Chapter 3
Every Girl Needs a Guy Best Friend
With his tux neatly put on and his hair pushed back, Zitao looked at himself in the mirror, admiring just how different he looked from his usual skinny jeans and black hoodie. Truthfully, he really hated wearing formal clothes because they were uncomfortable at best and it was a pain to move around in them. But with the thoughts of Tianshi looking even more beautiful than she had done when they went to buy the dress the other day, the boy decided that he should at least look half as good as she did if he was going to be her pretend boyfriend during the wedding. So, nodding to his own reflection, Zitao left his room, not forgetting to say goodbye to his mother, who was still gushing over how handsome her son looked all dressed up.
Before he knew it, said boy was standing outside Tianshi’s house and knocking on the familiar door, just like he had done a million times before.
“Oh, Zitao, you’re here early!” Mr. Lee looked surprised as he opened the door a few seconds later.
“Anneyonghaseyo.”
“Well, what are you waiting for, son? Come on in. Tianshi is still changing, though, but I guess you won’t mind waiting for her in the living room?”
“It’s fine; actually, I’m sorry that I’m early. I just had to get out of my house because… Well, you know how my Mama is...” Zitao replied embarrassedly as he took his shoes off and sat down in the three-person couch he usually sat on with Tianshi.
“What do you mean?”
“Come on, Appa~!” the boy defended as Mr. Lee only chuckled in response; he simply loved to tease the boy, especially when he also called ‘Appa’ like that. It all started years back Tianshi had insisted that Zitao call her parents “Appa” and “Umma”, like she did. Back then, Zitao thought she was kidding, so he agreed to it with the condition that she do the same with his parents, calling them “Baba” and “Mama” in Chinese. At first their parents thought it was weird, but since the kids spent all their time together, it really was just like having another child for them; so in the end, they just accepted it.
“Well, one thing is true, though: you really don’t have to remind me of nightmare that was prom night…”
“See? Like, seriously, that woman should’ve had a daughter like Tian instead of a son like me,” Zitao mocked.
“Is that any way to talk about your Mother, Huang Zitao?”
Both of them turned their heads as soon as they heard that, only to see that none other than Mrs. Huang herself was standing in the doorway with a Polaroid camera safely in her hands and with an evil smirk plastered on her face.
“Mama… but I thought-”
“Well you thought wrong, boy, because here I am,” Mrs. Huang snapped and then promptly returned to her conversation with Mrs. Lee. The boy sighed, cursing his luck, and all Mr. Lee could do was pat him on the shoulder as a sign of comfort because they both knew their fate.
“Hey, U-umma…? I-is this a-alright?”
At that, both women ran up the stairs with only a constant trail of flashes off a certain Polaroid camera following closely behind. Zitao’s eyes widened in anticipation as Mr. Lee stood up and also headed upstairs, leaving the boy alone in the quiet living room.
After a few million more pictures, Mr. Lee appeared at the top of the stairs with a dressed up Tianshi attached to his arm. They walked down to meet Zitao, with Mrs. Lee and Mrs. Huang hovering behind like a small scale paparazzi.
“Zizi…” Tianshi murmured as soon as she was close enough to her best friend.
“Tian, you look-”
“I know. I look weird, right~?”
“No, I was going to say you look-” Zitao wanted to say ‘beautiful’ but he knew that anyone could give her such a simple compliment and Tianshi deserved much, much more. So when he finally thought up the right words to finish his sentence, he smiled brightly. “You look like an angel, Tian.”
Tianshi blushed at his words and her smile made its way back to her lips.
“Thank you. Zizi also looks handsome today.”
“I-if you say so… I mean…”
“You really do~!”
“Thanks, I guess…” Zitao whispered and then immediately turned around as he remembered something important. He walked back to Tianshi a few seconds later with a small box in his hands and handed it to her.
“For you.”
“Zizi, you didn’t have to get me a corsage. This isn’t prom. And I invited you, so you really shouldn’t have gone through all the trouble-”
“I wanted to, really,” the boy insisted as he took out the delicate looking flower and, taking this opportunity to grab her hand, tied the light blue corsage around her wrist. “Plus, I knew it would match your dress perfectly, see?”
“Then, I guess I should say ‘thank you’.”
“Then, I guess I should say ‘you’re welcome’,” Zitao replied with a shy smile.
“Aw, come on! Just freaking kiss her already, you good for nothing son!!!”
Everyone turned to stare at Mrs. Huang who simply shrugged in response and continued to click her camera, capturing ever second of the awkwardness she had just spread around the room. After all, the grownups had long realized Zitao’s feeling towards Tianshi, but had never said anything because it was something the kids would have to solve for themselves in the near future and the grownups knew that.
“Mama~ I think you’ve been watching too many dramas lately,” Tianshi joked, trying to soften the atmosphere. In all reality though, she would’ve been lying if she said that she didn’t feel her heart speed up a little. But she simply decided to brush it off, thinking that it was nothing more than her nervousness of pretending to have Zitao as her boyfriend for the whole evening. Because, after all, they were only best friends; and in Tianshi’s mind, there was no way little Zitao could ever be a man like that.
“You’re probably right, dear, but you just look so pretty right now that I couldn’t help myself,” Mrs. Huang answered, placing her camera up to her face again. “Sweetie, please turn around a little so I can take a good picture of your hair~”
“Aish!! Mama, we have to go! Stop taking pictures of everything!!” Zitao complained.
“You. Shut up and move closer to Tianshi so I can finally take a decent picture of the two of you together! Trust me when I say that one day you’ll thank me for this, boy.”
“Well, obviously, that day isn’t today,” the boy whispered as he rolled his eyes sarcastically, but nonetheless did as told.
“Hey, Mama, could you also take a picture with my cellphone? It’s in my purse on that table, yeah, the white one. I want to put that picture as my new background for this week.”
“Well, of course, my dear,” Mrs. Huang agreed immediately, thinking it was, indeed, a good idea, and for the first time since she arrived, put her camera down to search for said bag. Zitao, never missing a thing, immediately noticed his mother’s actions and rolled his eyes once again.
“You know that woman really only ever listens to you, right?” he whispered in Tianshi’s ear so that Mrs. Huang wouldn’t hear him.
“That’s not true, Zizi. Mama only acts like that because likes to tease you; she told me so herself the other day.”
“Yeah, yeah. But I bet she still thinks of you like the daughter she never had.”
“Come on, Zizi, why would Mama want me when she has such a wonderful and strong son all for herself?” Tianshi asked giggling and with such sincerity in her eyes that it was hard to deny her anything. Zitao blushed at her words, though. Did Tianshi really just say that he was ‘wonderful’ and ‘strong’?
FLASH~
The three grownups laughed at Zitao’s started look and for the rest of the photos, Zitao’s face was flushed in a deep shade of red that none of them missed and all the pictures evidently proved that. It took Mrs. Huang a good 45 more minutes to finally run out of ink on her camera and go back home. Then the four remaining headed over to the church where the service was taking place.
The wedding was gorgeous to say the least. The church was decorated with lots of colorful flowers on each aisle and thankfully there was a lot of sunshine streaming through the windows, making the place look brighter and more spacious. There were lots of candles lit up in every corner of the room, representing all the people that had passed away and thus couldn’t attend the wedding. It was indeed a beautiful ceremony.
But like all good things, they eventually came to an end, and for Tianshi, it could only mean one thing: the dreaded reception. She and Zitao had been seated in a separate table from the girl’s parents, a table filled with all of Tianshi’s older cousins who brought along their real boyfriends/girlfriends or even their fiancés. Tianshi was the youngest cousin of this side of the family and because she was a hybrid in both of her families, she wasn’t accepted by any of her cousins. So when they started introducing their partners to her, Tianshi completely froze up.
“So, what about you, Tianshi? Who’s this? Your bodyguard? Because there’s no way anyone would want to be your boyfriend.”
“No… He-he… he’s…” Tianshi stuttered. All her cousins were all at least 5 years older than her and she felt highly intimidated by them all, so much that their ruff attitude against her always made her panic. This was the reason why her parents usually let her stay at home during family events; but this wedding was an important occasion and apparently no amount of pleading had gotten her out of it.
“I’m Zitao, Tianshi’s boyfriend,” Zitao snapped out of the nowhere and grabbed Tianshi’s hand in his as proof.
Tianshi looked up from the ground she had been staring at and was surprised to see Zitao glaring at her nosy cousin; especially since in the mix of her panic, she had almost forgotten that her best friend had come with her to the wedding; 'amost' because at that moment and for the first time, she was actually happy that her parents had forced her to bring a ‘date’ with her. But even more than that, she was thrilled that it was her Zizi there with her, since he made her feel calm for the first time around her cousins.
Her cousin, on the other hand, seemed pissed that her play toy had found a protector and totally fell for the boyfriend-girlfriend act because of the way Zitao cared so much of Tianshi. She immediately called her fiancé over and started boasting over how he held a high-paying job and about their own wedding which was soon to come. Zitao really couldn’t care less and just ignored her, pulling Tianshi outside to the garden.
“Thanks for that, Zizi.”
“That’s why you invited me, right?”
“No… Well, my parents, yeah, maybe… but I really did want you to come with me,” the girl admitted.
“Really?”
“Of course! You’re my best friend.”
“And I’ll always be there when you need protection, even if it’s from your own family,” Zitao completed. Tianshi smiled and nodded, wondering what she had done in a past life to deserve have such an amazing best friend like Zitao, as she pulled him to a bench nearby, their hands still linked and their fingers still intertwined. They both sat there for a while, enjoying the simplicity of each other’s company.
“The wedding really was beautiful, though, wasn’t it, Zizi?”
“Yeah.”
“Everything was so pretty and perfect… But you know, my wedding is probably not going to be so extravagant.”
Zitao blushed in hte slightest at Tianshi’s words.
“You-… you’ve thought about stuff like that, Tian?” the boy stuttered.
“Of course, Zizi!! Every girl dreams about her perfect wedding~”
“T-then… Tell me about yours.”
“Well, I haven’t really given it that much thought. I mean, I know that I don’t really care if it’s in a small chapel or a big traditional church. I don’t care about where the reception is going to be, or the amount of people who are going to attend. Hmm… you know, I really don’t think I even care that much about the color or design of my wedding dress, either…”
Zitao tilted his head, definitely not expecting something like that as her answer. I mean, he obviously knew that Tianshi would probably not want a big white wedding like most girls… But, the way she was talking right now… Heck, it almost seemed like she didn’t even care if she got married to some random stranger in Las Vegas while she was drunk or something! If that was really her plan, he should definitely keep an eye on her from now on.
“Then… what do you care about, Tian? I mean, come on, there has to be at least one thing you want on your wedding day, right?”
“Yeah, there is, a lot of things actually. But they’re simple things that most people wouldn’t notice,” Tianshi explained, a little shy to admit her thoughts. She then nuzzled her head in Zitao shoulder comfortably; it always amazed her how it simply seemed to be a perfect fit.
“So? What are they?”
“Well, I… I know it sounds silly, but I want the ceremony to be outside and under the silver light of a full moon, you know? The stars shining brightly in the clear, cloudless sky. I want… a white rose in my hair, tucked in behind my ear as I walk down the aisle. I don’t want to wear heels with my dress; I want to be able to feel the grass with my feet as they sink into the soft ground with each step, that sense of freedom, you know? I want to be around the people who care about me; I don’t want my cousins that hate me to be there, for example,” Tianshi listed as she suddenly lifted her head up from the boy’s shoulder to take a break from her rambling. Then she looked into his eyes as she continued. “I also want you to be there for me, as my best friend, just like you’ve always has been. You don’t know how important that one is for me, Zizi.” Zitao blushed even more but the girl didn’t notice because she had already placed her head back on his shoulder and closed her eyes before she listed her final request. “But more important than all that, I want the perfect guy waiting for me at the other side of the aisle. Okay, so maybe he doesn’t have to be ‘perfect’ for everyone else’s standard, but as long as he loves me more than anything and I love him just as much, then I don’t think it gets better than that.”
While the girl was talking, a huge smile that Tianshi didn’t notice crept up on Zitao’s face. To him, every single one of Tianshi’s requests were so random, so simple and so… Tianshi-like that he couldn’t help but be reminded why he had fallen for her in the first place. He loved everything about her, and he knew that if he could, he would give up anything in the world to make her happy. The only problem in her words was that it almost seemed to him that Tianshi already had a guy in mind when she talked about the ‘perfect guy’… and it was obviously not Zitao, since she had already stated that he was still just the ‘best friend’. He just couldn’t shake off that uncomfortable feeling no matter how hard he tried.
And, in all reality, Zitao, indeed, had reason to worry, because while he was imagining the worst, Tianshi was thinking about her crush, a certain Oppa from Korea who also couldn’t wait meet her. To tell the truth, she had asked Zitao’s mom to take a picture of her with her phone because she wanted to send it to her Oppa, which she did when they were in the car and Zitao just didn’t notice. She wanted to show her Oppa that she could look pretty and she had blushed when he told her that she looked ‘beautiful’. Tianshi smiled at the memory and nuzzled deeper into her best friend’s neck to get his attention since he seemed to be spacing out a little.
“So what about you, Zizi? Any plans for your wedding?”
“I’m not a girl!!” Zitao snapped as he finally decided to give up on his thoughts and just enjoy the warmth of Tianshi’s hand in his.
“But, you know what I mean… So tell me!”
“Hmm… I don't know... I guess, I have to say that I want to get married outside, under the moonlight and the endlessly bright stars. I want my bride to wear what she wants, even if she wants to be barefoot or have a flower in her hair; I bet she would look even prettier like that. I don’t want people who are nosy to attend our wedding and I most definitely want my best friend to be up there with me. As for the image of my bride… let’s just say she had to at least be as beautiful as an angel,” Zitao finished, smiling and blushing as the words left his mouth.
“You know, Zizi, for a guy who claims that he hasn’t thought about it much, you seem to have a lot figured out,” Tianshi noted, completly missing Zitao's implication. Then, she suddenly lit up with realization. “Wait, does this mean that Zizi finally has a crush on someone and that’s why you’ve been thinking about this stuff more??!! Omo! My Zizi is already growing up~! So, who is it?? Tell me, tell me!”
A thick silence spread around them while Tianshi jumped up from the bench in excitement. In her head, she thought it was because she had hit the target head on, and Zitao was just being shy. In a way, the girl was right: Zitao did indeed have a crush on someone, someone he cared about very much... he just wasn’t sure he was ready to suffer the consequences of confessing his unrequited love.
“Come on, Zizi!! Tell me~~” Tianshi kept insisting as she pouted, leaving Zitao unable to refuse her request. “So, are you going to tell me??!! Who is it?? Who is it?”
Zitao closed his eyes and left out the breath he had been holding for a while. He stood up from the bench and that’s when Tianshi finally noticed just how much bigger the boy had gotten over the years. When they had meet in first grade, Tianshi and Zitao were almost around the same height; so much that Tianshi might even argue that she was taller than him back then. But now, she couldn’t even remember when Zitao had outgrown her so much; he no longer seemed the be the younger of the two of them. The boy didn’t seem mind Tianshi’s gaze, though, and simply pulled her closer to a group of daffodil flowers who were growing peacefully in the garden. He plucked one of them out and held it in his free hand carefully before he closed his eyes and finally spoke, deciding it was now or never.
“It’s you, Tian. You’re the one I have a crush on.”
“Huh? M-me? Come on, Zizi, that’s not… funny… Now tell me the truth…” Tianshi tried to demand, but even she could feel her voice becoming weaker and weaker.
Zitao, on the other hand, sighed, his back still turned towards Tianshi. Sure, it wasn’t the response he wanted but it definitely was the response he had prepared himself for so long to get. Still, that didn’t mean that he didn’t feel his heart sink down to his stomach and break into a thousand little pieces; but he somehow managed to keep himself from breaking down and crying for Tianshi’s sake. After another deep breath to calm down a little, he turned around to look at a confused Tianshi and closed the distance between them, still not letting go of the intertwined fingers.
“I know it’s not a rose, but I don’t want the spikes to hurt you,” Zitao explained as he lovingly tucked the daffodil behind some of Tianshi’s loose hair and over her earlobe. The girl’s free hand immediately followed his as she touched the flower gently, her heart beating faster than she would like to admit.
“Zi-”
“No, Tian, don’t say anything. Just… just let me finish, okay? I… I like you, I really do like you. More than a best friend and more than a little brother, I like you. No, that’s not it… See, I love you, Lee Tianshi, I've always loved you and only you...”
~*~
A/N: Hahaha, I tried to leave it as my first cliffhanger~~ *evil laugh* (or maybe epic fail…? T_T) Anyways, I updated more or less on time so that’s a good thing!! Yay!! And, oh, by the way, a daffodil flower means unrequited love, so if a guy gives you a daffodil flower then that means he’s head over heels for you :p That’s why I thought it would be so sweet of Tao to give Tianshi a daffodil after I learned that~ <3 And that’s it for now~ Like always thank you so much for reading!! ^^
Oh, I almost forgot… >.< A special shout out/thanks to NewWorlds for always commenting on each of my chapters!! You don’t know how much inspiration that gives me every time, gurl :D
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