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“Cut!” was loudly yelled, echoing throughout the entire Sus Studios. The director, an anthropomorphic lion named Kingston, clapped his hands proudly to a young Asian man, breathing heavily after a scene. “You did very well on that scene, Carter Wu. I bet all that training beforehand paid off?” The young man, Carter Wu, slowly rose back to a normal standing posture and smiled back at Kingston. “Yes it had, Director. Thank you again for recommending this position, and allowing me to help train others for the movie.” Kingston laughed. “Aw, Carter, always the formal and polite one on set! But you can just call me Kingston, yah hear? Just because I’m the director doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.” Carter blushed slightly in embarrassment. “I g-guess that’s true, ha.” Not even a minute later, Carter could hear two pairs of footsteps pulling up from behind him. “Kingston, you kinda need to go easy on the guy, let him be formal if he wants to sometimes.” A woman’s voice teasingly scolded him. Carter turned around, seeing both of the main movie stars in the film. The woman, who was polite but also liked to tease her friends sometimes, was Cat Holloway, and the man next to her, a professional stuntman like Carter Wu, was Miles Cross. Carter had worked with both of them before, even learning a few moves from Cross as well. “I love the formality as well, Cat, but you know, he should be allowed to feel comfortable saying our first names too!” Miles replied, bubbling with energy. Miles then proceeded to turn around to look at Carter and smile, “Right, Wu?” “Yes, Mr. Cros- I mean Miles,” Carter replied. Miles chucked, softly and kind. He turned back to Cat and Kingston and said, “Well, anyway, Valentines Day is right around the corner! Now, do any of you have plans to celebrate? Some confessions to make? Or anything else that’s quite sweet?” Cat sighed, “Well, I’m still trying to get a date- despite being a famous star, I can’t seem to find someone who genuinely loves me for who I am and not just because I’m a celebrity. Never mind that, how about you guys?” Kingston said, “well, Miles and I were invited to a Valentines party at a local bar.” Cat gave the two a suspicious look, and Miles laughed. “Don’t worry little Ms. Holloway, we won’t over drink with… that kind of slurp juice.” Cat gave them one more suspicious glare, before all three turned around to Carter. “Well, what do you have in mind Mr. Wu? Any plans or ideas?” Kingston asked. Carter started with “Well I-” before screams could be heard. “I CANT BELIEVE MY EYES!!! IS THAT THE HEARTTHROB CARTER WU?!” “IT IS, ALONG WITH CAT HOLLOWAY AND MILES CROSS!!!” Carter Wu looked back at the trio, and smiled. “I guess we should go greet our fans, huh?” Walking out of the studio with bodyguards, the stuntman, the director, and the movie stars were surrounded by fans, screaming at the top of their lungs. But most of their screams were directed to the one and only stuntman. “Carter Wu, you look as handsome as ever!” “Mr. Wu, did you train really hard? Please tell me that you did!” “Wu, what was your secret technique to have an awesome built body?”, among other things. Carter just looked at them, and then quickly paused, doing his signature wink and smile, easily capturing the hearts of his fans. Screaming even loudly now, Wu had to cover his ears with hands to prevent going deaf by the fans. He released them once he got in Miles’ car, sitting in the passenger seat. Shortly afterwards, Mr. Cross started his car and drove away to drop off Wu at his apartment. Before driving off after dropping off the stuntman, Miles turned and smiled at Wu, “hey kid, whatever you’re planning for Valentines Day, don’t stress about it, alright? I highly bet it’s gonna go great for yah!” Carter smiled back, quickly said “Thanks” and “You too” back to Miles, and entered his home, to finally face the problem tomorrow that had been clouding his mind all night.
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Carter Wu woke up after a peaceful slumber, stretching his arms before rising up from his bed to get ready for the day. He took a swift shower, got into one of his signature outfits (the Daredevil outfit, but minus the shoes and hat), brushed and tied his black hair, and ate breakfast before…confronting the problem. You see, Carter Wu was easily able to capture the heart of anyone who had laid eyes upon him, managing to look cool and even flirty while doing it. But the one thing Carter couldn’t do was express his feelings to the one who had captured his own: the famous streamer in Battlewood, Carina. The two of them had met when their careers had started skyrocketing: Carter’s profession as a movie stuntman, and Carina’s streams about unsolved mysteries and daily parkour tips and tricks. Carter, as usual, has tried to be formal around Carina just like he was with everyone else, but Carina had shook his hand and said to him, “Life isn’t always about formality and neutrality, sometimes you gotta be your own person and express it to the world, both positively and negatively. So just call me Carina, you hear?” And just like that, Carter started to feel like he could be open about himself, especially around her. Quicker and swifter, the two had started hanging out pretty often. He even went with her to hang out on streams, though disguising himself so Carina wouldn’t also have to deal with his fans as well. When she wasn’t streaming, the two often hanged around the island, visiting different locations, creating and busting myths, recommending their favorite places to eat out, shop, etc. and more. The one moment he absolutely knew he had fell over heels for Carina is when she demonstrated her own impression of Carter’s move that she called “the Heartthrob”. Seeing her do it made him understand his fans when he did that move: a quick rush of blood to his cheeks, his heart bounding slightly faster, and the world blurring everything else for the person who he loved, and that was her. Since then, Carter had felt that feeling whenever he had the chance out of his schedule to hang out with her, and it even made him start stammering whenever he tried to talk to her about…love. And now, here he was, trying to confess that love to her in a love letter. He knew typical love letters should be formal, sweet, and straightforward right to the point at the end of it. Heck, there should be a short poem, to express how much he truly loves her. But he still struggled to write it, he couldn’t find the right words, a poem that hadn’t been commonly used every single Valentine's Day, or even make it straightforward without making it short. Even after lunch and dinner breaks, he had still struggled with ideas, and Valentines’ Day was tomorrow, with the love letter still not written at all. Groaning, Carter brought his head down on the table, rubbing his hands on his scalp, messing up his hair a bit doing so. “What am I to do… I’m meeting with Carina tomorrow, and I still haven’t finished the letter! Why is love so hard…?” Carter softly spoke, despair slowly rising from his heart. He didn’t know how to write his feelings, and that would ruin his purpose of meeting Carina in the first place. He thought about giving up and canceling the plans he had, and was just about to do so, when a memory of one of their convos came back rushing to him at that moment.
“Carina, this is just a hypothetical question, but…I can’t help but notice that your fans want to write love letters to you. So, if you were to accept one, which one would you pick?” Carter had asked, blushing slightly at the thought. Carina had a thoughtful look in her eyes, and after a minute or two, she replied back, “I wouldn’t care for a letter that follows the typical pattern and structure of confession. I would pick the letter that is genuine, that comes from the heart, no matter how messy it is. I would pick it because it shows me the real person behind that letter.”
Smiling to himself, Wu got a new sheet of letter paper, and began to write.
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The next day, Carter Wu prepared quickly for his “date”, wearing his signature outfit, which is his typical red, black, and white jacket, pants and shoes, along with his hat and woven bracelet. After grabbing his letter and locking his apartment door, Carter Wu ran as fast as he could to meet Carina by the Battlewood sign. Using Shockwave grenades to launch himself into the air to gain more distance, he eventually got there in 30 minutes, running to where Carina was waiting. Here goes nothing…, he thought to himself. “Carina!” He shouted, announcing his presence. Carina jumped a little, but then turned around and smiled at him, a smile just as bright as the sun. “Carter! Happy Valentine’s Day!” Blushing, Carter smiled back and said, “Happy Valentine’s Day to you too, Carina.” After a quick hug and exchange of words, Carter sighed and reached out for his letter in his jacket pocket. He handed the letter to Carina, who looked confused, and said, “this is why I wanted to meet up with you today, Carina. To give you this.” Carina took it from his hands, opened the envelope, took the letter, and began to read:
Dear Carina,
This letter would most likely be messy, but you said to me you would perfectly be fine with that. Who knew a professional stuntman struggled with writing his feelings? Anyway, remember the good times we had together when we became really good friends? Those times you helped me open up more, be more like myself? I remember the time when we first met, me trying to be formal as always, but you told me it’s okay to not always be formal, and that I should be myself. When you said that, I felt like something was opening inside: my own feelings and personality that I always struggled to share with others. Everyday we met, I felt like I could open more of myself around you. We shared our favorite places. We share being big fans of KizunaAI and Hatsune Miku, even going to Kizuna’s concert together. Me sharing my secret to you of being a trans man, and how you didn’t judge me like others usually do, you just told me “that’s rad dude, proud of yah!” without a second thought or lapse of judgment. Most of all, the moment of you impersonating my signature “The Heartthrob” move, and how I could feel my heart beating like it was about to burst out of my chest. God dang it, I’ll just say it now: I love you, Carina. You showed me how to be myself, like REALLY how to be myself, how to live and feel. I loved you since that moment, hell, probably even earlier before I realized. And while I still struggle with the concept of love, you had captured my heart, you were my Heartthrob. And I want to learn more about it, with you, together. So, will you be my Valentine, Carina?
A hopeful but loving stuntman,
Carter Wu
Carina had stopped reading the letter, and looked at Carter, her eyes meeting his. Carter stilled, thinking he did something wrong, or that Carina didn’t feel the same way he did. He opened his mouth to apologize, but before he could, he felt Carina’s lips meeting his, and slowly turning his head to accept the kiss. They stayed like that for a minute, before breaking apart, looking at each other, contentment and love shining through their eyes. Carina then swiftly hugged Carter, and then quickly began to yell, “oh yes, yes, YES!”, happy tears flowing from her eyes. Carter Wu hugged her back, feeling his own tears happily falling, knowing that they will both learn to love, together.