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When Ricky had signed up for this modeling show he hadn‘t thought he‘d have to make out with someone on cam, but here he was, first day in LA, forced to make out with Gyuvin in front of the entire cast.
Ricky had always dreamed of being on this show, ever since he was a little boy watching with his mother and sister. Since a few years they now also allowed boys to participate, so he did. His journey up until this point had been kind of uneventful, he slayed the walks and shootings, gave good interviews and did exactly how he had planned. This way he had made it until LA, arriving at the ranch had been a bit of a shock since previous seasons had lived in a nice penthouse but it was luxurious enough. LA was like a second home to him, so he didn’t miss out on seeing the bustling streets and beautiful sights the way the other models did.
That evening they had been called in for an acting lesson for next day’s shoot. Ricky enjoyed acting, kissing people who were basically strangers not so much. But that was the challenge today, and he would do well. At least they got to choose their own partners, well, half of them got to choose, the other half had to get chosen.
“Gyuvin, you can choose next”, the acting coach said.
”I choose Ricky”, he said, making eye contact across the room. Ricky was taken aback, Gyuvin was straight, he 100% knew that, he had called himself the token straight of their room, so there was no space for misinterpretation but still, he had chosen Ricky to be his partner. Most likely just because he felt the most comfortable with Ricky, they had just met the girls and maybe he didn’t want to make them uncomfortable by choosing them, Ricky reasoned with himself.
Once everyone had decided on their partners they had to come up to the front one by one and first sensually stare into each other’s eyes before kissing. Ricky wasn’t a hugger, he didn’t really like closeness much, but that didn’t matter now. The coach told them to step closer, and closer until Ricky had to lightly tilt up his chin to keep eye contact.
Gyuvin’s arms slotted around Ricky’s waist, his face came closer, but he still gave him the opportunity to move back if Ricky didn’t want to kiss him. Instead he closed the gap between them, their lips slotted together like puzzle pieces, and Ricky had to focus not to melt too much into his strong hold. He didn’t want to make Gyuvin uncomfortable by sending the wrong signals.
”That was great”, the coach said, cueing them to part. Gyuvin was still looking at Ricky, while Ricky was looking everywhere but him. He felt his cheeks heat up as he walked back to his seat. “Gyuvin is totally in love with you.”, Taerae giggled.
“He’s straight”, Ricky shut it down immediately.
”For now”, Taerae whispered, but Ricky didn’t react. Once every couple had practiced in front of the group they finally got let go with directory to practice and think of a storyline together.
”Ricky, let’s practice over there!” Gyuvin bound up to him like a puppy, throwing his body weight onto Ricky’s back, steering him towards a more secluded area behind one of the buildings.
”So, what’s our story?”, Ricky asked.
”We are childhood best friends, you’ve had a crush on me for like forever and now I finally confessed to you but you rejected me, because you now have a boyfriend, but then you realized you can’t resist me and we kiss.” Gyuvin smiled.
”No, why do I have to be the one pining after you?” Ricky shut down the suggestion.
”Then you figure out a better story.” His shooting partner pouted.
”I like the childhood friends part…” Ricky thought, “how about we both were in love with each other but were too scared to ruin our friendship, but now we are both leaving for college and this might be the last time we’ll see each other, so you confess to me, but we can’t be together, because we are leaving tomorrow, so this is our last night together.”
Gyuvin looked at him with teary eyes, “Ricky! That’s so painful and romantic. We should practice now.” He took Ricky’s hands into his. In the dim outside lighting Gyuvin’s eyes sparkled like they held all the stars in the sky. Ricky tried not to think about it, instead getting into the right headspace. Practice made the whole thing less awkward, though they didn’t kiss again, deciding to keep the tension for the shoot.
The drive to the shooting venue was quiet, everyone was equal parts nervous and tired. They got styled in white outfits, Gyuvin‘s shirt was almost see through, not that Ricky’s was any better. “He’s staring at you.” Taerae whispered as he walked past Ricky to the fitting room. Ricky looked at Gyuvin again but he was busy in conversation with another guy. Taerae was making things up and Ricky really needed to focus on this shoot. Him and Gyuvin were called on pretty early. The LA air was cold as they stood by the lake getting instructions by the eerily smiling photographer. He was kind of scary, like a wax figure with his smile eternally molded onto his face. But Ricky shouldn’t get distracted by this. Gyuvin stepped into the rowing boat first, stretching out his hand to help Ricky into the boat. They got pulled out into the middle of the lake.
“Why did they make us think of this entire story if we now are stuck on this boat?”, Ricky asked, annoyed.
”But this is quite romantic, like The Little Mermaid.” Gyuvin smiled. Ricky thought Gyuvin did kind of looked like prince Erik did that make him Ariel?
”You can start”, the host shouted through a megaphone.
Gyuvin carefully moved closer, placing a hand on Ricky’s cheek slowly caressing the mole under his eye. Ricky narrowed the gap between them, still leaving a small gap for Gyuvin to close. Ricky almost got knocked back with how eagerly the other boy was kissing him. He must be a great actor because Ricky could feel himself fall in love a little. How could he not if the kisses felt so sincere, like it was just them on this lake and they weren’t being watched by a dozen people. He hardly noticed the rain drenching them or the host commenting on their performance, he just hoped this looked half as good as it felt. Gyuvin pulled back as the boat started to move again. Apparently they were done.
”Wow, you guys hardly could stop.” The host said as they arrived at the shore. Gyuvin helped Ricky out of the boat and they stood in front of the host.
”You guys were so good, I think it would be of no use to make you wait any longer, you’re in the next round.”
Ricky and Gyuvin smiled excitedly, walking up the stairs. The moment they came into view of the waiting area Gyuvin let go of Ricky’s hand. Suddenly the cold of standing in drenched clothes in the wind hit him. He was freezing when a staff member brought them the bathrobes. Taerae came up to Ricky. “How was it?”
”Really good, we’re in the next round.” Ricky said, making his way to the hot shower provided.
”What’s the shoot like?”
”Your on a boat in the middle of a lake, kind of like The Note Book.”
”That sounds very romantic.”
”It is very romantic if you can ignore the creepy photographer.”
When they arrived back at the Modelranch it was quite late, everyone was extremely tired and tried to get ready for bed as quickly as possible. “Ricky?”, he heard Gyuvin knock on the door of the bathroom that connected to their bedroom.
”What?”, he asked, continuing to wash his face.
”Can I come in?”
”Sure!”
Gyuvin entered the bathroom, it really wasn’t made for more than one person at a time so their shoulders almost touched as they stood in front of the sink.
”You were good today.” Gyuvin said to fill the awkward silence.
”You too.” Ricky agreed.
”I hope my next girlfriend will kiss as good as you.”
Ricky felt the heat rise into his cheeks. ”Thank you, you didn’t do badly either.”
Gyuvin smiled, even now barefaced, in the questionable bathroom light he looked undeniably handsome.
”I’ll go to bed now.” Ricky fled the bathroom. Just as he was about to snuggle into bed a production manager entered.
“Do you want to have a phone call now?” She asked.
”Yes, sure”, he followed her to the phone room. Where they dialed his close friend's number. Ricky wasn’t stupid, he knew why he had been asked to call, him and Gyuvin had a lot of tension and they wanted him to talk about his feelings.
”Hao ge!” Ricky smiled as his friend showed up on screen.
“Ricky, how are things?”
”Good, we just had a photo shoot today where we had to kiss on a boat, like in Tangled just without the lights.”
”Oh, who did you kiss? I hope it was a pretty boy, well, they should all be pretty, shouldn’t they?”
”Yes, he is very gorgeous. His name is Gyuvin but he’s straight, so there is that.”
”Unfortunate, happens to the best of us, but was it fun?”
”Yes, very, he’s nice and a good kisser.”
The next day began far too early. They got on the bus to a gorgeous ballroom. There it was announced that they’d do pair dance in their groups from the photo shoot.
“I want to lead.” Gyuvin announced.
”Sure, I’m fine with that” Ricky answered. The entire morning Gyuvin had hardly looked at him which was strange, normally they talked a lot not just because they were roommates, but last night Gyuvin had not been in the room when Ricky returned from his call and his bed had been undisturbed when they got up. Even now Gyuvin seemed distracted, continuously messing up moves and being a bit stiff while not even sparing a glance at Ricky. All in all it was strange.
Once back at the ranch the models got to practicing, well most of them. A group of mostly straight guys had formed that were lounging by the pool.
”We’ll practice later, Ricky”, Gyuvin had dismissed him. So now Ricky was watching Taerae and his girl practice.
”Do you want to take a break, Chaehyun? I’ll practice some more with Ricky.”
Chaehyun agreed easily leaving the two alone.
“Shouldn’t Gyuvin be practicing with you?”, he asked.
”You’d think so but he’s been so strange today.”
”Well, now he is staring at us like we just killed his first born, so I really don’t get his deal today.”
”Men really drive me insane.”
Ricky got asked to call Hao once again and who was he to deny this, it would probably get him more screen time and more screen time meant more followers, which was the goal of being on this show if they were really honest. Either to become an influencer or be controversial enough for reality tv.
“Two days in a row, what did I do to receive this honor?”, Hao smiled.
“Ask the producers”, Ricky said knowing they would cut it out of the episode.
”I’m here with Hanbin, just so you know.” Hao moved the camera so Ricky could see his boyfriend next to him.
”Ah, perfect, because I’m having boy trouble.”
”Tell us about it” Hanbin leaned in.
”We are in the same couples we were in during the shoot.”
Hao perked up “So you are with the cute guy again?”
Ricky sighed “Yes, but he’s the trouble maker, we are doing some dance together and he simply won’t practice with me.”
“But did you practice?”, Hanbin asked.
”Yes, I did. I think I’d do well individually but he is supposed to lead…”
”Get him on the phone right now!” Hao demanded. Ricky looked at the staff.
”Sure we can get him”, one of them said.
”Perfect!” Hao called out.
Ricky felt almost bad for Gyuvin, Hao would most likely chew him out, his only saving grace would be Hanbin who might hold Hao back a little.
”Well, make sure to call us tomorrow and tell us how the dancing went!” Hanbin smiled.
”And if it goes badly Gyuvin better be prepared…” Hao added.
”I will, bye bye.”
Ricky left to let Gyuvin into the phone room.
”Do you have time to practice now?” Gyuvin asked. He looked like a scolded puppy, Ricky almost felt bad, Hao must have really laid into him.
”I guess”, Ricky got up from the sun lounger.
They practiced for a while, the moves were good, Gyuvin wasn’t a bad dancer, but he looked like he was about to cry any moment.
The fitting was nice, Ricky really liked the styling with the Baroque suits. Gyuvin had pulled himself together and was going over the choreography with him again. It was good, Ricky was sure they’d do well. At least he’d do well, Gyuvin was still not quite there in the face but that really wasn’t Ricky’s issue. Obviously he didn’t want Gyuvin to go home, he liked the guy most of the time but this was still a competition and his first priority was himself. They were dancing with the whole group, it felt good, like straight out of a fairytale. He didn’t have time to focus on Gyuvin or anyone else, he just moved to the music, walked the runway and then went back to his spot.
Once backstage they got called out one by one to be judged. Ricky was slowly getting a bit nervous, he thought he had done well but at the end of the day the journey could be over at any time.
“Can you go talk with Gyuvin?”, a producer asked.
Ricky nodded looking around to find his partner. He wasn’t with his usual group of guys, scanning the room he finally found him sitting alone in a corner.
“Hey, how are you doing?”Ricky asked, sitting opposite of him.
”I’m okay”, Gyuvin looked everywhere but Ricky.
”Hao wasn’t too mean to you, right, like if there was an issue I’ll make him apologize to you.”
Gyuvin sighed, “No it isn’t that. He was right, it wasn’t fair of me to drag you down with me just because I’ve been having some personal issues.”
”Did anything happen with your family?” Ricky asked, knowing Gyuvin was really close with them.
”No, they are doing fine. I’ve just been in my head about some things.”
“If you want to talk about it you can always come to me.”
”Thank you, I will tell you, soon.”
Another member of production came to them telling them to go in for judging.
“Wow during your shoot you had so much chemistry.“ The host said as they stepped in front of her. “We were wondering if you guys are actually together?”
Ricky almost choked on the air, obviously they were not.
”Today though your chemistry wasn’t as good”, she carried on, “you seemed almost hesitant to touch each other, but anyways you gave a perfect performance, you are both in the next round please come and take your picture”, the host said.
Ricky and Gyuvin stepped forward, their hands brushed as they took the photos from the host, then they left quickly. As they stood outside the door Ricky took a good look at the picture. The moment chosen was between kisses, they looked so in love. Gyuvin was smiling while Ricky was leaning against him. Gyuvin also was staring at the picture in his hands, his eyes were sparkling with tears.
“Ricky, can we talk once we are home?”, he asked.
”Sure.” Ricky agreed. Gyuvin left quickly, to hang out with the guys again.
”Let me see”, Taerae appeared next to Ricky.
”The host said we look like a real couple.”
”She wasn’t wrong. He looks like he wants you.” Taerae said before getting called in for judging.
When they were back at the ranch it was already dark out. Ricky wanted nothing more but to lay down in bed and decompress from the day, but he still had a conversation to have.
They sat on a lounger by the pool, Gyuvin took a deep breath before starting.
“I’m really sorry, my behavior was unacceptable and I hope we can move forward from that. Even if what I’ll say now might ruin our friendship.”
Ricky watched the people past Gyuvin walk into their houses.
”I like you, like in a romantic sense.”
Out of all the things Ricky had thought that was going he did not anticipate this. So his reaction might not have been the best. “But I thought you were straight?”
Gyuvin laughed awkwardly. “I thought so too, but the shoot, the kiss, spending time with you, it made me realize some things… You don’t have to like me back, but I just want to explain my behavior, I think I liked you before the shoot, ever since we met I thought you were the most gorgeous person I have ever seen, and then after the kiss I simply couldn’t deny it anymore. I’ve always been straight, I’ve never liked a boy before, it was terrifying. So I didn’t want to face it, especially not here, in this competition. But I realized that was unfair to you too. So, I just needed to explain that, you don’t have to return my feelings, but yeah…”
Ricky sat there shocked. “I do like you too and I’d like to get to know you better outside of this.”
”Really?”, Gyuvin’s eyes light up.
”Yes, really!”
The ringing of the phone felt like ages as Ricky sat in front of the tablet, waiting for Hao to finally pick up.
“What happened now, do we need to come and beat that boy up?”, Hao asked the moment his and Hanbin’s faces popped up on the screen.
”No, no, no need for that. Actually, we are kind of dating now.”
”Oh, Ricky, we are so happy for you!”, Hanbin called out.
”Don’t let that boy keep you from winning though, we don’t take anything worse than second place.”
”I know Hao ge, I’m not planning on losing, not to him and not to anyone else.”