Five minutes felt like forever. The votes would fluctuate almost every second, and it was uncertain who would win at first. Natalie crossed her fingers and so did Zaria who had exchanged seats with Desmond.

The poll closed as soon as the counter hit zero, and it revealed that Jupiter had taken the lead with a margin of about two hundred thousand votes between him and the second place. The venue was enveloped in cheer as Desmond frowned in confusion.

"What just happened?" It wasn't normal for such a whirlwind to happen at the end, was it?

"Last minute votes." She chuckled. Though it didn't make sense to her either. Until the event started, Jupiter's votes had doubled the second place's votes. Someone had tried to rig the poll. Luckily, his fans had rescued the day using all the votes they had been saving in case of such a twist.

"Amazing! Unbelievable!" The hostess must be a fan of Jupiter too because she was almost bouncing in joy. "The most popular actor for the eighth year in a row is Jupiter!"

"I knew you would win." Natalie whispered emotionally beside him. How unfortunate that he could not hug her despite how badly he wanted to. He could only contain himself and formally thank her before going to receive his award.

As he gave his speech, a smile bloomed on her lips. She felt happier than she would if she were to win an award herself.

Not only did Devonte receive the most popular actor award, he had also snagged the award of best actor of the year, for the seventh time in a row and the ninth time cumulatively. The fans of the other actors would have kicked a fuss out of jealousy, but Devonte looked so handsome that they jumped ship instead.

…

For the rest of the evening, Devonte's Creszone account almost exploded with congratulatory messages, love messages which were nothing new, and a ton of job offers. He was waiting for Natalie who had asked him to wait before deciding anything on his own so he put the job offers on hold.

He could only respond to a few messages because they were too many, so he picked what most fans asked about. They were surprised that he didn't have any special person to thank for his achievements like other idols did, which made him chuckle as he made a new post with his response.

[Of course I have someone special to thank for every step I made. She patted my shoulder every time I did well and when I wanted to give up because the pressure was too much, she would embrace me and help me recharge my mental energy—my girlfriend.]

For a while, fans were touched by his words before they suddenly realized what he had just said.

[Takemetomars:__Jupiter has a girlfriend? I'm so heartbroken!!] A fan cried.

[BTS_Army:__Now that I recall. In all his interviews when he was asked about his love life, he said that his greatest fan is his girlfriend. All along I thought he was talking about me. T_T]

[Me too.] Clumsy_N1nja commented with a teary eyed emoji.

[I've had a girlfriend for all these years.] He added. What he secretly meant was, 'I have a girlfriend and she is the jealous type. Could you all please stop throwing panties at me? I get punished every time you do that.'

Just as he thought about it, Natalie arrived and crawled into his arms as she arrived. He placed his phone beside him on the couch as he kissed her face. "Should I reveal your identity?"

She shook her head. "Build the suspense first and maybe drop some hints. We can tell my parents about it before we slowly let the rest of the world know." She kissed his neck and hooked her finger at the collar of his shirt to unbutton it, then wrapped her arms around him. "You did well. Let me reward you."

"Are you the reward? You are worth all the hard work." He smiled as her lips met his.

__

"Thank you for dropping me home." Zaria said cheerfully when Desmond helped her out of the car. "And for taking me with you." She added. All the other years she would watch the livestream, but it didn't feel nearly as great as being in the venue, in a VVIP seat. What was more, the idol she was rooting for was sitting right beside her the whole evening, and it would be no exaggeration to say that she was the first fan to see his reaction to winning the long-anticipated award.

She thanked him so much that she became conscious for talking too fast, but all he did was hum in response. She glanced up at him. "You don't seem happy?"

He didn't know where to start. "Female fans are crazy."

She chuckled when she comprehended what he was upset about. "Is it your first time witnessing it?" She realized that it was probably not, and it dawned on her why he was upset. "I'm not that crazy. I already told you. Devonte is just someone I look up to. Not an idol I want to sleep with."

It was baffling the number of women and teenage girls who kept screaming about wanting to have kids with Jupiter, it made one wonder what their husbands and boyfriends thought of it. The paperplane love letters landing on the stage when Devonte went up to receive his award was even more baffling—he almost had nowhere to step. The floor had turned into a sea of letters and the livestream was drowned in red hearts and comments one wouldn't imagine being posted publicly.

Desmond no longer wanted to think about another man's crazy fans. He focused his gaze on Zaria. "I want you to look up to me. Literally."

"Desmond!" Blood rushed up her face when she comprehended his meaning.

he laughed. "What were you thinking? I didn't say anything about…"

"Just shut up. I'll be on my way now." It was uncertain what else she would get to hear if she stayed near him, so she decided to flee.

She was yet to make her third step when he grabbed her fair wrist. When she turned to probe, he gently demanded, "Aren't you going to give me a proper goodnight kiss?"

He pulled her into his arms and she stopped speaking. Her palm pressed against his chest as his left arm gently held her waist. His right hand caressed the side of her face, tucking a few strands of hair behind her ear. Her face felt slightly cold to the touch, because of the low temperature. He cupped her cheek to warm it, and she held his hand to press it against the side of her face as she looked up to meet his intense gaze.

His deep gaze made her want to avert hers and look down but she chose to sink into the passion in his eyes, which reflected what she was feeling in the pit of her stomach.

His fingers caressed her face and settled below her chin, which he raised and slowly lowered his head. She unknowingly closed her eyes as her lips slightly parted. Her breathing became more labored as she felt his face nearing hers inch by inch.

A soft gasp escaped her mouth as their lips connected. Her lips tasted like candies and he took his time to savor them, tasting them like the most precious delicacy. Her hands that were at his chest wrapped around his neck for support as his arms tightened around her waist.

The butterflies in her stomach intensified their fluttering as his soft lips gently kissed her in ways she didn't know she could be kissed. He slowly pulled away and her eyes half opened, gazing at him with love written all over them. He pecked her face and pulled her into a tight hug, wishing this moment could last forever.

However, he didn't want her to feel too cold so he pulled away. "Goodnight."

She stood in the same spot, still disoriented from the kiss.

"See you at work tomorrow." He added and turned to leave. His legs moved as though he had tons of weight attached to them. He didn't want to leave but he had to. He so badly wanted to turn back and hug her-kiss her again. But he knew that if he did that, it would be multiple times harder for him to leave after.

He had never felt this empty before. He was missing her so badly when she was just a few steps behind him.

She gazed at him as she hugged her arms. Because he could walk too far, she hurried to catch up and grabbed his arm.

He started out of his thoughts to look at her. "Is there anything wrong?" He gently asked.

She let go of his sleeve and didn't know what to say. What did she want to say to him? She didn't know. All she knew was that she felt incomplete without him.

"I don't want you to leave." She finally whispered.

_

Music recommendation: Ne pars pas—Shy'm