A melodious instrumental glided across the walls of the hall, gracefully spiralling into the hearts of the audience that stared with appreciation. All their eyes were set on two figures, softly dazzling under the shower of warm lighting as they stood at the centre of the stage.

Daehyun, and Youngjae.

Two rising stars among the industry of musical plays, astonishing the nation with their breath-taking vocals, their natural stance on stage and almost flawless acting. They loved singing and acting, that was clear to everyone. 

But no matter how many hearts they stole and how many souls they had shaken, no one would ever be truly touched by them as much as they were by each other.

And they knew it. 

Their eyes met, seeing each other's true selves more clearly than ever in this moment, on stage, doing what they loved. Their voices rose, danced together and moulded in beautiful harmony, dripping like honey. Gradually they lowered the volumes of their voices until all that was left was the soft tones of a piano played gently.

The crowd applauded soundly; it was the end of the act. Daehyun bowed and turned towards the exit, while Youngjae remained on stage. Despite the wide grin and playful smirk that he threw towards the audience on his way towards backstage, the feeling of pride betrayed him to his trembling lips.

But he turned around, and saw Youngjae smiling as bright as the sun at him.

He knew, that smile meant, 'Good job. I'm so proud of you'. 

He smiled back, just as warmly.

And Daehyun felt that everything was worth it, then.

***

When they first met, Youngjae didn't think that they'd get along. Daehyun was the only actor among his age group during their first musical together, and yet he felt repelled. Because this Jung Daehyun guy smiles like an idiot and talks excitedly like a child. And Youngjae wasn't like that.

He remembered, with some amusement, how they had gotten together. 

He'd been heading towards the dressing room with a whole bunch of clothing to try on when Daehyun had bumped into him as he paced around the corridor with deep dunken eyes and furrowed eyebrows.

‘Oomf!’ was what Daehyun had said, and the comical tone never fails to make him laugh when he reminisces. The next few blurry moments were composed of Daehyun frantically apologizing as he handed the clothes back to him while Yo