I Used My Childhood Friend to Ward Off Admirers, But He...

Next up: Dark Tide. Please add it to your collections, lovelies!

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[Main story complete]

*Slow on the uptake, carefree, and spoiled vs. brooding, possessive yandere / childhood friend with a doting-dad vibe

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"Quick, quick, quick!" Lin Xiyue dashed onto the balcony, grabbed the boy by the collar, rose onto her tiptoes, and kissed him in a haphazard rush. "Zhou Shisong, help me out. Pretend to kiss me."

Downstairs, a boy looked up and happened to see the scene.

On the balcony, the tall, slender boy held the back of the girl's head and bent down to kiss her.

It was impossible to say how long it lasted.

"Did he leave?" Lin Xiyue pressed a hand against his chest, breathing a little heavily, her words indistinct. The tense atmosphere made her completely oblivious to the intensely assertive masculine aura enveloping her.

The boy lifted his thin eyelids and glanced down casually. The area below was already empty.

"Not yet." Zhou Shisong's voice was hoarse as he deepened the kiss without a hint of outward emotion.

Lin Xiyue wiped her mouth and went back to her room, giving the situation some careful thought.

Then she sent Zhou Shisong a message.

"You don't happen to like me, do you?"

His reply was characteristically him, and exactly what she expected.

Cool and brief.

"Of course not."

Lin Xiyue breathed a sigh of relief.

"Good, that's a relief."

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Lin Xiyue was sure she didn't like Zhou Shisong, and that he was only playing along with her.

They'd only kissed a few times, after all.

Besides, he "couldn't do it."

So when she was ready to walk away, she said it frankly and openly.

"Let's just pretend none of this ever happened. We can still be friends."

The man listened, lowering his lashes as the corners of his lips curved slightly.

He seemed to approve of what she'd said.

Lin Xiyue didn't notice the surging possessiveness in his dark eyes.

He watched her with a half-smile, his cool fingers rubbing her ankle and moving gradually upward, sending a shiver through her body.

"So you use me and then run away? Is that how it works?"

"Baby."

Later,

Lin Xiyue realized she'd been wrong.

He gently stroked her tousled hair and chuckled before leaning down to kiss her again. "Who told you I couldn't do it?"

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[First installment of the Tea-Talk Shisong skit:

After coming back from the movies with her boyfriend, Lin Xiyue pushed open the door and suddenly bumped into a solid chest.

It was Zhou Shisong.

He leaned in for a kiss.

"No." Lin Xiyue cautiously glanced toward the door. "We can't do this right now..."

He swallowed the rest of her words. Lin Xiyue's eyes flew open, and she pushed both hands against his chest.

His slightly hoarse voice sounded by her ear.

"It's just a kiss. Your boyfriend shouldn't mind, right?"

"If he minds even a purely platonic kiss, he's way too petty."

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*One-on-one romance, both leads' first time

*The male lead is a deeply concealed, full-on yandere with a brooding, scheming streak. Later, he fights and competes fiercely for her.

*The heroine will have a brief relationship with someone else during college. The male lead gets jealous and goes crazy over it, nearly turning into a love triangle.

*Readers with high moral standards, proceed with caution.

Theme: Companionship is the longest-lasting confession of love.