Just "Acting" || HWITAE ✔

-15-

It happened in slow motion. 

In the split-second it took for Taeyang to comprehend what was happening, his grip loosened on Hwiyoung's neck and his eyes widened. There wasn't supposed to be a kiss yet. All he felt was pure panic. 

In the next split-second, he remembered that they were only acting. It wasn't like Hwiyoung had kissed him in their dorm room. He had a role to play. In response to this realization, his grip tightened and he brought Hwiyoung's face closer so their lips could really connect. 

Taeyang's eyes closed as his lips moved in sync with Hwiyoung's. The kiss tasted like a mix of rain and spearmint gum. He almost broke the kiss when he felt Hwiyoung wrap one arm completely around his waist and used his other hand to cup his face. 

A lot went through Taeyang's mind as their lips remained connected. For example, why was kissing Hwiyoung so easy? Why did it feel so normal? 

He pulled away first. Hwiyoung gave Taeyang a goofy kind of smile as he pulled him back to his feet. The kiss lasted less than 5 seconds, but it felt like much longer to Taeyang. As they were still acting and the director hadn't called "Cut", Taeyang accomplished a small smile with a head shake as he pushed away from the brunette and glanced at the crowd around them. 

Jaejin was the first to whistle and stand in an ovation. Soon after, almost everyone else followed. Kyong's mother stood up and left with a look of disgust.

Blinking the rain water out of his eyes, Taeyang turned back to Hwiyoung "What was that for?" he asked softly. 

The other just shrugged and ran a hand through his hair as he took a hold of Taeyang's hand. "I just felt like it."

Like what Kyong would do, Taeyang rolled his eyes. 

"Cut!" Director Choi shouted. He walked to them with two umbrellas. He handed one to each of them. He smiled down at them with the looks of a proud parent. Taeyang let go of Hwiyoung's hand. 

"That was amazing!" he praised. "Kyong, you did very well for being in your first ad-lib. We managed to get the scene complete and recorded in only one try."

"Thank you," Taeyang replied. The pounding in his ears from his heart made it hard to properly focus on the director's words. The tingle of his lips at the thought of the kiss wasn't helping. It was like he had been shocked, but . . . in a good way. 

"Really, great job," Director Choi said. This time he looked at Hwiyoung. He must have sensed Taeyang's distress. 

"Thank you," Hwiyoung said. He didn't look at Taeyang. This was a good thing because Taeyang probably would have collapsed if he did. 

"You guys can go get changed. Enjoy your time off," the older man said. "I'll see you in three days."

"Yes, thank you, sir," Hwiyoung said. 

Taeyang walked away before Hwiyoung had finished saying "sir". Yes, it was slightly rude not to respond to your elder, but he needed to escape. 

He made it to the changing room--which had the new addition of a roof--and had slid to the floor with his back against the sheet that was supposed to be a wall. The clothing he had shown up to set with sat in a neat pile beside him. His heart had calmed, but his mind didn't. 

The kiss replayed over and over again in his head. It took him by surprise, that was a given. He didn't expect it to be so simple and natural. It put him at unease. He didn't understand how he was feeling either. 

Taeyang sighed as he began removing the damp suit off of his body. He hung it on a hanger that had been given to him for the exact purpose, and began changing back into his own clothes. He was about to throw his shirt on when he froze. He was staring at the curtain that would let him out of the dressing room when a realization dawned on him. 

Was it possible that he liked the kiss? He quickly shook his head like he'd be able to somehow shake the thought out of his mind. 

No, that wasn't it. That couldn't be it. He was caught off-guard and these thoughts were the result of being unprepared. 

But how did Hwiyoung feel about it? He initiated the kiss, so it couldn't be affecting him the way it was affecting Taeyang. Hwiyoung was the one who chose to suddenly add a kiss to the scene. Unless the director came up with the idea, but Taeyang didn't think that was it.

Taeyang sighed again. His head had begun to hurt from all the thinking. Things weren't gonna change. They were doing a job.

He put on his shirt and stepped out of the dressing room. Hwiyoung stood near the refreshments table--already changed--eyeing some cake on the table. He had a slight pout to those lips. They weren't allowed fatty foods for album promotion purposes. Taeyang looked away from Hwiyoung's lips. He actually looked away from Hwiyoung altogether. 

God, I'm not ever going to be able to look at him the same again. 

"You can't have that," Taeyang said to make his presence known. 

Hwiyoung reluctantly moved his gaze away from the cake to Taeyang. "I know," he sighed. "But I can still admire it from a distance."

"Sounds like a painless way to inflict internal pain on yourself," Taeyang said, still avoiding looking at Hwiyoung. He'd pulled his phone out of his pocket and was using that as an excuse not look at his bandmate. 

"I already called our manager. He said he'll be here in about 10 minutes," Hwiyoung informed him. 

Taeyang put his phone back into his pocket and looked around. They and a couple of extras were the only ones milling around away from the filming site. The extras were watching them. They were clearly fans. His eyes landed on the refreshments table. Now he was getting tempted to take the sugary treats from the table. Anything to avoid Hwiyoung's face. 

"We should probably go sit somewhere away from the table before we do something we shouldn't," he suggested. 

"That's a good idea. We don't want to get internally injured by staring at the cupcakes," Hwiyoung agreed. 

They sat in the makeup chairs and waited for their ride to show up. Taeyang pulled his phone out of his pocket and caught a glimpse of Hwiyoung out of the corner of his eye. Hwiyoung was on his own phone. 

"We should take a selfie," Taeyang said, already opening up his camera because he wasn't going to let Hwiyoung say no. It was a distraction. 

Hwiyoung looked up at him and grinned. "Okay." 

He scooted his chair closer to Taeyang and rested his chin on Taeyang's shoulder so their cheeks were touching. Taeyang's heart picked up a pace. Okay, maybe, it wasn't the best distraction. Hwiyoung smiled and held up two fingers in a peace sign. Taeyang put on his best smile and winked at the camera. 

Hwiyong leaned away from him after Taeyang hit the button to take the picture. Taeyang could feel Hwiyoung's gaze on him, but he didn't look at him. He opened Twitter and said, "I'm going to post this on Twitter."

"Fine by me," Hwiyoung answered. He moved his chair back to its original place in the grass. 

Right after Taeyang hit Post, he scrolled through his homepage. He noticed Hwitae was trending on twitter. His finger hovered over the tag, but he turned off his phone before his finger met the screen. It was probably better he didn't look at that right now.

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a/n: i start school in two days. yay🙄