Tay was panting the moment he reached the parking lot. He took the stairs and ran his way to the said place, just to make sure he'll catch his best friend before he even left the building. They just finished their schedule for the day and for some reason, it gave him a sudden feeling of emptiness the moment New stepped out of the dressing room and said his goodbyes. He can't understand why? He was used to not having his best friend's presence for a long time. It indeed took him some time to adjust, given that for 3 long years, they've been each other's support system. They worked together almost every day until it's time for them to take each other's path separately. The first few months was torture to Tay, but having a very packed schedule, you have no other way but to accept reality and move on. He's happy seeing how New grows without him, and he's happy for himself that he was able to survive without the help of the younger man in the industry.
Everything's falling back to normal again with his life. He began to accept that they can no longer spend time with each other as often as they want to because of their tight schedule, most especially New because he was doing drama series here and there and Tay can't help but be proud of the former love team. It was his dream after all.
They can no longer do video calls because most of the time their free schedules don't match. When Tay's done with his work, New has to start his. But Tay appreciates this one time New stayed up a little late just to talk to him over a video call, even if he is so tired from work that he even fell asleep after talking random stuff with Tay for 15 minutes. Tay watches his best friend sleep for a few more minutes before deciding to end the call with a satisfied smile on his face. He missed talking to New, and he was thankful that his best friend still gave so much effort just to spend even just a few minutes with him.
As much as he prefers not to admit it, it is always New who saves their relationship from falling apart because Tay doesn't have the guts to. Tay always overthinks, and he is always careful because he doesn't want to bother anyone else. He can't help it. He's an introvert, after all.
The one day his manager told him happily that he'll be working with New again, he can't help but be happy. Off even told him over the phone that Kwang texted him that she's quite afraid that Tay's having some mental problem because he all of a sudden can't get rid of the smile on his face. She said to Off that it creeps her out, so Off has to remind him to stay low-key or else, it will be obvious to the whole world how much Tay loves his "best friend". Tay did nothing but to shrug and laugh all over again. Well, he is excited to work with New again, so why bother hiding it?
But the moment the both of them met again, Tay doesn't know why all of a sudden, everything felt awkward. He can't understand why they can no longer talk while staring in each other's eyes straight for long. He doesn't know why New's smile no longer reached his eyes. He can't understand why the clingy man suddenly can't stay still beside him. Tay's unsure what went wrong and the thought hunts him to sleep the next few days after their work together. But since he's a coward, he didn't bother to make a move and ask New.
Their work together didn't end there though, the management set them another schedule and another, so the two of them didn't have any choice but to be together again more often. The recent project was with Off and Gun, it was for a Japanese magazine. Tay thought New will be much more comfortable this time because he will not be alone with him, but also with OffGun, surprisingly, New stays the same. He feels like seeing the New he once was during the first few days he worked with him in Five Live Fresh. The aloof boy who loves to be in his world. New doesn't even bother talking to Off nor laughing at his silly jokes. He stayed on the side and only talked to Gun. It starts to bother Tay again, but still, he didn't do anything about it, regardless how much Off eyed him to do something. They were even surprised to know that New left with Gun first after the shoot. Gun just shoot Off a message about it. Off even thought they'll have a chance to eat out together again, but ended up eating with Tay alone, which doesn't even bother Off but obviously bother's Tay.
