The closer NuNew got to P'Aof's office, the more his heartbeat felt like it was trying to escape. Every step echoed with the same looping thought: This meeting could change the direction of my career for better... or for worse.
He paused outside the office door for half a second, inhaling deeply to steady his pulse, then knocked lightly.
"Come in," Aof called.
Aof was alone behind his desk, expression unreadable.
"Good afternoon, P'Aof," Nunew said, bowing slightly before taking the seat in front of him. His voice sounded steady, but his heartbeat was wild in his throat.
P'Aof studied him for a moment before speaking. . "I'm sure you're wondering why I called you here."
NuNew nodded, trying not to clutch his own hands too tightly.
"There's someone who's shown interest in partnering with you," P'Aof said calmly. "And as you know, we don't force anyone into a ship they don't want. So I called you today to introduce you both and let you decide for yourselve."
NuNew blinked. Someone is interested in him? His brain scrambled to make sense of that. He was thinking the company would randomly pair him with someone as clueless as him.
"T-Thank you, P'Aof. I'd love to meet them," he said, keeping his voice respectful even though his thoughts were spiraling. Who? Why? Who would even want him? He barely had a welcome photo online. No credits. No fanbase. No leverage. Are they sure they didn't mistake him for someone else?
P'Aof continued, as if sensing the storm inside him. "They should be here soon. And I want to say one thing before they arrive." He leaned forward slightly. "There are a lot of things people say about this person online and around the industry. A lot of it isn't true. So I want you to take time to get to know them yourself before making a decision. If, after that, you feel the partnership won't work, you can say so. Nobody will force you."
NuNew nodded, but his stomach only knotted tighter.
Nunew's throat felt dry. Whoever this person was... they were someone. Someone that came with noise. Someone experienced. Someone who could carry him to the top or swallow him whole.
Rejecting someone like that could he even do that? He was still a rookie. His entire public existence was a single welcome photo. Saying no to an opportunity like this felt unthinkable. It would look arrogant, ungrateful and ridiculous even.
It was career suicide.
So he just forced a polite smile and nodded again. "Yes, sir."
But inside, he was shaking.
Just as P'Aof finished speaking, the door opened.
Zee walked in.
NuNew's entire body went still. For a split second, he was convinced there had been a mistake Zee must be here for some other meeting, some executive discussion, anything else. Because there was no universe where someone like Zee would be here because of him.
But P'Aof turned to him and said, "Nong, this is the person interested in working with you. I'm sure you already know who Zee is."
Nunew's heart slammed into his ribs.
So it wasn't a coincidence.
"Yes, I do," he said quickly, voice too soft for his own liking. "Good morning, P'Zee."
Zee studied him with a small amused smirk tugging at the corner of his lips. "You look so surprised," he said, chuckling as his eyes traced Nunew's expression.
NuNew immediately forced his expression into something neutral, staring at a very safe spot on the table to avoid eye contact.
P'Aof smiled knowingly. "Both of you can go somewhere and discuss. NuNew, you can let me know later if you want to enter this partnership or not."
NuNew didn't even hesitate. The words shot out before he could think. "I'd like to be in the partnership, Phi. I want to work with P'Zee." his eyes looked at anywhere but on Zee. His voice betrayed no hesitation, but his pulse was loud enough to drown the room.
Aof blinked. "Are you sure you don't want to talk first? See if you even like him?"
NuNew's mouth betrayed him again. "I like him, Phi."
Aof's stare sharpened, amused at how fast that came out. "Oh?"
NuNew's ears went hot. "No-it's not-" He waved his hands, flustered. "I admire him as a senior, that's all, Phi."
Behind them, Zee cleared his throat lightly. "Do you two realize I'm standing right here?"
NuNew froze, then bowed again. "I'm sorry, Phi."
Zee didn't seem offended. If anything, he looked entertained by how shy NuNew had turned.
Aof shifted the conversation. "Initially, I planned for you, Nunew, to join our new reality show DMD: Friendship to bond with someone and potentially find a partner. But since you're insisting on working with Zee, I'll still put you in the lineup. I'll include Zee too. That way both of you get to spend more quality time together, introduce yourselves to the public, and learn about each other."
He turned to Zee. "Is that okay with you?"
"Yes," Zee answered without hesitation. "I'm fine with that."
"Good," Aof said, satisfied. Then both of you can go talk privately," Aof said, dismissing them with a wave.
....
As they left the office choose a small coffee shop a few floors down to sit and talk. Nothing fancy, just quiet enough to talk. Without cameras or staff around, the atmosphere felt completely different.
NuNew still sat a little too straight, hands tight around his iced drink, eyes flicking up only when necessary. Zee leaned back comfortably, trying to make the space less intimidating.
As they spoke, NuNew learned about Cutie Pie, about how the company planned to position the series, and how the ship system worked beneath the surface. He also learned that Zee wasn't as cold as he'd looked that first day. He could be blunt, yes. But he listened. He explained. He teased lightly. He smiled sometimes small but real.
By the time their drinks were empty, NuNew's anxiety had shifted into something warmer, something steadier.
They exchanged numbers and LINE IDs before parting ways.
.....
On his drive back home, Zee kept replaying one particular moment: NuNew bowing his head, apologizing over and over because he thought Zee might have was being forced into the partnership.
"I didn't want you to feel pressured, Phi. I really want to work with you. I'm sorry for being so insistent without discussing with you first ..."
The sincerity in his voice was not a performance, not an agenda it was genuine.
Zee rested one hand on the steering wheel, a small smile tugging at his mouth.
"I think I've met the right person this time," he muttered to himself, surprised at how certain it felt.
From that day on, something subtle shifted between Zee and Nunew.
At first they didn't text at all. Then it became once a week. Then once a day. Then suddenly it was every time one of them had a spare minute random check-ins, memes at 3AM, selfies from set, and quiet: "You awake?" or "I saw something that reminded me of you," or "Eat before you collapse."
Filming the reality show together only tightened the thread between them. Their partnership stopped feeling like a company project and more like something personal.
And the public loved them. Their dynamic was effortless light, teasing, a little clingy in ways that were hard to hide. Comments poured in, edits, gifs, fan pages everybody seemed to see something there. Maybe everyone except Zee.
The more time Zee spent with Nunew, the more he saw the softness behind the nervous smiles, the care behind the clumsy gestures, the fierce loyalty behind the gentle eyes. Nunew didn't want anything from him no clout, no shortcuts, no validation. He just wanted him to be okay.
What Nunew didn't know was that Zee had been drowning in Depression, isolation, betrayal, but somehow this tiny stubborn Nong with trembling hands and big worried eyes help him overcome is all of those.
Nunew was the first person in a long time who made Zee feel safe. Someone he didn't have to perform for. Someone who didn't demand anything. Someone who let him breathe.
Zee owed him for that more than he could ever say. So he made a promise to himself:
Look after Nunew. Protect him. Watch his back like blood.
To Zee, Nunew became family his little brother.
But to Nunew, that was the problem.
While Zee wrapped Nunew in the safety of brotherhood, Nunew was busy doing absolutely anything but feeling brotherly.
The more time they spent together, the deeper he sank. The easier it became to memorize Zee's habits the low hum he made when thinking, the vein that popped when he laughed too hard, the way his perfume clung to rooms long after he left, the way his hands felt when they casually fixed a stray thread on his costume. Little things that were never little in the stomach of someone falling in love.
He hated that Zee saw him as a younger brother. Hated the word "Nong" when Zee said it in that warm tender voice that felt like a blanket and a cage at the same time. He tried ignoring it, tried starving the feeling, tried pretending his pulse didn't jump every time Zee touched him or leaned close enough for his breath to tickle his ear.
But you cannot unlove someone by wanting to.
It's been one year and some months since their meeting in Aof office, and none of Nunew's feelings had faded. If anything, they'd sharpened. He'd tried to suppress it, push it down, date around, distract himself but nothing worked. Every time Zee smiled at him, it burned through every wall he tried to build.
Finally, Nunew decided he was done waiting for Zee to notice him on his own.
The shoot for Cutie Pie was about to begin and Nunew had finally made up his mind: enough of being seen as a child, enough of being sheltered like some baby sibling.
If Zee wanted to see him as a child, then he would just have to prove he wasn't one
This time, he wouldn't just play the role written in the script.
He would make Zee look at him differently.
See him differently.
Want him differently.
He would show him on set, off set, on camera, off camera that he was not a kid to be protected, he was a man to be wanted.
And this time, he wasn't planning to play it safe.