Taken

Chapter 6

“Where are you going?” Win’s mom asked, tying a silk scarf into her hair as she got ready for a lunch meeting with her friends. 

He waved his laptop at her and darted out the door. First he and Bright were going boxing, then they were just going to chill at his apartment. Bright would spend most of his time learning new music and practicing chords he didn’t feel he played smoothly enough while Win either studied or reviewed tv shows to grow as an actor. Bright sometimes teased him about using acting as an excuse to watch more dramas. 

He was surprised by how much he loved just doing nothing at Bright’s place. It was kind of nice being alone without being alone. 

Win had privacy at his home, of course, or at his condo, but it was just different and he couldn’t quite explain it. 

“Hey,” Bright’s uncle greeted Win when he knocked on the door. “Bright’s in his room getting dressed.” He threw an air punch and Win dodged. “Oh, you’re getting pretty good.” 

Win smiled proudly. He’d been working hard at their gym sessions. He never gave anything half effort and boxing was no exception. The first few weeks, he’d been frustrated by his lack of progress, but then he’d put his mind and body to it. He felt a bit more confident that if someone tried to snatch him off the streets he’d at least be able to land a solid punch. 

“Thanks.” He set his laptop on the entryway table and chatted with Kik until Bright finally emerged from his room in a gray tank and black shorts. 

“Those get any shorter and you’re not going to be allowed out in public,” Win commented on Bright’s tiny workout pants, even shorter on the sides where they scooped up at the seams. 

Bright swatted him with a towel when he passed him on the way out the door. “I wasn’t expecting anybody to look.” 

~

When they finished with the gym and returned to Bright’s place, he flopped down on the bed and groaned. 

“What is it?” Win asked, squishing himself into a bean bag chair in the corner of Bright’s room and opening his laptop on his knees. 

Bright rolled onto his back and ran a hand over his face. “Exercise is usually such a good stress reliever for me, but I can’t stop thinking about our show airing in a few weeks.” 

“Oh,” Win said relieved. He’d been worried Bright’s health issue was coming back. “The only thing we can do is wait and see.” 

“People had a very negative reaction to the trailer,” Bright reminded him.

“Another one is being released soon, a little more accurate.” 

“And the way they reacted to you…” Bright propped himself on his elbow to look at his co-star. 

Win brushed a hand through the air as if waving all the responses to his physical appearance away, though it still stung when he thought about it. “I don’t really look like that anymore. They’ll either love me or they won’t.” 

Bright could hear the false confidence but decided not to address it. Everyone had their burden to bear. Win was a handsome man, even beautiful. Fans would soon come to see that as well and forget the tiny, frail ‘bottom’ they’d envisioned when reading the novel their series was based on. 

Even he didn’t physically fit the idealized version of his character, who was some giant mega hunk. They would both do the best they could to convey the story, and that’s all they could do as actors at the end of the day. 

“Why are you sitting there just looking like you’re thinking smart things?” Win asked with a small smile. 

Bright winked at him. “Because I am.” He pulled a pillow under his head. “And I just want to say, even before we see how things go, that you’re the best partner I could have asked for.”

Win’s eyes went wide. “Oh?” 

“You’re kind and selfless and oddly adorable for a six foot tall man,” he laughed. Win did too. “I don’t think anyone else could have suited me as well. You bring something out in me when we act together. I’ve never felt this...light,” he described the feeling as best he could, “with any of my previous costars. Everything is starting to feel so natural. I don’t think I’ve ever had this level of trust on camera. I really like the way you react to me. You’re doing amazing for your first role. Even some seasoned actors aren’t as good as you.” 

Win’s cheeks had flushed a light pink when Bright started complimenting him until he was a bright red. He ducked down as much as he could in the bean bag chair, but as Bright said, Win was a little over six feet tall. There wasn’t much he could do to hide, especially in a room as small as Bright’s. “Will we be ordering takeout later or will your uncle try to cook something?” 

Bright smirked at Win’s obvious subject change. “Takeout.”

“I guess I’ll stay to eat then.” 

Bright chucked a pillow at him. “He’s not that bad.” 

Win just cocked a brow, but said nothing more about it. There was something off about any meal he made, but Bright was probably used to it. 

“You’re not practicing guitar tonight?” Win asked a short time later when Bright was starting to look a little too comfortable on his bed. 

Bright grumbled and rubbed at his grainy eyes. “I’m giving myself a break. Sometimes working too hard at something is just as bad as not working enough.” 

Win set his laptop aside. “That sounds like a sentence I can get behind.” 

“You’ve been talking to me the entire time you’ve had your work out. I don’t think my excuse can work for you,” Bright scolded gently.

Win pouted and Bright couldn’t help but coo at him. What right did someone so big have to look so cute?

“Aww, you can rest your mind for a bit. I know you hate Economics.” 

“I don’t hate it. I just don’t like it very much.”

Bright wanted to pat his head when Win scrunched his nose like he tasted something bitter, but that was something reserved for their characters. He couldn’t go around just treating someone like they were in a tv show. Tine might like it, but Win might punch him in the nose. Although Win was a pretty calm guy, so he might just laugh it off. That sometimes made it hard for him to figure out what Win was really thinking. 

“You’ll be finished with it in a few months, so that must be a relief.” 

“Only if I pass all of my classes.” 

“You’re going to.” 

Win looked up at him, a small dimple appearing at the corner of his smile. He liked how they could take turns being equally pessimistic and encouraging. “Thank you.”