Beyond the Screen

1

Gun loves his job as an actor. He is presented with opportunities to grow and develop his skills, interact with veterans and amateurs and most importantly, meet those who support his endeavors. Gun adores his fans. He considers himself lucky to be embraced by people near and across the oceans who routinely tune in to watch his series and variety shows. That level of appreciation and adoration is immeasurable, indescribable even. His heart swells with pleasure when he follows through with his fan's desires. Mind you, some demands are downright silly, like playing around with clothes pins or being told to hug on demand. Nevertheless, he does it anyway because he loves what he does and he loves his fans. However, sometimes everything becomes exhausting.

"Gun?" Jennie repeats.

Gun exhales and sweeps his eyes across a live audience filled with excited faces, wide grins affixed. A wave of silence washes over the studio, the camera lights seem to have acquired the brightness of ten suns in that very moment. Gun removes himself from his thoughts and Off gives an encouraging nod which helps to dissipate the sense of anxiety of that was bubbling beneath the chirpy façade.

"Papi and I have similar lifestyles and we are often times together." He begins. Eyes are glued to his figure as he recites answers he has said multiple times before in past interviews and promotional videos. He has done is all before. Regurgitated truths that require no real thinking anymore but which carries a certain amount of pain with them.

Gun takes a swig of water when Off picks up after him and begins to talk about how much they love fashion and so on. It has all been done before. Off is Gun's romantic interest when the cameras are rolling. Off gesticulates and his tone rises and falls as he speaks. He is a very engaging and animated speaker. This captivates people and Gun is not exempted. These are the opportunities in which Gun has licence to look at Off unwaveringly without one of his friends distracting him with an Instagram video or whatever it may be. Perhaps Gun should be amongst those in audience since there is nothing differentiating him from them Gunn is a fan of Off.

Off apparently says something funny and laughter roars up and pushes quietness out of the room. Gun detects the change in atmosphere a second later and chuckles a bit in order to mask his listlessness. As at this moment Gun is running on autopilot. Several minutes later the interview ends and the fans erupt in fanfare and screams ricochet off the glass interior.

"We did well today." Off whispers in Gun's ear as they meander through the hallways to get to the van that will take them to the GMM building and after which Off will chauffeur Gun home. This has become of tradition of theirs for the past seven months.

Among the sounds of camera shutters and murmuring, the fans shriek in the distance upon noticing these intimate moments between Off and Gun. These moments are frequently seen and shared across the net.

Gun nods and snakes his arm behind Off's back and soon their figures disappear behind a corridor. A few words are exchanged with their managers before everyone pools in the 3 company vehicles on standby.

During the ride to the GMM building, Tay shows off his new polaroid camera to Gun, New and Singto are snickering at their phone screens and Krist and Off are speaking softly to each other.

"Give it about five minutes for the photo to materialize." Tay says to Gun, as he holds the photo card which will reveal the selfie they had just taken.

Gun smiles and looks over at Krist who is now whispering quite intimately in Off's ear. What could possibly be such a big secret that they have to be whispering and carrying on as if no one else exists? Krist has it easy now that Off has allowed more openness among his pairs. In the early days of Puppy Honey, Gun has a difficult fight in persuading Off to be affectionate with him before and behind public eyes. Gun's eyes widen in shock when Krist places his hand on Off's knee and rubs the area for a brief moment.

"You're crazy." He manages to hear between Krist's obnoxious snickering.

"Stupid." Gun mutters to himself. This earns the attention of Tay who then glances at Gun and trails his gaze to Off and Krist who are sitting to the front-right of the van.

"Here it is!" Tay exclaims when the photo appears. He shoves it in Gun's line of vision in an effect to distract him and claw for Gun's attention.

"Oh". Gun's take the photo and examines it closely. Maybe if he stares at it for a more seconds, drinking in high resolution of the photo, perhaps that would buy himself enough time to reorient his thoughts because in all honesty, seeing Krist and Off joined at the hip is making his teeth hurt from all the clenching.

Tay notices that Gun is scatter brained. "How unfortunate it is that the closer you are, the less you actually see." He thought while branding a tight-lipped smile.

"Can I have this one?" Gun asks, never tearing his eyes away from the photo.

"Of course." Tay responds and they resume taking pictures.

***

Off applies pressure to the brake and the car slows to a stop outside Gun's condominium. The cool night air wafts in and caresses their faces. Silence surrounds them and people can be seen hurrying in and out of the lobby.

Gun hesitates before opening the door.

"Do you want me to walk you to the door?" Off asks and turns to look in Gun's direction. Gun meet's his gaze with lips parted, trying to think of a response. He lives on the fifth floor so there is not much walking when all his has to do is enter the lobby and head straight for the elevator. Furthermore, he is a 25 year old male who is healthy and perfectly capable of heading to his room unaccompanied. The handbrake squeaks in protest when Off pulls it upwards and breaking Gun's internal battle in the process.

"Haha come on. Don't look so scared." Off jokes. He turns off the car and exits. Gun exhales deeply and his face breaks out in a smile. His then exits and gallops after Off who is about to enter the lobby.

His heart feels like it is going to combust from either pure anxiety or giddiness. All rational thoughts dissipated from his mind when those elevator doors closed. There they were, together and alone. No cameras and no fans to capture or adulterate this moment. Here there is neither Pick/Pome nor Third/Kai. Just Off Jumpol and Gun Attaphan exchanging playful glances and smiles at each other during an elevator ride at 2am.

The doors whirs open and they march to Gun's room.

"Well, thanks for walking me." Gun says when he steps inside his apartment. He has a grip on the inside door handle and resting his hand against the door panel. Off steps forward and decreases the distance between them.

"Do you want me to go?"

Gun looks up into Off's eyes and puts up no resistance as Off slithers his way in and close the door behind.

Gun braces against the closed door and Off dives down for a kiss. Soon Gun snakes his arm around Off's shoulder pulling him closer. Breaths hitch and tongues engage in a duel for starved intimacy. There is a clash of waves against jutted rocks between them as they both give in to this insatiable desire to consume as much of each other as possible within the limited time before tomorrow's responsibilities come upon them.

"Do you want me to go?" Off repeats when he breaks contact from Gun's ravished lips.

"No." Gun answers, salivating like one of Pavlov's dog. Off wastes no more time before crashing his lips against Gun's.

****

Let's see where this goes. I hope this will be received well by the Off Gun fandom