Archive of Our Own

Yeonjun had always prided himself on being professional. Four years in the fashion industry had taught him that professionalism was to be maintained at all costs, and that no matter what, disagreements had to be put aside, rivalries had to be squashed, or else you could say goodbye to your career.

This had been valuable advice given by his first manger at the start of his career, and Yeonjun had stuck by it ever since. Working with various other models, most of which he would meet for the first time at various shoots was challenging, mostly because, despite his confident appearance, Yeonjun was always nervous when meeting new people. For the most part, the other models that he’d worked with had been absolutely no problem, he’d even made a few close friends, and some more acquaintances, but it wasn’t until Yeonjun met Choi Beomgyu that he this long drilled in principle was really put to the test.

Yeonjun had been the face of Frost, an international luxury fashion brand, for four years now, and so it was no surprise when he’d gotten the call to model some of their latest designs, apparently under a 'romantic fantasy snow theme’. He’d also been told that he would be completing this shoot with another model, someone that had never worked for the company before, so he’d been both curious and more than nervous that day as he’d been escorted up the steps into the Frost company building, and taken straight into the dressing room.

As Yeonjun sat there getting his hair and make-up expertly done by about three stylists at once, he wondered about this new model who he’d apparently be working with. He hadn’t been given a name, no information at all, but that was to be expected. Usually, the line up for a shoot could change last minute, so he wasn’t surprised that the company hadn’t given out details before hand. However, Yeonjun was feeling particularly happy about today's theme. After hearing that it had been snow themed, he’d somehow envisioned a cute concept, bobble hats and warm scarves, and though he wasn’t necessarily opposed to the idea, what he’d been met with was far more to his liking.

As the stylists were setting the inal touches to his look, they gestured for him to get up and showed him to a full length mirror, where he’d be able to see the finished product for the first time. Yeonjun couldn’t help smiling at what he saw:

He was dressed up like a prince in all white; white trousers, white shirt that sparkled under the lights, white heeled ankle high boots, and a white overcoat with feather light frills at the shoulders and upper arms, that trailed down past his knees in flowing sashes giving him an ethereal appearance. His make up had been expertly done- eyes shadowed with a light bronzing effect to bring out their dark brown, and lips blushed and darkened with lipstick. His black hair was parted in the middle, elegantly falling partly onto his face. His whole look was somewhat dramatic, and he loved it.

After Yeonjun had thoroughly thanked the stylists, bowing to them and thanking them for all their efforts and hard work, he suddenly heard the familiar voice of Soobin, a relatively new photographer at the company who Yeonjun had become quite close friends with.

“Yeonjun-hyung! Wow, the stylists have done an excellent job!” Soobin said grinning, half walking half running over to Yeonjun, a camera slung round his neck and wearing his classic photographer uniform of all black: black trouser, black shoes, black button down shirt with his dark hair neatly styled to match.

“I guess, but it’s not that hard, not when the’ve got such a beautiful canvas all ready for them!” Yeonjun joked, making Soobin slap him lightly on the arm.

"I mean it, you look like an angel." Soobin said admiringly, glancing over Yeonjun's outfit, his cheeks turning a little pink.

"I know, I know." Yeonjun replied, but as he spotted Soobin's lips turn to a pout, he added:

"I mean thank you." because of course he'd take the compliment, as Soobin rolled his eyes. And then Yeonjun asked:

"So, are you photographing me again?” he said, gesturing to the camera around Soobin’s neck, and the other male nodded.

“ I'm just glad I was assigned this shoot with the rest of the photography team. And by the way, you’ve only got a few minutes left before the shoot. I can’t wait until you see the set, it’s so pretty." Soobin said excitedly, and then added:

"Are you nervous?” Although his question sounded like concern, it really wasn’t. They both knew Yeonjun didn’t get shy in front of the camera, at least, not anymore.

“No. Not if you’re there, pulling faces at me while I'm trying to pose.” Yeonjun teased now as they both walked side by side, over to what appeared to be a small refreshment stand for both staff and models, filled with fruits, water, soda and oddly enough, what looked like various smoothies of shades that Yeonjun had never seen before.

“Hey! It’s called getting into the zone! I can’t help it if I pull funny expressions when I’m taking a picture!” Soobin protested, but Yeonjun only stuck his tongue out, narrowing his eyes as he mimicked Soobin’s expression of concentration when he was ‘in the zone’.

“I don’t look like that! Stop it! It’s not funny!” Soobin said, though he was starting to giggle, and he quickly grabbed the nearest drink from the refreshment table and handed it to Yeonjun who took it without question. He took a sip of the reddish liquid, and realised that it was freshly made tomato juice. It wasn’t half bad either.

“Good right? Frost ordered everything in juts this morning.” Soobin said, as Yeonjun drank more of the unusual, yet surprisingly tasty beverage.

And then his eyes caught something, or rather, someone, standing a little way off in the far corner of the dressing room, having his makeup done by a stylist, and it was then that Yeonjun realised who it was:

It was a man but one of the most beautiful men Yeonjun had ever seen in his life. The stranger was dressed in a similar outfit as Yeonjun. He wore all white, with the same sort of trousers and shoes as Yeonjun wore, but where Yoenjun’s overcoat was slightly more clean cut, fitting closer to his body, this man's outfit had puffed sleeves and ruffles made out of silky, almost silvery material. The front was even embellished with golden embroidery. And his face, that face would have melted the coldest heart. He had a heart shaped face, with a sharp jawline and black hair that fell down around his neck and just brushed his shoulders. Pretty delicate lips that smiled slightly as he spoke with the stylist. And his eyes- Yeonjun couldn’t couldn’t take his gaze off of those eyes, deep brown and soulful, with long dark eyelashes. Those eyes captivated him like nothing else ever had.

The man even had a crown to add to this perfection, a crown made of what looked like delicately spun and woven branches adorned with pretty light pink rose buds, which rested on his head perfectly. He really did look like a prince.

He was so breathtaking, and Yeonjun was certain that he knew who this was: it was the other model, the one that he’d be working with today.

“Hey! Hey! Who are you staring at?”

Yeonjun blinked and tore his eyes away, turning to Soobin who was giving him a knowing look, smirking as he peered from Yeonjun to the man in the far corner, catching on fast.

“I've already spoken to him once today. I could introduce you if you like?" Soobin offered, his knowing smile turning into one of amusement at Yeonjun’s fascination with such a beautiful stranger. But Yeonjun quickly shook his head no, feeling a flutter in his stomach as the prospect of being introduced.

“Oh come on, you’ve got to work with him, right? May as well meet him now.” Soobin said as he attempted to tug Yeonjun forwards, by his sleeve, but Yeonjun dug his heels into the ground.

“No. No way!” Yeonjun protested, although part of him was wondering exactly why he was saying no, why he felt so panicked all of a sudden. He’d thought he’d gotten over this sort of initial fear of meeting people ages ago after he'd started this job, but somehow, this was different but Yeonjun couldn’t quite figure out why.

“ Fine! I’ll just have to bring him to you then." Soobin said, giving Yeonjun a quick wink over his shoulder as he let go of Yeonjun’s arm and strode confidently towards the man while Yeonjun could only watch helplessly.

This was not happening. No way, no way no way….

To say that Yeonjun was a nervous wreck was an understatement.

But it was happening, and Yeonjun took a shaky breath as he watched Soobin quickly bow to the stylist, and then to the stranger, and Yeonjun watched as his friend now guided the other model across the room, talking to him quietly. Meanwhile, Yeonjun's hold on his beverage was getting increasingly tighter, so much so that he’d half squashed the cup from nerves. He quickly spotted a nearby trash can and lightly threw the empty cup into it. His heart was beating fast, too fast, but he tried to hide whatever awkwardness he was feeling as he looked up to Soobin and the other model came over to meet him.

The first thing Yeonjun noticed was that the closer he got to this man, the more beautiful he appeared. The second was that the model also happened to be shorter than him, but not by much.

"I’ve got someone you should meet.” Soobin said, speaking to the man, who, now that he was practically in front of Yeonjun, appeared to be just as nervous, if not more so, than Yeonjun was feeling. For one, the man was barely making eye contact with him, and his gaze looked slightly panicked as he focused more on Soobin, nodding tentatively.

“Yeonjun-hyung, as you’ve already guessed, this is our latest model, Choi Beomgyu. Beomgyu-ssi, this is the company’s most valuable asset, Choi Yeonjun. He’s our most outstanding model, practically the face of the company.” Soobin said happily, singing Yeonjun's praises, but Yeonjun could see that his friend was really enjoying himself as he stood there between the two, smiling eagerly all the while both models bowed awkwardly to each other.

However, Beomgyu's full ninety degree bow caused his crown to topple off of his head, and Yeonjun looked up just in time to catch it. He offered it back to Beomgyu, who took it muttering a soft "thank you" in response.

Yeonjun had never met someone who was so naturally shy- it surprised him, and he now guessed that Beomgyu must have been a few years younger than him, maybe not so experienced in the industry, but still, with those looks, he’d be front page material anyday.

And then Soobin said, abruptly and much to Yeonjun’s horror:

“Ok, well, I’ll let you two get to know each other a little more before the shoot. There’s something that I need to take care of." Soobin said brightly as he cast a pointed look Yeonjun's way, before rushing off out of sight without a backwards glance, leaving Yeonjun silently fuming. Soobin had probably done that on purpose, leaving him to deal with the new model on his own.

There was a moment of awkward silence as the two models simply looked at each other. Or more accurately, Yeonjun was the one attempting eye contact, while Beomgyu seemed to be fixing his gaze on his crown, which he hadn’t put back on his head, but instead was fiddling with it anxiously, occasionally glancing up before lowering his gaze once more.

“Are you ok? You seem nervous?” Yeonjun asked, because if Beomgyu was this shy, Yeonjun guessed it would be his job to squash his own nerves and instigate a conversation.

At Yeonjun’s question, Beomgyu looked up, startled, and he nodded a little, attempting a small smile, which came out a little wobbly, but he didn't reply.

“I know what that’s like. I was too when I first started. But don't worry, when you’re on set, it's not that bad. They give you specific instructions, like how to pose, where to look, the type of mood they’re going for, so it's not like you’re going to be completely lost. And you won’t be on your own, you'll be with me, I'll look after you.” Yeonjun said, and he meant every word. It seemed to work, as Beomgyu now nodded slightly, bowing again.

"Thank you, Yeonjun-sunbaenim.”

Sunbaenim?

Yeonjun blinked in surprise. Wasn’t 'sunbaenim' a little too much? Beomgyu seemed so shy, and polite, almost a little too much.

“Here, have a drink. It’ll calm you down.” Yeonjun said, now handing Beomgyu a fresh cup of juice from the refreshment stand next to them. Beomgyu took it eagerly, jamming his crown onto his head as he took a sip.

And at that moment, Yeonjun really thought that everything was going fine, until he saw Beomgyu take another sip from the cup and pause, eyes suddenly wide, face turning pale as the he abruptly turned and put the drink down on the table, and then rushed off out of sight through the crowd of staff without a word to Yeonjun.

What on Earth-?

Yeonjun watched as Beomgyu disappeared out of sight, very confused and wondering exactly where he went off too. He then picked up the cup the man had left on the table, examining the contents. It was just a regular tomato juice, and nothing seemed to be off about it, so why did Beomgyu rush off as though he’d suffered some sort of existential crisis?

However, Yeonjun didn’t have to wait very long before Beomgyu came back into the room, and was it Yeonjun’s imagination, or did Beomgyu look a little teary as he came back over to Yeonjun, who had also noticed another member of staff coming towards them at the same time.

“Oh, good, you’re both here! Yeonjun-ssi, Beomgyu-ssi. ” she said, bowing to each one of them in turn as they both did the same. Yeonjun chanced a glance at Beomgyu, who was once more avoiding his eyes while the woman said:

“I’ll be taking you to the set, so if you’ll both just follow me” she said briskly, and with that, she turned and began to stride out of the room from the nearest exit, leaving both models no option but to follow her down the corridor.

As they walked, Yeonjun frowned, still very confused. What had just happened back then?

“Are you ok?” he asked softly as they both walked a few paces behind the woman, who was barely taking notice of them as they turned sharply around another corner of the building.

But now Beomgyu looked up at Yeonjun, folding his arms around himself as though he were cold, even though it was relatively warm inside.

“I don’t like tomatoes.” he muttered, pouting slightly.

“Ok…?” Yeonjun started, not sure where this was going, sure he was missing something here.

“I don’t like things with tomatoes in either. The drink you gave me, it was all tomatoes.” Beomgyu said, looking even more sulky than ever, and now Yeonjun understood: The drink he’d given Beomgyu was pure tomato juice, and apparently, this man hated tomatoes with a passion. Within the first five minutes of meeting this man, Yeonjun ahd somehow managed to upset him. Great, just great.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” Yeonjun said, tried to sound as apologetic as possible, but Beomgyu continued to pout.

“I felt like I was going to be sick. And then my eyes started watering, and I smudged my makeup, so they had to redo some of it quickly.” Beomgyu continued, staring moodily down at the floor, pout still firmly in place. And though he was clearly unhappy, Yeonjun couldn’t help smiling slightly at that pout. It was cute, but he quickly pushed that thought out of his head.

“But you’re ok now though right?” he asked, a little cautiously, because Beomgyu was clearly not taking this situation well. And then Beomgyu peered up at him, and Yeonjun was surprised to see him glaring, those big brown eyes which had so far been avoiding his gaze finally looking at him for more than a few seconds, and honestly, it had Yeonjun feel as though he’d been pinned down by a bear. A cute, but very angry bear.

“No. I’m not alright. And It’s all your fault!” Beomgyu hissed, now quickening his pace down the next corridor after the female staff member, so Yeonjun also sped up, shaking his head in disbelief. He’d been prepared to be kind, to be sympathetic even to Beomgyu’s situation, but now that sympathy was being thrown out the window as he rushed forwards, grabbing Beomgyu by the wrist while the other wrenched his arm free, scowling as he turned to face Yeonjun.

“What?” Beomgyu hissed angrily as he wrenched his arm away.

“Listen, you’re behaving like a baby! I’m sorry about giving you tomato juice, ok? But that’s no excuse to behave this way!” Yeonjun said, chancing a glance at the female staff member already half way down the corridor, but who hadn't heard a thing. He’d have to make this quick.

Beomgyu only huffed, stomping his foot sulkily while Yeonjun rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. They took that moment to glare at each other, and finally, after a few long seconds, beomgyu mumbled a small “fine”, and then turned on his heels to continue down the corridor. Yeonjun gritted his teeth, hoping he’d gotten through to him, and then followed along.

However, as soon as he caught up with Beomgyu, the accusations started once more, and they continued to bicker in this fashion all the way to the set. By the time they both arrived, Yeonjun was already harbouring a deep seated resentment for Choi Beomgyu.

Luckily, once they arrived, Yeonjun momentarily forgot about his argument to stare at the setup as the member of staff took one look at them to confirm that they were there before drifting off into the room and out of sight:

Cameras, shades and flashing lights were set up purposefully around the room, while staff were bustling about, rearranging this and that, talking amongst themselves and discussing additional last minute changes. But what was truly amazing was the actual layout of the area that all of these lights and cameras were focused on, the magical set up right in the middle of the room:

A blue, grey and white mystical snow scape had been arranged up against one white wall, at least eight feet feet high featuring a backdrop of ice crystals hanging off of an archway in the shape of a heart, made of fake rock that almost looked like the real thing because they shimmered in the bright lights the fake crystals sparkling like diamonds. Grey rocks were embedded in soft (fake) snow which also shimmered slightly and had been arranged on the ground in front of the backdrop, ready for both of them to take centre stage. It really was like a fantasy snowscape, and Yeonjun and Beomgyu would be the focal points of it all.

And then Yeonjun spotted the Director, who then turned round at the sight of both of them and instructed them to come forwards into the set. Yeonjun blinked a little at the bright lights. It always took his eyes a moment to adjust, but after a while he’d be able to forget about it and really immerse himself in the shoot.

As they were both directed on to the set, Yeonjun spied Soobin, camera ready in hands, amongst the other photographers at the shoot. When they met eyes, his friend winked at him mouthing “how’s it going?” and gesturing empathetic towards Beomgyu, who had a stylist come rushing out suddenly and quickly arranging his hair before stepping back into the set once more.

Yeonjun only mouthed the words “shut up!” at Soobin, not having time to explain everything that had gone on before the Director came into the middle of the room, and there was immediate silence:

“As you all know, today’s theme is a romantic fantasy snowscape. I’m very excited to deliver this concept to the public, it’s something that hasn’t ever been done before, here at Frost, and I’m hoping that our models will really embrace it!” he said, now looking pointedly at Yeonjun and Beomgyu, who bowed in return.

“Alright, let's begin!” and with a clap of the Director’s hands, it started.

Firstly, they were both asked to stand in the middle of the snowy landscape, right in front of the overarching ice crystals practically chest to chest, faces turned towards the camera the clicks and flashes of light started up.

Normally, Yeonjun had no trouble being at such a close proximity with another model, not when it was all professional and they could laugh off the awkwardness later, but this time, that was proving a lot more difficult than it seemed.

“Ow!”

Yeonjun winced in pain as they were ordered to stand even closer together by the Director, and Beomgyu’s foot just so happened to come smashing down on his toes. Yeonjun glared at the Beomgyu as the other male only smirked in triumph.

“What is wrong with you?” Yeonjun hissed, barely able to move his lips at all as they were being gazed at by so many people, the cameras clicking away. This had not been what he’d expected. Beomgyu had seemed to have had a personality transplant within the last few minutes, far from the shy, sweet and rather awkward person he’d first met, and it was taking all of Yeonjun’s willpower not to scream in frustration.

“Nothing.” Beomgyu muttered, grinning slightly in triumph as he looked up at Yeonjun, knowing that it was infuriating him. But Yeonjun refused to let it get to him, so he took a measured breath and looked back out at the cameras, attempting a smile as he whispered:

“I’ve already apologised. I really am sorry, but look, did you really think that I’d have given you tomato juice if I'd known you didn’t like tomatoes?” Yeonjun asked furiously, wondering why such an honest mistake had to be blown so far out of proportion.

“Maybe.” Beomgyu said, making Yeonjun roll his eyes.

“Well then, why didn’t you look at what was in the cup before you drank it?” he muttered, and at this, Beomgyu simply went silent for a second, before saying, in a voice so soft and sulky that Yeonjun could barely hear it:

“I don’t know.”

“Well that’s not a very good reason is it?” Yeonjun retorted, to which Beomgyu shrugged just a little, and both models returned to looking at the camera. Yeonjun took another calming breath, closing his eyes briefly before opening them once more. Maybe, if he just didn’t react, showed that he was the more mature one, the problem would go away.

Unfortunately, this plan was very short-lived.

“So, how do you like it that I’m the new face of the company now? Look at me, with my visuals, Frost won’t be needing you anymore!” Beomgyu whispered, taunting Yeonjun. At his words, Yeonjun felt his cheeks flush, the outrage barely containable.Who did this man think he was? The level of disrespect and the fact that Beomgyu had only been here for less than a minute made it all the worse.

But Yeonjun wasn’t going to let it show, not now, so he only smirked back, lips slightly parted as he leaned forwards, so close that his breath must have been tickling the side of Beomgyu’s face, and instantly, he saw a slight blush appear there, the other malde clearly flustered:

“Don’t flatter yourself. I’ve been working for Frost for four years now, you can’t replace me that easily. The company love me, but you’re just the newbie, so don’t get your hopes up!”

Yeonjun smiled a little too widely as Beomgyu fell silent, not quite meeting his gaze as the Director now ordered to hold hands. Of course, Beomgyu wasn’t very keen on that, so Yeonjun had to practically yank Beomgyu’s hand towards him, and while they now stared into the camera, hands held tightly, he could feel Beomgyu’s nails digging painfully into his palm. Yeonjun, throwing caution to the wind, slowly reached up with his arm that was hidden from view of the cameras and yanked at Beomgyu’s hair, making him give a little gasp in shock before immediately relaxing his hold on Yeonjun’s hand into a gentler one.

“Stop being so petty!” Yeojun said through gritted teeth, making sure to keep his voice low as Beomgyu winced, but still managed to smile for the camera, barely batting an eyelid.

It was a miracle that none of the staff had noticed the little battle of wills taking place right before their eyes.

“You know what they call people like you? ‘Obnoxious’!” Yeonjun added, stressing the last word as he narrowed his eyes slightly at Beomgyu.

“What's ‘obnoxious’? Well, whatever it is, I’m not it! And you’re mean!” Beomgyu whined, eyes wide and innocent even though he was anything but, and Yeonjun nearly burst out laughing at the sheer absurdity of it all. Instead, he kept it together and moved his face slightly so that they could briefly lock eyes, and this proved to be a mistake as Yeonjun immediately felt his face start to flush as Beomgyu batted his long dark eyelashes at him, putting on a fake wounded expression.

Yeonjun felt a twinge of panic at his odd feelings, but he gritted his teeth, choosing to focus on his annoyance more than the faint flutter in his chest.

“I’m not being mean, you’re the one insulting me! Now stop it! Can’t you just put this aside for the shoot?” he asked, while Beomgyu turned his face away from Younjun once more, to look out at the cameras. All this time, there had been staff praising them, the Director giving orders, and Soobin amongst the other camera crew, clinking away shot after shot, but so far, Yeonjun had almost been oblivious to it all.

“Fine.” Beomgyu said, finally, his breath tickling Yeonjun’s face as they gripped hands, both hating the close proximity but forced into it all the same.

“Fine.” Yeonjun hissed back, but as it would later turn out, it was not fine. In fact, it was as far from fine as it could possibly have been.

***
After that, they had to stand right infront of the stone heart shaped archway, which would have been uncomfortable enough without Beomgyu being ordered to wrap his arms around Yeonjun’s waist from behind, chin resting on Yeonjun’s right shoulder, while Beomgyu’s stupid crown threatened to scratch Yeonjun’s face. And though this time Beomgyu wasn’t holding on particularly tightly, it was taking all of Yeonjun’s willpower not to simply wrench the other male’s arms away from his waist as they both stood there, smiling serenely for the camera, but inside, Yeonjun was feeling anything but calm.

“You like this, don’t you?” Beomgyu whispered, as they turned a little to the side now, the flashed going off every few seconds.

Yeonjun didn’t respond. He was hating it with every fibre of his being.

“You, me, under the archway? Isn’t this romantic?” Beomgyu asked softly, his breath tickling the side of Yeonjun’s face. It wasn’t exactly unpleasant, but still. Beomgyu was mocking him, wanting a response, and Yeonjun wasn’t going to give in. At least, not yet. Until:

“Sun-bae-nim!” Beomgyu whispered in a sing-song voice, lips so close to Yeonjun’s ear that he had to force himself not to flinch as he suddenly gave in.

“Don’t call me ‘sunbaenim’ when you clearly have no respect for me in the first place, you little brat!” Yeonjun hissed, finally cracking, but this only made Beomgyu giggle slightly, and what was more, he felt the other model snuggle up closer to him, getting comfy now as they stood there beneath the archway. Some romantic concept this was.

“You know what?” Yeonjun said softly, turning his head only slightly so that he could move his lips more freely while talking without the cameras picking it up.

“What?” Beomgyu said, innocently, fluttering those long lashes at him once more.

“You’re the one who’s enjoying this, aren’t you? Holding me, being this close, it’s you who’s the lucky one. Too bad this is the closest you'll ever get to proper exposure. Just face it, with your arms around me, you’re handling company gold, so if I were you, I’d enjoy it while it lasts.” Yeonjun said, because he knew his worth, and nothing this man ever said was going to make him doubt it.

However, the triumph was only short lived as suddenly, Beomgyu tightened his grip around Yeonjun’s waist, so much so that Yeonjun let out a startled gasp, breath hitching, but he quickly regained his composure, using the back of his heel to kick out behind him, feeling the satisfaction as his shoe made contact with Beomgyu’s shin.

“Ouch, that hurt!” Beomgyu whined, pouting now as Yeonjun turned his head right round to glare at him, and their eyes suddenly locked. As Yeonjun pared down at the Beomgyu, he was happy to see that the other male’s face was a little flushed, and Yeonjun couldn’t help the small twitch at the corner of his mouth. They both held their gazes, both too stubborn to be the first to look away.

“Great! That’s excellent! Just keep that look there! It’s intense, wonderful, wonderful!” The Director suddenly shouted with apparent glee.

And despite hating the person that was at such a close proximity to him, instead of feeling his heart sinking, Yeonjun was surprised to find himself almost enjoying it as they held their gazes for even longer. Or maybe he was just enjoying making Beomgyu feel uncomfortable.

“I don’t like this.” Beomgyu muttered as they kept their eyes on each other, and Yeonjun watched the small pout begin to form on Beomgyu’s lips, even as the other male’s cheeks turned a slightly deeper shade of pink.

“Me neither.” Yeonjun lied, “But just do as you’re told and we can get this over with quicker, ok?” he said, and for once, he didn’t get a mean reply back, instead, he saw that Beomgyu was starting to lower his gaze, not able to keep the eye contact going for much longer.

And that was when Yeonjun couldn’t help himself, because no, he wasn’t one to pick an argument, but he sure as hell was going to be the one to finish it, and beside, he was almost enjoying their little tug of war. Slowly, he lifted his left hand, the one visible to the camera, and raised his fingers up to Beomgyu’s hair that fell lightly into his eyes, letting his fingers gently run through the soft dark strands.

At his touch, Beomgyu lifted his eyes, those big brown eyes that now shone a little too brightly as Yeonjun gave a self satisfied smile, letting his hand gently trail down over the side of Beomgyu’s face, prolonging the contact for as long as he could, because if there was anything that Yeonjun had learnt in this industry, it was how to make an audience fall in love with you, and this was no exception.

Beomgyu’s cheeks began to practically burn, and now his eyes had lowered again to the floor, so obviously affected by what appeared to be such a simple gesture.

“Stop it!” Beomgyu squeaked, looking a little desperate, and Yeonjun, finally satisfied with his victory, dropped his hand, letting it fall to his side. He then leaned in closer, so close their foreheads were touching, and Beomgyu reluctantly looked up again. Yeonjun could almost feel the other male’s heart racing, they were that close. Unfortunately, he couldn’t say that his heart wasn't doing the same.

“Don’t lie to me. You’re the one who’s enjoying this.” Yeonjun said softly, just as the Director suddenly shouted out:

“Brilliant! Just brilliant! That was the best shot we’ve gotten so far! Spectacular!” The director called, , causing both models to snap out of their little bubble and look round in shock at the beaming Director and staff all milling around behind him, looking equally as pleased. Out of the corner of his eye, Yeonjun spotted Soobin, who was giving him a very amused look.

Apparently, hatred was the new romance.

***

They took a short break after that, and while the staff were all milling about, rearranging the set and equipment, Yeonjun and Beomgyu were pulled over by Soobin to take a look at the results that they’d gotten from the photos so far.

“I think you’ll really like these! The mood is quite something!” Soobin said excitedly as he ushered both of them around towards the large monitors where their pictures could be seen, pressing a few buttons hastily, and sure enough, the photos popped up on the screen for all of them to see.

Yeonjun and Beomgyu both stood on either side of Soobin, determined not to look at each other, but Yeonjun momentarily forgot about his harboured resentment for the other model when he peered at those photographs:

They were beautiful. There was no other way to describe them. Every few seconds, Soobin would press another button to scroll through the images, so that new pictures came up, and Yeonjun was fascinated by each and every one. Of course, he knew how the process worked, he’d monitored his own photos for long enough by now, but somehow, these ones were different.

He watched as the images flashed before his eyes: Yeonjun and Beomgyu, standing in front of the snowy landscape, faces barely centimetres apart, Yeonjun and Beomgyu, holding hands, Yeonjun and Beomgyu, standing under the arch way, Beomgyu’s arms wrapped around Yeonjun’s waist, the younger male’s chin comfortably resting on Yeonjun’s shoulder as they both looked into the camera, and all the while, that snowy wonderland backdrop adding to the overall magical, captivating effect of it all. It was breathtaking, like something out of a romance movie, and they looked comfortable, so comfortable with each other, as though those whispered accusations, subtle kicks in the shin, the tugging of hair and petty behaviour all throughout the shoot hadn’t ever happened.

“These are amazing! Their probably the best ones you’ve ever taken.'' Yeonjun said, now turning to Soobin, who immediately flushed at the compliment, but he was clearly pleased as he smiled with pride.

“Thanks, but you two did the real work, I just captured the moment. Wait until you see this one though!” Soobin said, excitedly, as the three huddled around the screen and Soobin pressed another button, so that suddenly, another set of pictures came up, and at that moment, Yeonjun couldn’t help his sharp intake of breath. On Soobin’s other side, Beomgyu also seemed surprised, his eyes widening and then narrowing again, face furrowed in concentration.

Yeonjun turned back to the pictures, unable to speak for lack of words. They were the ones taken when Yeonjun had suddenly turned round and glared at Beomgyu, right after he’d given the younger male a kick in the shin for trying to break his ribs. The Director had been right through, it was the perfect image. Their gazes in the photographs, no longer looking at the camera, but focused on each other, were filled with such an intensity that Yeonjun could almost feel it through the screen. Their eyes locked on each other, the tension as Yeonjun had lifted his hand and brushed Beomgyu’s hair out of his eyes and then caressed the side of his face. They didn’t look as though they were having some sort of rivalry at all, though Yeonjun had been sure that aspect would have shown through the pictures. Instead, they looked like lovers, so focused on each other that the snowy world they were standing in didn’t seem to matter, as though nothing else mattered except the other, and their gazes held it all.

“Pretty good right? It was genius, you two looking at each other like that, great work!” Soobin said happily, patting both of them on the shoulder.

“ I guess that means I’m treating you to bingsu later right?” Yeonjun said grinning as he gave Soobin a little nudge.

It was their tradition after a shoot- going out and getting bingsu together, and it just so happened to be Yeonjun’s turn this time.

“Well, you don’t have to, but now that you mention it, I have worked quite hard for these shots….” Soobin trailed off, trying not to make a big deal out of it, but the delighted expression on his face was something that Yeonjun couldn’t miss.

“Soobin -ssi! Where do you want this? We’re having a bit of difficulty here!”

They were suddenly interrupted by another member of staff, along with a few others, carrying what appeared to be another heavy projector and struggling to move it along on it’s tiny wheels.

“Oh, right, I’m sorry, I forgot about that!” Soobin said, flustered as he turned back to Yeonjun and Beomgyu and quickly said:

“Ok, well, I’ll see you both later!” and then Soobin was gone, leaving both Beomgyu and Yeonjun alone.

Yeonjun wouldn’t have usually minded. Soobin was forever being called over by multiple members of staff, especially during breaks- after all, he had more important things to do than discuss bingsu with Yeonjun, and he wouldn’t normally have minded, but this time, Yeonjun wished that he’d stayed. Now he had Beomgyu to deal with. Oddly enough, the other male hadn’t said a single word all the way through Soobin’s presentation of their photos, only peering at the screen intently, as though studying each one in minute detail.

It was a change from his constant jibes, but Yeonjun wasn’t sure that he liked this.

“I could have done better.” beomgyu muttered eventually, and Yeonjun glanced away from the image of them both gazing intently into each other’s eyes on the screen to turn to Beomgyu.

“Well, instead of trying to piss me off the whole time, you should have been more focused on the job. Maybe then you would have done better!” Yeonjun snapped, letting the words come out of his mouth almost subconsciously. Insulting Beomgyu was second nature to him by this point.

However, Beomgyu said nothing, he didn’t even look around. He only frowned more, eyebrows knitted together, biting his bottom lip anxiously, and it suddenly occurred to Yeonjun that Beomgyu appeared sad, disappointed even by the photos.

“I could have done better.” Beomgyu said again, his voice seven smaller now. This surprised him, and Yeonjun heard the little wobble in Beomgyu’s voice at the end. It almost made him regret his earlier accusation. Almost.

“You did fine. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” it was the closest thing to empathy that Yeonjun could muster right now.

But now Beomgyu had finally turned away from the monitor and peered up at Yeonjun sadly.

“Yeah, I did ok. But not as well as you.”

***

Shortly after, the lights and cameras were back on, and the second half on the shooting had begun. This time, both models were asked to lie down in the fake snow, while arrows were placed all around them, as though they were fallen angels that had been shot down to the ground in a tragic death of sorts.

The arrows had been placed there during their break, and the Director warned them both to watch their footing as they gingerly stepped through the scattered arrows, imbedded in the snow as though shot down from the Heavens. There was a (fake) rock lying nearby, and apparently, one of them was going to have to use said rock as a pillow.

Yeonjun wasn’t too sure about how comfortable this was going to be, but he’d do it purely to get it over with, so he took his chance and lay down first on his back in the snow, gazing up at the high ceiling of the building and using the rock as a pillow. Surprisingly enough, the ‘rock’ was more cushion-like than he’d thought, made out of a soft foamy material. Yeonjun thought that he could fall asleep here if it wasn’t for the flashing lights, and of course-

“Beomgyu-ssi, lie down next to Yeonjun-sii, cuddle up, get comfortable and relax!” the Director called, and Yeonjun rolled his eyes as he peered up to see Beomgyu, kneeled in the fluffy snow but looking strangely reluctant to lie down next to him.

“What? Can’t we just get on with it?” Yeonjun asked impatiently.

“What if I squash you?” Beomgyu asked, apparently genuinely worried, now taking off his crown, which would have surely fallen off when he lay down anyway and placing it by his side instead. Yeonjun narrowed his eyes in suspicion.

“Really? You tried to break my foot and crush me less than an hour ago. Why do you care so much now?” he asked. Beomgyu blinked, seemingly taken aback by this, and then his face turned into a evil grin as he replied:

“You’re right! I don’t care!”

And with that, he plopped himself down on top of Yeonjun with as much force as he could, jabbing him in the side with his pointy elbows.

“Ow!” Yeonjun hissed, wincing slightly as Beomgyu shifted about, getting comfortable and snuggling into Yeonjun’s side, his head resting on Yeonjun’s shoulder, one arm holding him around the waist. Again, Yeonjun had to fight the urge to forcibly peel Beomgyu’s hands off of him, but instead he wrapped one arm around Beomgyu’s shoulders, holding him close by his side.

They both had to peer up at the ceiling, gazing up above while the cameras came closer, and for a few minutes, both were silent, only focusing on the job at hand.

Oddly enough, Yeonjun found that it wasn’t too bad after all with Beomgyu’s head resting on his shoulder, gazing up at the cameras. Yeonjun briefly closed his eyes. No, this wasn't too bad after all, he could almost relax, if only Beomgyu would just keep quiet-

“I’m sleepy.” Beomgyu whispered suddenly, tugging Yeonjun out of his dazed state. His eyes snapped open, feeling a familiar stab of annoyance. He really shouldn’t have gotten his hopes up.

“So? What do you want me to do about it?” Yeonjun muttered angrily as Beomgyu shifted slightly.

“Hold my hand, Yeonjun -sunbaenim.” Beomgyu whispered in the same sing-song voice he’d used earlier, deliberately doing it to wind him up, and it was working.

“No! I’m not holding your hand dummy!” Yeonjun hissed back, hearing Beomgyu huff moodily and fall silent once more.

Surprisingly enough though, after that, there were no more issues, and the shooting ended rather quickly. When they were both told that they could get up, Beomgyu sat up as quickly as he could, as though he’d been electrocuted, turning to Yeonjun with a petty smile on his face.

“You’re not a very good pillow!” Beomgyu said, as though Yeonjun had committed some sort of crime against humanity for not passing as a satisfactory pillow, which was just plain stupid.

“And? What are you going to do, Sue me?” Yeonjun snapped back, now getting up himself and practically pushing Beomgyu out of the way as he did so, making the other yelp out in shock as he too stumbled to his feet.

The shoot had finally ended, and they were now both free to go. After they had both bowed to the Director as well as all the staff members, Yeonjun made his way to the exit, wanting to simply get as far away from Beomgyu as he possibly could. He could ask Soobin to show him the rest of the pictures later- of course he’d want to monitor them as well, but right now, he had other things to worry about, escaping the nightmare that was Choi Beomgyu.

As he strode down the corridor, making his way to the dressing room, he could hear Beomgyu rushing up behind him, struggling to keep up, and also repeating the same word over and over again as he caught up, and they walked side by side, Beomgyu just a little bit too close for Yeonjun not to notice.

“Dummy! Dummy! Dummy sunbaenim!”

Beomgyu chimed, grinning obnoxiously as Yeonjun glared right at him.

“Shut up will you?”

“And why would I do that? Dummy, dummy dummy!” Beomgyu continued to chant, clearly enjoying the effect he was having as Yeonjun gritted his teeth. His patience was wearing thin, it had been a long day, but Beomgyu continued his silly chant all the way into the dressing room, which thankfully was completely empty.

“What is wrong with you? Seriously? What’s your problem?” Yeonjun spat as they walked a few more paces into the deserted dressing room before coming to a stop right next to the refreshments table from that morning. He then whipped round to face Beomgyu, but the other male was still grinning, mouthing the word ‘dummy’ as Yeonjun scowled right back.

“You’re just upset because you know I’m better than you! I’m going to be the new king, the face of the company! I’m here to replace you!” Beomgyu said happily, curling a finger around one lock of his long hair. He looked so pleased with himself, and it was so frustrating that Yeonjun wanted nothing more than to bang his head against a wall (and possibly fall unconscious) at this point. At least he wouldn’t have to deal with Beomgyu then.

“Oh really? Do you honestly think I’d be threatened by you of all people?” Yeonjun asked, scoffing at the very idea. At this rate, they were going round and round in circles over the ame point, without ever reaching a conclusion.

Beomgyu shrugged in such a carefree way that it made Yeonjun’s pulse quicken. He could feel all the anger building up, the sting of this younger man’s disrespect towards him, and soon, he wasn’t going to be able to control his anger any more.

“Maybe you should be. And anyway, you’re old, they’ll throw you out when you lose your looks!” Beomgyu said, slyly, now meeting Yeonjun dead in the eyes, and that was when Yeonjun finally snapped.

“Ok, you know what? I've had it with you!” Yeonjun said, now practically shouting as he took a very deliberate step forwards refusing to back down. And for once, Beomgyu didn’t smile, or say anything petty, instead he took a step backwards, that self righteous expression falling off of his face to be replaced with something like shock, and a little bit of fear. Finally, Beomgyu was learning to shut up.

“That's right, show some respect! You come in here acting like you can just do whatever the hell you want, say whatever you want, without any consequences. Well I’ve got news for you: that’s not how it works around here. Here, at this company, we treat others with respect, something that you clearly have no concept of. You’ll never make it, not in Frost, you’ll never make it in any other company for that matter, not with that attitude! You may as well give up now, because no one is going to hire you, not after I tell the company exactly how you’ve been behaving! You can say goodbye to this job, or even better, you may as well quit now, because you don’t have what it takes! You’re nothing! Nothing but a spoilt little brat!”

Yeonjun let the words just fall out of his mouth, every single thing he’d been trying to hold himself back from saying, but now, he couldn’t help it. He finished saying all of this, half stunned by his own words and breathing hard feeling the rage flooding over him. Yeonjun had never felt so angry, never shouted like that in all of his life, but he felt as though what he’d said was at least partly justified. However, he was still slightly shocked with himself, and when he looked up, he almost froze.

Beomgyu was standing there, right next to the refreshment stand, and he wasn’t smiling. He wasn’t about to throw an insult back, he didn’t even look as though he could speak. Instead he looked lost for words, as though Yeonjun had physically slapped him in the face, and when Yeonjun peered into his eyes, he was surprised to see that they were now filled to the brim with tears. He looked completely and utterly defeated.

“I’m sorry.” Yeonjun said, already feeling the guilt stab at him. “I'm so sorry. I didn’t mean that-'' he said, but it was too late.

“Yes you did. You meant every word.”

Beomgyu said softly, their eyes meeting briefly, and then he suddenly turned around and was picking up a cup filled with bright red tomato juice that sloshed up to the sides. And in that moment, Yeonjun knew exactly what was coming.

SPLASH!

The tomato juice hit Yeonjun straight in the chest, staining the perfectly pristine white front of his outfit with a deep dark red that soaked through immediately. Yeonjun could feel the sticky coldness of the liquid reach his bare skin, making him want to shudder.

He looked up, and there was Beomgyu, holding the now empty cup, a look of shock on his face as though he couldn’t even believe what he’d done.

And that was the moment when Yeonjun’s principles and professionalism were both thrown straight out the window.

“You little shi-!”

“AHHHHHHHHH!”

Yeonjun rushed forward without even being fully aware of it. He didn’t think that his anger could escalate further, but his rage had reached new heights as both men tumbled down one on top of each other. Beomgyu’s screams of panic filled up Yeonjun’s ears.

Though Yeonjun had managed to pin Beomgyu down to the ground, he’d also fallen a little awkwardly so that his left wrist twisted, and a stab of pain shot through his arm as they hit the floor hard, Beomgyu flat out on his back and Yeonju straddling him, pinning him down.

“Get off me! Get the fuck off me!” Beomgyu yelled and instantly, Yeonjun forgot about the pain in his wrist as he grabbed the front of Beomgyu’s shirt and tugged, forcing Beomgyu to look up at him.

“Shut up! Just shut up! Do you have any idea what you’ve just done! How dare you throw drinks at me- they’ll be taking that money out of my paycheck just to cover the costs!” Yeonjun yelled, as Beomgyu squirmed under him, desperately trying to wriggle free, and suddenly, Beomgyu swung out with his hand, attempting to slap Yeonjun is the face, and as Yoenjun ducked out of the way, Beomgyu took the opportunity to push with all his strength so that seconds later, they were rolling around on the floor, tussling with each other, scratching at each other’s faces and pulling at each others hair.

They’d both completely lost it, but right now, Yeonjun couldn’t have cared less.

“I hate you! I hate you!” Beomgyu yelled, now attempting to sink his teeth into Yeonjun’s arm, as they rolled over once more, Yeonjun whipping his arm out of reach just in time.

“I hate you more!” Yeonjun yelled back with relish as Beomgyu slammed him down onto the hard floor, the back of Yeonjun’s head aching now as he peered up at Beomgyu, flat on his back and scowling.

“I hated you since the moment we met!” Beomgyu shouted, fingers digging into Yeonjun’s shoulders, and Yeonjun reached up and locked his hands into Beomgyu’s forearms, nails digging into his skin through the fabric. As Beomgyu yelped in alarm, his surprise gave Yeonjun the opportunity to roll them over so that it was Beomgyu being pinned down again.

The other male winced, but he stuck out his tongue like a child, taunting Yeonjun, which only fueled his fury.

“I hated you before we even met! I hated you since I saw you this morning, getting your makeup done!” Yeonjun yelled, which made Beomgyu suddenly stop, breathing hard, a confused expression on his face now.

“Wait, you were watching me getting my makeup done?” he asked, eyes wide. Yeonjun suddenly felt his face flush with embarrassment. He really shouldn’t have said that.

“You did, didn’t you?” Beomgyu asked again. Yeonjun shook his head, refusing to tell the truth as he Beomgyu’s face broke into a smile, eyes sparkling as he now reached for Yeonjun’s shoulders, grabbing on firmly and pushed, so that Yeonjun was slammed back into the floor, the back of his head aching now as he peered up at a very triumphant Beomgyu.

“I wasn’t! I take it back!” Yeonjun yelled, but Beomgyu only smiled wider.

“You were watching me! Oh this is brilliant! Did you think I looked pretty, even then? ” he asked teasingly, eyebrows wriggling in a suggestive manner, and Yeonjun had to stop himself from reaching up to slap that stupid self satisfied grin off of Beomgyu’s face. He then managed to push Beomgyu back, this time with such force that the crown, which had miraculously stayed sitting on top of Beomgyu’s head the entire time, tumbled off and rolled away a little, just out of reach.

“No! Not my crown!” Beomgyu shrieked, completely forgetting what they were talking about (thank God), and suddenly wriggled out from underneath Yeonjun, reaching out desperately for the precious crown.

“How old are you, five?” Yeonjun asked in disbelief as Beomgyu rolled onto his front, attempting to army crawl his way over to the crown, but Yeonjun took one hand and pinned him down between the shoulder blades, determined not to let him get it.

“I’m twenty! At least I’m not an old man like you!” Beomgyu shouted.

“I’m not old!” Yeonjun snapped back angrily, just as Beomgyu peered round at Yeonjun slyly, clearly not believing him, which only made Yeonjun slam his hand down harder against Beomgyu’s back, now reaching out for the crown himself.

“No! No no no! Let me have it, let me have it!” Beomgyu shouted, just as Yeonjun reached for the crown, and Beomgyu did the same, so that both of their hands grabbed it at the same time.

“Give it back! It’s mine! Mine!”

They both tussled with the crown like a pair of deranged kings fighting over who would rule their kingdom, Beomgyu turning back onto his back as they tugged the crown back and forth, but finally, Beomgyu managed to grab it and yank it out of Yeonjun’s reach, so hard that he actually ended up hitting himself in the face with it, leaving a small scratch under his left eye.

“Ow! You hit me!” Beomgyu yelped, looking so started, bottom lip stuck out in a sulk.

“I did not! You hit yourself, stupid!” Yeonjun said, and despite his anger, he felt himself start to laugh at Beomgyu’s bemused expression, eyes wide and startled, as the younger male clasped the crown to his chest, Yeonjun still on top of him.

“What? What’s so funny?” Beomgyu asked in disbelief, but Yeonjun was properly laughing now, a maniacal, uncontrolled, exhausted laugh that he couldn’t stop, because he found that he didn’t want to fight anymore.

And Beomgyu must have seen the opportunity, because suddenly, Yeonjun felt the rolling over, and his back was slammed into the floor for the last time, as Beomgyu adjusted his crown on his head and grinned down at him.

“What on Earth’s going on here?”

Immediately, Yeonjun’s laughter died down at the sound of that commanding voice to reveal an icy silence. Yeonjun froze, and so did Beomgyu. He was now painfully aware of the fact that they weren’t the only ones in the dressing room anymore. He felt beomgyu shift off of him to kneel on the floor next to him, and Yeonjun sat up, rubbing the back of his head as he peered round.

There was now a rather large crowd standing around both of them, all the stylists, all the prop designers, and most of the camera crew too. He looked round at the crowd’s shocked and startled faces, desperately searching for Soobin. If he ever needed a friend, it was right now, but unfortunately, he couldn’t spot him anywhere. But he did see the Director, standing right at the front, arms crossed, face red and furious.

“I believe I’m owed an explanation.”

***
Needless to say, the Director was not pleased, not pleased at all, and after Yeonjun and Beomgyu had gotten to their feet in front of the crowd, they’d been ordered to sit against the wall on plastic chairs like a pair of disgraced school boys. The Director had the proceed to fume and shout and lectured, letting both models know how much of a disgrace they’d brought to the company, and implying that they’d both soon be saying goodbye to their jobs while the crowd of curious and gossiping staff had been free to stand by and watch the whole mortifying scene unfold.

Not long after that, they’d been left alone in the dressing room, while the crowd had eventually dispersed to only a few staff still packing away in the far corners. The Director was now apparently having a very in depth meeting about the situation with the board members, discussing what exactly the plan was from here, and more importantly, whether Yeonjun and Beomgyu would be keeping their jobs.

Both of them sat in silence, furious with each other. There were exactly three plastic chairs set up against the wall of the dressing room where they’d been told to sit, but they’d both deliberately left the middle chair empty, facing away from each other.

Yeonjun sat there with his arms folded across his chest, one leg crossed over the other, feeling the last remaining shred of adrenaline from their fight leave him, the exhaustion finally settling in. The front of his outfit was still soaked in a dark red stain of tomato juice. Needless to say, Yeonjun was feeling particularly cold, sticky and very uncomfortable, as though he needed another layer of humiliation on top of everything else that had gone on.

And what was more, his left wrist was starting to throb, pain shooting up his forearm from where he’d landed awkwardly when he’d fallen on top of Beomgyu at the start of their fight. It was just another reminder of how much he despised the man sitting less than a meter away from him. It wasn’t as though Yeonjun was particularly proud of his behaviour, but he still felt as though the fault was equally distributed between the both of them- if anything, they were just as bad as each other.

The wait was taking forever, and the agony of not knowing was almost too much to bear. He knew it was almost hopeless to even think that his job was safe, but still-

And then he saw Soobin, walking into the dressing room looking rather flustered and anxious, eyes scanning the room as though looking for someone. As soon as he spotted Yeonjun however, Soobin’s face turned to an expression of relief and he beckoned for Yeonjun to come over, which he did, grabbing hold of Soobin’s sleeve and tugging him over to the furthest corner of the room. Yoenjun was more than keen to get as far away from Beomgyu as he possibly could while Soobin gawked at him, eyes trailing down his front at the very obvious stain.

“What’s going on? You look as though you’ve been shot!” Soobin said, mouth agape as Yeonjun rolled his eyes.

“Thanks.” Yeonjun said sarcastically, and then added “It’s just juice.” while Soobin continued to look at him in disbelief. Meanwhile, some of the staff were still milling about in the dressing room, packing away items and getting ready to leave. None of them paid them any attention though.

“So, what happened? I heard you and Beomgyu had some sort of….fight? But I thought you didn’t have a problem with each other? ” Soobin asked, curious now but he asked the question uncertainly, as though he couldn’t really bring himself to believe such a thing.

“We didn’t, at least, not at the beginning. But he…” Here, Yeonjun couldn’t help but look back round at Beomgyu, who was still sitting where he’d left him, over on the plastic chairs by the wall. Soobin followed his gaze. Beomgyu was currently fiddling with that stupid crown of his, mouth set into a pout, obvilously sulking. Just the sight of him made that spark of anger flare up in him once more, but it was very faint. Yeonjun turn back and said, knowing it would sound ridiculous:

“He doesn’t like tomatoes.”

“What’s that got to do with anything?” Soobin asked, frowning, obviously confused, and Yeonjun couldn’t blame him. He was struggling to wrap his head around how his innocent mistake and Beomgyu’s apparent stubbornness had caused things to get so out of control.

“A lot more than you’d think. It’s a long story. Look, have you heard anything from the Director? You weren’t there when he walked in on the fight were you? But do you know if….?” here, Yeonjun trailed off, barely able to ask the question, for fear of what he’d hear.

“You mean do I know if you’re going to be fired?” Soobin asked and Yeonjun nodded, the anxiety threatening to overwhelm him. Modeling was all he knew, and he was good at it, he knew that much. If he’d lost his job after all this time…

“Well, I can’t really say for certain.” Soobin began cautiously, looking as though he didn’t want to give Yeonjun false hope, but Yeonjun gestured for him to continue, which he did after a second:

“I must have still been on set when the Director found out about your fight, but after that I did pass the meeting room, and it was pretty heated in there. Although from what I’ve heard, you shouldn’t be too worried. I think they’re leaning towards keeping you on, with a warning of course.”

Here, Yeonjun blinked in surprise. That had not been what he was expecting at all. So he was safe? Did he really still have a job at Frost?

“Are- are you sure?” Yeonjun asked, not wanting to get his hopes up, but Soobin nodded now, smiling.

“Yes, I mean, that’s from what I’ve heard. But you’re an asset to the label, and you know it. They need you. And if you left, I’d be losing my closest friend at the company.” Soobin said.

Here Yeonjun couldn’t help but smile at that, the relief overcoming him all at once, but then he felt his face fall as he remembered something.

“And what about Beomgyu? What’s going to happen to him?”

Here, Soobin looked awkward, not quite meeting his eyes, and it was then that Yeonjun knew that Soobin knew something more, but had been reluctant to tell him.

“Come on, tell me.” he said, although Yeonjun wasn’t entirely sure why he wanted to know so badly. He shouldn’t have cared either way, should he?

“I think…” Soobin lowered his voice, throwing a quick glance Beomgyu’s way, but Yeonjun tugged at his friend’s arm to make him turn back round. “...I think they’re going to let him go.”

“What?” Yeonjun asked, not quite sure he was hearing correctly.

“So he’ll be fired?”

“That’s what it sounds like.” Soobin replied, face serious now. “I mean, they never had a problem with you until he turned up, so it only makes sense for them to keep you on and let him go, not the other way round. Besides, it’s more cost effective that way. If they let you go, they’ll lose customers, you have a massive fan base, you’re already popular. With him, well, he’s just started out, it’s his first modeling job in the industry. So far, no one knows his face. It’s just easier that way.” Soobin said sadly, while Yeonjun attempted to process this information all at once, wondering why he wasn’t jumping for joy at this news.

So the only reason they were keeping him but letting Beomgyu go was because he was...what? New to the industry?

And then Yeonjun frowned, sure he’d missed something.

“Hang on, you just said it was Beomgyu’s first time in the modeling industry? So this is his first job ever as a model? He’s had no experience before this?” Yeonjun asked urgently, struggling to keep his voice down, not wanting Beomgyu to hear even a snippet of their conversation. Even so, he didn’t dare turn round to check, just in case.

Soobin nodded. “That’s what I said. Didn’t you know?”

“No. I just thought he’d had less experience, not no experience.” Yeonjun replied, but suddenly, it was all making so much more sense. The fact that this was Beomgyu’s first job as a model explained a whole lot of things, from the way he’d been acting at the very start, so nervous he could barely talk to anyone, to his harsh self criticism when they’d monitored their photos.

“Why are you looking like that? I thought you’d be pleased considering the fight and everything?” Soobin asked uncertainly. Yeonjun wasn’t really sure he could even answer that question himself. Why wasn’t he pleased? After everything that had happened, he should have been happy to see the back of Choi Beomgyu.

“I don’t know.'' Yeonjun said quietly, shaking his head and then peering back up at Soobin, who gave him a sad smile.

“You feel sorry for him don’t you?”

“No!” Yeonjun lied, but Soobin raised an eyebrow.

“Sure you don’t.” he said, and Yeonjun gave him a slight scowl to warn him not to push the subject. Soobin got the message as he now said:

“Ok, well, I think I’ll have to go. They probably want me down in the developing room to sort through the photos, and I'll have to sit in with the Director later anyway with the other photographers to go over the shoot, and everything else. I only came in here looking to tell you what I heard. You’ll be ok waiting here, right?” he asked, to which Yeonjun nodded gratefully.

“I’ll be fine.” Yeonjun said, making to turn round, but just as he did, Soobin said, only half joking:

“Just make sure you don’t kill each other while I’m gone.”

“I can’t promise that, but I’ll try.” Yeonjun said, grinning back at Soobin as his friend gave him a final nod and left, walking briskly back out the door and out of sight.

Yeonjun then turned back round, making his way over to the chairs, but when he looked round, he suddenly noticed that Beomgyu was nowhere to be found. He’d somehow disappeared during the course of his and Soobin’s conversation.

Confused, Yeonjun whipped round to ask Soobin if he’d seen Beomgyu u get up and leave, but of course his friend was already gone, and Yeonjun couldn’t risk rushing off around the building. Besides, the Director had given them boht specific instructions to stay put while things were being decided, and he’d hate to think what would happen if both of them were caught disobeying direct orders.

Still, Beomgyu couldn’t have gotten very far, and as Yeonjun sat back down, his wrist gave another painful throb, and he silently cursed himself for not asking Soobin whether he could fetch him an ice pack while he’d had the chance. Yeonjun went back to sitting down with his legs crossed and arms folded, trying to sort out his very conflicting feelings towards everything that he’d just heard.

One the one hand, Yeonjun was keeping his job, which was probably more than he deserved considering the circumstances, but on the other, it looked as though Beomgyu’s career was ending before it had ever really started. The very thought caused his heart to sink a little, fighting against a strange mixture of guilt and pity, and an odd sense of loss, as though he’d miss Beomgyu’s company- infuriating as it was- once he was gone, which made no sense at all.

But just as Yeonjun was getting lost in these thoughts, he suddenly felt a presence standing right infront of him, and he looked up to see Beomgyu, suddenly standing before him, with an ice pack in his outstretched hand.

“Here.”

Yeonjun raised an eyebrow in surprise, keeping the rest of his face as neutral as possible and eyeing the ice pack suspiciously.

“Take it. It’s for your wrist.” Beomgyu said in a small voice, but his tone was genuine and his eyes held no malice as they held each other’s gazes for a few long moments, until Yeonjun gave in and took the ice pack, placing it on his wrist and instantly feeling much better.

“Thanks.” he muttered, as Beomgyu nodded once and sat down on the furthest chair away from him, leaving the middle chair empty once more. There was silence for a few minutes, neither one wanting to acknowledge the other. But Yeonjun was even more surprised and very much confused at Beomgyu’s sudden act of kindness.

But then he eventually turned round just enough so that he could watch Beomgyu, sitting there, still fiddling with his crown,and now he’d started pulling off the rose buds, ripping them to shreds as they fell to the floor. Beomgyu’s expression was so focused, so intense that he seemed oblivious to the world around him. That was, until he suddenly looked up and met Yeonjun’s eye, saying quietly:

“You were right. What you said before. I don’t have what it takes to be a model. I may as well quit now.” Beomgyu looked so dejected, and small, and there it was again- that stab of guilt going straight to Yeonjun’s heart.

“I told you, I didn't mean that. What I said before, it’s not true. I was just angry. I wanted to find words to hurt you, and I’m sorry for that.” Yeonjun said, and he meant it, even as he felt the stab of guilt increase now as Beomgyu’s bottom lip wobbled as he sat there all hunched up and sad.

“That doesn’t change the fact that you’re still right.” Beomgyu said quietly, now looking away, continuing to rip out the little rose buds on his crown even more violently than before, as though he were taking out all his hurt on the crown.

Yeonjun watched in silence, not really sure how he was supposed to respond. He couldn’t take back his words, he knew that, and even though Beomgyu had done more than his fair share of aggravating him throughout the whole day, Yeonjun was now more angry with himself that anyone else: he should have known better, acted more maturely, not risen to the bait, no matter how much Beomgyu and taunted him.

“I was so nervous.”

Yeonjun looked up curiously once more to see Beomgyu, who had almost completely destroyed his crown but still not looking at him, eyebrows knitted together furiously.

“This was my first time modelling. I didn’t think it would ever actually happen especially with Frost. It’s been my top fashion brand that I aimed to work for ever since I decided I wanted to become a model. It’s always been my goal. But I was excited too. I promised myself that if I ever got a job at Frost, I’d do my very best, work hard to impress the Director, all the staff, and the models, to show them that I could do it.”

Here, he paused, taking a deep breath, and now Yeonjun was interested. Beomgyu had just confirmed that yes, this was in fact his very first modelling job, just as Soobin has said, but what else was there that Yeonjun didn’t know about him?

“I used to look at Frost magazines, at the models. I used to see you in them.” Beomgyu said, now chancing a shy glance at Yeonjun, who was taken aback at hearing this particular piece of information. It was a rather odd concept to grasp, imagining Beomgyu, aspiring to be a model, looking at his pictures and then suddenly here they were, finally working together.

“I always admired you. You were my favourite, out of everyone. You could pull off any style, you were always so confident, and I looked up to you. I wanted to be just like you, on the front cover, my picture displayed on screens, on posters around stores, on huge advertisements in town. You were my inspiration.”

Beomgyu then peered up through his hair to look directly into Yeonjun’s eyes, and though it was only faint, Yeonjun could just about detect a blush colouring his cheeks, the obvious shyness in his gaze as he confessed these things. It must have been difficult, admitting all of that, especially after everything that had happened.

“I- I had no idea.” Yeonjun said, feeling extremely flattered and stunned, and a little awkward, that he had basically been working with a fan of his all day and hadn’t even realised it. But then he felt baffled as a thought dawned on him now inlight of this new information.

“Hang on a second, if you look up to me as much as you say you, do how do you explain your behavior today then?” Yeonjun asked, feeling the need for an explanation.

Beomgyu shrugged, now looking extremely uncomfortable and averting his gaze as he said:

“Like I said, I was nervous. I was so nervous today that I felt physically sick. I didn’t think I could do itm and when I met you, I thought you were just everything that I wanted to be, and I was jealous. I was jealous because you’re the company favourite. They love you, and I’m no one. Not really. I know it takes years to build a reputation in this industry, and I know it’s hard work, and I could see that you’ve worked harder than anyone. But I was scared- I didn’t think I’d ever be able to become as successful as you, no matter how hard I worked for it. So when you handed me that drink, and I realised that it was tomato juice, I guess I took my feelings out on you. I thought that if I just concentrated on hating you, then I wouldn't have to think about how insecure I was.”

Beomgyu then fell silent, wrapping his arms around himself as he finally let the now very dishevelled crown fall to the ground. Yeonjun watched it fall, watched as it rolled away a few feet and stopped.

“So, it wasn’t even about the tomato juice, was it? This was about you deciding that instead of dealing with your own negative feelings, you’d just take it out on me? ” he asked, wondering what sort of ridiculous logic this was, and how many more surprises he could take today. Beomgyu nodded shamefully.

“That is possibly one of the worst ideas for dealing with your problems that I’ve ever heard!” Yeonjun said, disbelievingly, to which Beomgyu nodded once more, nibbling at his bottom lip, fully agreeing with Yeonjun’s verdict.

They sat there for a few more minutes in silence. Beomgyu seemed to have nothing more to say, and Yeonjun shook his head, feeling wave after wave of revelations crash over him. This was almost too much to process. So all of it- every single petty action, every single insult, every hissed response, every glare, all that had been because of what? Boeomgyu’s misdirected insecurities? Yeonjun almost couldn’t believe it. At least he finally had his answers, and he found that now, after everything that he’d been told, he could no longer bring himself to hate Choi Beomgyu.

But when he turned back around, he found that Beomgyu had started to cry. His eyes had welled up with tears, and even though he was peering down at the floor, Yeonjun could still see tear tracks running down Beomgyu’s now blotchy face, as he sat there silently crying, his eyes closing as more tears spilled over.

“Oh come on, don’t cry.” Yeonjun said, as Beomgyu turned to him, tears still falling down his cheeks as he sniffled. Beomgyu raised his hand to rub at his watery eyes, smudging his make-up a little but then again that didn’t really matter much now anyway.

“I’m sorry, I’m sorry for everything.” Beomgyu mumbled through his tears, now rubbing at his eyes more furiously in an attempt to stop crying, and in the process he managed to rub at the small scratch he’d given himself under his left eye.

“Ow!” Beomgyu winced as he scraped the cut, sniffing now, and though Yeonjun had no more ill feelings towards him, he had to hold back the urge to tease him for being such a child.

“I can’t believe you hit me!” Beomgyu said, pouting, eyes glassy with tears, but his little frown made Yeonjun completely forget about his resolve not to tease Beomgyu any further.

“Hey! I didn’t hit you! You hit yourself, remember?” he said, to which Beomgyu only huffed slightly, gingerly running a finger across the cut.

“It hurts.” he said and Yeonjun sighed, now putting down the ice pack that he’d been pressing to his wrist this whole time and shifting closer.

“Come here, let me look at it.” he said, gesturing for Beomgyu to come closer, but he shook his head, flinching away from Yeonjun’s outstretched hand.

“Stop being a baby!” Yeonjun said, to which Beomgyu suddenly scowled, although he looked anything but menacing.

“I’m not a baby!”

“Then stop acting like one!”

They both held each other's gazes for a few long seconds, before Beomgyu decided to give in, moving to sit in the middle chair right next to Yeonjun. Beomgyu then allowed Yoenjun to gently tilt up his chin with his hand so that he could get a closer look at the cut.

“It’s nothing. Just a scratch, you’ll live.” Yeonjun said, carefully wiping away Beomgyu’s tears with his thumb as he now cupped Beomgyu’s face with his hand.

Beomgyu lowered his gaze, eyes cast downwards as though he couldn’t keep eye contact, but not before Yeonjun saw the shame, the sadness and disappointment in those eyes, that feeling of being absolutely defeated, hopeless.

“Hey, look at me.” he said softly, and right away, Beomgyu lifted his gaze, those deep brown eyes looking right at Yeonjun’s, and for a split second, he found it difficult to breathe, his mind emptying of what he was about to say. Those eyes could melt the coldest of hearts.

“I’m going to be fired, aren’t I?” Beomgyu whispered, his voice wobbling at the end. And now Yeonjun knew exactly what he should say, because he couldn't watch Beomgyu cry anymore, it didn’t matter what had happened. He never wanted to see Beomgyu sad.

“No, you're not. Or at least, not if I can help it.” Yeonjun took a deep breath, wondering if he should really be doing this, why he was doing this, but Beomgyu’s expression of hope, like a small flicker of light in his eyes as Yeonjun cupped his face in his hands was enough to tell him that he was doing the right thing.

“I’ll talk to the Director. I’ll try and convince him to let you have a second chance. They’re more likely to listen to me, so when we get into that meeting, just let me do the talking. I’ll tell them everything, I’m not going to lie, I won’t sugarcoat what happened, but I’ll make it clear that it wasn’t just you. I’m just as much to blame for this as you are. And I’ll get Soobin to show them the photos we took from the shoot, to make them see you’ve got potential. I’m not guaranteeing anything, no promises, but I’ll do everything I can, ok?”

He said, now taking his hands away from Beomgyu’s face, suddenly aware that they’d been gazing at each other with too much intensity for far too long to be considered normal, but Beomgyu didn't seem to mind, as he sat there, looking bewildered, eyes wide in shock, mouth slightly open.

“You- you’d do that? For me? Even after how I treated you?” he asked, in disbelief, and Yeonjun nodded, giving a small smile inreturn.

“Yes.”

“But why?” Beomgyu asked, shaking his head, as though he couldn’t believe what he’d just heard, as though he didn’t feel that he deserved it.

“Because I was just like you once. Starting out as a model, unsure whether I'd make it. I know how scary that can be. You’ve got talent, so much talent, and it would be a shame to waste it. You’re not ‘nothing’, and I’m sorry that I made you feel as though you were. But I’m going to make them see that you’re too valuable to replace, that they can’t just fire you over one mistake. And honestly, I’d be sad to see you go.” Yeonjun said, willing Beomgyu to understand, to know that he was being serious, this wasn’t a joke.

“Thank you. Thank you so, so much.” Beomgyu said softly, and now he was smiling, and suddenly without any warning, Beomgyu flung himself at Yeonjun, wrapping his arms around him in a tight hug, chin resting on Yeonjun’s shoulder.

Needless to say, Yeonjun was taken aback by this sudden show of affection, but he quickly regained composure and managed to wrap his arms around Beomgyu, stiffly patting the younger male on the back.

“There, there. It’s ok. ” Yeonjun said awkwardly, and he heard a muffled giggle as Beomgyu laughed into his shoulder. Yeonjun rolled his eyes, and he fully expected Beomgyu to let go of him, but after a few more seconds, much to Yeonjun’s amusement and slight annoyance, they were still hugging.

“Alright, that’s enough, get off me.” Yeonjun said eventually as he gently shoved Beomgyu off of him.

“You’re all sticky.” Beomgyu complained as they parted, eyeing the horrible tomato-y stain all down Yeonjun’s front in disgust.

“Well, whose fault is that then?” Yeonjun shot back, but he wasn’t angry, and Beomgyu knew it as suddenly he reached forwards and took Yeonjun’s hand in his. Surprised, Yeonjun looked up from their joined hands at Beomgyu, who smiled shyly before saying:

“Thank you, for saying you’ll help me. It means a lot.”

And in that moment, it felt as though something had broken, but not in a bad way, more as though some sort of barrier had been broken, like a wall being shattered that had divided two nations, as though some sort of understanding had been built. It felt as though a war had finally ended in a mutual truce, and an alliance had been made between the two.

Now all they had to do was to convince the company, and everyone else for that matter, that the battle was finally over.

***
At the end, no one was fired. As expected, they were both pulled into countless disciplinary meetings over the next few days in order to decide on an appropriate outcome for their actions. It was a long and tedious process, but at the end, they’d gotten off rather lightly.

True to his word, Yeonjun had done most of the talking when it had come for them to tell their side of the story. He’d defended Beomgyu, saying that despite his less than professional behaviour, he felt as though if only he were given a second chance, he’d be a real asset to the company, that he saw potential in Beomgyu, and it would be a waste to let him go.

However, the most surprising thing had been when Beomgyu had also stood up and, despite what Yeonjun had said about him keeping quiet, he had also spoken out, but not to defend himself, but to defend Yeonjun. He’d said time and time again to the skeptical board members and the Director that he’d been the one mostly to blame, and that Yeonjun’s actions had been entirely provoked, that if any one of them should be kept on, it should be Yeonjun.

So it may have been luck, or maybe the board had actually been moved by both models’ sudden stand of unity, as they’d sat side by side, each defending the other, but in the end, they’d come to a conclusion that they both deserved another chance, and were let off with a warning.

And now, a whole two weeks later, Yeonjun was at yet another shooting for Frost, but this time, it was completely different. For one, they were shooting outside this time under a “First dates' ' concept, and as Yeonjun walked up the quiet street with small bakeries, cafes and grocery stores, he felt himself getting nervous, but not because of the shoot itself. A little way away, he felt the eyes of the cameras on him as he continued walking up the street. Having been told to make the shoot as ‘natural’ as possible, he had been asked to simply walk down two streets prior to turning into the one that was supposedly where Beomgyu was waiting for him, as though they really were on a first date.

This had been their first shooting since all those meetings, and it had been set up as both a second chance and a way in which both of them could prove that they could both work together without any problems. All through those strenuous meetings, he and Beomgyu had been sat right next to each other, but neither had had the chance to talk alone properly. Even for this shoot, they hadn't even been allowed to see each other beforehand. When Yeonjun finally got to see Beomgyu, it would be as though it were the first time, all over again.

And then Yeonjun saw him, standing outside a real ice cream shop, a little way off down the street that he’d just turned into, wearing a fluffy cardigan over his shoulders and holding two two fake ice cream cones, one greenish coloured and one pink.

When their eyes met, he saw Beomgyu’s face break into a smile as he held up those ice creams, and saw his eyes sparkling in the sunlight. Yeonjun couldn’t stop the grin from forming on his face- though this was a fake set up, and they were only pretending to be on a date for the sake of the shoot, Yeonjun’s smile had never been more genuine.

“Hi”.

“Hello.”

When Yeonjun finally reached Beomgyu, they both stood shyly next to each other, Beomgyu’s eyes not quite able to meet his, and Yeonjun felt his cheeks flush, his heart beating just that little bit faster. Why was this so awkward all of a sudden?

“So...are you going to pull my hair again?” Beomgyu asked, now just about managing to look Yeonjun directly in the eye, reminding him of their first shoot together.

Yeonjun raised an eyebrow.

“Well that depends. Are you going to stomp on my foot this time?” he teased, and Beomgyu shook his head slightly, as he offered out the greenish ice cream cone to Yeonjun, who took it. The colour reminded Yeonjun of mint chocolate.

They were then instructed by the Director to face the cameras, bodies slightly turned towards each other, faces forwards, each holding their respective ice creams up.

If Yeonjun focused enough, he could just about make out Soobin’s partially hidden face behind one of those camera flashes, clicking away happily amongst the rest of the photographers.

“Mint chocolate is my favourite ice cream flavour.'' Yeonjun whispered after a few moments of them both standing there in silence, and immediately after those words were out of his mouth, he wanted to internally kick himself. Why did he have to blurt out something so random?

But Beomgyu didn’t appear to mind. Infact, he seemed to find it very interesting, as he turned his face a little more towards Yeonjun and said softly:

“I hate mint chocolate.”

Now why wasn’t Yeonjun surprised?

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes as he looked down at Beomgyu, who gave the smallest of shrugs.

“What? I’m, picky ok?”

“Are there any other foods that don’t meet your standards?” Yeonjun asked, half wanting to know that answer, half dreading the response because he had a feeling it would be a long extensive list. At his words, Beomgyu’s face lit up as he started to speak softly, but all in a rush:

“Well, I don’t like tuna, prawns, or salmon. Basically any kind of seafood I hate, and I don’t like egg tarts, or avocadoes either. I can’t stand chilli peppers, especially the small ones, because they’re the spiciest. I hate all kinds of spicy food too like……”

Yeonjun let Beomgyu ramble on, introducing him to quite an impressive list of all the different foods that he couldn’t stand, and by the end of it, he was struggling not to laugh. Oddly enough, Yeonjun’s brain immediately conjured up an image of him taking Beomgyu out to a fancy restaurant on a date, only to find that he’d complain to a poor unfortunate waiter about every dish on the menu. For some reason though, Yeonjun wasn’t so opposed to this idea at all.

“...and of course I hate all foods containing tomatoes.” Beomgyu finished triumphantly.

Yeonjun blinked, slightly dazed as he came out of his own thoughts of a fantasy restaurant date with Beomgyu.

“Right. So, are there any foods you don’t hate?” he asked softly as he peered down at Beomgyu, who thought about this for a second, and then said:

“Do you know watermelon?”

At this, Yeonjun smirked. The way Boemgyu said it made it seem as though ‘watermelon’ was a person, and not a fruit at all.

“Yes, I do believe I’ve made my acquaintance with watermelon.” he mused, while Beomgyu, who had quickly caught on to the fact that he was being teased, started to pout, but his cheeks flushed a light shade of pink as he started up at Yeonjun definitely, chin jutted out in annoyance.

“Ok, ok, yes, I know watermelon. Anything else?” he asked, wanting to keep the peace, and Beomgyu’s smile returned.

“I like gummies. Jelly worms are my favorite.” he said.

“Aww, cute.” Yeonjun whispered, pursing his lips and blowing Beomgyu the smallest of air kisses, making Beomgyu blush even more.

“Ok, then, let's now try a bit of improvisation- without the props if you please!” the Director suddenly called out, and right away, a member of staff came out of the crowd behind the cameras and rushed onto the main set, carefully taking away the fake ice creams that both Yeonjun and Beomgyu had been holding for the last few minutes, and then rushing back off once more.

“Alright, let's carry on!” the Director called.

Yeonjun peered down at Beomgyu, who was looking oddly nervous, worriedly tugging at his cardigan sleeves now that he had nothing to hold in his hands.

“I don’t think I know how.” Beomgyu mumbled anxiously, and Yeonjun was reminded once more that of course, Beomgyu wasn’t an experienced model yet- he wasn’t going to know how to improvise on set because he’d had no experience doing so before. But thankfully, Yeonjun had had countless experiences with improv, he knew exactly how it worked, and what to do to keep up with the mood of any shoot..

“That’s fine.” Yeonjun said reassuringly, “Don’t worry, let’s just go over something we already know.” He said softly, and even though Beomgyu looked up at him, confused, Yeonjun felt as though this was the perfect opportunity. Not just to do well on the shoot, but also to make his feelings very clear, so that there was no doubt in either of their minds where each of them stood.

“What-?”

Beomgyu squeaked, but Yeonjun had already wrapped his arms around Beomgyu’s waist from behind, pulling him closer as he rested his chin on the other male’s shoulder, feeling the warmth of that cute fuzzy cardigan he was wearing, in exactly the same way Beomgyu had done to him on their very first shoot only two weeks before.

At first, he felt Beomgyu freeze in surprise, but then almost immediately after, he relaxed against him, letting himself lean on Yeonjun’s chest and turning his head slightly so that they could look at each other.

“That’s it! Perfect!” came the Director’s voice once more, but it sounded so far away.

“Do you remember this?” Yeonjun said, smiling as he held Beomgyu tight in his arms, watching Beomgyu give a small nod of his head, the light blush deepening as it went up his cheeks.

“I do. And you were right.” Beomgyu said softly.

“About what?” Yeonjun asked, and now their faces were so close, lips barely centimetres apart. He hoped Beomgyu couldn’t feel his heart beating. It was going way too fast, and if he heard, then it would give away the fact that despite his forwardness and apparent confidence, Yeonjun was a nervous wreck.

“You were right. I was enjoying it back them.” Beomgyu said sweetly, referring to two weeks prior at their first shoot, and the confession making Yeonjun’s heart soar. But then he asked:

“And what about now?”

“I like it even better now.” Beomgyu replied, and Yeonjun’s eyes widened. So could it be…?

“But I think I want more.” Beomgyu added, and Yeonjun watched as the tiniest hint of boldness came over Beomgyu as they held each other’s gazes, nowhere to hide for the other’s searching eyes.

“More?”

And as they looked at each other, it was like an electric current ran between them. Yeonjun looked into those deep dark eyes, and he felt himself melting. In that instant, they finally understood each other, after their bickering and fighting and misunderstandings, they finally understood each other perfectly.

“Ok then.”

And with that, Yeonjun straightened up, taking his chin off of Beomgyu’s shoulder as Beomgyu turned round completely so that they were properly facing each other now, and he felt Beomgyu’s arms come up and wrap themselves around his neck, while Yoenjun’s arms still circled beomgyu’s waist, holding onto each other tight.

“Are you sure?” Yeonjun asked softly, because he couldn’t believe it, couldn’t believe that this was actually happening, That Beomgyu would feel the same.

But Beomgyu nodded, now lifting his hand and gently brushing Yeonjun’s hair off of his forehead, letting his fingers trail down the side of his face, giving off a light tickling sensation. So close. They were so close, and Beomgyu’s touch was so gentle, so light….

“Sunbaenim, I-”

“Don’t.” Yeonjun said quietly, cutting Beomgyu off mid sentence. Beomgyu's mouth closed, he looked startled. There was something that Yeonjun had to say before they went any further, that had been bothering him ever since they’d met, and he couldn’t let it carry on.

“Don’t call me ‘sunbaenim’, call me ‘hyung’.” Yeonjun said, and right there, Beomgyu’s face broke into a smile and Yeonjun couldn’t help it as he now tilted Beomgyu’s chin up with one hand as he leaned forwards.

When their lips met, it was bliss, pure bliss. Beomgyu was both simultaneously hotter and sweeter than Yeonjun could ever have imagined, pulling him down into a deeper kind of heaven, and their kiss could have lasted minutes, or hours, or even days. Yeonjun wanted it to last for eternity, but eventually, they had to break apart, and when they did, their faces were still so close, both slightly out of breath.

“So...what were you saying just then?” Yeonjun asked, suddenly breaking the silence, and Beomgyu smiled, amrs still wrapped around Yeonjun’s neck, gazing up at him with an adoration that Yeonjun felt as though he almost didn’t deserve.

“I like you.” Beomgyu whispered softly, and at those words, Yeonjun’s heart soared, so high he was practically flying.

“I like you more.” Yeonjun replied, now leaning forwards and planting a soft kiss on the top of Beomgyu's head, causing him to lean in and bury his face into Yeonjun’s chest, giggling slightly out of both happiness and shyness.

“Hey, face to the camera, you need at least your side profile showing at all times.” Yeonjun said gently to Beomgyu, although he found the small mistake endearing. Beomgyu lifted his head slightly, both looking into the cameras now as the Director’s voice suddenly called out:

“Best shot we’ve got! You two are going straight on the front page with this one!” he yelled delightedly, causing both of them to beam.

The staff all seemed equally excited as the Director started to sing their praises, and amongst the crowd, Yeonjun saw Soobin, giving both of them a double thumbs up, but Yeonjun wasn’t counting on his friend’s seemingly innocent attitude. He knew he’d be in for a lot of teasing later on.

But it didn't matter. Of course, the fact that this shot, the one of them mid kiss, was going to make the front page of Frost magazine, was absolutely incredible, that they could showcase their feelings for each other in such a public way. But as Yeonjun looked down at Beomgyu, watching how his face lit up when their eyes met, Yeonjun realised that this was the most important thing, this beautiful, sweet, talented person, right here in his arms, shining brighter than the purest snow: Choi Beomgyu, the man who had melted his heart.