LIMELIGHT

15.

There was a time when Tul thought of how great being watched by a hundred thousand or maybe even a million as you portray a character that they love.

There was also a time when Tul had thought how beautiful would it be to feel the love that those characters in the story shares in real life. Someone would love you for who you are, not the empty shell of a human but rather the soul inside it.

But as soon as the boundary between the character's life and his real life started to fade, everything felt suffocating. Freedom became too hard to attain, love became an impossible thing, happiness became something that is easy to fake.

Max placed his chopsticks down as he looked at Tul with curiosity in his eyes. Tul suddenly invited him on a private dinner, just the two of them. Who would not be curious about it. He took a sip on his drink before speaking, "Why did you suddenly asked me out?"

Tul raised his head up to meet Max' eyes, "I have something to tell you..." He paused, took a deep breath and smiled, "I liked you."

Max' jaw dropped with the sudden confession, "Well... Well, I also love... No, I mean... like you as... as a brother." He stammered with his words, carefully picking up the right words to avoid confusion. The sudden confession of his on-screen partner just shook the hell out of him.

"You... You know... Even if you like me... I uhh... Nothing will change between---" his words was interrupted by Tul's laughter.

Max blushed furiously, "This is awkward." He mumbled.

"I already have a boyfriend. Stop acting all weird. I just said I liked you, the same way as I once thought of you romantically for a split second but later on became disgusted with the thought of being your lover." Tul joked which made Max' lips twitch in disbelief.

"How can you say that to someone you once thought the most handsome in the world?"

"When did I thought of you that way?"

"When you started being attracted to me."

Tul rolled his eyes, "Fine. Fine." He surrendered which made Max laugh sweetly. As Tul stared at Max, he realized what could have been the reason why he had liked him in the first place, his childlike attitude and that distinct warm air around him that forces people to be who they are when he's around without judgment. He's lucky that he found a friend like Max.

Max smiled, "So, who's this love of yours?"

The question made Tul shift his eyes away because of embarrassment, "Mew." He blushed.

Max coughed a couple of times, almost seems like choking. Tul quickly stood up and rubbed his hand over Max' back. "What the heck? Is it that shocking?"

"I knew it! I knew it!" Max said pointing his finger on Tul. "The two of you had always been suspicious!" He added.

Tul nodded, "Fine. Whatever." As soon as he was about to return to his seat, Max stood up and pulled him in for a hug, "I'm happy for you."

"You should be. After all the support you received from me after having a lot of girlfriends." Tul joked which made Max playfully whimpered, "You're ruining the moment."

---

Mew was busy scrolling through his phone while waiting for their order to arrive. He sighed.

A lot of rumors, a lot of speculations, a lot of noise across all the social networking sites about the relationship status between him and Tul.

Yet instead of addressing it or trying to put a silence to all of it, they chose to be quiet and just enjoy their a hundred and first dinner date. Guess, that summarize what is going on between them?

Mew smiled as he clicked an edited video of him and Tul accompanied by a sweet song. As the melody played, his heart melted. The song really suits his teerak, Tul Pakorn.

"Mew..." the soft voice he'll always love to listen to from morning to night made his smile grew wider.

He quickly shifted his eyes away from his phone and as if on cue, his sparkling lovely eyes met Tul's serious ones.

The smile on his face faded, the sparks on his eyes gradually died, his chest felt tighter—

"Let's stop this." Tul said.

Silence engulfed. Mew just stared at Tul, finding it hard to form words out of his lips, he looked away for a second before returning his eyes back on his teerak, "W... Wait. Why? What's wrong?" A single tear escaped his eye.

"Let's get married instead." Tul added and smiled brightly like the sun. Tul won't be able to make it to the entertainment industry if he cannot act.

Mew got caught off-guard for a second. The back of his hand instinctively went to cover his mouth as his eyes slowly grew wide. Marriage...

Soon enough, he started laughing his heart out, his face almost turning like a tomato.

"What? It's easy to say yes or no?" Tul as he is, obviously look like he's starting to get irritated of Mew's lack of answer. Well, the question is already embarrassing enough but being laughed at after asking it is a different question.

Tul grew tired of watching Mew turn his question into a joke, something that he never thought Mew would do to him. All he thought was his lover being happy and all tearful after that question, only to just make him feel ridiculous with himself.

He stood up and was about to leave with a frown and a thought of breaking up with Mew when the latter grabbed his hand, stopping him.

"It's funny how much our minds think alike sometimes." Mew started.

Tul's frown deepened.

"Things will be harder." Mew said.

"Some people won't be able to understand us."

"Some will hate us."

"Our relationship won't be always smooth sailing."

"But I promise to love you the same way no matter what." He added.

Mew smiled widely as he fished out a small box from his pocket. Tul's eyes grew wide as a hint of surprise became visible in his face.

"I've been always bringing this with me, waiting for a perfect chance." He admitted shyly.

"This isn't really an engagement ring cause I want the time that I would ask your hand for marriage to be memorable and full of happiness." He said and flipped the box open, showing a beautiful silver ring.

"This is a promise ring. A promise that I would choose you over and over again. A promise that I'll stay by your side even if the world turns their back on us. A promise that I'll love you til' you grew tired of me loving you so much."

Tears started rolling down on Tul's cheeks. His eyes looking like diamonds sparkling as it get basked under the warm limelight coming from the sun.

"Travel the world with me." Mew said.