"чσu'rє mч вєѕt fríєnd."
*°*

"Guess who?" a pair of hands came down over your eyes, a familiar voice smiling behind you.

You smiled at the sound of him, your heart fluttering as you reached up and grabbed his wrists. "Kris, is that you?" you teased.

"Kris?" he scoffed, pulling back his hands harshly.

You turned around and grinned at the offended boy's expression. The way his sharp eyebrows furrowed and baby almond eyes glared at you made your heart jump around in your chest.

"Oh, it's just you. Hi," you waved at him. Your stomach hurt from the laughter you had to contain as his thin lips curved down into a frown and a really-bitch look crossed his face.

Zitao rolled his eyes and straightened his collar out, huffing at your childish behavior. "If I would've known you'd be this excited I wouldn't have invited you over or saved you Hi-chews." And with that, he started to walk away from you, without a care in the world.

You bit your lip and reached out to grab his sleeve in an attempt to pull him back, but he must have anticipated your action because he lifted his arm, causing you to stumble forward.

"Not today, Y/N." he laughed, shaking his head at your ridiculous antics.

"Tao, I didn't mean it!" you whined, tapping your foot against the ground in frustration.

"No, you hurt my feelings," he wiped away a fake tear, sniffing loudly for effect, "We can't see each other anymore." he cried out dramatically.

"I'm sorry, okay!"

"That can't heal my broken heart, Y/N. We're over." he placed a hand over his chest, "This is goodbye!"

"You're so embarrassing!" You lunged at him, trying to smack his chest but he dodged quickly, obnoxious sobs now leaving his lips.

"Tao, I swear to God-" you started to chase him down the halls. An iconic Tom and Jerry scene unfurling as you kept trying to grab him and he kept erratically moving out of the way with quick, jerky movements. Eventually, you both started laughing amidst the drama and ran with each other all the way to his place just like usual. Tao was your best friend, always playing around with you like that and it brought a smile to your face on the worst days. But somewhere along the years of being completely platonic, you realized you started to want more out of it, out of him.

*°*

"Here," he spoke softly as he set your favorite drink and snack on your desk before taking a seat next to you. You thanked him quietly and he nodded. He ran his hand through his hair back and forth, mussing up the layers of his high taper to give a messy look.

"What are you doing to your hair, dude?" you wondered out loud.

"Fixing it," he raised a perfect eyebrow, questioning your question.

Under his gaze, you suddenly felt uncomfortable, like you had to say the right thing or an imaginary affinity level would pop up and start to lower, signaling your failure at getting closer to him.

"It looks nice," you said quieter than intended. You tried to look away but you found yourself pulled towards his gaze regardless. His brown eyes were smiling at you.

"I know," he grinned, smiling like the adorable panda he was. You chewed on the inside of your cheek as the teacher walked in, saving you from another awkward response and interrupting at the same time.

When class was over and everyone started to gather their things, you started having a panic attack, usually, you went to Tao's house after school, but this time you wanted to ask if he wanted to do something more with you. Like maybe go see a movie, or hang around the mall. You wanted to spend time with him in a different way and it was driving crazy that you couldn't build up the nerve to ask properly.

You watched him from the corner of your eye. He had a pen in his mouth as he shoved books and binders into his backpack. Why did the simplest things look so intriguing and wonderful? Just as you opened your mouth to say something, Ryu Sehyeon, a pretty art major two years above both of you came up to his desk.

"Hey, Zitao, have lunch with me, yeah?" she blinked her big eyes, that probably had contacts in, and twirled a strand of her hair, probably extensions, between her slim fingers.

"Um, okay." he seemed more confused than anything, but no one wanted to say no to the empowered school snob. He stood up from his seat and threw you an uneasy glance, following the popular girl outside the classroom.

Swirls of new emotions began to eat away at your chest. You were used to your best friend hanging out with other people. But now, you wanted him to just pay attention to you. To look at you. To see you for who you were, are, who you could be. To see you as more than a friend.

*°*

"Y/N, wait up!" Tao called after you, grabbing onto your shoulder after you hastily left class.

"What is it?" You met his eyes and almost melted at the sincerity, the way he tilted his head in confusion.

"It's lunch." the statement came out more like a question. He let go of your shoulder and chuckled awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck.

"Aren't you spending it with someone else?" you tried, secretly hoping he wasn't. Ah, the wonders of being passive aggressive.

"Why would I want to pass time with someone else when I have my best friend here?" he laughed and threw an arm around your shoulders, pressing you close to his body which almost made your heart stop.  "Come on, I'll buy you banana milk, you bum." he grinned cheekily, releasing you from his grip and reaching out to grab your hand.

"Wait," you swatted his hand away and looked down, letting your hair cover your reddening face. Being that close to him, smelling his seafoam cologne and feeling his heart beat drove you crazy. You needed a moment to remember what oxygen was and what lungs were for. "I have to go to the bathroom."

"Oh, sure." he stepped back and bit, walking with you towards the girls room but stopping at a good distance away from the door. He smirked at your blushing face as you entered,   "Don't die in there!"

You glared at him before slipping inside and settling in a stall. You leaned against the door and took a deep breath, patting your cheeks with your hands to see if they were still hot.

You jumped when the door suddenly slammed open, the space now full of loud laughter and cheap perfume.

"I've tried to get him to come over but he's so busy!" you knew exactly who was whining, that prissy voice was hard to miss. "The library will have to do, honestly."

Another chipper, but equally annoying voice piped up. "Ah, Sehyeon. His best friend is a girl. No girlfriend wants to deal with that"

"I'm not worried about her," there was a loud scoff. "He'll forget all about her once he's dating me."

"When are you going to ask him out?"

"Right now. In front of his little friend too, so she knows to back off."

"Wow, you're so bold!"

"He thinks I'm pretty, there's no way he can say no."

They all started giggling like hyenas on crack and your heart pounded against your ribcage aggressively, you wanted to scream inside the stall. He was going to be taken away from you and all you could do was wring your hands in frustration.

Unless...

It was going to take a lot out of you. In fact, this was going to be way worse than asking him to hang out. But there was no other way, you had to get to him first. You couldn't lose him, not to them. Not to her.

You shut your eyes and hurled out of the bathroom, ignoring the yelps and gasps as you dashed out the door. You spotted the man you've been calling your best friend your entire life and ran to him, pulling his sleeve down the hall.

"What's the rush," he let himself be dragged, almost amused at your sudden excitement. "Are you that hungry?"

Once you were in the clear, you let it all fall like pouring rain. Your love for him building up inside you, like condensation within a cloud. After years of feeling this way, the emotions became too heavy. And here you were. Raining.

"Tao, I really like you," you breathed, slightly winded from the mini marathon you just did. You felt your throat close up as soon as the words came out, and you balled your fists anticipating his response.

"I'd be offended if you didn't," he smiled at you. That's how it always was. Friendly smiles, friendly gestures, touches. You wanted it to be more than that, clearly he wasn't understanding.

"I'm serious, dammit." you closed your eyes for a moment, mustering up all the willpower to get this confession out of you. "I like like you." You sucked in a breath as your body started to tremble. "You've always been there for me, and you're the only person that makes me feel safe."

His face softened as he realized you were being serious, he looked down for a second and bit his lower lip "Y/N..." he started, but you weren't finished.

"Please like me back," you tugged on his sleeve, tears you held back blurring your eyes. You were scared the other girl would show up any minute now and steal him away and that made you frantic.

It was his turn to breathe. "You're my best friend." he gently placed his hands on your shoulders, giving them a light squeeze. "I can't do that to you."

"Why not?" you cried, shrinking in his hold.

"I can't explain it to you," he sighed, looking away from you.

You recoiled from his grip, suddenly becoming angry at the apparent rejection."You like Sehyeon don't you. That's why." The tears became too heavy so you let them fall.

"Don't be ridiculous," he scoffed, making eye contact with you. "No one likes her."

"You do and you're gonna ask her out and that's why you can't accept me-"

You were interrupted mid-sentence as he grabbed your arm roughly and pulled you into an empty classroom. He closed the door and locked it, staring at you with a new fire in his eyes. His eyebrows furrowed as he ran a hand through his messy hair.

"That's not it," he said, now becoming frustrated.

"You're lying, I don't believe you." you crossed your arms over your chest and began to walk past him when he suddenly held an arm out. He wrapped his arm around your waist and walked forward, forcing you to back up against the teacher's desk.

"Y/N." his eyes were stern, his grip was firm and his fingers almost dug into your skin. "I can't date you not because I don't like you. In fact, I love you. A lot. And I'm afraid by having you as my own, that love will become an obsession. And I'll be dangerous, too dangerous." he trailed off, his eyes lingering on his hands on your hips.

"You're not making any sense," you quivered, heat pooling downhill as his grip on you tightened. Your breath hitched when he pushed your hipbone back causing you to sit on the desk.

"I'm not human, Y/N," he whispered into your ear, casually nestling in between your thighs. He pulled away and met your soft eyes with flashing gold ones. You wanted to reach out and touch his face as his eyes began to glimmer and his pupil slanted, but he stopped you with a hand wrapped hotly around your wrist.

"I'm not the one for you," he leaned forward, his lips hovering above yours.

The atmosphere suddenly felt thick and stuffy, and overwhelmingly warm. It made you dizzy. Your heart was going to pop out of your chest at this rate, and heat flushed everywhere within your body.

"You are, I don't care what you are." you almost whimpered as he stared down at you with hooded lids. His eyes were clouded with a desire you've never seen before, but one you wanted to explore badly, "and I want to be yours, Tao." you grabbed the collar of his jacket with your free hand, mostly for balance. But that just intensified the situation as he squeezed your wrist and flashed a warning with a soft growl. He sighed deeply.

"I've always loved it when you called me that. When you gave me that nickname," his lips brushed over yours as he spoke, and goddamn if he didn't kiss you at that point you were going to lose it.

"Tao.." his name came out of the back of your throat in a small, kittenish manner. And that's what broke him.

"Y/N.." he breathed once as he closed the gap between you two, pressing his lips to yours. He pulled away right after, but seeing your flushed cheeks and wet lips just made him curse and lean right back in for more. There was a mad fever as he caressed his lips against your own, hot flicks of his tongue made your stomach flop. His hands pressed so hard into your skin there was sure to be bruises.

He bit your bottom lip roughly and you couldn't help but moan at the pressure and pleasure this man was creating with his mouth.

He pulled away panting, his hair disheveled from your wandering hands. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have, I can't, I can't control-"

"Tao." you drawled his name with confidence. You wrapped your arms around his neck, pulling him to your body in a loving embrace. "I really do like you." you bit your lip, now swollen from his assault.

"Fuck it," you noticed small fangs peeking out as he spoke. But before you could ask he sucked in a sharp breath and snaked his arms behind your back, his hands pressed the back of your head into him as he kissed you again, tilting his head this time to maximize every feeling you were getting. Growls rumbled within his chest as his kissing got more aggressive. At some point you realized he was on top of you, and was biting and sucking his way from your jawline to your neck.

He ran his hands down your arms and intertwined your fingers, pinning your hands down beside either side of your head. He squeezed them in comfort when you cried out in pain as he bit your collarbone.

He pulled away and wiped his mouth, his teeth stained with your blood.

"Now you're mine," he smiled sweetly and kissed the spot he marked. The bell rang and his eyes faded back to brown. He quickly got off of you and pulled you to your feet, steading you because you just had a hot mess of flashes and pain and sensuality. He grabbed your hand and pulled you outside, only to be met by a lost Sehyeon. Her jaw dropped slightly when she saw what only could be seen as a big ass hickey blooming. She was at a loss for words.

"But, you, she's," she sputtered, "She's your best friend!" she spat in disgust.

Tao shoved past her, wrapping an arm around your shoulder very much like he did before.

"She's my best friend," he pressed his lips against your cheek softly," and my girlfriend."

"Bye Sehyeon," he smiled big, holding you like this has never felt so right to him.

*°*

I'm biased I'M SORRY

StressedoutHarlo helped me figure this plot out, the real MVP here (⑅˘͈ ᵕ ˘͈ )