The Letter

Clueless

—Three years prior; Ten days after Tao's departure—

Adjusting to life in China was odd. Tao was used to speaking in Korean so it took a while for him to adjust back to Mandarin. He had no friends at school since he transferred in at the shittiest time ever—during the last few weeks of his final year in high school.

On the bright side of things—despite being lonely—Tao didn't have to deal with any slut shaming. Nobody really knew him, so no one knew about the photo.

It was a cool evening when Tao decided he didn't want to stay cooped up in his grandparents' house anymore. A few days ago, he was rummaging around the house's storage room and found a deflated basketball. Asking a few cousins here and there, Tao was able to restore the ball to its glory.

Getting up from his bed, he walked over to his room's small closet and took out a simple white shirt and basketball shorts, which he later changed into. Taking the basketball from the side of his bed, Tao exited his room and made his way through the hallway and into the front of the house.

As he was leaving, his grandma asked him where he was headed off to and he politely told her that he was just going to go a nearby basketball court for a while. After that, he was out the door and walking on the black, worn out road over to the basketball court around a few blocks down.

Tao was alone at the court. There was a playground nearby with younger kids, but there was nobody around his age. Like in school, Tao was alone. Though it had only been a week or so, he had already adjusted to being a desolate figure to the majority so being alone didn't bother him as much anymore.

Thirty minutes of solo shooting and lazy dribbling, Tao found himself a companion—one that he wasn't expecting to have. As he took the ball, raised it over his head in preparation to shoot it again, he heard someone clear their throat and rustle the gate fence to the court behind him.

Tao froze as he turned his head. His grip on the ball broke and he almost dropped it. His gaze was fully set on the figure. "Wu!?"

The outburst came out violent. It came out with anger and shock with a razor sharp edge to it. It was so sharp that Kris winced a bit when Tao said his surname that way. He knew he deserved it and it was only proper, but that didn't mean that the jab didn't hurt.

"Hey..." Kris awkwardly greeted, curling his fingers on the fence. When Tao didn't respond and continued to stare at him as if he was a mirage, he swallowed and moved onto the court. "Can I join?"

Tao watched as Kris slowly made his way over to him. He brought the ball down to his chest with his hands strongly gripping onto it as if ready to use it as a weapon. "No!" Tao spat. "What the fuck are you doing here, Wu!?"

Kris stopped. "I came for you, because...argh!" Kris swept a hand through his hair; frustrated. "Because what are you doing here, Tao? Hm? In China? Thousands of miles from your friends, your parents, everyone that's ever loved you, and—"

"—and you," Tao added. "You forgot to add yourself to the latter that I wouldn't have to see anymore...And don't forget to add every bitch and bastard that made a fucking comment on that photo that you fucking took, which you told me you deleted, you asshole!"

Tao's jaw locked. "But honest to god, why the shit are you here? Are you a fucking stalker now?"

Kris creased his brows. He clenched his hands, feeling nervous. "You need to come back."

Tao scoffed before whipping Kris a glare. "Back? Back to where? That stupid as fuck high school? And get what? Have people label me? Have people—"

"Who the fuck cares about those people, Tao!?" Kris snapped.

Angry, Tao threw the ball, aiming for Kris' head, but Kris caught the ball in time. "Easy for you to say! You were the one behind the camera! You were the one who sent that shit to everyone! You're the one who lied to me!" Tao's chest heaved as he couldn't control the rage infuriating inside of him. "Any reason for you being here is invalid. Go back home because I don't wanna see you."