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"Geombulgeun gonggineun" Till could feel Luka's warm breath as his fingertips touched Till's chin gently. Luka's voice was smooth, yet dangerously sharp. His fingerrings felt cold on Till's neck as Luka placed his fingers carefully, mimicking Ivan in the previous round.
"Urireul gamssa-ango" Luka pressed lightly onto his adam's apple, making him reflexively gasp for air. Their faces were inches apart, not completely connecting them. Not like he did with Ivan, in round 6.
Mere seconds later, Luka's fingertips found their way to Till's lips, making him concentrate again. Luka effortlessly sang the next verse, all while simultaneously choking Till. Luka' fingers felt warm, completely different than one would expect them to be after seeing the purple-blue tints at his tips.
Of course, they weren't real, but the way Luka embodies his given character makes Till wonder how he makes everything seem so real.
When he felt Luka's fingers leave his neck, Till quickly regained his conposure before continuing on with the song. Maybe it wasn't too bad of an idea for Ivan to not be allowed on set. If he were here, Till would probably be much more distracted than he is already.
He still remembers when they had to film round 6 and he and Ivan had to retake the kissing scene time and time again. It wasn't the first time he kissed Ivan, not even closely, but kissing him while acting to not enjoy it was probably the most difficult task he had faced while recording for Alien Stage.
The way Ivan's face showed his rejected feelings, the way his eyes scrunched together after having to look at Till surviving due to his sacrifice.
When he and Ivan got together, he could've never imagined having to not reciprocate his kiss, or having to drastically pull away from Ivan's lips. The people on set were strict and would not let them go until they perfected that scene, after all the deadline came nearer every day.
"CUT!"
Till's thoughts were disrupted by the loud yell of Hyun Woo, his manager, signalling the end of recording. Hyun Woo walked to him and Luka, applauding them for their performance.
"You two did great today. We gathered a lot of filming material and have enough time to film the rest until the deadline" Till smiled when Hyun Woo patted him and Luka on the shoulder. He briefly said goodbye to him and Luka before leaving the hall.
-☆-
Upon entering his apartment, Till could already detect the smell of dumplings cooking. Ivan must've made another Russian dish to convince Till that "Russian dishes are just better than Korean ones". No matter how many national dishes Till tries from Ivan's home country, he is sure that nothing will ever overcome his love for Korean food.
"Till you're back!" Ivan rushed to him, hugging his partner tightly. "How was work?" "It was good, thanks. What are you making?" Till asked. Whatever it is, he thinks it smells delicious (although he would never openly admit that to Ivan).
Ivan let go of Till and went back to the kitchen. "They're called Pelmeni, they're quite similar to dumplings, I'm sure you'll like them" Ivan explained excitedly. "They're not yet done though, I didn't expect you to be back so early. Did Hyun Woo let you two out earlier?"
Till quickly removed his shoes and jacket to join Ivan in the kitchen. "Yeah, that's pretty much what happened" he said while hugging Ivan from behind and resting his chin on his partner's shoulder. "I'm glad to be home now, Luka was being a massive dick" he muttered into Ivan's back.
"Good that you're here now then" Ivan sighed. "Could you hand me the vinegar, please?"
"Sure" Till replied, letting go of him and opening the cupboard next to the oven. "Here" he handed Ivan the small bottle before sitting down on one of the bar chairs in front of him.
He pulled out his phone and scrolled mindlessly, until "Hey everyone! Me and Sua were thinking of going downtown in a few hours, if anyone would like to join us, feel free to do so!" He abruptly laid his head on the kitchen table, escaping his thoughts.
"Did you see what Mizi sent?" He heard Ivan asking. Till sighed. "I did. But I don't feel like going, I wanna spend time with youu~"
Ivan laughed. Till loves his laugh. He loves his laugh, smile, personality, and everything else about him. Sometimes he wishes he would've noticed that sooner. If he hadn't idolised Mizi all this time, if he just thought about his feelings for a bit longer than 2 seconds, he and Ivan might've had more time together.
Till snapped out of his thoughts due to the smell of fresh food being placed right in front of him. He sat straight up again and carefully inspected the food. "What did you say this was called again?" He asked. "They're called Pelmeni, I can't believe you forgot already, do you truly not care about me and my cooking at all~?" Ivan teased.
"Shut up" Till laughed. "You know these are just fake dumplings right? They'll never be better than the original anyway"
"Maybe try actually tasting my dishes before judging them so brutally" Ivan replied defensively.
"Fine" Till gave in (after all, he couldn't wait to finally try them). He slowly took a bite out of one of them and had to refrain from instantly expressing his enjoyment verbally.
"I have to admit, they're not too bad" he says.
"Not too bad?! I could see your eyes shining up because of this! I don't care what you're going to tell me, I know you secretly love them just as much as you love me" Ivan's mouth formed a smug smile.
"Whatever feeds your delusions" Till redirected his gaze from Ivan to the food below him and continued eating.
-☆-
"If it wasn't you who I would live with, I would expect something like, "Thank you for the meal, it was delicious" you know?" Ivan said calmly while stretching his arms.
"Well too bad, you should've lived with Mizi and Sua then instead of me" Till responded.
"Unfortunately I know that you wouldn't survive a day living with those two and all their lovey-dovey affectionate behaviour towards each other" he went on while standing up to collect the dirty dishes.
"I'll do the clean-up today, go lay down somewhere. You seem awfully tired" Till said.
"I can't believe I have the pleasure to learn something new about you every day. You being able to voluntarily wash the dishes wasn't something I was aware of until now" Ivan replied before kissing Till on the cheek. "I love you, Till"
"Yeah yeah, I love you too whatever"
-☆-
When Till went into the living room after having finished with the washing and drying up, he found Ivan laying on the couch, in a deep sleep. The TV was still on, he must have fallen asleep watching it.
The TV was displaying a duet of two singers, whose faces were blurred. The song appeared quite tragic, although Till only barely heard it, his mind being fuzzy. When he approached Ivan and laid down next to him however, he couldn't feel his usual slow, gentle breathing. Till placed his ear right onto Ivan's heart and froze when he didn't find his heartbeat.
All of a sudden, the music from the TV became louder and he could make out a violin and its eerie noises which made his ears ring.
He blinked.
He blinked and everything which had surrounded him until now was gone. Till found himself on the stage again, gasping for air. Luka was a few metres away from him, playing his violin. The two of them were surrounded by aliens and humans, who created a massive audience, watching them until one of them dies.