A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded it on the internet.

Third Person POV

"Art," Ngern, Art's manager's voice took on a persuasive tone, "look at it this way, this is your chance to show Mew that you are totally over him. Since he is flaunting his new partner to you, show him that it's of no importance to you by taking on this project. At the same time you will be getting exposure to the film world again plus you will be putting your acting skills to practice. This way you will be killing two birds, no, three birds actually, with one stone." (A/N: Ngern is just a fictitious name for this story.)

Art was quiet for some time, letting his manager Ngern's brief persuasive speech sink into his brain.

"P'Ngern," Art said, his voice quivering a little, "I don't think I can do it."

Ngern grabbed Art's wrist.

"Listen, Art," he said, moving his mouth very close to Art's ear, as he considerably lowered his voice to a mere whisper, "let's call this project The Big Pretense. Show me your powerful acting skill by not letting on to anyone, most of all to Mew, that you still have feelings for him. Show me how great your acting skills are. Make me believe in your excellent acting ability and I promise you I will work doubly harder to get you more acting stints in the future."

The promise of more acting stints seemed to be the deal breaker for Art.

"Fine, I'll do it," said Art.

Ngern immediately grabbed Art's wrist once more and led him back to the conference room.

Inside they found Mew and Gulf and their manager already signing the contract papers.

Mr. Boonsri and Mr. Siripool looked up from leafing through the contract papers when they heard Art and his manager come in.

"So what have you guys decided?" Mr. Boonsri asked.

"We're signing the contract," Ngern replied.

"Excellent," Mr. Boonsri and Mr. Siripool said at the same time.

They passed on to Ngern and to Art each a copy of the contract papers.

While Art's head was bowed as he was browsing through the terms of the contract, he did not notice Mew and Gulf glancing at him from time to time.

Mew looked a little tense while Gulf seemed a bit nervous.

Ngern turned to Art.

"If you are agreeable with the terms, as I am, go ahead and sign on the bottom of the last page," said Ngern. "I will be doing the same."

Art went through his satchel to search for a pen and realized that he had forgotten to bring any. Ngern was doing the same and couldn't find any in his purse either.

Mew pushed his pen across the table to Art.

"Thank you," Art and Ngern said at the same time.

Ngern used the pen first, signing his name at the bottom of the page with a flourish before handing the pen over to Art.

Art then flipped the pages to get to the last page where he signed his name at the very bottom. Then he pushed the pen across the table to Mew. When Mew picked up the pen, his fingers accidentally touched Art's.

Art withdrew his fingers quickly and whispered "Thank you" once more to Mew but without looking at him.

"Let's shake hands all around," Mr. Siripool announced, looking very much pleased. He was confident that his BL series was going to be a big hit and would net him a big profit.

Everyone in the conference room stood up and Ngern and the other manager across the table shook hands. The other manager then approached Art and shook Art's hand.

Ngern approached Mew and shook Mew's hand and then did the same with Gulf.

Mr. Siripool and Mr. Boonsri took turns shaking Mew's and Gulf's hands. Then they approached Art and took turns shaking hands with Art.

Art turned around to talk to Ngern but bumped hard into Mew's chest. Art had not been expecting Mew to approach him.

Mew held out his hand to Art and Art took it but Art was looking down on his hand instead of Mew's face.

"I wish you success," Mew said to Art.

"I wish you the same," Art replied, almost in a whisper, his heart pounding hard against his chest.

Then Gulf appeared beside Mew and held out his hand to Art.

Art managed a smile as he took Gulf's hand in his.

"Hi, I'm Art."

"Pleased to meet you," said Gulf, also managing a smile, "I'm Gulf."

"The filming will start next month," Mr. Boonsri announced, "in the meantime, you will all be housed in the top floor of this building where the manager of the set will be giving you training and workshops to prime you for the series."

"When do we have to move in?" Mew asked Mr. Boonsri.

"This coming Friday," Mr. Boonsri replied, "since today is Monday, that gives you four days to put your stuff together and to tie up loose ends with anything or anyone who or what might need your attention before you come over to focus fully on the preparation for the series."

Mew turned to look at Gulf. Gulf nodded to Mew as if to say 'no problem'.

"If there are no further questions, we can consider this meeting closed," Mr. Siripool said, already heading for the door.

"Will you manage to be ready by Friday?" Ngern asked Art.

"I believe so," Art replied, feeling very nervous and slowly losing his self-confidence.

Ngern seemed to notice it and said to Art, "Everything will be alright."

Together they headed for the parking lot to the spot where Ngern had left his car.

"Let's have a night on the town to celebrate your new project," Ngern suggested as he turned his ignition on.

"Let's first go to that newly opened Indian restaurant for dinner, my treat," said Ngern, "and then let's go to that newly opened club right beside it for drinks, again my treat."

Art was starting to feel suspicious about Ngern's sudden show of generosity.

What Art didn't know was that Ngern was really just truly happy that he was able to convince Art to get out of his shell and restore his self-confidence. He had seen how Art had become withdrawn and quiet during the period after his break up with Mew.

Ngern wanted Art to overcome his feelings for Mew and the best way to do it was to face it head on. This project was heaven sent. It had become Ngern's personal mission to help Art to move on with his life. He was going to make Art start by pretending to Mew that he was no longer harbouring any feelings for him. Ngern had personally called this mission "The Big Pretense".