"I'll give this to you" Daiju said as he handed over the gift. It was a small white fox which was stitched crochet style, Juniper held it up close and smiled. "Thank you, its cute''
Daiju smoothly added the comment "Not as cute as you are".
Juniper had a slight blush on his face it was too direct of a compliment and Daiju laughed. "Come on, we need to go check out the rest of the stalls before they close."
They continued around the stalls until suddenly Juniper was stopped by a passerby
The older gentleman turned and saw Juniper. "Oh! You're the guy who did that cooking show! Juniper right?"
Juniper was shocked at being recognised for the first time. "Uh... yes, that's me."
''I liked your outdoor cooking segment, I think you should do more of those.'' The man then looked towards Daiju ''Huh... You look familiar too''.
Daiju was still wearing a mask so it should be a bit harder to recognise within the crowd. "Ah, I'm not sure if I've met you before."
The older man squinted his eyes before realising "...I have, you're the actor from the movies!" his voice raised a little louder than usual. "You play the role of the young second male lead in that recent drama, aren't you? Oh my god! Are you here as a speaker or what?!"
The mans voice was loud that it started to attract attention and other people were starting to notice him.
Daiju moved his mask slightly and showed his face, he didn't want anyone else recognising him. "Well, it was nice meeting you, Im only here as an guest not a speaker. Excuse us " Daiju said as he walked away briskly holding Junipers hand they slipped into the crowd.
***
Juniper was sitting on a bench sipping his drink and watching the other guests. A lot of the evening events were starting now and he and Daiju escaped into a VIP area. It happened that other actors were here doing events and one of Daiju's co-stars recognised him, and invited them over since they had attracted attention outside.
Daiju sat beside Juniper,
"Why don't you just take off your mask?" Juniper asked. "It will be easier for you to relax"
Daiju removed his mask, the moment his features were revealed
He could see how handsome Daiju really was, the sharp nose and cheekbones, the deep silver eyes and the perfect lips.
"Um... Juniper... are you okay?"
Juniper blushed and quickly averted his eyes and looked down at his drink. "Yeah, sorry, I'm just surprised. I guess I shouldn't have been since you work in entertainment."
Daiju smiled and put a hand on Juniper's shoulder. "Don't worry, I am happy you like me."
Juniper felt it was strange and he looked up at Daiju hesitating to ask a question he had on his mind "I know you like food broadcasts, but you know, you're a celebrity.. why would you become my moderator and even meet like this, I never thought you would actually care about me."
Daiju leaned closer, "Because I like you. We both share the same passion and we can talk about anything together. I feel comfortable around you and I think you feel the same way too. What do you say?"
Juniper was speechless, he couldn't believe his ears. He hadn't expected such a confession from Daiju.
"You don't need to answer right now, but please give me an answer soon." Daiju said softly. "We'll go out and eat somewhere nice or maybe cook something together."
Junipe didn't know what to say.
"Is there any chance you might be interested in being more than friends?"
Juniper was so overwhelmed that he just stared at Daiju blankly. "Um... I-I don't know I already have three partners, I'm already worried I cant treat everyone equally.."
Daiju interrupted him and held Juniper's hand. "I probably know two of them right? They were in your broadcasts when you went out to travel. I dont know the third, but from what I know you seem to treat them both well. I dont think any of them feel you treat them unfairly."
Juniper replied "My third partner matched by the pheromone matching..so I wanted to see how that turned out.. I'm just not sure I can handle another person."
Daiju sighed and looked away. "I wondered but I guess you didn't look at the pheromone matching list too deeply huh? We also matched''
Juniper opened his mouth to say something but he was cut off by Daiju. "I just want you to give me a chance, Okay?"
Juniper looked down at his drink and took a sip.
Daiju smiled like a cat and kissed Juniper on the cheek. "Just think about it okay? Please?"
Juniper had to admit he was weak to Daiju's begging face. It was a good thing they were in a VIP area because if anyone else saw Daiju kissing Juniper, they'd surely report it to the media.
After a few minutes, Juniper whispered "Okay, I'll think about it,"
***