He couldn't help but chuckle. It was okay for the fans to ship their characters. He had no problem with that. But they were beginning to ship them as their real selves. But they didn't even know that Jax and Micah weren't really close. In fact, Micah wouldn't let Jax call him by his name when they were alone. He was always Mr. Micah and sir to Jax.

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. Upon entering the room where they would have the live recording, Jax was greeted with Sebastian's big smile.

Jax flashed him a smile. "Well, aren't you happy?"

"Who wouldn't be happy, Jax? Look at the success of our series. And it's my debut series, too," Sebastian said.

As the two headed to the sofa near the window, they greeted the other staff who were preparing. Then they sat beside each other. Sebastian was leaning on the arm of the sofa.

"I can't believe how big we've become," Jax remarked.

"Why is it even a shock to you? You're good at acting. Those guys who gained isntant popularity have nothing against you. All they have is their looks. You're committed to you craft," Sebastian said.

Sebastian gave him a sheepish smile.

"Hey! You were supposed to deny that." Jax crossed his arms.

Sebastian chuckled. "But they are really handsome. I can't lie about that."

"Wow. To think that I cared for you so much even on our first meeting since you're the youngest here. Give me back the lunch I gave you on the first day of the acting workshop." Jax pretended to sulk.

Sebastian broke into a louder fit of laughter. Jax laughed, too. But their happy moment was short-lived and turned into a tense atmosphere when a familiar voice joined them.

"Are you done preparing for  the live?" Micah asked, taking the space left on Jax's left side.

"Good evening, Mr. Micah," the two greeted. "The makeup team called me on my way. They said that they'll just call me if it's my turn."

"Is that so?" Micah rhetorically asked.

"And is it the same for you?" Micah asked Sebastian.

"Yes sir," Sebastian replied.

"I just finished my makeup. You should go now. Don't waste anytime," Micah said.

"But-" Sebastian was about to explain that the team specifically told him to wait for them to call him.

Sebastian stood up and Jax did, too.

Jax turned around and answered, "To get my makeup done, sir."

Jax took a seat on the sofa again. But it was clear that he was trying to sit as far as he could from Micah. It was understandable. He didn't feel comfortable being close to Micah. Although they did a lot of mature scenes in the series, it was still nerve-wracking to be near him. 

Micah had been in other BL series before and he had gained enough popularity for him to have a partner who's not so known in the industry. But he wasn't happy when he found out that his partner was someone who was really not known. He thought it would be someone who at least had a solid fanbase even if it was small. But Jax totally had nothing.

"Have you seen the hashtags?" Micah asked.

Jax gave Micah a confused look. Then he got it. "I'm sorry, sir. I also agree with you that the fans should not be shipping us since we are just doing our job. But I can't control what they post, sir. They trended #MicJax by themselves."

Micah rolled his eyes. "I'm not talking about that. Look at the top 10 hashtags."

Jax opened his account and checked the hashtags. This was what he saw:

#MicJax

#ABillionaire'sSecondLove

#Micah

#Jax

#TSConcertTickets

#TSConcert

#ABillionaire'sSecondLoveFinale

#SebJax

#Sebastian

#ABillionaire'sSecondLoveLive

Jax's confusion grew more. He didn't understand what the problem was. "We are trending worldwide?"

Micah looked at him and Jax instantly knew he pointed out the wrong. He gulped.

"Are you really that stupid? Do I need to spell out everything for you." Micah leaned on the backrest of the sofa. "This is why I don't like working with extras," he muttered under his breath but it didn't go unheard by Jax.

This was why Jax didn't like being with Micah. When he finally appreciated himself for his craft, Micah always found a way to make him feel small again.

"Since you clearly don't understand yet how the industry works, let me tell you out of my good heart," Micah continued with sarcasm. "There are fans who would like to see a change in the dynamics so they pair the main character with another person. For a short period of time, they relish in that freshness. This leads to the main pairing to drown. But the fans will get tired soon. And everyone involved in this - the main character, the main lead, and the third guy - have to go back from scratch. This is my third time already and I don't want to go back from scratch again. Do you want to go back from scratch?"

Jax shook his head. "No, sir."

One of the makeup team called Jax, and he excused himself from Micah. While getting his makeup done, he thought of how Micah took things seriously. He respected that because it meant he respected his job. But somehow, it felt too suffocating.