Chapter Text
est knew of trouble when he saw it— except, this time round, trouble had taken the form of a boy. precisely — a mop of black hair that peeked through the auditioning rooms, doe eyes that connected with est’s before they lowered— whether in respect or shyness, he wouldn't have known.
what he does know is— the doe-eyed boy would linger in his mind until he found out that he'd been paired with the same guy for their upcoming series.
he'd eventually find out that the boy does have a name— william to be specific.
“it's rather unique. much like prince william, yes?” est would've remarked, a slight teasing edge to his voice. he would've seen william bow down, a small, shy smile on his face as he suppressed his giggle of agreement.
william came in, not like a thunderstorm, but much like a chipmunk making its way up a tree, carving out its home, one little peanut stored in it, one at a time.
as is the rule for all upcoming pairings, it was required that both of them spend almost all of their time together to build the chemistry that already seemed to float between the two of them.
william wasn't pushy at all. he did enact everything required of him on screen, a perfect little director's actor that gave the screen exactly what had been demanded.
yet, as soon as the cameras turned off, he'd retreat to his shell, lingering not too near, but not too far away either from est. it had been particularly adorable to find william in a blank stare, clueless at what to do next in the break time, being whisked away by the makeup team for touch-ups.
the true trouble spelled when they moved onto the physical parts of the story— character building and comfort was essential, as was the skinship between the two.
the director had specifically requested est to guide the young boy, sensing his discomfort. he would've done it either way, est realised, when he saw the doe-eyes that pleaded him for late-night practice sessions.
***
the only thing est does regret? choosing his apartment over any other neutral space for this, the thought of william's comfort had arrived rather late. they'd hung out a few times already here, yet he felt guilty for not asking the younger's opinion first.
william had been stiff, sweating, and rather jittery. all it took was a few lights to be dimmed to provide him comfort, and est helping him by setting the aircon before shedding his own outer layers.
after figuring out the comfortable way to do it, william had preferred to settle on top of est, hands fiddling with the buttons that were lined up in est’s shirt, the one he'd worn today. est rested his hands on his waist, snaked around rather loosely as he drew silly circles low on his back.
they hadn't talked much, not really — except,
“phi,” william had whispered, his fingers pressed against est’s lips in a poor attempt to stop them, when the other had barely leaned in. est couldn't help but kiss his fingers too, before tilting his head in question.
william flushed a deep scarlet, est could make it out in the dark— the moonlight that streamed in reflecting the glow of william's glassy skin.
“its my first time kissing someone, so— just.” he hadn't been able to complete the sentence, eyes turned downward, presumably from embarrassment.
all est could hope for was for william to be unaware of his own heart thudding against his chest, his ears that felt on fire as he nodded, eyes seeking permission as he tilted william's chin upwards in question.
when he felt the younger’s eyes connect with his own, he didn't know what his eyes had reflected, but he could see the hesitance melt away and so, — he leaned up, pressing his lips against the soft, pliant ones above him, barely suppressing a groan when he felt the way the other melted into him, trusting and so, so warm.
by the time they were done practicing the kisses that would've been required for the upcoming shoot, the night had turned impossibly darker, the moon higher up in the sky as the clock ticked away.
“stay the night,” he had said— requested. hoped that wasn't too much to ask off, that william wouldn't be uncomfortable in doing so. they were still relatively new to this, to each other — as actors. as people. as friends.
william had just nodded, eyes dazed as he leaned to rest against est’s shoulder, burrowing himself in his clavicle as he exhaled, warm puffs that made est pleasantly shiver as he drew the younger closer, eyes slipping close.
and that's how they would've fallen asleep that night, est barely having the energy to cover both of them with a spare blanket that was nearby, hugging william closer as the younger mumbled in his sleep, before letting the darkness take over him, too.
***
after that night, something shifted. est couldn't pinpoint what exactly — but he could feel it down to his bones.
their schedules had gone on as usual, the rather steamy scenes now flowed much more easily. their chemistry had been shooting beyond the charts, and everytime est would catch a glimpse of the shy, stuttering william as he escaped the room with a flush high on his cheeks— just to cool down, est would lose his mind just alittle.
however, those were the only times when william would blush so much, almost melting into a puddle.
the rest of their time spent together? it was almost as if he'd met with a new william. his shy, blushing boy had been kidnapped and replaced by a rowdier, unashamed version that teased, flirted and performed obscene acts without any hesitation.
it didn't help that LYKN seemed to play a major role in this, too— if anything, he would've blamed them first for spoiling his precious boy.
now, as he sat in one of the practice rooms assigned to LYKN for their group dance rehearsals, his eyes followed the way william's body graced itself around, flowing seamlessly as he danced and belted out the chorus.
when they'd been done repeating the same sequence for what felt like the hundredth time for est— hong had went ahead and signalled for est to stop the bluetooth from blaring it once again— officially calling for a break.
it didn't take longer than a few seconds for william to collapse into him, all sweaty and whiny as est held him up, hands combing through his hair with the towel already ready in his hand.
“phiii estttt” william whined even louder, nuzzling into his neck. est refrained from the urge to squirm away, knowing the little devil did it on purpose ever since he found out how sensitive est had been there.
he knew the following request, which entailed such whining too— his chubby-cheeked boy would request a matcha latte, a chocolate chip cookie, along with est, ofcourse. he would then sit in his lap, chew away at the cookie while est would wipe away the crumbles— or slip them into his own mouth, blinking innocently if it caught anyone's attention.
nut stared at them in disgust— the rest had dispersed, some lying starfished on the floor while the others went out to chug down cold water.
“respect for you, dude, handling a sweaty and smelly william ain't no joke,” hong laughed as he came in, noticing the koala currently wrapped around him, towel draped across his shoulders, ice-cold water bottle in his hands.
“shut up,” came the reply, muffled and quick. william retreated, just to glare daggers at hong, who now sat on the other corner of the room, flipping william off, remnants of his laughter echoing through the room.
est almost missed the sweaty ball of warmth against him. almost.
he ignored the teasing eyes and whistles that followed him as he helped william pack up and carried his duffle bag for him— opening his car door for the other before keeping the duffle in the backseat.
friends cared for each other all the time, didn't they?
***
this is what one could call a routine, est supposes. the days that weren't spent shooting from the rise till the break of dawn— william spent with him, either lazing around in his house or dragging est along to any place possible, be it their dance practices, a new cat cafe that opened last week, or for parties.
he had settled in with the domesticity of it all without even realising — his heart slipping further and further away to someone with a small, shy smile accompanied by the cutest pair of eyes which flirted relentlessly.
they had been PR-trained, too, to an extent. it was usually how these things rolled along, their hands were meant to linger around for longer than required, stare at each other with starry eyes, guide william by his waist, pull him closer, or lean in to whisper nonsense, just for the squeals and the barrage of fancams that followed.
est wondered how much of it was real— how much of the false demeanor of william was real, the same william who couldn't meet his eyes without blushing all the way up to his ears — the one who now pushed and pushed until est snapped, until est grabbed him abit too roughly or let his eyes darken— until est was beyond flustered— his surprise replaced by want.
he wondered if william played along just for the sake of the boost such behaviour gave, the publicity that followed, which helped them maintain their popularity streak. he couldn't understand the heaviness that settled in his heart at the thought of the end that was nearing, inevitable and overbearing.
he wondered if william ever thought of such things— his silly little head filled with ideas which could drive est to the edge, had they ever wondered what would be of “williamest” after the series was over?
and yet— in the quiet of the night, william would settle into bed after a rather rough night of partying out- est would try and back away, having performed his duties. he would always be stopped, a weak yet stubborn hold on his hand.
“stay the night, phi.” william would whisper, eyes half-closed, a pink flush high on his cheeks. a part of him wanted to resist— nights like this, there was tension that was drawn tight, stretched apart like taffy— it was too real. too raw.
he couldn't say no, even if it was the morally correct thing to do.
it had always been a losing fight, and est had known it ever since he'd stared into those brown doe-eyes and let himself get lost in them.
***