#taotoria

Tao’s face was completely neutral as his members were asked one by one to demonstrate their “powers.” Although he appears indifferent on the outside, in reality, he was excited and nervous at the same time for his own demonstration. He needs to do well so she would notice him. The “she” he was talking about obviously is the woman who came from the same hometown as he. Despite this and the fact that he has worked with the older woman several times for SMTown dance battle and the two music videos, it seems like he still couldn’t get her to notice him. He plans to change all that… today.

He felt his heart skip a beat when she finally called him out, even introducing him as the one that came from the same hometown as her. For a split second, he wondered whether that’s all he would ever be to her:  a mere co-worker from the same hometown. He dismissed the thought immediately and walked confidently towards the center. He boasted about his supposed ability before demonstrating it.

He found her little dance before he “froze time” quite adorable and he would have stared at her beautiful face longer but he knew the show’s staff might suspect something if he did.

He began showing off once more by bothering his members by poking and tickling them. He made a big mistake, however, when he hit Luhan a bit too hard which resulted to being scolded by the older. This cause everyone to unfreeze and laugh at his misfortune. He stole a glace towards Victoria and saw her laughing at him as well. He shook his head. He needs to do better next time.

Unfortunately for him, things seemed to have gone from bad to worse as the show progressed. He wanted to hit each and every one of his members for making fun of his apparent clumsiness on and off the stage. He tried to redeem himself with this rapping  showcase, but caught the other female MC’s attention instead of Victoria’s. Last and certainly not the least, he wasn’t even on the same team as her. How was he going to impress her if she was his opponent?

Tao gritted his teeth as his team lost one game after another. Despite his best effort, they just couldn’t best the other team. But the thing that really infuriated him was the fact that every single member of his group has caught her attention, except for him. A particular moment that really pissed him off was during the balloon game. When he tried to face off with her, he was almost eliminated but when Chanyeol did it, he was even able to hold her hand. What kind of bad luck did he have?

As the program nears its end, Tao didn’t even bother to hide his disappointment over the results of his hard work. The other female  Mc, once again noticed his reaction, making him even sadder than before.

“Tao!” he turns his towards the person who call his name. Filming just wrapped up and he was making his way towards the changing rooms when he got called.

“Qian-jie..” he muttered.

“Good job today!” she raised her right hand up, asking for a high five, which he gladly responded to.  "It was nice working with you today! You did a really good job.“

"T-thank you…”

“See you around!” She smiled before walking pass him towards her own dressing room.

"Ge, let’s go!" the enthusiastic Tao entered Xiumin’s dressing room excitedly. His excitement , however, was replaced with confusion as he saw his older member already dressed in his street clothes.

"Why are you already dressed up? The director said we still had one more paired shoot." the Chinese maknae said.

"You do. I don’t" was Xiumin’s casual reply. "Manager hyung said I’m done for the day."

"Huh…" Tao frowned."Who am I doing the shoot with then?"

"TAO!" their manager called. "Finally found you. You’re the only one missing. Better hurry, we are running late."

Tao and Xiumin shared a look. Tao shrugged his shoulder and bid farewell to the older man before following their manager out. They practically ran through the halls just to get to the set.

Tao was surprised to see who his partner was for the shoot.

"Qian jie…"

Or maybe he shouldn’t be. They were already paired for 2MVs this year and other times before as well. He didn’t mind though since she was an easy person to work with.

The woman turned towards him and smiled. “Looks like we get paired together again.” she told him as he walked towards her.

Tao was awestricken, to say the least, as he looked at the woman before him that he could only muster a nod to her comment. He knew she noticed something was off with him and was about to ask him about it. He was glad that the shoot’s creative director decided to approach them at that very moment.

"Ok Tao, you sit right here." the woman instructed, pointing at the lone chair in the middle of the set. "Don’t face directly to the front. There, that’s perfect. She complimented whe he moved a bit to the side.

"Victoria, you get to stand behind him." The director nodded when Victoria went to her position, "Ok, now you put you hand on his head."

Victoria followed her instruction and carefully placed her hand on his head, mindful as not to ruin his hair.

"Like this?" she asked to which the director responded affirmatively.

"Now Tao, lean a bit back towards Victoria. Vic, wrap your other arm around him. Tao, hold that arm around you."

The two Qingdao natives followed the instruction as best as they cold. After a few shots were taken, the director spoke once more.

"The two of you look really good together but I have a problem… Vic, you look a bit awkward and Tao you’re too stiff. Do you not like your noona? Why are you so far away from her? Lean closer!"

Tao could feel his face heat p at the order. He really didn’t want to move closer. He already feel the woman’s breast brush against his back several times and moving closer would mean  direct contact. He wasn’t sure if his sanity could handle that.

"Well, you heard her…" Victoria whispered to him as she pulled him closer without warning.

"Unnie, can I rest my elbow on his shoulder? I feel like it would look and feel more natural that way."

"Sure." the other responded. "Do whatever you feel comfortable with."

Tao could feel the woman behind move about, finding a good position. While he, on the other hand, remained perfectly still on his seat. The feel of her bosom on his back doing unknown things to his body.

"I am comfortable this way. How about you?" Victoria asked, breaking him out of his trance. He responded with a nod, not completely trusting his voice if he spoke.

The photographer continued to capture pictures of them and Tao tried to focus on anything and everything besides the woman standing behind him. He heaved a sigh of relief when it was finally announced they were finished.

Tao bowed and thanked everyone for their hard work. When it was his partner’s turn, he visibly blushed at the sight of her and his eyes seemed to have a mind of it’s own at it drifted downwards to look at her… chest.