I.L.Y. - A MewGulf AU

Chapter 6: Acting Skills

He was seated at the edge of the table, surrounded by today's actors and staff. Next to him sat his husband Mew, who was busy talking to the female co-actor who sat across him. Since todays shoot had finished early, the director suggested they go for dinner together. Of course, the younger was also invited to the party. Gulf felt utterly lost, awkwardly grabbing another bite of the otherwise delicious curry. He couldn't focus on the food, instead his thoughts were still stuck at that kiss earlier.

Mew was an actor, so he'd probably kissed many people before during recordings. He knew for a fact that he was one of those actors, if he were to believe the story of how they'd met and chosen each other at the auditions. During any free time, he had gotten today, he would look up articles and videos of the two of them, wanting to know more about this other life. He had to agree they looked good together, happy even. He wondered how much of it was acting.

Still, that kiss kept appearing in his thoughts no matter how much he tried to avoid thinking of it. There wasn't any reason to be annoyed or jealous, since it was just a fake kiss anyway. On top of that, he wasn't this worlds Gulf, so he had no reason to claim Mew.

Maybe I'm just getting too much into my role. Gulf told himself. Yes, that must be it.

He lifted his glass of wine, sipping as he nodded to himself. There was no reason to overthink all of this.

Gulf turned towards his husband, who was still in conversation with his co-actor. Back when they entered the restaurant, everyone had automatically reserved the seat next to Mew for Gulf. He had taken it in stride, shuffling their chairs even closer to show off. However, somewhere during the past hours, the two had retreated more to their own places, letting go of their entangled hand to instead focus on food and company. Staring, Gulf couldn't help but think Mew looked handsome, wearing a white dress up shirt and black pants, make-up still left on from the shoot. His shirt was slightly unbuttoned, showing off his chest.

Apparently, he wasn't the only one who saw this. Following his gaze, the co-actor smiled, then started leaning forward pointing at Mew's buttons. She said something, but Gulf didn't catch it. She moved forward even more, touching the buttons on his shirt. Gulf diverted his eyes. Does she have to do this? Can't she see his husband is here? Someone started laughing, but he didn't want to know why. He was exhausted from all this pretence and attention. He just wanted to go home and sleep, maybe actually talk with Mew about important matters for once.

And just yesterday Mew was accusing him of not wanting to talk. Now they're entirely avoiding the fact that he's not the original Gulf. They should talk about how to deal with this. They can't go on like this for sure.

A pat on his shoulder caught his attention, and he looked over to see who disrupted him. P'Bosser stood there, one hand on Mew and the other on Gulf. He excused himself as he told the staff they had to leave. There were several noises of disappointment from the table. After they all said goodbye – Mew would be back at the set tomorrow anyway – they finally left the restaurant. Gulf felt like he could breathe properly again.

P'Bosser drove them back home again, reminding Mew of his Instagram live planned later in the evening. The manager met Gulf's eyes, winking at him as he told him he should join.

"That reminds me," Mew gestured to Gulf's phone. Gulf gave it to the older, not even surprised when it unlocked with his fingerprints. As expected, this worlds Gulf really loved and trusted Mew. Opening Instagram on his phone, Mew explained he had to interact with Mew and their fans more. Their constant online flirting was a selling point of their relationship, and fans had anxiously been waiting on Gulf's reply of yesterday's love confession on Instagram. Gulf nodded, promising he would take care of it next time. He wanted to take back his phone and write a suitable reply, but Mew had already started typing.