Water On Fire [MileApo | mxm]

6

Unlike Apo, Lamai desperately wants to be spotted with Mile. He quickly discovers that she is obsessed with social media and being seen, and is only with him because of how his fame can benefit her. Mile is a private man who prefers picnics in secluded areas - preferably with a certain hurricane of a man in cowboy boots.

She wants to eat on an open terrace at a restaurant known to have paparazzi lying in wait. Mile is a generous partner, but he refuses. They settle on somewhere more private, so they won't be spotted.

He studies his dinner date while she eats. She is pale, prim, petite and proper, Apo's opposite in every way, and takes tiny bites of her food at a time. Mile would have thought it cute, two years ago. Now, he thinks cute is the uncouth way Apo shovels food into his mouth. He looks at Lamai but sees Apo's face instead, lips coated in tiny, buttery croissant flakes.

Good date? Apo texts him. Need rescuing?

Needless to say, there is no second date. But there is a second girl. And a third. And a fourth. Mile is nothing if not determined.

•••

Mile passes under a new awning on his way into work.

He can't explain the odd pang of guilt he feels joining Apo on set. Apo, he quickly realizes, has no such qualms. Mile's dating life hasn't phased him.

During their ELLE interview in late September, Apo has the chance to get his revenge when asked by the interviewer about flirting.

"Honestly, I don't know how to flirt," Apo admits instead, and proceeds to trip all over his words. Mile makes out: "Trying is trying. It should be effortless. When you're doing what you love, I believe it will bring you to the right person."

"This means if you like Apo, you have to be the one to initiate it," Mile says.

Mile's chest swells. He's never wanted more to know what's really going on inside Apo's head. Does Apo see - finally - that they're the right person for each other?