Kris says that they’ll stay in China for two weeks before moving to Korea. He has a room at a fancy hotel in downtown Beijing, and they go there to drop Zitao’s things off. Then Kris takes him back out and they go shopping for clothes.

“I have clothes,” Zitao says, mildly confused about why he would need more.

Kris smiles at him. “I know, but they’re a little small on you, and they lack personality. Don’t you want clothes with more color, or maybe some pictures?”

Well, Zitao is getting tired of dark jeans and grey shirts. Kris takes him to a few stores and each time Zitao says he doesn’t like anything, mostly because he catches sight of the price tag.

“Zitao,” Kris says in the third store, “I have money for this.”

Zitao fidgets and looks away. “I don’t want anything too expensive,” he mumbles. Kris sighs but takes him to a cheaper store anyway. He picks out a few shirts, a sweater and two pairs of jeans. He adamantly refuses new shoes since his old ones still fit.

Then they go to a toy store. Zitao has never been in a toy store in his entire life, and he has no idea what he wants to look at first. He dashes through the aisles, grabbing action figures, fake swords and race cars. He has a really hard time choosing what he wants.

“You have them both,” Kris laughs as Zitao looks between a Nerf gun and a space ranger. “I’ll have to mail most of it home, but you can keep some things for now.”

But what Zitao loves most are the stuffed animals. He wants them all, but he knows he can’t have that much. The first thing he grabs is a teddy bear because he’s never had one, then he picks up a panda, and then they all bleed together until finally he’s decided on the bear, the panda, a cat, a giraffe and a dolphin. He takes all of them in his bed that night and tries to fall asleep hugging each one at once.

Over the next two weeks Kris takes Zitao anywhere he wants to go, and he has a pretty long list. He wants to go to the zoo, the aquarium, the playground, the circus, an amusement park…the last two have to wait, Kris says, because the circus isn’t around and Zitao isn’t tall enough for rollercoasters. The other thing they do is go out to eat, because Zitao has never been to a restaurant before. Kris even lets him take one of his stuffed animals along wherever they go—he doesn’t even say that almost ten year olds shouldn’t play with stuffed animals, like the other kids at the Sanctuary did.

“You can play with stuffed animals for as long as you want,” Kris tells Zitao when he brings it up as they wait for dinner. “My friend Joonmyun adopted a boy named Kyungsoo a while ago, he’s eleven and he still plays with stuffed animals.”

That makes Zitao remember that he’ll be leaving China soon and he slumps down in his seat. “When do we have to go?” He asks quietly, eyes on his teddy bear.

“Five days,” Kris says. “Will you be alright?”

Kris has been teaching him the Korean alphabet each time they go out to eat, writing it on the napkins and making Zitao practice. He’s getting better, but he doesn’t know what the words he can read mean.

“It’s fun here, why do we have to leave?” Zitao says, and he’s aware that he’s whining but he doesn’t care.

Kris reaches across the table and taps Zitao under the chin, making him look up. “It’s fun in Korea too,” he promises. “Maybe we can go to Lotte World, it’s pretty kid-friendly. And you’ll have three kids to play with, they’ll help you learn Korean. Maybe you can teach them some Chinese.”

Zitao doubts that will happen, most kids don’t care about what he has to say.

The day they leave, it’s pouring rain in Beijing. Kris takes the bags down to the car and leaves Zitao in the hotel room where it’s dry. Zitao paces around, clutching his panda and wondering if the plane will drown and they’ll have to stay for a while longer.

He looks down at his finger where Kris bit him. It didn’t leave a scar, and the cut healed within a day, but Zitao knows exactly where it was because he stared at the cut for a long time. Kris promised not to take him back at all. He tried his blood and didn’t make a weird face like the other man had. Zitao takes a deep breath and hugs his panda.

“Don’t worry little panda, Kris gege will take care of us,” he whispers. “He’s a good person. If he wants us to go to Korea then we’ll go to Korea.”

So when Kris comes upstairs to get him Zitao smiles and tells himself that he’s not scared. And he’s really not scared, not in the taxi, not in the airport (which is huge), not when the plane takes off and not when it lands. Panda is another story though.

“Panda says he never wants to go on a plane again,” Zitao relays when they land in an airport with a name Zitao can’t wrap his tongue around. He’s not shaking, Panda is.

Kris clucks his tongue and scoops Zitao up in his arms. “Panda doesn’t have to go on a plane again,” Kris says quietly, patting Zitao’s back. Zitao wraps his arm around Kris’ neck and leans his head on his shoulder. He nearly falls asleep as he’s carried out of the airport, only snapping to attention when he hears a man call Kris’ name. He squirms and when Kris puts him down he runs and hides behind his legs, watching a man run up to them.

“Zitao,” the man says happily, kneeling down to Zitao’s eye level, “Do you remember me? My name is Lu Han.”

Actually he does, he was one of the men who came to the Sanctuary and saw him in the hallway. Zitao relaxes and stops hiding. It was Panda who was shy anyway.

Lu Han squeals and claps his hands. “Oh gosh, you’re even cuter than I remember!” He gushes, looking up at Kris. “Didn’t I tell you? Didn’t I? Who knows best?”

“You know best,” Kris sighs, and Zitao laughs because he can tell Kris is being teased.

It’s not raining in South Korea, which Zitao takes as a good sign. While they drive to Seoul (‘See-oh-el’, Zitao thinks, then ‘No that’s not right…’) Lu Han tells him about the other man who lives in the house, Yixing, and the two younger boys, Sehun and Jongin. It takes Zitao a few minutes to pronounce their names correctly, but he gets it eventually.

“Jongin is nine, Sehun is eight, turning nine in a few weeks,” Kris explains, “His birthday is right near yours. Kyungsoo lives upstairs, but you’ll see him pretty often.”

“And there are two other men who stay with us sometimes,” Lu Han added, “You can call them Chen and Xiumin, their Korean names will probably be too hard for you. They speak a little Chinese, so don’t be afraid to talk to them.”

As it turns out Jongin and Sehun are still in school when Zitao gets to Kris’ apartment, so he has a few hours to look around by himself. The apartment is pretty big and it has four bedrooms, one for Sehun and Jongin, one for Kris, one guest room and the other one is supposed to be for Lu Han and Yixing, but Lu Han says they almost never sleep in their room.

“Why?” Zitao asks, jumping on one of the two beds. “It’s really cool in this room!”

“More often than not we sleep on the sofa,” Lu Han says. “We just fall asleep watching TV, or we’ll get summoned to the kids rooms if they have a nightmare or something.”

Zitao plops down on the bed. “Which room will I sleep in?” He asks.

“That’s what we wanted to know,” Kris says. “You can sleep in any one of the four.”

Zitao taps his chin thoughtfully. “Can I stay in your room, at least for a little while?” He asks Kris. He’s gotten used to sleeping in the same room as him over the last two weeks. Now he’s in a new place and he wasn’t sure if Jongin and Sehun would want him to sleep in their room. Plus his dolphin is afraid of sleeping alone in the dark.

Next Zitao examines the refrigerator (it is well stocked with juice boxes and cheese sticks) and the pantry (full of fruit snacks). He looks at the TV but doesn’t turn it on (it’s big and there are a lot of movies in the cabinet under it) and he sits on the couch (very comfy). Then he runs into Kris’ room and throws his stuffed animals on the bed and lays down with them, telling them that it’s a good house and they’ll be happy here. After a while Zitao hears the front door slam and a pair of voices yelling Kris’ name, and he sits up fast because it must be Jongin and Sehun.

Zitao’s palms start to sweat and he wipes them off on his jeans as he runs back down the hall. He skids to a halt in the doorway, literally sliding in his socks, and sees two boys hanging off of Kris’ legs. They both turn around when Zitao comes in, and immediately one of them runs over. Zitao stumbles back as the boy runs at him, stopping far too close for comfort. The boy says something in Korean, of which Zitao only hears ‘Jongin’. Well now he knows the boy’s name but he’s still confused, so Zitao sticks out his hand and says the first thing that comes to his mind—his name.

“Huang Zitao.”

Jongin looks confused. “Zee-tao?”

“Zi-tao,” he repeats. Jongin says it again and gets it sort of right, so Zitao smiles and nods. Jongin beams and grabs his hand, pulling him over to the other boy.

“Sehun,” he says, pointing to the small child. He’s hiding behind a man who must be Yixing, peeking out from behind his legs. Jongin says something else and Zitao looks at Kris for a translation.

“Sehun is shy because he has a lisp,” Kris explains, “So he doesn’t like to talk.”

Zitao looks back at Sehun and smiles. “Me either,” he says quietly, and this time Yixing translates. Then Yixing bends down and takes Sehun’s hands, whispering to him quietly. Sehun nods and Lu Han scoffs, ruffling Sehun’s hair.

“They’ll all get along just fine,” he says in Chinese. “Stop worrying.”

Jongin tugs on Zitao’s arm and leads him back down the hall into the room he and Sehun share. Once there Jongin brings Zitao over to his bed and makes him sit, then he runs around his room and grabs a bunch of toys, dumping them all on the bed. He holds up a stuffed penguin.

“Pororo,” He says, making the penguin waddle around on the bed.

Zitao nods slowly. “Pororo,” he repeats.

Sehun joins them, bouncing up on the bed between them. He holds up a green dinosaur.

“Crong!” Sehun cries happily. Then he hits Jongin’s arm and Jongin puts his hands up, curling his fingers.

“Crong!” Jongin growls loudly, making Zitao jump. He does it again, smiling.

“Crong?” Zitao echoes. Jongin shakes his head and grabs Zitao’s wrists, putting them up and curling his fingers. Then he nods and Zitao repeats himself. “Crong?”

Jongin and Sehun cheer. “Crong!”

They continue in this way for almost an hour, holding up toys and telling Zitao what they’re called. Or he assumes it’s what they’re called, for all he knows they are lying to him, but he doesn’t think they would do that. Jongin does most of the talking. Sehun sits by the side and hugs his knees, giggling every now and then. Zitao immediately decides that Sehun is the cutest thing ever, and if he could understand Jongin then he’s sure he would be really cool. That or really dorky, but he doesn’t mind either way. Maybe he could get used to living here.

Sehun and Jongin go to a public school a few blocks away, and eventually Zitao will go there too, but first he needs to learn Korean. In the meantime Yixing teaches him things like math and science, and Kris teaches him literature and history. Every afternoon, around the time that Kris leaves for work, Zitao goes to see to see a tutor who helps him with his Korean. After about a month Zitao can understand basic commands and a few food words, but he still has a hard time saying words and making sentences. When he gets home from tutoring Zitao plays with Jongin and Sehun until dinner, then they all sit down and do their homework together. Sometimes Kyungsoo will come down and play with them, and Zitao decides that Kyungsoo is nice, almost as quiet as Sehun but a little more mischievous than even Jongin.

It’s around this time that Zitao starts getting homesick. Admittedly he never really had a home, but he misses China. It’s so hard to go outside and not understand what anyone is saying, or to listen to Jongin and Sehun chatter during dinner and watch Yixing and Lu Han laugh at their jokes while Zitao waits for the translation. Kris isn’t usually home for dinner, he works late and doesn’t get back until around Zitao’s bed time. Zitao wishes Kris could come home earlier, maybe then he wouldn’t feel so homesick.

One day Zitao is lying on the couch watching TV (a Chinese drama that he probably shouldn’t be watching because it’s kind of bloody) when Jongin and Sehun come home from school. Yixing is out buying dinner, and Zitao shows the pair of them a note from Yixing written in Korean explaining where he is, then he goes back to watching his show. Sehun catches sight of the TV and runs away into his room while Jongin frowns.

He stands in front of Zitao and points to the TV, saying something. Zitao looks around him and gestures for him to move. Jongin stands in front of him again and repeats what he said, louder.

“I don’t understand,” Zitao snaps, one of the few things he can say in Korean.

Jongin stomps over to the TV and turns it off. “No good,” He yells in Chinese. His pronunciation is all wrong.

Zitao glares and raises the remote, turning the TV back on. Jongin huffs and marches over, and he tries to yank the remote out of Zitao’s hands. Zitao pulls back hard and Jongin almost falls back.

“Mine! Go away!” Zitao yells in Korean, another one of the few sentences he learned (this one from watching Sehun and Jongin bicker). Jongin yells something he doesn’t understand back and grabs for the remote again, and Zitao pulls back. They wrestle for control until Jongin’s hands slip off just as Zitao yanks back hard, and Zitao accidentally hits himself in the mouth. Zitao immediately yelps in pain and drops the remote, clutching his hands to his mouth. Jongin gasps and steps back, eyes wide. Zitao’s eyes start to water and when he pulls his hand away from his mouth he realizes his lip is bleeding. He whimpers in pain and starts to cry.

Jongin grabs Zitao’s wrist and hauls him up, dragging him into the bathroom. He makes Zitao sit on the edge of the bathtub and grabs a few tissues, wetting them a bit and then pulling Zitao’s hand away so he can press them against the cut. It stings a little but Jongin keeps the tissues pressed tightly against Zitao’s lip until they hear the door slam, signaling Yixing’s arrival. Jongin yells for him and steps aside, allowing the adult to take over.

“What happened?” Yixing asks a few minutes later when Zitao has some ice pressed to his lip. Zitao says nothing and neither does Jongin. In fact they don’t speak to each other again until after dinner when they’re doing their homework. There’s a plate of cookies that they’re snacking on, Kris brought them home since he got out of work early and had time to go shopping. Jongin and Zitao both reach for a cookie at the same time and grab the same one.

“Wǒ de,” Zitao growls, ‘Mine.’ He’s not yet forgiven Jongin for slicing his lip open.

Jongin glares. “Wǒ de,” he mimics nastily.

Zitao raises his hand free hand and rakes his nails down the back of Jongin’s hand. Jongin yelps and withdraws his hand, and suddenly Yixing is standing there.

“What was that about?” He demands, glaring at Zitao.

Zitao glares right back. “He started it,” he says, pointing.

Then Kris gets involved. “What did Jongin start?” He asks.

“He tried to take the remote out of my hands this afternoon and when I pulled back he let go and that’s how I hurt my lip,” Zitao says quickly. Jongin starts to talk then, very fast and pointing first at Sehun and then at Zitao.

Kris looks between the pair of them. “Zitao, what were you watching?” He asks.

“It was a historical drama,” Zitao says. “It was educational,” A big word that the Jiejies taught him.

“Jongin said it was kind of violent,” Kris tells him. “He said it scared Sehun.”

Zitao stands up so fast his chair falls back. “So?” He demands, “I didn’t tell Sehun to watch it!”

“I know,” Kris says quickly, “But it’s not fair to Sehun, he lives here too and you have to respect that some things scare him and you shouldn’t watch them when he’s home.”

Zitao wants to cry. He knows Kris thinks he was being mean but he wasn’t. “Well then they have to only watch shows with Chinese subtitles from now on, because it’s not fair when I can’t understand,” he yells, ending the sentence with a sob. Then he runs around the table and into Kris’ room, slamming the door behind him. He collapses on the bed and burrows under the blanket.

He knows he’ll be in trouble for that, back in the Sanctuary he would have had his palm smacked for even daring to raise his voice against an elder. But it really isn’t fair, it was just a dumb TV show. It wasn’t even that bloody. It’s not his fault that it was the only thing on TV, he just wanted to watch something familiar for a change.

Zitao hears the door open and he knows it’s Kris coming to scold him. He goes absolutely still and quiet, hoping that Kris won’t see or hear him. He feels the bed dip.

“Zitao, can you come out here please? I won’t yell at you, I promise.”

Well, so much for that plan. Zitao pushes the blanket back and sits up, keeping his eyes down. Kris gently scoops him into his lap, and Zitao hides his face in his shirt.

“I know you’re homesick,” Kris says gently. “And you’re tired and stressed, and you really didn’t mean any harm to Sehun, but there are rules that you have to follow. One of them being that you aren’t allowed to watch violent TV shows.”

Zitao sniffles and wipes his eyes. “It was the only thing that was on,” he protests. “Everything else was a news report or Korean.”

Kris is quiet for a minute and then he sighs. “I’m sorry about all this,” he says. “Tomorrow I’ll go out and get you some more movies. I should have done that a long time ago. You’re right, it’s not fair for you to have to watch Korean programming all the time.” The he sits Zitao up and dries his tears. “You still have to apologize to Jongin though. You shouldn’t have scratched him.”

Zitao can deal with that, and apparently so can Jongin because not only does he accept the apology, he also says that he’s sorry for fighting over the remote. They go back to doing their homework, Sehun casting nervous glances between them. By the next day the argument is basically forgotten and they go back to being friends. Kris gets Zitao a few more Chinese movies (he only had three before) and Jongin and Sehun actually watch them with him, even inviting Kyungsoo down to join them.

As Zitao’s Korean gets better, so does his relationship with the other boys. Soon they can play simple games and have short conversations, and Zitao can understand more of what is said to him than he himself can say. He’s got a long way to go of course, and he still misses China, but now that he’s making friends it’s not so bad anymore.

YOOOOOO EXO'S COMEBACK IS FINALLY HAPPENING ZASDFGHJKL I had a dream last night that I was scrolling down my tumblr dash and saw new teaser photos. I'm starting to think that I have a real promlem you guys :|

Also sorry I haven't been responding to comments, but I am finally done with class so hopefully I'll have more time to respond!! All comments make me happy and I'm really grateful to all of you <3