper responses with the rest in their slightly accented Korean.  They would listen and nod along with the lecture, she taking notes in English and he in Chinese.  She assumed he could understand Korean as well given that he was writing stuff down (though for all she knew, he was just writing lyrics). 

His penmanship fascinated her--it was soft yet edgy, slanted yet strict.  The same characters decorated the top of every page--his name.

Huang Zitao.

Abbreviated "Tao" in hangul for short.  

Half way through their freshman year was the first time she spoke to him.  No longer under the prying eyes of her fellow classmates--they got bored when they realized she and Tao had nothing to say--she turned to him in her seat before class started.  Pointing to his name scribbled at the top of the page, she met his questioning eyes.

"Ireum?" she hesitantly asked in Korean.  Despite having heard and understood the word over a hundred times, she was self conscious in regards to her ability to speak the language.  The syllables felt horribly foreign and whenever she spoke, she was positive people turned to stare at her.  Plus she felt a bit stupid asking this question.  Of course it was his name scribbled on the paper and of course she knew what it was--she sat next to him every day!

But even so, his eyes widened slightly at her inquiry.  Slowly, he nodded, his lips turning up just slightly.  

"Ne. Tao," he said, quietly.  His eyes flashing to her papers, he mimicked her, his finger pointing to her neatly printed name.  "Ireum?"

​Eagerly nodding, she grinned his way.  She had always wondered how the two of them would communicate.  They could not go the entire year without speaking to each other--she refused to let that be the case.  It had become clear that he was in the same boat as her, understanding Korean but not comfortable speaking it--English and Chinese were out of the question.  Looking back at his curious eyes, excitement bubbled in her stomach.  They could make this work.

"Ne. Danielle."

Sophomore year was when they really started bonding.  He spent his summer back home in China and she back in America, but the two of them messaged each other pictures of what they were eating or where they were.  Snapping pictures of the empire state building or of a burger, she would immediately send them out East.  She would wake up the next day with a picture of some mouth watering oriental dish decorated with some smiley faces.  But even though she loved getting glimpses of his culture--of his home--her favorite picture was when he was smiling with his friends as the sun set.  From head to toe his body language was relaxed and care free.  In bright blue, the word "chingu" decorated the image.

Laughing happily, she sent him a picture with her best friend, the same word dancing across the top of the screen.

They may have been thousands of miles apart, but they would meet back in Korea.  They didn't speak the same language, they didn't live in the same country, but they had a common ground.

"Dani."

Raising her head to look at him, she almost fell out of her seat when she saw the scene in front of her.  The two of them were eating lunch in the classroom like always.  She was diligently attempting to do some homework early and he was failing at balancing a pencil on his upper lip. She watched as his face contorted in a series of expressions--he would go from a cute pouting panda to a scowling, grimacing teenage boy.  When he finally got the pencil to stay, he blindly pointed around.  Trying to follow his wildly flailing finger, she realized he was motioning to his cell phone.  

Immediately she knew he wanted her to take a picture.  The time they spent messaging during the summer made it clear that he had a secret obsession for selcas.  And it was even cuter than that--he liked to draw little emoticons on them!  He was the cutest most intimidating guy she had ever met.

Taking a few shots, she gave him a thumbs up, chuckling when the pencil fell to the ground.  She watched over his shoulder as he skimmed through the pictures before deciding which one was most acceptable to send to his friends.  As he browsed his albums, an image of him dressed in traditional martial arts wardrobe caught her attention.  

"Hey, what's that!?" she exclaimed in English.  Caught off guard by her change in language, he stared dumbly at her before shaking his head, as if to say "I don't know."

Stealing his phone, she searched for a few seconds until her eyes landed on the picture.  He was in a fierce pose, holding a huge wooden stick above his head.  His eyes were concentrated and dangerous--she wished she could tell him how cool he was.

"Tae Kwon Do?"

"Aniyo. Wushu."

Nodding, she stared at the picture, then back up to his embarrassed face, then back down at the image.  It was hard to believe that they were the same person.  There was no way that this blushing, bashful kid was some kick- wushu god.  Her mind trailed back to the selcas he sent her and now that she thought of it, most of them were taken in some sort of dojo or studio.  Why didn't she notice it before?  (The devil on her shoulder took that moment to remind her that she was too busy admiring how attractive Tao was--she had accepted that she liked him before summer even began.)

"Tao jjangieyo!" raising the pitch of her voice slightly, she shot him a "fighting" arm motion.  Her heart fluttered as his eyes lit up and a small laugh escaped his lips.  Giving her a slight bow, he took his phone from her and browsed through his contacts.  All of the names were in Chinese except for one--Kris.  

Four English letters screamed out to her--why was it spelled with a "K?"  

Was it a girl?  

Why was it in English?  

Did he actually speak English?  

Was he playing with her, making her think that the only way they could really communicate was via broken, simplified Korean?

"Kris?" she read.

"Ne. Kris Hyung."

Hyung.

Oh thank God.

She watched as he attached the picture, typed a short message, and sent it.  He skimmed through his albums again until he came across a picture of a tall, blonde guy.  His face was smooth but his eyes held a cold feeling, but even though she felt a shiver go up her spine, she couldn't deny that the blonde was good looking.  Based off of the pictur