taeyong slammed the front door of his and ten's house so violently it made yuta and ten – who were sleeping together on the couch – wake up.

ten immediately rose to his feet, allowing yuta to fall back asleep on the soft mattress.

"we need to talk old hag." ten spoke, his eyebrows furrowed and his arms crossed on his chest.

"yeah." taeyong breathed out, his back against the front door so that he could catch his breath.

"is there a problem?" ten asked, finding taeyong's state a bit weird.

"yeah." the boy repeated.

before ten could ask any further, taeyong pulled him by his wrist towards his room. he closed the door when they were both inside, and he dangerously approached ten who backed up in fear.

"t-taeyong?"

"i have a problem."

"it seems like you do." ten nodded. "but now i really wanted to tell you about us."

"ten, you don't understand."

"how come we were sleeping entangled? i thought we had agreed not to get any closer."

"ten..."

"it's you who asked for us to break apart, and yet, it's you who keeps stepping over boundaries. i can't understand you tae- "

"TEN, JAEHYUN TOLD ME HE LIKED ME." taeyong blurted out, cutting ten in his bickering.

the thai man looked at his best friend in confusion, not really sure about what he just heard.

"huh... jaehyun? he did what?"

"he told me he liked me." taeyong repeated. "the teacher left the two of us alone at the studio, and he voiced his feelings out to me."

"how come you think it's a problem?" ten furrowed his brows.

"i don't like him back!"

"yeah, well, that's normal, you have to get to know each other..."

"he asked me on a date."

ten widened his eyes.

"a date?!"

"yes. at some expensive café." taeyong slammed his palm on his own forehead.

"oh. you should have accepted. it's not every day that someone offers you an expensive- "

"BUT I ACCEPTED!" taeyong yelled.

if ten wasn't shocked before, he surely was now.

let's say 50% shocked, and 50% heartbroken.

let's not forget he actually had feelings for his best friend.

"oh... well... that's great then..." ten smiled weakly.

"i'm not sure about it ten. we don't know each other that much and... i don't know..."

"taeyong... it's always like this at first. you have to try." ten explained.

"you think so?"

"of course." ten patted his best friend's shoulder. "plus, jaehyun seems like a great man for you."

ten could hear his heart breaking a bit more at each word he pronounced. and yeah, at the same time, his level of shock kept decreasing.

he was 25% shocked and 75% heartbroken.

"so... i have to try?"

"yes, you do. i promise it will be worth it."

"how can you know that?" taeyong scoffed.

"you're a wonderful man, taeyong. jaehyun would be so lucky to have you by his side..."

the pain in ten's chest was getting unbearable, but he couldn't stop there, he couldn't abandon there. he had to continue...

"but ten... what if we're not made for each other and- "

"listen, every love story starts from somewhere. maybe yours is here." ten spoke.

and here he was, 0% shocked, but 100% heartbroken.

🦁

"ten?"

"ten?"

"tennnnn?"

the lion hybrid jumped on the thai man's lap, waking the boy up from a trance he had been in for the past minutes.

"yuta, why did you jump on me? couldn't you just call my name?"

"yuta did call you... but you didn't hear yuta..." the hybrid pouted, his two fluffy ears flattening on his head.

"i'm sorry, baby. i was thinking about something." ten apologized, his hand finding its place in yuta's soft hair.

"what were you thinking about?" yuta asked, his big brown eyes looking expectantly at his owner.

images of taeyong and jaehyun flashed in ten's mind, overflowing his happy memories, and making a wave of sadness and pain hit him immediately.

"ten is crying... did yuta say something he shouldn't have said?" the hybrid cuddled the boy's chest, trying to comfort him.

ten realised salty pearls had left his eyes and were slowly cascading on his cheeks. he wiped them off in a blink, circling his arms around yuta's body to hug him.

"no, you didn't baby." ten replied. "just make sure you'll stay with me forever, and then i'll be the happiest person on earth."