You don't know about Us - A MewGulf AU

Chapter 24: Rationality

Gulf waved at Mew and his manager as he left the vehicle. They'd picked him up in the morning like always, but had another schedule to attend first. Gulf had told them he could get to the set on his own, yet his phi had insisted on giving him a ride. He wouldn't be able to pick Gulf up this evening, so the nong had agreed in the end.

It wasn't like he had to stop talking or hanging with Mew anyway. They could still be close. Putting himself first didn't mean he had to break off the careful balance he and Mew had worked on achieving, right?

He had told Mew, the day after his break, that he simply was a little overworked and had felt extremely tired, physically and mentally, and that he wanted to concentrate on himself for a while. Mew had smiled at him sweetly and patted his head, as if wordlessly praising him. It felt so much like a phi and nong gesture that Gulf had no second doubts on whatever it implied.

Right now, Gulf walked through the hallway, greeting some of the assistants and crew on his way. Finally arriving at his dressing room, he easily picked up the clothes the stylists gave him and got changed. Then it was time for make-up.

Taking some time for himself had done Gulf good. After thinking everything through, his mind felt clearer than ever. Reward yourself, Pop had told him, put yourself first. That was exactly what he was doing. Between pretending to be the other universe's Gulf, pretending to be a rookie and playing the role of Mew's nong, Gulf had lost track of himself.

Whatever that used to define Gulf before all of this, had somewhere along the line disappeared from his view. Now, while rewarding himself for his hard work up until now and eating that piece of cake he so deserved, he was concentrating on putting himself back together.

There was no doubt that he was different from the Gulf before everything happened. He could not go back to who he once was, but he hadn't completely changed either. He'd just forgotten to care for his own self in all his acting. Now, he was working hard on finding the balance between the old him and the new him. And it did him good. Extremely good.

Gulf found himself smiling more often out of himself. Acting was the same as ever, but even that suddenly was easier than ever. After all, he only had one role to play, and that was Type. Gulf was now just Gulf. Himself. Being himself wasn't all that bad.

Others seemed to notice his change in mood as well. After finishing his first scene, the crew informed him he had an hour break. He had half the mind of taking a quick nap, but the caffeine buzzing in his head was still too clear for him to really sleep. Instead, he took a seat behind the director, watching the screen while his co-actors did their takes.

Mild had taken a seat next to him, engulfed in whatever game he was playing on his phone.

"Cut!" the director stopped the scene. "Let's take a quick break here, Boat, Jame, a second please?"

Following the director and his co-actors with his eyes, Gulf slightly raised his brows. If he read the director's tone right, he wasn't entirely satisfied with the scene.

"Poor them," Mild mumbled, shaking his head a little. He looked up from his phone, watching the monitors replay their latest take.

"Hm?" Gulf asked, wondering what his phi meant.

"It's the second day they're doing this scene, yet they still can't get it right. It must be frustrating," Mild explained. Gulf nodded. That didn't seem like fun, no. He got it though, sometimes it was hard to get into the right state of mind to film some scenes, and he too would get it wrong several times before finally passing.

He thought about it for a while. However much experience he had gained in acting between this universe and the other, he never entirely got used to it. Maybe it was him, or maybe it was the fact that acting always felt new in some way. A new character, a new feeling, a new scene. He wondered if other actors felt the same.