Just "Acting" || HWITAE ✔

-17-

The stalking Chani "mission" was a failure soon after the conversation on the roof. They lost their target, and Jaeyoon forgot that he was actually supposed to be recording with Seokwoo and Youngbin at the studio.  

This was both relieving and discomforting to Taeyang. They were heading back to the dorms, which meant he could relax, but it also meant he'd be home alone with Hwiyoung. 

"Stop letting the drama get to your head," Jaeyoon had recommended on the way back from the school. "Or do you possibly like Hwiyoung back?"

Of course, Taeyang had rejected the suggestion. He had told himself that liking his bandmate was impossible, but he knew that wasn't the case. 

It was far from impossible. 

Hwiyoung was sitting on the couch reading through a stack of scripts when Taeyang walked into the dorm. He put the script he had been reading on the top of one of three piles sitting on the coffee table and smiled at Taeyang. 

"Good morning!" he said, cheerfully. 

"'Morning," Taeyang answered, careful to control his emotions as he hung his stuff up on the coat rack next to the door. He'd only been awake for three hours, but already it's been a long day. Being around Hwiyoung really put his acting skills to the test. 

He walked over to the couch and collapsed next to Hwiyoung. His head rested on the back of the couch. Even after everything that's happened, in the end, they were still best friends. That's helped him act like nothing's happened. "I'm so tired," he complained. 

"What were you doing?" Hwiyoung asked. "You weren't out here when I woke up this morning."

"Jaeyoon wanted to find a way to help Rowoon with the whole asking out Chani thing, so he said we'd follow Chani around all day. We lost him after the first destination."

Hwiyoung laughed. "Sounds like you had a very productive morning."

"Oh, most definitely," Taeyang said. Hwiyoung couldn't be any less right. Taeyang pulled himself up and leaned over the table. "What are you doing?" he asked. 

"Oh, our manager gave them to me last night. Since our drama is coming to an end, he told me to pick the best ones and then I could audition for the lead roles," Hwiyoung answered. He picked up the one he had been looking at before Taeyang got home. "Could you read the summary of some of them and tell me which ones you think I should look at?"

"Yeah sure," the purple-haired male said. He picked one off of the "haven't looked at" pile. The other two piles were "maybe" or "rejected." These scripts were different from the one he had gotten before he got a role in Teach Me to Dance. They showed every episode, rather than just the first. 

The first script Taeyang had picked up was a slice-of-life drama. A girl and her brother lose their parents in a plane crash, so they're forced to go through life alone but together. Taeyang put that in the "maybe" pile. 

The next few were the same or they were thrillers or horrors. The next one Taeyang picked up was a romance. A girl struggles with her self-esteem, but a guy helps he build it back up again. Taeyang flipped through the whole script. 

The drama was innocent enough with only a couple of sweet kiss scenes. It shouldn't have bothered him, but he couldn't help feeling his heart drop. He put it on the "rejected" pile. 

I'm being irrational, he thought. I have no reason to be jealous. He moved the script to the "maybe" pile.  

After a few more scripts, Taeyang gave up. The feeling in the pit of his stomach wasn't going away, and that put him on edge. He stood up off the couch and stretched. Then a knock sounded on the door. 

He walked over to the door and looked through the peep-hole. It was their manager. After unlocking the door, he opened it and let the older male in. 

"Why didn't you put the code in?" Taeyang asked after they greeted each other. 

"When I changed it the other night, I didn't write it down," the manager said. "Anyway, you two need to get ready. I know it's your day off, but you still gotta keep your figure, so I'm going to drop you off at the gym."

"Yes, sir," the two males chorused. They learned it was best not to question their boss. 

Ten minutes later, the manager left them outside of the FNC building with the message that he would come pick them up in an hour. Together they made their way to the company's gym. 

The first 40 minutes, they didn't really talk, too out of breath to say anything to each other. At some point, Hwiyoung suggested that they help each other with their sit-ups. 

Now, Taeyang sat on his knees, using his weight to hold Hwiyoung's feet while the younger did his exercises. He was looking at all of the workout equipment. He was looking at everywhere but Hwiyoung. 

As much as Taeyang didn't want to admit, there were feelings present in his body meant for Hwiyoung. Some part of him only existed for the younger male in front of him. It conflicted with everything Taeyang had grown accustomed to in the past 6 years. 

"Hey, why did you kiss me yesterday?" Taeyang blurted. He immediately wished he could take it back.

Hwiyoung stopped mid-sit-up for a second before sitting up and looking at Taeyang. "What do you mean?"

Taeyang took a deep breath. "There wasn't a kiss in the scene we were doing yesterday. But you kissed me anyway." 

Hwiyoung began his sit-ups again. "I know acting isn't normal for you, and you have a hard time with certain situations, so I thought I'd throw a kiss in there just to prepare you for the three other kiss scenes we have to do."

The elder didn't feel relieved. It wasn't the answer he wanted. 

"Why do you ask?" Hwiyoung asked.

Taeyang shook his head. Why did he ask? He didn't mean to. He stared at Hwiyoung's bright pink socks rather than Hwiyoung himself. He knew he was probably blushing, and he didn't want Hwiyoung to see it. Through his lashes, Taeyang glanced up at the brunette. 

Hwiyoung had stopped his sit-ups again and was watching him, waiting for a vocal answer. But Taeyang didn't give him what he wanted. He let his weight off of Hwiyoung's feet, stood up, and turned to walk away. 

Taeyang heard the other male shift behind him, but he didn't look back. It made sense that Hwiyoung would do something like that to help him out. The younger male was caring like that. 

Taeyang felt a hand grab his wrist and spin him around. Hwiyoung stood only inches away. He moved his hands to either sides of Taeyang's face and leaned closer. The elder didn't know what to do, so he chose to squeeze his eyes shut and let whatever was about to happen happen. 

Then he heard Hwiyoung laugh and he opened his eyes. The brunette wasn't as close anymore. "I really hope you don't make that face when we're actually in front of a camera," Hwiyoung said through chuckles. 

Taeyang flushed red, and laughed awkwardly. Right, we were just acting. "Yeah, I hope so too," he replied. But inside, he was dying for all the wrong reasons. 

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a/n: hehe