It began during restless jet lagged nights abroad in heavily guarded five star hotel rooms and fancy hard to pronounce champagne with a side of chocolate dipped strawberries.

When he scolded her for being such a messy eater after smearing melted chocolate all over her lips, it was the first time he ever thought about kissing her. Her lips were as red as the strawberry she was bitting into and he wondered if they were as soft as they seemed to be since her lips always do say the sweetest of things.

Her eyes stay glued to the TV while Tao leans back on the couch, observing her unconventional beauty through the flashes from the romcom she had insisted on watching. They're just friends and that's why he voluntarily strolled out of his shared hotel room with Sehun next door to hers to keep his same aged friend from "dying of boredom", or so she says.

45 minutes into the movie, half a bottle of champagne and two cans of cheap watered down beers later, Luna finally catches Tao staring and when he doesn't turn away, she a brow.
"What."
Silently, his thumb reaches out to swipe one corner of her lip to the other. "You got chocolate on you lip again, idiot."
She's not sure if it's because of the movie, the alcohol or the way his obsidian cat like eyes are boldly set on her lips like he's determined to get a little taste of them but she feels a rush of heat go to her face, especially to her cheeks.

Luna chooses to ignore the odd sensation and reaches out to grab another dipped strawberry but much to her dismay, Tao tries to stop her.
"I wouldn't do that," he says, signs of warning thick in his tone.
Too bad Luna likes challenges. "Why?"
Smirking, she slightly shoves away his hand and grabs a strawberry. He watches silently and almost anxiously as she takes a slow, teasing bite. She can see him fighting urges as she chews and just when she's about to take another bite, Tao presses his lips against hers, skillfully using his tongue to wipe her lips clean of any leftover chocolate. She tastes just as sweet, if not sweeter than he had expected.

They're just friends but she likes the way he presses his rugged body against hers to lay her down. He smells like Dolce and Gabbana and a classic case of trouble while his arms around her small body feels like perfect nights at home wrapped in your favorite blanket in front of the fireplace. His white tshirt wrinkles in places she fists in attempts to pull him closer to herself as if he wasn't already as humanly close as possible.  Tao had already assumed beforehand that Kyungsoo would be spending the night in his room since Soojung was definitely not in this room and in Jongin's room instead so his presence wouldn't be needed back next door.

Luna wakes up the following morning to strong, tan arms tucking her into a cocoon of warmth with an orange cast warming up the room from the rising sun. Sensing that she'd woken up, a half awaken Tao kisses the top of her forehead and pulls her in close so she can align all her curves with his underneath the white covers.
"Told you not to eat the strawberry," he croaks and she chuckles quietly into the crook of his neck.

They're just friends, they say as Luna slips Tao into a cleaning closet ten minutes before going on standby. Her back against the foreign wall, legs wrapped around his torso, arms s around his neck with his lips against her skin and hands up her shirt, this is just all for the thrill. Something out of the ordinary as they will eventually leave to carry on with their endless schedules and masks of utter happiness. She tries not to run her finger through his blonde hair as it would be such a shame to ruin it right before going on stage so she wraps her fingers around his jawline instead, leading his lips back to hers. Tao whispers a line of the things he wishes he could do to her against her heated lips and she snickers at his nonsense.

On other days they bicker as they normally do. There's not a lot of texting and they're still, just friends. On nights where it seems like the day was just never going to end, his arms become a blanket of warmth, his broad chest, a wall of support and his fingers lacing through hers, a sense of security. Still, just friends.

When Kris left, Luna would awake in the middle of the night to a distraught Tao, slipping into her bed to snake his arms around her tiny waist and butterfly kisses on the back of her neck and shoulder. Some nights Luna would cradle his head against her chest as she whispers words of assurance, God and love to chase away the nightmares. They're just friends, friends who lean on each other during times of need. For them, the need is always much more since they've spent such a long time hiding it away from the cameras, from the ears of the eager and sometimes even from themselves.

Maybe it was during the times he caught her sleep talking, unknowingly exposing all her secrets and vulnerabilities to him or during the times he'd go out of his way just to let her know he was there for her whether physically or not that something changed. Everything became more calculated and it was more about effortlessly stealing each other's breath than how fast you could rip off a shirt. 

She smells like daisies and fresh laundry and theres nothing he enjoys more than waking up to her kisses, disheveled hair and soft smiles. Tao believes maybe this has gone on for too long and they might not be just friends anymore. The way her hand meets his halfway, the way she tucks herself perfectly into his curves like she knows they're made for her. What use to be for a thrill, a shot of adrenaline, is almost no more as the comfort of just falling asleep wrapped up in someone's embrace creates a sense of wholeness. 

So one morning as he's waking up to her legs wrapped around his torso and arms loosely s around his neck to hold him against the calm beating of her heart, Tao leaves a soft trail of kisses from her collarbones, up her neck to her cheek and finishes it off with her lips. She smiles and whispers a good morning to him, her fingers brushing away his bangs and cupping his face closely to hers. He smiles back and kisses the tip of her cute nose before bringing his lips to her ear.
"I'm in love with you, Park Sunyoung," he whispers and that's when he feels her pull him closer so she can shift into his embrace and tuck herself under his chin. He feels her lips against his neck before she smiles into a gentle kiss. 
"I know," she says. "And I love you too."

[A/N]: Anyeong you. I've lowkeyed ship tao and luna for a quite a long time and after reading a few fics about them, the feels just exploded and I can never return to being a lowkey shipper because they are perfect for each other. TT_____TT *SOBSMAJORLY*