A/N: Still alive

[Popular Woman; Unpopular Man]

"What are you doing in there? The shoot is about to start!" The makeup assistant rasped her knuckles loudly on the timbre door, raising her voice to be heard above the sounds of the bustle outside the door.

"I will be out in a moment!" Len informed in reply, stuffing the rest of the meal in the lunchbox into her mouth hurriedly.

"Take your time to eat." Vergil advised softly, standing behind her and holding her hair back softly so that they would not slide out of place. Her hairstylist had set her hair with loads of spray, but Len was about to be facing the unforgiving glare of lighting and the lens of a professional camera, so any stray strand of hair was an absolute no-no. "I can always get more for you tonight."

"I don't get to have your food often; I will finish everything even if the world is waiting for me." Len answered, looking up slightly to meet her boyfriend's eyes in his reflection in the mirror as he stood behind her, careful with her wavy brown hair.

The smile on his face was absolutely rare, and Len wished she could capture this moment forever, except for the fact that her phone was not next to her, and that she was rushing to finish the loving lunch that he had made for her. Making lunch for her had only been his first barrier; he had to sneak through the crowd and come into her room completely unnoticed, risking his life to come.

"I told you to take your time, but that doesn't mean you have to stare at my face and forget about the food." Len's boyfriend reminded, gesturing to bring her attention back to the lunchbox that had been carefully prepared by the man himself. While it was not rare to find a man who could cook nowadays, it was still rare to find a man who was caring and loving enough to want to make a lunchbox surprise for his girlfriend, popping up unannounced at her workplace where everyone was practically a danger to him.

Why was a photography studio a danger for Vergil Sparda?

Very easy; because the man was the older brother to a nation-famous idol Dante Sparda, dating the world-famous model Len Kaigiri. And yet, somehow being sandwiched between so many famous people, Vergil had sworn to keep his profile low and had refused to come into the limelight despite the many times he had been scouted on the streets and remarked for his resplendent looks. The man had nothing against famous people –he just didn't want to be one of them –and Len did not love him any less for it.

In fact, she was secretly glad that she had Vergil all to herself. Given the level of success that Vergil's twin was able to achieve on his own, she had no doubts that if Vergil ever chose to step into the spotlight, she would have her hands full with love rivals –and that was something she really couldn't afford with her hectic work life.

"You're thinking about funny things again." Her boyfriend clearly knew her very well as his gentle reminder brought her out of her thoughts, setting her hair down carefully and beginning to clear the meal in front of her. "Don't worry about finishing the food. I will order more for dinner. Now, go before they kick down your door thinking that you have fainted due to hunger."

"They won't. They know I've been on a diet since ages ago." Len answered with a wide smile, dabbing her lips free of food and grease before efficiently drawing her lipstick back on. Years as a model and having to keep her image had made her a professional at getting her makeup done within seconds, and this time was no different as she pressed provocative red lips against each other to even the color.

"I wonder how will this lipstick look on your neck." She suggested cheekily, watching as the man paused shortly in his motions at her words, then continue as if nothing had happened.

"Go, and I'll leave shortly behind." He urged instead, and Len could hear the quiet fluster in his words.

Vergil Sparda might commonly come across as a haughty, arrogant man who seemed to look down on everyone else. Sure, he had a 'Big Man' idea, but Len had no problems acting as the weak, reliant girl to enjoy his pampering at times. But when she turned around to show her aggressiveness at sudden moments like these, she loved watching him startle and then pretend as if nothing happened.

Still, she had a job to do, and thus she obeyed his quick dismissal, careful to close the door behind her before tapping lightly on her stilettoes to the studio proper where assistants were busying themselves setting up the props and lighting of the shoot.

Almost 10 minutes after Len's escape from the makeup room, the door opened again and a figure slid out through the small gap, the door closing without a sound as furtively as it had opened. With a baseball cap stuffed over eye-catching white hair, the figure kept his gaze down and held the tip of his cap so that it covered his eyes while he walked purposefully to the exit of the studio.

His walk of normalcy was so natural that nobody even thought to turn their heads to track his progress, and just as sneakily as he had blended into the background when he arrived in the studio, he escaped the place in the same fashion.

________________________________________________________________________________

The sound of the door slamming open and shut shook Vergil awake rudely from his sleep, and he was still slightly out of it when he sat up to blink at the person who had positioned himself in front of Vergil at his own home. There were few people who had access to Vergil's apartment as and when they liked, and only one of them was male.

"You've ruined me this time, Verge!" Dante declared hotly; his fists pressed against his hips in the childish expression of anger. "I don't care about whatever reservations you have; you either show your face and declare yourself Len's boyfriend, or you break up with her!"

"What are you talking about?" He asked, still confused. The back of his mind made a mental note of showing his brother who the older one between the two of them were, but Dante's words took precedence. His brother knew better than to joke over issues like Vergil's romantic relationship.

"That day you fetched her home from her show; you were caught on camera! You're lucky that they only caught your back view, but the tabloid connected your silhouette and white hair to me! They're saying I'm the one dating Len now, and it's disgusting!" Dante shouted, stomping his feet in the same childish fashion.

For an idol who could execute flawless dancing and the appropriate vocals to back up his own show, Dante was awfully terrible at expressing his anger at this particular moment.

"How is dating Len disgusting?" Vergil scowled, but accepted the phone that Dante had shoved into his face, scrolling quickly though the tabloid article with the picture of his girlfriend and himself huddled underneath a small umbrella and walking closely. He recognized the background from that picture; it had been his girlfriend's show two weeks ago, and he had gone to fetch her because of the rain.

He scrolled quickly through the accusation of the author identifying the man escorting the famous model in such a close fashion to be the famous national idol Dante Sparda. He was barely surprised to find the comment section flooded with fans of all sorts. Despite all the angry fans of both parties stating that they hated the relationship, Vergil found himself stirred even more at the comments that stated that Dante and Len looked good together.

"Does Len know about this?" Vergil's first response upon returning the phone back to his brother was clearly not what Dante was expecting, because he watched his brother's face twist with insult.

"I'm the one with knives of your girlfriend's fans in my back, and you care more about her than me! How are you going to compensate me for my cancelled events? I had to skip on a fan-meeting today thanks to this stupid article!"

"I'm not worried about you; you get yourself into all sorts of article all the time." Vergil dismissed easily, pulling his phone out, surprised to find an incoming text from his girlfriend that had been received while he had been napping. Worried that it might be a call for help from her in relation to the news, he hurriedly opened it, only to see the words "I'm sorry. I will settle things."

"She will settle things?" Dante asked, clearly having eavesdropped on the text. "How is she going to settle this mess?"

As if to answer the man's anger, his phone chimed in his hands, and Vergil waited expectantly as his brother opened up the text to check its contents as well.

"Great." Dante rolled his eyes. "A press conference to explain the picture. They're getting me down to show that Len and I have nothing going on and that we're platonic friends."

"Doesn't that solve your problem? You've attended tens and thousands of these type of press conferences." Vergil answered, drafting a quick message of concern to his girlfriend, but assuming that she had to be too busy to respond when no reply came quickly.

"Yeah, but those were things that I actually did –or at least was around for. This time I'm being called to answer for something that I wasn't even nearby for! How am I supposed to explain to everyone that their favorite idol was sleeping at home like a pig while some strange person went to pick Len up? My image is going to be ruined!"

"If your image was going to be ruined so easily, you would never have made it to where you are now." Vergil answered, standing up from the couch since it was becoming clear to him that his brother had no intention to leave him back to his nap. Besides, a look at the clock on his phone revealed that it was already an apt timing to start preparing dinner. Even if Len was expected to return home late after settling the mess that the dating scandal had caused, Vergil fully expected his girlfriend to have forgotten about getting food inside her while doing so. "I'm making dinner. Are you staying?"

"Are you kidding me?" Dante asked while Vergil stepped nonchalantly over to the kitchen, following behind him.

Any third party who had not witnessed the brothers' relationship would have assumed that Dante's disbelief was at Vergil's nonchalance at the scandal that he had caused for his brother.

Unfortunately, the dynamics of how they interacted was not even a single bit close to whatever that was socially-expected.

"Are you kidding me; of course I'm staying. If this meal is your way of saying sorry, then I got it loud and clear. If you add more meat to my portion, then count yourself forgiven. If I get seconds, I promise I'll go happily to the press conference to do whatever your girlfriend wants me to do to prove her innocence." Dante's anger was gone in a flash as Vergil began dragging ingredients out from the refrigerator.

"And if I promise to make your dinner for the rest of this month?" Vergil prompted.

"Then I'll declare myself Len's boyfriend and cover for you when the two of you go on dates."

"That kind of arrangement will only work in your dreams. If you officially announce that you are dating Len, the number of fans camping outside our doors will never end. I won't be able to stay with Len without getting caught, and staying over at your place temporarily no longer becomes an option." Vergil answered, skilled hands moving while maintaining the conversation.

It did not take long for Dante to quickly get bored of their conversation while Vergil busied himself with the ingredients, wandering back to the couch and starting to entertain himself with god-knew-what that Vergil had absolutely zero interest to know.

He had no idea how long it was before he was done throwing the last dish into the oven, finally washing his hands and taking a good look at the kitchen that had once again been cleaned. Satisfied at his work, Vergil finally started looking for his phone once more, hoping to check if his girlfriend had provided him with any update on her latest situation, and if she was coming home much later than usual. He could not find the device anywhere in the kitchen, and thus wandered back to the living area where Dante seemed to be amusing himself with making faces at his phone.

Assuming that his brother was taking another selfie of sorts and completely unbothered with whatever his narcissistic brother did to enjoy himself, Vergil made for the low table where he spied his mobile device sitting innocently.

"Alright, my lovelies, I hope you had a great time with me now that I've settled all your worries about that stupid and unfounded scandal of me and-" Dante's greeting made Vergil suddenly aware that his brother was probably helping his case while live-streaming on his social media platform instead of simply taking stupid selfies, and he jerked back quickly before he could be caught on Dante's front-facing camera.

The action was so sudden that the shift of weight caused the carpet beneath him to slide forward, and Vergil's center of gravity shifted. Instincts made him pitch forward to prevent himself from falling backwards, and thus Vergil found himself falling forwards instead.

"What the hell, Verge! I'm live-streaming to save your ass!" Dante's yell was loud by his ear, as Vergil rubbed his forehead after having slammed it into his brother's chin when he had fallen forwards. The hand that had been braced against the couch sank into the soft material, leaving him barely hovering above his brother who had fallen back on the couch. Vergil also realized that his knee had been instinctively come up to stop his further fall, except that it had come to rest against the couch material dangerously close to his brother's manhood.

"What is your chin made up of? Metal? I'm going to get a bruise." Vergil complained as he pushed himself back upright from the strange position of him pining his brother underneath him, giving Dante a hard slap on the thigh when Dante shoved him in response for the rough treatment.

"It was your fault for coming onto me!" Dante gave a glare. "I asked for a meal for thanks for clearing the air, not a disgusting gay hug!"

"You were the one who glued himself to me when we were in kindergarten and you were scared of the bigger girls." Vergil retorted, still rubbing the sore while he grabbed for his phone on the table.

Except that the phone wasn't his.

Vergil's blood ran cold when he saw his face back in the phone screen, and the number of heart-shapes and comments that blasted the screen. The blinking "Rec" logo on the top right-hand corner only served as further confirmation of his suspicion, and he knew he was majorly screwed when he spied the latest string of comments popping up one after another.

I knew it! You are definitely not interested in Len because you're into guys, right? Who is your boyfriend, Dante?

OMG that was such a hot moment! I'm not usually into homosexual things, but I'm totally sold now!

I'm a simple woman. I see hot guys in a dangerous position, I like.

Tissue... tissue... Moooom I need a blood transfusion because my idol is gay!

Wow Dante's bf is totally looking directly at us!

Did this guy just say what I think he did? Dante glued to him when they were in kindergarten? Has Dante been in the closet since he was young?

LOOOOL Dante was afraid of the bigger girls when he was younger. What a joke!

Vergil jabbed the 'stop streaming' button and tossed Dante's phone carelessly on the table, groaning.

________________________________________________________________________________

There was a long moment of silence at the dinner table, but it was broken with the sound of a soft snort.

"Please don't laugh." Vergil would have knocked his head on the table if not for the fact that he already had a growing bump from where he had collided into Dante's chin. "You of all people know that I'm straight as a rod."

"Yes, but I didn't know you were so aggressive. Was it because it was a guy you were coming on to?" Len giggled, unable to stop the tease from coming.

"I told you it was an accident!" Vergil protested, covering his face in his hands. "I will never be able to step out in the light ever again."

"I told you I would solve the matter between me and Dante. But the two of you really saved me from the extra work. I'm not sure if I should be thanking the two of you for giving me less work, or getting worried that my boyfriend is coming out of the closet." Len continued to giggle, finger flicking quickly across her phone. "The articles are making it so much more amusing. 'Gay or Nay? Nation's beloved Dante with his newest lover... a man?' 'They say a handsome man will either be taken or gay. Dante fits the latter with his handsome boyfriend.'"

"Stop it..." Vergil reached over and snatched the phone from his girlfriend's hand to stop her from reading out more embarrassing article headlines, pocketing it quickly as he gave her a serious look. "Focus on the dinner."

"Okay." Len sobered up quickly, taking a few more bites before brightening up again. "Do you want to do a couple-wear with Dante tomorrow? I'll take pictures!"

"Do you really want to give me away to Dante?" Vergil questioned seriously.

"As long as the netizens continue writing all these hilarious articles about the two of you!" Len could not take the seriousness for long, breaking into a wide grin once more.

For all the pain that was coming from the fact that Vergil had shown his face on Dante's social media and was being identified as his brother's romantic partner, there was at least a few good things that came out of this mess: nobody was harping anymore on the alleged scandal between Len and Dante, and Len's utter amusement at the whole affair. Despite all the trouble that it had caused, the smile that drew on Len's face because of her amusement at the situation made it slightly more bearable. Just slightly.

"Just kill me." Vergil covered his face once more in total embarrassment. "I'm never stepping out of this house until everyone stops talking about Dante's boyfriend."

"People are beginning to dig through your and Dante's past, though. You know netizens; give them a short while and they will even find out your underwear size. I already saw an article with a picture of you and Dante back when you were in school. They were using that picture to accuse Dante of being gay right from the very start, and that his womanizing image was just his attempt to hide his raging homosexuality."

"Dante's team had better deal with this situation quickly, damn it."

Len took another few more bites from her dinner as she watched her boyfriend's worried crease of brow. The man was usually very well-composed and self-assured, and seeing him in such a ridiculously helpless position entertained her very much so.

However, she didn't like torturing the man that she had fallen so crazy in love for, and despite all the spirit-lifting that reading the articles on the internet had done for her, she knew that it was time for her to do something to help the situation. Besides, Dante had been live-streaming in the first place to help her out -after being bribed by Vergil with a meal, of course. If Dante had not been live-streaming to clear up the air, Vergil would never have appeared on Dante's live stream and the whole ridiculous rumor about her boyfriend being in a homosexual relationship with his brother would never have come about.

"Since your face is already out there, do you want to reveal the truth? My manager and bosses already know about you after the picture. They weren't happy about me keeping things a secret, but they are fine with me having a boyfriend. In fact, they attributed my improvement at work to the fact that I started dating you. They were prepared to invite you to the press conference if you were willing to show your face." Len suggested.

"Dante is doing a press conference to clear up the mess. Let us see how it goes before we make any further moves." Vergil answered, then gestured to the remains of her meal spread out in front of her. "Finish up quickly. Dante's press conference is coming up soon."

It was very rare for Vergil to show any interest in any public work that both his brother or his girlfriend did for their paycheck. Being a ghost freelance writer, Vergil often stayed indoors and isolated from the world as he worked on whatever project that landed on his lap. He usually did not bother himself with his brother's music, shows, or just about anything that allowed Dante to bring money home every day. Len briefly wondered what Dante's reaction would be if he knew that her boyfriend was actually sitting himself in front of the couch and tuning into the tabloid channel, where a livestream of the conference was going on. It was still minutes away from the announced timing, and on the screen only appeared a long empty table with tags clearly designating the name of the day's main character.

"Has Dante told you what they have decided to go with?" Len finished her dinner quickly, depositing the utensils into the sink before rushing to join her boyfriend on the couch.

"The truth. After what happened, I told Dante that if he was really forced, he could just reveal that he has a brother sharing the same apartment as him." Vergil answered. "But I made him promise to keep his lips sealed about you, or the fact that you are living with me, or just about any fact that links me to you."

"It might be a mess, but my agency knows about our situation now. I've been able to prevent them from harassing you because I promised them that I would know how to deal with the situation, but you must tell me if my agency sends people to make trouble for you, Vergil. I'll be worried if you keep things from me." Len leaned her head against her boyfriend's shoulder, taking in his comfortable warmth beside her on the couch.

"I will be okay. You don't have to worry about anything; I can take care of myself." Vergil reassured, wrapping his arm naturally around Len. "I knew what I was getting into when I decided to date you while Dante was already a mess."

"That's a nice way of saying Dante being famous."

"He was a mess." Vergil insisted. "On the outside he looked like he was enjoying the fame and getting into things, but he collapsed outside the door many times. I had to drag him into the house a few times when I found him sleeping outside. Who knows if he is still doing that now that he has moved out."

"Idols definitely have it harder. Between the time spent in studios practicing new songs and dances, they have to go on radio shows, tv shows and fan meetings. For me, I just practice my walks, maintain my shape and go to jobs when required." Len answered sympathetically. Any more exchanges between the couple had to be put on pause when the sounds of stirrings and the loud sounds of shutters clicking came through the tv as the conference finally started. The camera moved to capture a string of people walking into the room, and Vergil was not the least bit surprised to see his brother walking in with his easy gait, grinning proudly as if the news conference was not trying to address the confusion of his sexual orientation.

"Thank you all for taking the time out to attend this press conference to allow our agency's artiste, Mr. Dante Sparda, a chance to explain himself in reply to the discussions currently going on." The emcee of the conference took the mike quickly as every member of the conference panel found their seats –Vergil's brother sitting expectantly in the middle, and looking totally relaxed. It was certainly not the look of someone who was wrapped up in a scandal, but this was simply just his brother's style. "We apologize for the delay. Without further ado, please allow the man himself some time to present some facts in relation to the live-stream two nights ago."

The sounds of the camera shutters were still loud as Dante confidently came to his feet again, then signaled to someone off the screen for the lights to dim and a presentation slide appeared behind him.

"Looking good." Vergil heard his girlfriend compliment beside him, but that probably had something to do with the fact that the person who had taken the picture had been Len herself. Vergil watched his own picture staring back out at him from the presentation slide behind Dante, and the sound of even more cameras doing their work as Dante received the microphone.

"This guy, the same guy who appeared on my live-stream yesterday night, goes by the name of Vergil." Dante introduced calmly.

"Uh oh." Vergil didn't realize that his exclamation had come out verbally until his girlfriend stirred beside him in confusion.

"Why? What's with the 'uh oh'?"

"Dante is calm." Vergil observed, afraid to tear his eyes away from the screen.

"Why? That's good, isn't it?"

"No, it is terrible. Dante being calm only means one thing: trouble is coming." Vergil answered, turning his attention quickly back to the television screen where his brother was still introducing Vergil by showing to the public the very few pictures he had taken since turning adulthood.

"Vergil is a strong guy; he has been giving me hell since we were young. Look at those strong arms –those muscles look smaller than mine, but trust me: he has the strongest grip when he wants to." Dante was going on, and Vergil could easily hear the stir of confusion amongst the group of reporters who had been invited for this conference which was turning out to be Dante's introduction to Vergil and his weird unnecessary comments.

"What the heck is he doing?" Len asked in confusion when Dante continued to show more pictures of Vergil –some that he hadn't even been aware had been taken of him –and commenting the most stupid things (that zit that he had once had on his cheek, that stray strand of hair that happened to be sticking out in one of the pictures, that small food stain on the corner of one of his shirt).

The whole affair dragged out for a good 5 minutes as Dante was allowed to ramble on the whole issue, and Vergil's sense of something bad about to happen only got stronger.

"Now that I've introduced you all to this man, it's time for me to reveal the truth: that this isn't actually filmed live. Ladies and gentlemen watching this press conference through the television screen, you've been pranked! This has been pre-recorded!" Dante's grin suddenly burst across his face as he looked directly into the main camera. "But the best is yet to come! Ladies and gentlemen, in the next few seconds, please say hello to the man who has been accused of being my gay partner, but is actually my twin brother, Vergil Sparda! Also, did I mention that he is currently dating our nation's hottest model Len Kaigiri?"

Vergil suddenly became aware of the presence of someone beside him, and turned to find a camera pointed at the both of them, a blinking red light the only indicator that it was currently filming. Len sat up immediately beside him, both of them shocked to find Dante standing in person beside them with the camera carefully balanced between his hands.

"Say hi to the world, Verge! Hi, Len!" Dante grinned, and Vergil heard his brother's words repeated through the television.

"Dante!" Len's shock was heard through the television as she jumped to her feet, running quickly away to hide from the camera that was very clearly live-streaming to national tv.

Vergil took a short moment to compose himself, looking directly into the camera lenses. He couldn't see where the mic was, but assumed that his voice could be heard clearly considering how he could hear everything through the television at the same time.

"Ladies and gentlemen, fans of my brother, hello. My name is Vergil Sparda, and as introduced by Dante, I am his twin brother." Vergil started the same calm way as his brother had at the pre-recorded press conference. "I regret to bring you sad news today."

"Huh?" Dante's grin quickly turned into something cautious as Vergil came to his feet, though the younger twin didn't fail to keep the camera fixed on him.

"Today, your national idol Dante Sparda is going to be forced to retire from the industry." Vergil cracked his knuckles, the smile spreading across his face this time. There was no joyful amusement in that smile, only the promise of something heavy.

"Uh oh." Dante knew that his hell had come for him. "You know that this is a joke, right? You said you were okay with going public, Verge!"

"I did say that." Vergil answered, ignorant of the fact that his brother had stopped trying to film his face. "But you promised about keeping Len a secret."

"Her agency contacted me, and said that-" Dante's weak defense could be heard repeated on live television.

"You better run, Dante." Len shouted from wherever she was hiding from the camera. "Run as far as you can."

"Uh oh." Dante's fight-or-flight instincts seemed to finally kick in as he dropped the camera –ignoring the fact that it was still live-streaming –as he went tearing out of the room and the house, his twin brother chasing him as if the Devil had possessed him.

Neither of them was aware that once more, the dropped camera had caught the footage of the brotherly chase out of the house.

From that day forth, the entire world became aware of the elder twin brother of the nation's idol who was dating the nation's model, and the prank video made by Dante would live on forever in history documenting the day the devil in the form of a man named Vergil Sparda was released into the world.