Every stage of missing you (eng version)

9. Not just for show

The fake dating wasn't loud.

There were no interviews.
No glossy magazine spreads.
Just curated appearances — the kind of "accidents" the company didn't bother denying.

A shot of them walking together under the same umbrella.
A low-res photo of Heeseung opening the car door while Sunghoon looked away.
Fan-taken videos of their eyes meeting just a second too long.

It didn't take much.

"You can tell this is fake."
"Look at the way heeseung looks at him!
They're real"
"The way sunghoon is always looking for him"
"I'm not buying this."
"This is my Roman Empire."

Some doubted it.
But most didn't want to.
Because something about it felt like a drama , and they were addicted to the tension.

The doubtful comments prompted the company to push even further.

More subtle run-ins.
More unscripted closeness.

Heeseung played it effortlessly — teasing smiles, casual touches, eyes that always lingered longer than they should've.

Sunghoon didn't mirror him.
But he didn't stop him either.

⸻

Late one night, after a long shoot and a longer round of edits, the building had mostly emptied out.

Sunghoon stepped out onto the company balcony for air.

The sky was dark. The city buzzed below.

His hands were buried in his pockets. Shoulders tight. Head full.

Then he heard the soft flick of a lighter.

Footsteps.

Heeseung.

He stepped out without saying anything at first, holding a cigarette between two fingers.

He took a slow drag, eyes fixed ahead.

Then, without looking at Sunghoon, he said quietly:

"You know I quit."

A pause.

"But sometimes it helps."

Sunghoon didn't answer.
Didn't need to.

When they were still together, he convinced Heseung to quit smoking, and he stopped immediately. Now, it's expected that heeseung's picked it up again. Though it stings. Sunghoon reminds himself he no longer has any say in the matter

They stood in silence — side by side, the distance between them smaller than it felt.

Heeseung blew the smoke out slowly.

"Funny," he said after a moment. "They all think it's real."

Sunghoon glanced over, brows raised. "And whose fault is that?"

Heeseung turned toward him just slightly. His voice was lower now. Honest.

"It doesn't feel fake to me."

Sunghoon didn't speak right away.

His gaze stayed forward, locked on nothing in particular.

Then, softly:

"That's the problem."

A breath.

"You always make it feel like it's real."

The air shifted.

Heeseung looked at him — not with surprise, but with something deeper. Something cracked open.

And for the first time, Sunghoon let it hang there.

Didn't run.
Didn't backtrack.

Just stayed quiet.

Letting it mean whatever it meant.

Letting it hurt.