Sungjae was a little more soft spoken off camera compared to when they were filming, a little more shy and introverted than what he showed onscreen. Sooyoung had always kind of loved that, that she was able to note the subtle shift of Sungjae settling back into himself - the full version of him behind the camera. Today was an exception. Today, Sooyoung was running on just 3 hours of sleep, because it had arrived. Their final day. A part of Sooyoung felt betrayed - it hardly felt as if they'd spent a month together. It felt like they should've just... She didn't know. Continued. Indefinitely. A simultaneous hate and love twisted in her chest, for her company ing this experience upon her, at herself for believing that this day existed only somewhere in the far future, lying beyond their fingertips.

She faced the inevitable.

"Hey," he said, then coughed as his voice caught. Sooyoung automatically smiled back. She'd caught his eye already. They'd been getting their last touches of makeup done for the big finale -- Sooyoung, childishly, had immediately looked away, somehow clinging to the notion that the later she greeted him, the more she could delay this entire thing. Now, Sooyoung shifted her shoulders uncomfortably, nervously, and seconds ticked as she watched his lips part again, looking for something more genuine to say. The soft, off the shoulder top was pretty, but made her feel exposed, and she wanted to be able to hide herself away behind the comfortable sweaters they usually gave her.

Her gaze fluttering between his collar and the bottom of his left ear, she replied with something resembling a greeting, voice teetering dangerously into what Sungjae would call sentimental.

A pause filled the space between them, and Sooyoung didn't know where to look. She supposed that there wasn't a lot to say. Time dragged on, making her become more and more aware of the heartbeat in . 

"They made you look like a pufferfish." Sungjae blurted.

Sooyoung was surprised by laugh that bursted out of her. Her vision swam a little. And, abruptly, her teeth bit down on her bottom lip as she quashed the sob rising in her chest. She looked up at Sungjae, a cautious and almost uneasy smile touching his mouth. His teeth, mirroring hers, worried at his lips and dragged them over the chapped skin, tongue darting nervously. She remembered with an almost poignant regret that she'd left her lipbalm in the car -- and, for the umpteenth time, remembered that it was her last time she'd be able to worry about him in such an intimate way. She inhaled sharply through her nose. Tried to find something to say. When she couldn't, she met his eyes once again and tried for a smile, whilst desperately trying to convey everything she wanted to say to him. I don't want it to end here. Don't let it end here. 

-

It would've been funny if, on good days, she'd smile madly as soon as she glimpsed him within the crew, and hit his arm in greeting along with a 'how've you been?" If he'd usually reply with a pained yelp and things would dissolve into a petty squabble. Or if on bad days, maybe when he was tired, or she was tired, or both of them, they'd nudge each other's shoulder in greeting. If sometimes one of them would pull a face to cheer the other up, or offer up a smile.

It would've been funny if how they greeted was that black and white. Despite what happened on screen, their greetings weren't contrived. It evolved, just like they did - it started off shy, then became something more.

Something more. Like an I missed you, or I said something mean the last time we met, so here's my apology, or I can tell you're running on 2 hours of sleep and we should take it easy today.

(Filming was so far apart and they saw each other so little, so the times when they were reuniting after a long stretch were her favourite. When he wrapped his arms around her - not like the careful, conservative pats on the back that happened on screen, but close and warm and giddy with the feeling of seeing each other again. They only lasted a few seconds, but it was enough.)

She could probably tell his mood from a mile off - from how he held his shoulders, whether his hand came up to rub at his neck, if he had his hands balled at his sides to keep himself awake. Perhaps, she thought, this information is useless now.

"I am acting like my usual self!" was her useless rebuttal.

"Really?" He asked, his laugh masking something unreadable in his expression. "I don't think so."

Perhaps, she let herself think, he can tell my mood from a mile off too.

His voice was soft today. As soft as it usually was when they weren't filming.

-

As they talked, Sooyoung gradually forgot the dozens of red recording dots around the room, reminders that they were filming. Her eyes ached. It was as if her vision was permanently blurry, and she couldn't seem to tamp down the fierce and instinctual refusal inside of her every time she realised what this was. Every time she touched him, she was reminded that it was the last time. The last time. A small part of her wanted this last meeting to be all genuine. If this was going to be the last time she saw him, she wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to be honest.

Honest.

It was a weird word to apply to a fake, simulated marriage that the whole nation could tune in to watch. But to be fair, she had tried to keep the line of reality there. At least, in the beginning. The Sungjae while filming and not filming. Them on camera and off camera.

-

At the confirmation that Seohyun was free, Sooyoung ran to meet her.

"You're probably wondering," Seohyun said, as she picked at the peeling rubber of the practice room floor, "how to act onscreen and offscreen, right? If it should be different."

Sooyoung nodded.

Seohyun pressed her lips together then huffed out a breath. "To be very honest, it's different for everyone." Sooyoung tried not to let her face fall. "You two will get along-- the casting is usually done well to ensure that-- but I can't guarantee how seriously Sungjae is going to take the whole concept of a fake marriage. You'll probably become good friends, but... It's different for everyone."

The older women looked at the younger girl and Sooyoung squirmed under her gaze.

"BTOB's Sungjae..." Seohyun murmured. Sooyoung busied herself with peeling rubber, trying not to let the shattered illusion of the show break her heart too much. It was obvious how scripted the show could get, how artificial some couples were -- that's why the ratings were at an all time low, after all. But there had been a niggling hope that she could meet someone she really liked. And in reality, she had.

Sooyoung blinked in surprise as Seohyun leaned forward and ruffled her hair. "Gosh. You already like him, don't you?"

Sooyoung's eyes immediately dropped, embarrassed. "Maybe." She confessed quietly. She'd been a longtime fan of BTOB, and being paired with Sungjae almost felt like being paired with some sort of celebrity crush. And he really was handsome. Of course she liked him.

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