i really hope this is the last time i'm saying that... but this story's going to be even longer :") see you in act 4 and let's hope it'll be the last one FOR REAL xD

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“Okay then, if you don’t mind…” The girl who was interviewing the two looked at them with expectation. “Could you please share more about your off-screen relationship? Maybe some real-life chemistry? The one that captivated the author of the novel.”

It was a common thing. Donghae kept reminding himself it was nothing but a common thing. There were many interviews done before, during and after the drama shooting, so the fact they got to record one only now, after quite a few weeks of hard work, was kind of miraculous. But he’d prefer to not do it anyway.

And no, not only because of such questions. The blonde wasn’t a newbie anymore; he knew they’ll be asked such questions no matter what. Considering the fact their public relationship wasn’t too good and they were now working together on such project, it wasn’t weird they were asked something like this. But he just disliked the fact that, even though he knew what types of questions they’ll get, he still couldn’t reply well.

The two introduced themselves and spoke a little about their characters. They barely laughed when the interviewer said that it seemed Donghae’s more of aloof type like Hyukjae’s character and Hyukjae, on the other hand, is more of a type who likes to joke around.

All the blonde managed to do was smiling awkwardly.

Meanwhile the other guy gave him a quick glance and then looked at the interviewer and said, “That’s only because you don’t know how he is in real life. Donghae gets stiff with cameras around him, but trust me, he’s not too quiet when he feels comfortable.” They looked at each other, and Hyukjae’s eyes sparkled with something the other guy struggled to recognize. “I’d say he’s rather loud. Especially his laughter.”

The girl’s eyes sparkled – this time Donghae could what that was; the sparkles of greed as she knew she was getting some kind of exclusive footage – and she leaned towards them to ask, “Oh, really? Does Donghae laugh a lot when cameras are off?”

“I’d say yes. He’s a person who radiates warmth, positive energy and all of that. I often see him laughing with others.”

The blonde was looking at his own knees as they were talking – something that helped him to look focused instead of lost – however, he raised his gaze and looked at the man the moment he said those words.

Hyukjae said Donghae was laughing with others. But not with him. Which was true; he struggled to remember more than one time of them laughing with each other. It used to happen so often in past, yet here they were. Although they were talking much more right now, although there definitely was less tension between the two, there were walls that happened to be a bit too hard to let down for Donghae. He tried, trust him. He just wasn’t too successful.

And this interview wasn’t helping at all. He almost believed it, almost got fooled that the two of them really could fix their relationship just right, but the gaze of that girl who came to interview them reminded Donghae of how they were viewed. Reminded him about years of the two being awkward with each other, and his bubble burst. They could ignore the rest of the world, but it didn’t mean that world didn’t exist. Sadly.

Hyukjae was quite understanding though. He didn’t push, didn’t try to do too much. He was following Donghae’s pace, which was the thing the blonde wanted to thank him for, yet struggled to say those words whenever he had an opportunity to. Now it was on him. It was entirely on him they struggled to get closer.

“What about Lee Hyukjae?” the girl asked and looked at Donghae all of a sudden. “What can you say about his persona off-camera?”

She was looking at him with so much anticipation, with so many ulterior motives behind that question one could consider innocent… And suddenly, instead of feeling anxious, Donghae felt somewhat… angry.

What, did she expect him to say something not nice? Did that girl notice they seemed quite awkward during the interview and thought Hyukjae was simply trying to excuse it with Donghae’s camera anxiety? Was the editing team going to add some captions to make them look even more awkward and make yet another show out of their relationship?

No. No, he didn’t want that to happen. Not again. He couldn’t let it happen. Not after everything they’ve done to finally fix what was broken.

“He’s just as sweet as he used to be. He’s always been sweet. Well, to me at least.”

He managed to notice how Hyukjae raised his eyebrows for something that was just a part of a second; if one won’t look closely, they’d not even notice that expression. But Donghae did. Because Hyukjae’s reaction was important.

The girl’s smile widened as she said, “Ah, right. You’ve been starring together in a drama what… 7 years ago, right? Did you spend time together during that time?”

“Yeah. A lot. You’d be able to call us friends even. We were… quite close if I dare to say. Hyukjae isn’t the one who’d befriend just anyone… That’s what makes him similar to the character he’s acting as in the current drama. He didn’t have many friends, but we somehow… got along.” Donghae couldn’t help but smiled at the memory. “Maybe because I was quite persistent. We were about the same age, but he looked just so cool and professional, I’d never be able to tell he was a rookie just like me. I thought that I really want to be his friend, so I started following him around. I thought I was just being friendly, but we’ve been reminiscing that not so long ago, and Hyukjae said I looked like a lost pup while following him around.”

Now that was the time when all of them chuckled, even Donghae did it once again, although he was shaking inside. No matter what, he still had that interview (or camera) anxiety, he was afraid to appear boring and for his words to be twisted. The last part was the most terrifying. No more twisting, please, no more twisting… It was hard for them to become like this and he didn’t want it to be ruined because of mass media again, not because of his own words… He hoped he was doing well. Or not too bad at least.

“This is the first time you’re talking about the past you two shared,” the interviewer pointed out. “I think it’s no news for you that you two are famous for a cold treatment you’ve been giving each other for quite a while. Did you become a little competitive during the search for new dramas to act in and it made you fall apart or?..”

The way that question was asked. She didn’t expect another answer than ‘yes’, and wouldn’t believe if they tried to say something else. Donghae knew it.

Yet, he said, “There was no cold treatment. Awkwardness? Maybe. We did fall apart because of completely different schedules, I won’t deny. All we could do was joking about that because, well, it did feel awkward. But I’m grateful for this opportunity to act together again, so we finally managed to talk and reconcile. I almost forgot how fun it was. To work with Hyukjae, I mean.”

“And now?”

“And now we’re enjoying the process even more, since not only we work in a project like this one, but also we’ve got to do it with people we know so well. There also are many people from the production team whom we’ve met before and got to meet now, so it makes the process even more enjoyable,” Hyukjae wrapped up professionally, so that he could deliver the point Donghae was trying to deliver and remain on a secretive side by not letting out too much. Being too sincere wasn’t good either.

Donghae nodded. Because the most important thing was spoken. He really wanted to let people know they were okay now, which was just the first step towards their goal, yet he hoped that one day the two of them could get rid of the title of public rivals. Baby steps to the target and success.

The girl who was listening to them nodded, although it was pretty much clear she didn’t buy the ‘different schedules’ excuse, and Donghae knew it was a weak one, but who cared. Just like it was said above, that wasn’t a point at all, so he didn’t care whether it sounded believable or not.

They spent a few more minutes answering additional questions, and then the main one was asked. The chemistry. Something that mesmerized the author of the novel. How vivid was it? Could it be seen in real life? Everyone wanted to know.

Donghae got lost. It was too much for him already; he’s been acting like a tough cookie for a while, yet his camera anxiety didn’t vanish just like that. He thought there was no room for such questions after what they said already, but… The mass media still wanted a loud story, so they needed to get as much as they could from these two. And their managers who were observing everything carefully this whole time couldn’t really help them either. He… didn’t really know what to say.

Thankfully, Hyukjae was with him. He smiled and said, “I guess such thing as ‘real-life chemistry’ is not something that can be explained with words. It’s all about feelings instead. And it differs for people as well. After all, everything you see is just a screen version of us. Even if we’ll try to be as sincere as we can, it’s impossible to show you everything. The viewers, reporters – anyone who doesn’t know us personally – will only see a part of us, not everything. Some might look at us and think, ‘Oh, these two definitely are close’. Some might snort at that and say, ‘Oh, really? Can’t see that’. And you know what? Both will be right. Simply because they saw only a part of us, and that part gave them such impression. So us trying to explain or – what’s even worse – prove there is some chemistry between us would be absolutely pointless. I personally feel like there is some chemistry between us; this is what allowed us to click well. But again, I feel that. How can I possibly explain it? Will other people understand this chemistry? Is it the kind of chemistry the others would love to see?” He shrugged. “Have no idea. So, all in all, the way we feel towards each other is the most important thing here. And I don’t think we should bother ourselves with explanations as long as the two of us understand what’s happening with us, and there’s no room for public here. The only thing we should work on publicly is making