Teejay Marquez and Miko Gallardo are the main stars in 'My Story' series

BL or boys' love is a genre that has gained popularity in recent years. Thailand rules the market, perhaps because their society is more accepting of the LGBTQIA+ community. In the Philippines, Oxin Films headed by director Xion Lim is one company that has been consistently producing beautifully-made BL series. Its maiden offering was the highly successful "My Day" which made a name out of its two lead characters Ace and Sky.

Ace and Sky broke up, for some reason.  This led to the second season, now titled "My Story" where Sky (played by Miko Gallardo) travels to Thailand to work as a chef and meets Win (Teejay Marquez). While Chiang Mai provides a picturesque location for the two to get to know each other, things were also taking an exciting turn in Manila.

Zeke (Jericho Del Rosario) was walking along the street one day when Fifth (Hiro Shimoji) almost bumps into him with his motorcycle. Zeke  just arrived in the city and the taxi driver ran away with his luggage, so he is persuaded by Fifth to go to his dormitory maintained by Sky's family.

Hashtag #Fizeke organically grew out of the fans' reactions to the young duo.They noticed the undeniable chemistry between the two. Living together in the dorm made Fifth and Zeke closer to each other and their  teasing repartees were met with excitement by fans who were now clamoring for more.

Xion admitted that it took him two long years to come up with My Story. Aside from the fact that he felt pressured to equal the success of My Day, he was also dealing with some personal issues.

"I did not want to fail my audience. So when we teamed up with JP Lopez and Direk Easy (Ferrer) for the script, we only wanted to come up with relatable stories. Until it came to a point where we  stopped feeling pressured about being successful and just have fun along the way," Xion commented.

(From left): JP Lopez, directors Xion Lim and Easy Ferrer collaborated on the script for 'My Story'

The first few weeks of airing My Story earned 5 million views on Oxin Films' Youtube channel. Subscriber numbers have also increased since then. Suddenly, #Fizeke overshadowed the main loveteam of Sky and Win in the series.

Director Xion attributes this to the fact that the fans "related" to the new loveteam. Jericho and Hiro "are comfortable with each other on the set and behind the scenes. They're free to ad lib their lines and it comes out very natural. Pag kinikilig na ako sa set, good take na yun."

The young actors revealed that they had "no awkward moments" even during their first meeting. Their scenes sharing one bed in the dorm were also rehearsed spontaneously.

Even though their popularity has skyrocketed as a loveteam, they're not afraid of negative things other people will say about being identified as BL actors.

"I took this role because I want to break the stigma that just because you're in a BL show, it dictates your sexuality. It doesn't mean like that. I've been acting for 10 years and I wanted to prove something that this is also a job, this is something professional that we do from our hearts," Hiro stressed.

Jericho agreed. " It's just professionalism. Some people can think what they want but I don't mind because it's really like that. Whether you do something wrong or right, they always think something about you."

BL actors Hiro Shimoji and Jericho Del Rosario

"We're also proud of what we did in this series because we're proving that love isn't just based on gender," Hiro pointed out. " It's fun to do because we're promoting inclusivity and equality. People are recognizing that gender could be fluid and anyone could fall in love with anyone."

With My Story star Miko Gallardo announcing that he's retiring from doing BL, it's very timely for Oxin Films to develop Jericho and Hiro as the next major BL loveteam. The two young actors signed their contract recently for Season 3 of the series which is titled " Our Story."

Hiro thanked his director for "bringing out his capabilities as an actor." On the other hand, Jericho said he's looking forward to "level" up in playing his role.

"While Season 2 is all about being sweet and happy, we will be introducing more conflicts in Season 3 and show how the characters of Fifth and Zeke evolve," Xion noted.

"I am very happy with the outcome of Season 2, that's why we came up with Season 3. This is really for the fans who kept telling us in the comments that Fifth and Zeke star in their own BL series. We're just doing what they want and of course, viewing remains free in our Youtube channel," Xion added.