The announcement hit the internet like a lightning bolt.
Kai and Jax: New BL Series Confirmed.
And just like that, World War Fandom erupted.
The EliKai shippers were NOT happy. Their Twitter threads were already unraveling like a tragic story, betrayal! deception! How could they?!
Meanwhile, JaxKai fans were practically throwing virtual confetti. Edits, fan art, "they're soulmates, your honor" captions, the whole nine yards.
And then there were the trio stans, mourning what they called the "End of an Era." Memes of the three of them edited like a breakup montage set to Adele's Someone Like You were trending.
It was chaos. Beautiful, sparkly, unhinged chaos.
---
A few days before filming, Jax and Kai met up at a small café far from the online battlefield.
Kai had brought a notebook.
Like, an actual notebook.
He flipped it open and said with a straight face, "I studied past BL dramas, and here's the thing, fans can tell when it's fake. So we have to do this correctly, no stiff hugs, no awkward kisses. If we're doing this, we're doing it right."
Jax blinked. "Are you about to pitch me a romantic boot camp?"
Kai didn't even smile. "Sort of, yeah."
Jax laughed, sipping his coffee. "Alright, drill sergeant. But if we're going to be comfortable with each other, we have to actually be comfortable. That means hand-holding, hugging, cheek kisses, touching without flinching. Just casual intimacy. Normalize it."
Kai paused, processing. Then nodded slowly. "Normalize it," he repeated. "Let's normalize each other."
So they did.
...
It started subtly.
A casual hand on Jax's shoulder.
Jax leaning into Kai on the couch while scrolling through lines.
A warm palm brushing his lower back as they crossed the street.
Cheek kisses? Awkward at first. Then playful. Then instinctive.
Kai didn't flinch anymore. And Jax didn't overthink it.
They became their own little routine.
....
Eli, however, was floundering in the background like someone watching his two dads become roommates.
He squinted at them during script read-throughs as Jax casually fed Kai a french fry.
He watched Kai reach out to fix Jax's hoodie string mid-conversation.
By the time he walked in on them hugging for no reason, he blinked and muttered, "Am I third-wheeling a relationship that doesn't exist?"
No one answered.
They were too busy laughing at some inside joke he wasn't part of.
...
The first day on set for Fight for Love was smooth, almost suspiciously smooth.
It was just the introductory scenes, light banter, a few longing glances, nothing steamy yet.
The director was pleased, the crew was relaxed, and Jax and Kai? They were naturals.
The months of "practice" were already paying off.
After their final scene that day, Jax whipped out his phone. "Selfie for the fans?"
Kai leaned in. "Make sure we get the good lighting. I refuse to go viral with under eye bags."
Jax posted the picture with the caption, First day feels 🎬💙 #FightForLove #JaxKai
Within minutes, it was trending.
---
Then came the TikToks.
First, a lip-sync to a trending audio.
Then a playful "who's more likely to fall first" challenge that nearly broke the internet when Jax pointed at Kai and Kai, without hesitation, pointed back.
The comments exploded.
'THEY'RE NOT EVEN TRYING TO HIDE IT.'
'This is couple-coded behavior, your honor.'
'Eli somewhere crying in third wheel language.'
Speaking of Eli, he was the very image of moral support.
He'd show up on set with iced coffee, homemade cookies, or random snacks he knew they liked. Sometimes he even brought milkshakes with each of their names spelled wrong on purpose, just to get a laugh.
The trio posted goofy photos together regularly: Eli holding the camera while Jax and Kai posed dramatically, or all three of them in matching hoodies labeled "Chaos," "Disaster," and "Innocent Witness."
The trio fans breathed a sigh of relief.
'They're still okay. Everything is still okay.' they commented.
They reposted the photos like they were national treasures.
....
Behind the scenes, the production was running like a well oiled BL machine. The director loved their chemistry, the producers were already in talks for merchandise, and the script was diving deeper into emotional territory.
Jax found himself enjoying it more than he expected.
And Kai? Well, the smile he wore around Jax didn't seem so performative anymore.
Even Eli noticed the shift.
He didn't say anything. He just watched, quiet, thoughtful.
Jax stretched his arms as they exited the set for the day. "So... ramen or barbecue?"
Kai shrugged, distracted. "Either's fine."
Jax raised a brow. Kai always had an opinion about food. What was wrong with him?
Before he could dig deeper, the director's voice cut in. "Great work today, boys! Tomorrow, we're filming the gunpoint kiss. Be ready!"
Gunpoint kiss. That got Kai's full attention. It was the first kiss scene with the characters.
Jax turned, curious, and immediately noticed the color drain from Kai's face. He looked so pale. Jax wondered if he was okay.
...
Dinner was a mess.
Kai pushed his food around, barely spoke, and kept glancing at his phone like it might rescue him from his own mind.
Jax tried to lighten the mood, he cracked a few jokes, he even teased him. But nothing worked.
When Jax dropped Eli home and pulled up in front of Kai's apartment, he turned to look at him.
"Are you okay?"
Kai didn't answer right away. Then, in a quiet voice, he said, "Can you come in? I... I think I need to talk."
"Okay" Jax replied, he didn't know what was wrong with Kai, but he would support him anyway he could.
...
Inside, the apartment was dim and quiet, lit only by the glow of city lights filtering through the window.
Kai paced a little before sitting down and blurting it out.
"I've never kissed a guy before."
Jax blinked. "Okay. That's not a crime, you know."
Kai groaned. "I know. It's just, I don't want to mess this up. People are going to zoom in and analyze it frame by frame. If it looks awkward or forced, it'll ruin everything. The show, the chemistry..."
Jax sat beside him, calm. "Kai, listen. A kiss is a kiss. You're acting. And kissing a guy or a girl, it's not some different activity. It's about the moment, not the gender."
Kai still looked unconvinced, chewing on his bottom lip nervously.
Then he said it.
"Maybe we should try it. Just to get used to it."
Jax's eyes widened. "Wait, you mean now?"
Kai nodded slowly, nervously. "Yeah. Just once. So it's not weird tomorrow."
A long silence stretched between them.
Jax's heart pounded. Not from nerves exactly but from confusion. Was this still acting?
Still he didn't say no.