For the nth time today, Ryosuke had to avoid his best friend’s constant nag to a point of fighting the urge to put a sock in his mouth. “Come on! You know I can’t go there by myself!”, he heard Daiki’s pleading voice and annoyingly pulled his headphones down to his neck.

“You’re the one worried about Yamazaki Kento flirting with Amu-chan, why do I have to come?”, he answered back with the aim of finally getting peace and quiet after a day's worth of rehearsals. He rolled his eyes one last time before turning away from the older one.

“Don’t you want to see Rio-chan too?”, he tried to use his trump card in order to persuade Ryosuke. See, Amu and Rio had been summoned to help out with Yuto’s new upcoming drama. The two girls casually talked about how ‘cool’ Yamazaki Kento is and guess, what… he’s currently one of the main leads in Yuto’s drama. This thought made Daiki uneasy as the idea of Amu spending 8 hours a day with a very attractive Japanese actor lingered inside his head. He used this excuse to ask Ryosuke to pay the set a visit, “I remember Rio-chan admiring Kento-kun on all his dramas… Surely, I’m not the only one worried about the girls”.

“Hah! You’re kidding right? I’m so much cooler than Kento. There’s no way Rio’s going to cheat on me”, Ryosuke still had his back on Daiki but was sure that the latter had no intention of giving up. The older one took a few seconds to think of a good bribe, but something even better came to him.

“Ah, souka…”, he smirked, knowing well that what he’s about to say will completely change Ryosuke’s decision, “So you wouldn’t mind Rio-chan spending the whole day with Yuto, ne?”, he continued and saw Ryosuke’s head jerk up like a meerkat. He felt silly for not using his ‘Yuto-card’ sooner to make him jealous.

With a sharp glare, he turned around and found his best friend grinning like there’s no tomorrow, “I hope you know how much I hate you”, he muttered and cursed at how Daiki manipulated him with just a single sentence.

--

The two boys used Daiki’s car to go into the location set of Yuto’s drama. Only after a 30-minute drive, both Ryosuke and Daiki found themselves surrounded by massive cameras, boxes of props, about 20 railings of clothing and a few staff members working like bees. Being actors themselves, this is a scene they are both well familiar with.

“I hope your soul finds peace when we see Amu-chan just innocently doing her job”, Ryosuke teased while looking at his friend restlessly hunting for Amu, “I bet Amu-chan and Rio won’t even get close to Kento. You really don’t have anything to worry abou—“, Ryosuke felt his own sentence flat when his eyes landed on his own girlfriend talking casually to none other than Yamazaki Kento.

“Ah, you’re right. That handsome guy is your problem, not mine”, with stifled laugh, Daiki began to tease. He enjoyed the way Ryosuke froze from his place, while eyeing the two from a distance like a hawk. This is when both heard a familiar voice calling out to them.

--

“Dai-chan? Yama-chan?”, Ryosuke and Daiki turned to the source and saw Amu walking towards their direction with Yuto trailing just behind holding two cups of coffee, “What are you guys doing here?”.

“Maa, I’m just here to visit you”, Daiki pulled Amu to his side before pointing to his right, “And Yama-chan is here to murder someone”, all of them looked to where Ryosuke’s eyes were fixed and immediately realised the boy’s annoyed expression.

“You had one job, Nakajima!”, Ryosuke gave off an irritated sigh at Yuto after realising that he had gained a new rival.

“Wh-What?!”

“You just had to keep Rio off other guys, and you can’t even do that”

“Excuse me?! You have no idea how many times I had to keep him away from Rio”, Yuto answered back. This was when they started gaining other people’s attention just by the tone of their voice, “I’m sure Kento thinks I’m Rio’s boyfriend by now”. Daiki and Amu tried their best to cover up their argument by making it sound like it was a scene from a drama.

“And that’s supposed to make me feel better?!”

“Shh! Keep you voices down! The whole of Tokyo knows you’re here by now”, Daiki scolded, but at the back of his mind, he’s 100% enjoying the two boys' banter.

“Tsk, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want another rival”, Ryosuke clicked his tongue and soon gained a nod from his childhood friend. They were about to rant some more when the culprit of their argument came to greet them.

--

“Yamada-san… Arioka-san”, Kento greeted them first. The boy innocently smiled at both boys, not knowing that one of them is currently grilling him inside his head. The younger guy then looked at Yuto who seems to be sharing the same expression as Ryosuke – borderline glaring.

“What brings you guys here? I remember you have rehearsals the whole day” Rio remarked, oblivious of the brewing chaos.

“Is it too surprising that I’m paying you a visit?”, Ryosuke replied coldly with his eyes going back and forth Rio and Kento. The poor girl could sense tension between their group but could not pinpoint what causing it. She just assumed that it was between Ryosuke and Yuto. Besides, she’s used to the two boys always throwing arguments left, right and centre.

Rio nudged Amu who was just standing beside her to at least get an insight of what happened between the two. “I’ll explain later”, these were the only words Amu left her.

In order to lessen the stiffness of the conversation, Kento spoke once again, “You guys actually came at the right time. I just invited Rio-chan to get some sushi in my favourite restaurant around here. You guys can join us”, Kento kindly invited but instead, met by firm declines.

“No, thanks”, both Ryosuke and Yuto replied in perfect sync. By this time, Daiki is already eating his imaginary popcorn, amused of what’s unfolding.

“I’m allergic to sushi”, Yuto lied, placing both his hands inside his pockets to try to look intimidating.

“Eh? Since when?”, Rio wondered. She’d known Yuto since she was 8 years old and had seen him stuff his face with a million sushi rolls before.

“Since 2 minutes ago…”

“Ah… I see”, Kento remarked. Being a guy himself, he already knew what was happening. This is no more than mere jealousy because of him getting close with Rio. Willing to play along as the villain in this love triangle, Kento decided to push the two boys’ buttons. “How about Yamada-san?”, he turned to Ryosuke and was met by a blank face. Unlike Yuto, Ryosuke does not have the height to mark his presence. However, he lowered his eye lids before speaking.

“I’m allergic too…”, he started before grabbing Rio’s wrist and pulling her to his side, “I’m allergic to people flirting with Rio-chan”, be boldly said with his hand still tightly wrapped on the girl’s hand. Without saying anything, he pulled Rio towards the exit of the set and soon had his group of friends follow.

“Shoot’s cancelled. We’re going”

--

“What was that about? You guys acted like children back there”, Rio scolded the two boys as soon as they reached a nearby park bench just outside the location set. By this time, Daiki and Amu decided to leave them to sort out their little love triangle.  

 

"I don't want to be here when they strangle each other", Amu's last words before she left were stuck in Rio's mind and suddenly became her worst worry. Both Ryosuke and Yuto appear like a war is about to start, not knowing that she's the cause of all the chaos. 

 

While waiting for even one of them to answer, she look