Kris tried to swallow the spit that was forming in his mouth, but his throat was dry and his body refused to listen to him. He stared at Tao waiting for him to say something, anything and finally he spoke with a voice like honey.

“Hello Mr. Wu. It’s good to see you again. I hope that you’ve been doing well.”

“Y-yes. Thank you, but how have you been Tao? The last time we were together was a very long time ago and you’ve definitely changed. Has Chanyeol been taking good care of you?”

Tao’s lips twitched at the sound of Chanyeol’s name and Kris swore he looked as if he were about to smile, but he didn’t.

“Yes. Oppa has been very good to me.”

Kris’s eyebrow twitched at the word ‘oppa’. Turning his attention to Chanyeol he began to scold him. “Chanyeol… you taught him to call you ‘oppa’? That’s weird. Tao you do know that ‘oppa’ is what female girls call older boys that they view as a brother figure or boyfriend?”

A red blush covered Tao’s cheeks and he Chanyeol, “Yah! You told me that younger boys called their older male friends that! You liar! You made me look like such a weirdo! I knew that the lady at the desk was giving me a weird look!”

Kris just stared at the once cold faced young man transformed into a flustered school girl. He didn’t know how to react to the scene in front of him. Tao was gently hitting Chanyeol’s shoulder with his fists while Chanyeol just laughed and squeezed Tao’s cheeks. They really were adorable together and Kris felt jealous that Chanyeol had hogged Tao all to himself over the years.

Finally he cleared his throat to catch their attention.

“If you have nothing else to say I have work to do.” Smoothing out his jacket he sat back into his seat and looked at them from across his paperwork.

Chanyeol gave a sad smile, “Still the same old Kris. All work and no play. However, we too are here on business.”

“Oh?”

“I’ve rejoined this part of the company and Tao is going to be working with me as an apprentice. We came to get your approval.”

Tao approached the desk and held out a sheet of paper to Kris. The scent of peaches caressed Kris’s nose and he closed his eyes inhaling every little bit. Taking the paper he didn’t bother to read it. He just slammed his name down and handed it back. Why would he need to think about having Tao with him? The very idea made him love his job even more.

“Kris, if you aren’t too busy tonight you should come over for dinner. It’s Tao’s turn to cook and he isn’t half bad.”

Tao again blushed and was about to protest, but Kris cut him off. “I suppose I could make time for you since it has been a while.”

“Great. It should be ready around 7. We’re moving back in to my old apartment and the code is still the same so feel free to let yourself in.”

With that the pair exited the room leaving Kris alone once again. As soon as the door shut Kris ran his hands through his hair and sighed. He couldn’t believe that Tao was back. Everything that he had worked so hard to achieve was going to be destroyed by one person that he barely knew.

Getting up from his seat he decided that he should start preparing for the night.

He briskly walked from his desk and out the door shouting to his secretary that he was taking the night off. His first stop was the clothing store. He wanted an outfit that was more casual than his business suits, but still screamed sophisticated. Next was a house warming gift. It was common courtesy to bring a gift when someone is moving in and flowers seemed to be the perfect thing. A large bouquet of white roses now sat in his car as he made his way to the final stop of his trip; Baekhyun’s house.

Baekhyun was very close to Chanyeol and he knew that he even liked him as more than a friend. Whether Chanyeol felt the same was a different story. Knocking on the door he was greeted by a surprised face.

“Kris?! Wow what are you doing here? It’s been forever!”

“I just have a few questions to ask you and then I’ll be on my way if you don’t mind.”

Baekhyun opened the door all the way and stepped back so Kris could enter. They sat in the living room as Baekhyun stared at Kris in disbelief. Kris ignored the look and continued with his questions.

“You kept in Chanyeol even after he moved correct?”

“Yes.”

 “You met the little boy who lived with him, Tao right?”

“Yes?”

“What is their relationship?”

“I assume a father son?”

“Tell me some things about Tao.”

“Well his favorite color is blue. He’s been taking wushu lessons and is quite good. Even though he looks scary on the outside he’s delicate on the inside, Chanyeol said it was from a past trauma or something.”

“I see.”

“Now it’s my turn to ask a question, why are you asking all of these?”

“That’s none of your business. Thank you for your time, I’ll be going now.”

“What? Kris! Hey!”

The door closed and Baekhyun pouted unhappy with the response.

Kris checked his watch as he went down the stairs from Baekhyun’s apartment. An hour remained before he was supposed to arrive at Chanyeol’s. He stopped back at his home to change and then got back into the car.

The apartment hadn’t changed since he had last been there 10 years ago. He arrived at the door and gulped. With shaking hands he typed in the code to the door and heard a small click as the lock unhooked. Quietly he pulled the handle down and stepped inside. It was quite in the living room, but a small commotion could be heard from the kitchen.

Slipping off his shoes he silently made his way to the other room. Peering around the corner he saw Tao and Chanyeol working on the dinner. Tao was talking about something while Chanyeol was stirring the dinner and nodding. Kris was about to announce his presence when Chanyeol reached over and wrapped an arm around Tao’s waist.

Wrapping a hand around his neck, Chanyeol pulled Tao and pressed his lips against his own. Kris’s eyes widened at the sight and he almost cried out. Tao pulled away and wiped his mouth of Chanyeol’s saliva.

“Yah! Don’t do that!”

“Sorry, it’s just you’re so cute!”

‘Are they dating? What is going on?!’ Kris screamed in his head.

Afraid that Chanyeol would try something else Kris came out of hiding.

“Good evening.” He said as he stepped out from behind the corner. Setting the vase full of flowers on the table he nodded to Chanyeol and then Tao.

They both straightened with guilty looks on their faces as they took in their guest.

“Kris, it’s good to see you. Dinner is almost ready if you want to have a seat in the dining room I’ll bring some wine in.”

Chanyeol ushered Kris out of the room and left Tao to finish the dinner.

Sitting him down at the dining room table, Chanyeol left for a few seconds and returned with two wine glasses and a bottle on wine in hand.

He set the glass down and filled it halfway with the red liquid. Raising the glass in the air he proposed a toast, “To everlasting friendship.”

Kris raised his glass as well before taking a sip. The wine burned his throat on the way down, but it was good quality.

Chanyeol took a seat as well and stared at Kris.

“What is it?” Kris asked slightly annoyed.

“Nothing. It’s just weird seeing you in something other than a suit.”

Their awkward conversation was saved when Tao walked into the room carrying three plates of steaming hot food. He served Kris first, then Chanyeol and finally himself.

They bowed their heads in thanks before eating. Kris carefully put a forkful in his mouth and chewed. The flavor was warm and he enjoyed it.

“So what have you been up to?” Kris asked as he tried to make some friendly dinner conversation.

“Well after I switched buildings I had to get a new apartment since this one was too far away. Tao also had to switch schools, but he was an obediently little boy. We just sort of let the years go by.”

“Why did you come back to this building?” Kris finally asked.

“They were talking about some new hotshot who was making the company lots of money. A new job opening was available and everyone wanted it including myself. I was lucky and got the spot so we moved back and I wasn’t even surprised when that hotshot turned out to be you. I’ve heard great things about you. Including that you could retire right now and be set for life, yet you spend hours at the office. Why is that?”

“I enjoy my work. Besides, what would I do for the rest of my life if I retired now?”

“I suppose that’s true. You’ve also loved work more than anything else your entire life so I imagine it would be hard to be without it.”

Throughout their entire conversation Tao just sat in silence eating his dinner. When it seemed that everyone was finished he cleared his plate along with the adults and went to the kitchen to start dishes. Kris was disappointed. He had wanted to talk to Tao the entire evening, but it didn’t appear that that was going to happen. Chanyeol took him to the living room for adult talk which was nothing more than discussing work.

Tao entered the living room and waited for a break in their conversation before speaking.

“If it’s alright I’m going to head to bed. I’m tired and I want to be up early for work tomorrow.”

Chanyeol nodded his approval and Tao disappeared into the back bedroom.

“He seems to be doing well.” Kris said. He wanted to get on the topic of Tao as soon as he could.

“Yes. He’s at the top of his class and the small sport of wushu that he picked up turned out to be a great hobby for him.”

“Is he going to be going to college?”

“No, he’s going to take over my position when the time comes.”

“He seems very busy; does he have any time to be a kid? I find it hard to picture him going out with friends or going on dates.”

Chanyeol stiffened, “Why would he need to do those things? He has plenty of fun being with me and if he wanted to go to the movies or to a theme park he would just ask me as well.”

“Yes, but doesn’t have any friends his own age?”

“No. They aren’t as smart or athletic as Tao is and they would only bring him down. It’s better this way.”

Kris saw Chanyeol becoming irritated and decided to drop the subject.

“It’s getting late. I have to be at the office early as do you so I’ll take my leave.”

“It was good seeing you Kris. Not much has changed.” Chanyeol said in a tone that Kris couldn’t place as he slipped on his shoes and out the door.