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He had already accepted death.
He was ready; he was prepared to die this round. He did falter when his childhood friend suddenly kissed him then choked him, but it was okay. He was dead either way.
Or so he thought.
He felt the grip around his neck tighten one last time before suddenly loosening. He opened his eyes just in time to see the black-haired boy fall to the ground, blood creating a puddle under him.
Above them, an announcement appeared.
[ Till Win ]
Even with the hesitant cheer of the crowd and the fading of the music, he couldn’t pull his eyes away, the puddle slowly spreading to his feet. He dropped his arm defeatedly.
The lights flickered off and the audience eventually silenced. Still, he stood quietly in front of the body of the person who sacrificed their life for him, of the person who loved him.
Finally……
“Cut!”
…
Till immediately lifted his head and shook some of the rain out of his hair. As he did so, the stage relit and life came back to the set.
“That was great! I don’t think we even have to do another take,” the director said.
Till let out a sigh of relief. “Oh thank god.”
“I wouldn’t mind doing another take.” Ivan added with a mischievous grin as he sat up from the puddle of fake blood. The director just smiled and began instructing clean up of the set.
Till rolled his eyes as he pulled up Ivan from the ground. Some fake blood accidentally got on his hands and he ended cussing and complaining about how stain-y the substance is, while Ivan stood next to him half drowned in….. also wearing white. He just smiled as he stared at Till’s face.
Some cheers could be heard from the side. The two boys glanced over to see a pair of girls smiling and waving them over. One of them had short messy pink hair and was dressed up for recording, while the other had black hair and wore normal clothing, like someone who was just going out.
Till ran excitedly to them, or most just to the pink haired girl. “Mizi, Sua!” he called out. Ivan followed closely behind him.
“How come you’re here today?” Ivan decided to ask Sua as Till struggled to talk to Mizi.
“The director said that I should view some of the scenes to help get a feel for my own.. or something.”
“So basically, you’re here to watch Mizi?”
“Yeah.”
“Simp.”
“Says you.”
“That’s just the character I play.”
“Sure.”
Ivan was about to rebuke again when Mizi turned to address him.
“That was so good, Ivan! As expected for the rising star of Anakt Garden, of course!” she grinned, “What’s your secret?” she asked in a hushed voice.
Ivan paused his banter to lean down and whisper something, which Mizi nodded rapidly in understanding to. “Oohh, of course!”
Sua gave him a look that seemed to ask, “what did you tell her?”, and Ivan just smiled.
The director soon came up to them and pushed them out of the set to go get changed, Ivan especially. They relented easily and came out with cleaner, less stained clothes. Sua didn’t need to change anything, as she was just a viewer this time, but Ivan, Mizi, and Till all changed into some more comfortable attire and removed the cosmetics that were forced onto them for the recording.
Ivan washed out the gel and fake blood in his hair, which flopped back into its usual bangs, and wore a simple black turtleneck sweater while Till pulled on a shirt with an overly large collar. Mizi was dressed in a large, oversized t-shirt, which Ivan caught Sua staring at. She was not spared the teasing.
When they re-entered the newly cleaned set, 5 people were sitting around the recording room. A group of four people were playing a card game on the ground, while the fifth person read through some papers, likely the scenes for the next episode.
Mizi waved as she entered.
“Hyuna, Isaac, Dewey, Hyunwoo! Hey!”
Mizi ran up to join their group, and the rebels chatted happily with her. Till and Sua went up with her, but Ivan stayed behind.
The blonde boy seated alone, who could be recognized to be Luka, glanced up at the—left behind—boy and waved sedately. Ivan went up to him.
“Why’re you here? You don’t have any scenes to record today,” he asked as he approached.
“The director thought that I should come watch what happened during your episode, so I can understand what’s happening in mine better,” he answered calmly while turning to the next page of the bundle of papers.
“Hmph. That’s what Sua said as well.”
“What is that supposed to mean?”
Ivan smirked and looked away before getting called over to the—now very large—group of people. Luka was called over too, but he didn’t respond. He rolled his eyes and waved Ivan off to join the group. “Go spend time with your future boyfriend,” he said, which sent a fluster up Ivan’s neck.
Ivan gave Luka an indignant look before joining the group, who had another card game set up. He was passed a set of 7 cards and gave them a glance. He smirked.
…
“Argh! F*ck!” Till yelled as he drew another 4 cards. Ivan, who was the person right before Till and the perpetrator of the previously mentioned cards, just smiled as he watched Till rage.
“I will punch you.” Till threatened before the person right after him placed down a reverse, and suddenly, his eyes seemed to go from murderous to mischievous.
Ivan then picked up 12 cards without being able to go once in three rounds, and the two boys immediately broke out into a fight.
Once they were forcibly separated, the group decided that they should go home, as there were no more scenes to record. Ivan invited Till to have dinner with him, but Till told him that he was getting food with Mizi. Ivan didn’t even get a chance to respond before Till ran after Mizi.
Mizi offered for Sua and Ivan to join them, but they told her that she was busy. Mizi told them that she understood and led the white haired boy to her car.
The black haired duo watched the fading forms for a moment before glancing at each other and sighing.
“You’ll get him eventually,” Sua offered in a completely unneeded attempt at comfort.
“Thanks.” Ivan replied anyway.
“If it makes you feel better, you won’t have to worry about Mizi liking him back.”
Ivan rolled his eyes. “I already knew that.”
What a brag.