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When Melt was approached with the offer to take on the role for the lead actor in Sweet Today’s adaptation, he scoffed and accepted it without a second thought.
The role seemed easy enough, he definitely had the looks for it, and it would probably lead to him getting more modelling or potentially even more acting gigs. Not that he was the best actor, but any work was something to occupy his time with. Plus, he couldn’t complain about the extra income either.
Once he’d heard about the role of the stalker being dropped, he rolled his eyes. It was just another annoyance to deal with, the production of Sweet Today had been full of them from the start, especially since the production team had to bend over backwards to fit Melt’s modeling schedule. Well, he was glad to be the center of attention, having everyone doting over him as the lead role of the adaptation.
Part of Melt was glad to see the initial actor for the stalker had quit suddenly, though. The guy was a pain in the ass to deal with, constantly complaining throughout the production, and sure, having to deal with the rescheduling that followed from the guy quitting suddenly sucked, but at least he wasn’t around to bitch anymore. Not that Melt was any better, he wasn’t, but he thought he wasn’t as bad as that guy was to work with.
Melt learning that they’d decided to skip the table reading and jump right into filming immediately after one take of rehearsals bothered him less than it should’ve. At least it’d meant he’d be getting off the set sooner, thank god.
On the drive to the filming location, Melt noticed it was raining. He hated that, his hair would definitely be getting all puffy and hard to deal with from the humidity in the air. He sighed as he pressed his cheek against the window of the car, watching the raindrops trickle down on the outside, listening to the slight hum of the car’s engine.
As Melt exited the car, his gaze drifted upwards for just a moment, taking note of how the sky was completely covered in dark clouds, stretching across the horizon as far as his gaze could see.
So it was going to be one of those days.
Melt stepped inside, glancing around at everyone who’d arrived before him, his gaze falling on Kana as he began to walk towards her, figuring he had nothing better to do than making small talk.
Melt approached Kana and the boy she was with, it was someone he didn’t recognize, and so he assumed that guy was the one who’d been casted to take over as the stalker last minute.
“Yo, Kana,” Melt sighed as he absently played with part of his hair, clearly wearing his disinterest for the situation on his face. “The rain’s kind of gnarly today, I’d like the filming to be delayed.”
“It’s just leaking a little bit, it should be fine.” Kana, who was friendly as always in her interactions with Melt, gave him a gentle but understanding smile. She'd been easy to work with throughout the entire production, Melt noted, unlike a certain someone who’d been cast as the stalker before.
“Well, when it gets all humid my hair puffs up. And this place feels really damp, it’s uncomfortable.” Melt continued to fiddle with his hair, his gaze absently trailing from Kana to the boy beside her, as if he was silently asking who the other was.
Kana laughed nervously, and then gestured to the boy beside her. “Oh, let me introduce you two, he’s playing the stalker.”
“Hoshino Aqua, pleased to meet you…” Aqua bowed his head.
Melt took one look at Aqua and scoffed, brushing past him with the assumption that he was just another pretty boy hired for his looks over his acting skills, offering an uninterested response of, “Yeah, hi.”
Melt overheard Aqua and Kana whispering to each other as he walked away, but he disregarded both of them completely. He had other things to worry about, such as getting his makeup done and wanting to complain more about the humidity in the air, his hair would definitely be all puffy by the end of the filming session, which was no good considering he had a shoot to get to right after. He figured the rain wouldn’t be letting up anytime soon, considering that the sound of the raindrops hitting the ground could be heard even from the inside.
Melt was torn away from his thoughts as he heard one of the cast members call out, “We’re starting the rehearsal!”
Their initial runthrough of the script went fine, with nothing to write home about. On one hand, Melt was annoyed that the time they’d had for the final episode had been cut so short, but on the other hand, it meant he’d get out of there quicker with everything being so crammed on time. He felt a drop of water hit his cheek, the cast calling a break after pointing out the leaking, that was another reason he’d be glad to get out of there sooner.
Honestly, Melt didn’t care about acting and it showed through his actions, doing the bare minimum needed, impeding the other actors around him without even batting an eye. The producer was after pretty faces and nothing more, so Melt got a passing mark on his less than lackluster performance.
Acting ability didn’t matter here, so why should Melt care to put in anything more than what was necessary?
That was his mindset, anyway.
Melt stretched and grabbed his water bottle that’d been left on a nearby table, unsure of what to do during the short break. While he took a sip of water, his gaze travelled around the makeshift studio, eyes scanning for anything noteworthy, his gaze landing on Aqua and Kana talking to each other. They always seemed to be near each other, Melt noted.
Not that it mattered, but it was something that stuck out like a sore thumb to him.
Melt shrugged to himself, setting down the water bottle, opting to go on his phone for a few minutes, pulling it from out of his pocket. He took a quick glance at his schedule, internally cringing from noticing how close they’d be cutting it with the shooting for Sweet Today and the photo shoot he had to attend immediately after.
His attention briefly turned towards scrolling through his social media of choice, glossing over boring news articles and trending topics with a bored gaze. Melt didn’t know why he wasted so much time on social media, there was never anything noteworthy on there.
With a sigh, Melt pocketed his phone once again, not before he snuck a glance at the time, realizing he needed to get his makeup and hair fixed before they began filming.
Melt grumbled as he felt some kind of setting powder being tapped onto his face by the makeup artists, scrunching up his nose from the particles irritating his nasal track. Not that wearing makeup bothered Melt, if it enhanced his features he saw no problem with using it. After all, he was used to being doted over at his photo shoots by the makeup teams, he liked the attention, but hated how irritated some of the products they used made his skin feel.
“Shooting is starting again!”
Melt sighed as he moved, getting in place to film, idly picking at his sleeves as he waited to start.
The starting sound snapped.
The scene was going fine, with Melt putting in the bare amount of effort needed. That was fine, he thought, he knew no one on set was after him for his acting ability anyway. It was going fine, until the stalker was meant to show up in the scene.
At that point, Melt would soon realize his mistake of disregarding Aqua so easily earlier.
The atmosphere shifted as Aqua approached both Melt and Kana, the sound of his footsteps heightened as he stepped into the puddle of water as he approached, the splashing sound becoming the main focal point in the moment. It was ominous and eerie, with the air feeling heavier than it’d been as compared to their earlier runthrough of the script.
Aqua’s bangs covered his eyes, and having the hood of his hoodie pulled up over his head added to the eerie feeling in the atmosphere as he spoke. “This girl isn’t the kind of person you think she is. She’ll never be compatible with a playboy like you, she’s the same kind of person as me. She’ll wither and die in the sun, the darkness suits her.”
Aqua stepped forward, now standing across from Melt, his voice sounding almost as if it were laced with venom, bitter, seething words dripping out, sending a chill down Melt’s spine.
No, he wasn’t just eerie, he was creepy as fuck.
“You’re different from us.”
Aqua stepped even closer to Melt, enough for his voice to be heard directly in Melt’s ear, just a whisper meant for him.
“You’re pretty ugly up close.”
Aqua’s gaze finally met Melt’s, giving him the opportunity to stare into Aqua’s eyes for a moment, drowning in the seemingly endless abyss of his gaze as he gave him a smirk. “Photoshop really does wonders.”
..Huh?
It took a moment for Melt to realize what had just happened, how Aqua went off script and was seemingly insulting him. And oh, he was pissed.
“What the fuck did you just say?!” Melt’s eyes widened as he gripped onto Aqua’s shirt, ready to sock him out if needed, despite the cameras still rolling. Was this guy really trying to get on Melt’s bad side?
No, Melt quickly realized, he wasn’t. Aqua was trying to get Melt to put on a good performance, and it sure as hell was working, even going as far as to improvise his lines.
Aqua knew how to push all of Melt’s buttons in the right ways to get him to react like that, despite them having known each other for barely half a day.
At that moment, Aqua was in control of what happened in the scene.
Melt felt like a marionette, with Aqua pulling all of his strings to get him to react in the ways he wanted.
It felt like the world stopped for a moment, as everyone was focused on watching the scene unfold, Melt’s hand gripping onto the front of Aqua’s hoodie.
“Are you deaf?!” Aqua repeated louder, as if he hadn’t just gone completely off script for a moment. “I said you have nothing to gain from protecting that woman!”
Melt, after getting over the initial moment of anger, remembered his lines, gripping onto Aqua’s shoulder, channeling his emotions into his performance. “This girl is a precious friend to me!”
“I’ll protect her even if it kills me.” Melt shoved Aqua away as he took his place in front of Kana, arms spread wide in front of her.
“There’s nothing you can do about it.” Aqua stepped back and pulled the knife out of his pocket, smirking before charging at Melt and Kana, eyes wide as he shouted, “Just give up and get the fuck out!”
Melt moved quickly, going in as if he were going to actually punch Aqua, it was fine, he wouldn’t actually punch the guy, until he actually made contact with Aqua, knocking him to the ground. It took a moment for the fact that Melt had actually struck Aqua to set in, but before he could lament over it for any longer the scene was progressing.
“Nobody wants someone like you, know your place, and stop dreaming already. You’ll never amount to anything, your life is nothing but pitch darkness.”
Aqua finished his lines, sitting crossed legged on the ground, still giving off an energy that Melt didn’t even know how to pinpoint, it was something he’d never expected to see coming from Aqua, considering how their interaction went before.
Melt didn’t think the guy had any actual acting skills, but he was proven wrong quickly.
And now, as they were nearing the end of the scene, Melt’s gaze drifted over to Kana, who was supposed to flick her crying switch to complete the scene.
“Even so, I believe there is light.” Kana spoke softly, tears welling up in her eyes, spilling down her cheeks.
And just like that, the scene was finished.
Melt, for whatever reason, felt guilty about actually punching Aqua during the filming, a feeling that he couldn’t ignore no matter how hard he tried to. Well, he decided it would be best to apologize since he couldn’t get his guilt out of his head.
He stood with a perplexed look on his face before deciding to actually approach Aqua, who’d been holding a towel up to his face, just above the bruise.
“Hey, I’m sorry..” Melt started, awkwardly fidgeting with his hands, he wasn’t sure why he was feeling so nervous. “That punch actually connected, and I put some force into it too.”
Aqua turned to look at Melt. “You don’t have to apologize, I wanted you to get fired up, that’s all.”
Melt seemed even more perplexed now, getting hit was intentional?
Aqua must’ve picked up on Melt’s confusion, as he decided to add onto what he’d already said. “After all, acting should carry emotion along with it. You gave a good performance.”
“Thanks to that, Arima got her chance to give her best performance too.” Aqua turned to walk away, hands in the pocket of his hoodie, leaving Melt behind with even more questions and complicated feelings than he’d started with when he arrived on set.
After all, acting should carry emotion along with it.
That line stayed in Melt’s head throughout the whole day, during his shoot and even when he’d gotten home that evening.
Even though the scene with Aqua was short lived, Melt found himself unable to get Aqua out of his head even months after the conclusion of Sweet Today’s filming.
The way that Aqua knew how to push all of Melt's buttons in such a short amount of time had him awestruck.
Was Melt really that easy of a person to read?
Perhaps he was.
Melt didn't show up for the wrap up party for Sweet Today.
How could he, when it started to set in that he'd been the one to ruin the entire show? It was only saved in the final episode because Aqua came in at the right time, Aqua, Aqua, it was always Aqua.
Melt didn't know if he could face Aqua again.
As Melt was trying to sleep one night, his mind wandered as he came to the conclusion that the character he’d played in Sweet Today’s adaptation shared more similarities with himself than he wanted to admit to.
Playboy.
That’s what he’d been doing the whole time at school, hadn’t he? Toying with others just because he could, getting with any girl who showed any interest in him.
Melt hated it. He didn’t want to view himself like that, and he definitely didn’t want anyone else thinking of him like that either.
It didn’t sit right with Melt, not one bit.
He needed something else to focus on. He needed something he could prove himself in.
Melt needed to better himself, he knew he did.
And suddenly, it dawned on him: acting. He could take up learning how to act for real.
There was only one thing on his mind: Aqua. Of course it was Aqua, being captivated by his performance as the stalker made Melt want to do that too. He wanted to act with that kind of skill.
It was always Aqua.
At times, Melt had thoughts of wondering if Aqua ever thought of him, but he promptly shook his head at those thoughts. No, he was just being silly. If Aqua ever thought of him, clearly it wouldn’t be the same regard as Melt thought of Aqua in such a positive light. After all, Melt was just the guy who fucked up Sweet Today, he figured he’d always be known as that.
Every time Melt practiced his acting, he thought of Aqua.
Through every action, every word, every book he picked up that was filled with way too much complicated Kanji for him to understand, he thought of Aqua.
Would Aqua be pleased to see how far Melt had come? Would he disregard him?
Melt didn’t know, but he wanted to.
Melt thought about how much he wanted to apologize to Aqua for his ego too, to show how much he’d grown as a person since their last encounter, to prove to Aqua that maybe, just maybe, he’d be able to contend as a rival if they ever acted again together.
He wanted to apologize, but had no opportunity to do so.
Melt found his opportunity to speak to Aqua again through Tokyo Blade.
This time, he wouldn’t be a disappointment to anyone. This time, he’d prove to everyone his worth as an actor, even if he didn’t think he deserved it.
Melt would prove to Aqua that he’d improved.
He would finally thank Aqua, for being the driving force behind his self-improvements, even if the two of them had barely interacted. He’d make it up to Aqua somehow, he knew he would.
This time, Melt was going to give it his all.