Tao spent the entire school day with his head down and his mouth closed. The teacher and the principal tried to talk to him, but he would only shake his head in response. Finally the school day was over and he slowly packed his bag. He was in no rush to get home because he knew that Kris wouldn’t be there. The rest of the kids trailed out of the front doors until Tao left as well. Chanyeol was waiting for him in the car that he had dropped him off in.

“Hey Tao, how was school?”

“Fine.”

Tao hopped into the front seat and turned to stare out the window. Chanyeol could almost see the storm clouds over his head. They drove the first 5 minutes in silence before Chanyeol tried to talk to him again.

“So what do you want for dinner? We can order in if you would like.”

“I’m not hungry.”

Chanyeol frowned, “Tao, you have to eat dinner. Is something wrong? Are you upset that Kris is gone? You know that he has to go to work right, just like you have to go to school.”

Tao turned from the window to look at Chanyeol with sad eyes, “I know that. I just miss him. I don’t like being away from Kris. Bad things happen when he’s not around.”

“Well he’s not here right now and nothing is happening right?”

Tao’s eyes widened when he realized. “Oh. I guess Chanyeol is good too.”

Chanyeol eye smiled and ruffled Tao’s hair, “Chanyeol is great! Better than Kris!”

“Umm”

“You don’t think that I’m better than Kris?”

“Umm umm…” Tao fiddled with the bottom of his shirt avoiding eye contact.

“Don’t worry, I know that Kris is important to you.”

“Chanyeol is important too! Just different than Kris.”

“You don’t need to explain. I’m glad that I’m important to you Tao. I really care about you.”

Tao smiled at Chanyeol and blushed, “Umm can Chanyeol eat dinner with Tao?”

“Sure! Chanyeol will always be there to eat dinner with Tao.”

“I still wish Kris would eat dinner with us.”

“You never know, wishes can come true.”

The arrived at Kris’s apartment which was dark and barren. Flipping on the lights, Chanyeol immediately went to work on dinner. Tao hung his backpack up and took a seat on the couch to watch cartoons. Halfway through a program the door opened and a figure walked in. Tao was so distracted by his TV show he didn’t bother to turn around.

Suddenly he was scooped up and swung around in the air. He squealed with joy when he realized it was Kris.

“Ge!” he shouted and wrapped his arms around Kris’s neck.

“Hi Tao, you were so busy with your cartoons that you didn’t even notice it was me.” He said as he frowned at Tao. “Maybe we should cut your TV time.”

“Tao would give up cartoons forever if he can have Kris instead.”

Chanyeol was watching them from the kitchen and frowned, he knew that Kris could never fulfill Tao’s desires. Clearing his throat he called out, “Kris, you’re home. Dinner is almost ready, why don’t you and Tao set the table.”

Kris nodded not forgetting their previous conversation. Tao clung to Kris the entire time and only let go to eat.

“It feels like we’re a family.” Tao said quietly, but Chanyeol and Kris still heard and stiffened at the sentence.

They both laughed awkwardly and Kris ruffled Tao’s hair.

The rest of the evening went smoothly and soon Tao was being tucked into bed.

“Goodnight Tao.” Kris said as he kissed Tao on the forehead.

“Goodnight Ge.” Tao answered and yawned already half asleep.

Kris softly closed Tao’s door and went out to the living room. Shedding his jacket he ed his shirt and flopped onto the couch. Chanyeol took a seat on a chair and eyed Kris up and down.

“I didn’t expect you to be here.”

“I said I would be home at 7 didn’t I?”

“Yes, but you say a lot of things.”

“Like that you’ll always be there for Tao?”

Kris sat up and glared at Chanyeol, “You know I mean I’ll be there when I can. He’s just a kid, he doesn’t realized that ‘always’ doesn’t always mean always.”

“Then don’t tell him that! You’re basically lying to the kid. He’s expecting you to be there whenever he needs you and we both know that that’s not going to happen.”

“I’m not lying! He wouldn’t understand if I told him that I can only be there when it works into my schedule. Eventually he’ll understand, but right now he can believe whatever makes him happy.”

“You think he’ll still be happy when he calls out for you sometime and realizes that you aren’t there?”

“That’s not my point! Tao is just a kid. He doesn’t understand the adult world. Even though I care about him work comes first. This was a one time thing. He’ll realize soon enough that I need to be at work and that I can’t be with him.”

“You… oh …” Chanyeol’s eyes widened when a small figure with teary eyes emerged from behind the couch. Kris stood up with his mouth opening and closing like a fish.

“Tao…”

Both adults just stared at the child as his bottom lip trembled and tears flowed down his cheeks.

“G-Ge lied. Ge lied t-to Tao.”

Kris didn’t know what to do. Tao had heard everything.

Chanyeol was the first to react. He ran over to Tao and scooped him up into his arms.

“Shh Tao don’t cry. Please don’t cry.”

That of course did nothing and Tao continued to sob until hiccups popped from his mouth every so often. Kris just watched as Chanyeol took the child back to his room and tucked him back into bed. After a few minutes Chanyeol reemerged and went back to the chair to talk to Kris.

“Well that was awful. He just wanted a glass of water and instead he hears that the person he wants the most in the world would rather be at work than with him.”

“That’s not what I meant… I just… Oh god… What have I done?”

“You ed up.”

“Chanyeol… don’t say that…”

“Sorry, but you didn’t do something good. I don’t know how you’re going to recover from this one. I mean maybe he’ll forgive you, but I doubt it. He’s a vulnerable kid who needs lots of support and care.”

Kris covered his eyes with his arm. “I’m trying my best, but this wasn’t something I saw myself doing.”

“I know. You’re not the parent type, but Tao is. He needs someone who’s strong and who can support him. Maybe the idea of finding him someone else to live with isn’t a bad idea.”

“I don’t want to give him away though! I care about Tao so much. It would kill me to give him away.”

“I know Kris, but maybe you should think about what’s best for Tao rather than what you want. Why don’t you get some sleep, I’ll stay on the couch.”

Kris didn’t bother answering; he just got up and trudged to his room. Chanyeol grabbed pillows and blankets from the closet and curled up on the couch. He fell asleep to the sound of Tao sniffling in the dark.

When he awoke Kris was already gone.

‘Bastard.’ He thought as he rolled off the couch and went to the kitchen to get breakfast. Tao emerged a few hours later with puffy eyes and a runny nose.

“Good morning baby. Are you feeling better?” Chanyeol asked softly. Tao just hopped into a seat and waited for his breakfast.

“Maybe you should stay home today.”

Tao shook his head.

“Is that a yes or no?”

“Yes.” Tao’s voice cracked and so did Chanyeol’s heart. Walking over Chanyeol dropped to his knees and hugged Tao.

“Tao I am so sorry you had to hear that last night. We both care about you so much. Please don’t misunderstand that Kris cares about you, but his job is important too. All we want to do is make sure that you have a good home and a safe environment.”

“But Ge doesn’t want me. Ge wants to work and all I do is get in the way.” Tao started crying again and latched onto Chanyeol.

“Please Chanyeol, please don’t make me stay here. I just want Ge to be happy and that can’t happen if I’m here.”

“What if you come live with me? Would you want to live with Chanyeol?”

Tao hiccupped and thought about the offer. Finally he nodded his head up and down and wrapped his arms around Chanyeol’s neck.

“Alright. Let’s go back your bag. We can spend the day moving you in alright?”

Tao’s breaths began to even out and soon he was calm again. Chanyeol grabbed a suitcase and went to fill it with Tao’s clothes as he finished breakfast. When he was done he took Tao’s hand and led him out of the apartment. Tao took one last look into the place he once knew as home before the door closed.

Kris returned late at night expecting a light to be on. When he opened the door to a dark apartment he was surprised.

“Chanyeol? Tao?” he called out, but no one responded. Walking around, he noticed no signs of life. Finally he stopped in front of Tao’s room. Knocking twice he opened the door. The room was cold and empty. Now Kris was afraid. Opening the closet his heart fell into his stomach. Every piece of Tao’s clothing was gone. Running through the house he desperately called out for Tao, but no one responded.

Sitting on the couch he took deep breaths as he ran his hands through his hair. Pulling out his phone with shaking hands he dialed Chanyeol’s number. It went straight voicemail before Kris growled with frustration.

“God dammit Chanyeol where is he?!” he shouted at the answering machine.

He lay in his bed sending Chanyeol texts until he closed his eyes from exhaustion. He had lost Tao. The one thing that he had in his life was gone.

When he went into work the next morning he found that Chanyeol had transferred to a different building. Soon the number was disconnected and the address changed.

After a year Kris gave up. Sinking himself into his work he worked nearly every hour of every week including weekends. Soon he had earned millions and had plenty of money to live a good life, but it wasn’t enough. He didn’t work to earn money. Work was a band aid to cover the gaping hole Tao had left in his heart.

Before he knew it, 10 years had passed. He was now 31 years old and still repeating the same routine.

It was a crisp September morning that went like every other. He got up at 4 and went into the office. The first few hours were spent working on a project until the office began to fill. A knocked was heard on his door and he assumed it was his secretary alerting him of his schedule.

“Yes?”

“Mr. Wu?”

“Yes what is it?”

“There’s someone here to see you, an old friend.”

“Oh?” This interested Kris. He didn’t have many old friends especially ones that would visit him. “Send him in.”

The door opened and Kris lifted his head. His eyes widened when Chanyeol entered the room, but he was even more surprised when a tall, dark haired man followed in after.

“Hello Kris.”

“Chanyeol… Hi… it’s been a long time.”

“Yes it has. 10 years actually. Do you still remember Tao?” he asked as he gestured to the young man behind him who kept his eyes to the ground.

Kris stood up, “Yes I do. Tao… it’s good to see you again.”

Tao lifted his head and stared at Kris with piercing eyes.

“…”

What's Tao going to say?! :O

Sorry the late update >.< thank you for being patient. I just had some writers block but I am back now! 

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