Can a player reform his ways and fall in love for real? Absolutely, if we’d take a look at how Axel (Jameson Blake) turned from cool to shy and mushy because of Rica (Charlie Dizon). The guy who can’t be serious about love suddenly started to believe in slow-mo effects and other cheesy things he thought only exists in K-dramas, and we find it kilig. Check out this Kapamilya Toplist of scenes that shows Axel falling so hard in love with Rica in the trending drama series Viral Scandal.

Kilig brewed when Axel and Rica figured their connection was established back in grade school. In that scene, they were discussing their project proposal. Rica blew the eraser dust off the paper, blinding Axel’s eyes. Worried, she told him to blink repeatedly and then leaned in closer to blow the dust off his eye. It was when Axel remembered Rica, the classmate who also told him to blink repeatedly in a similar experience back in grade school. He knew that was Rica. Both their faces lit up at the adorable revelation. Then she remembered him pooping his pants when they were kids. Breaking the ice between them, Axel and Rica shared genuine laughter while having a trip down memory lane.

Axel is the first to understand how Rica truly feels being surrounded by a lot of people and treated with special attention. He’s aware of her need for some alone time, too. In a scene, he helped distract their officemates to give Rica some breathing space. He’s been like that since Rica joined Balai Arkitektura – always willing to defend and come to her rescue but keeping it low-key. Chick-magnets wouldn’t want to admit someone is making them soft, right?

But we saw something in Axel’s eyes when Rica almost fainted at a bar. He noticed she was trembling, traumatized by a horrible experience the last time she partied with friends. Axel ran to Rica but Kyle caught her first.

Axel has already learned to live with people’s assumption about him being a total player like what his officemates say. But for the first time, someone is seeing the real him. It was Rica who told him he’s a good listener and for some reason he makes her feel comfortable. She trusts him, and coming from someone with walls built from traumatic experiences, it sounded so sincere. Axel, however, told Rica not to tell anyone, maybe because he’s scared people would no longer see him as the cool and tough guy.

But he reveals his feelings in the most adorable ways. The first sign that Axel is in love is experiencing ‘slow-mo’ moments during random conversations with Rica. There was a scene where he got completely lost in watching Rica tie her hair, making the sweet encounter more deliciously satisfying.

Sign number two is hardly falling asleep. Axel spent the night tossing and turning, struggling to get Rica off his mind. He received a text message from a girl asking him to hang out. The old Axel wouldn’t think twice in accepting the invite. But the player in him has already turned into history. Surprisingly, the heartbreaker lost interest in other women.

In another scene, Axel listened quietly as his officemates discussed the symptoms of being lovestruck. May (Hasna Cabral) mentioned love comes with rapid heartbeat, slow-mo moments and seeing the other person glow. Axel put his hand on his chest, imagined how he’s seeing Rica lately, and felt his heartbeat. At that moment, he knew it wasn’t like the usual thrill he gets from some other girls.

Axel, who is so expert in getting a girl’s attention through his smooth talks, is surprisingly dumbstruck when Rica is around. The guy who used to pull women in with his charming stares couldn’t even look Rica in the eye. When Rica smiled at the building’s security guard, Axel just hid in a corner then let his world turn in a slow motion.

And all of a sudden, Axel is talking about all things cheesy and romantic. One time, he asked Chino (Aldrin Angeles) about the signs of falling in love during a drinking session in a bar. Chino’s reaction was hilarious, thinking Axel was just drunk.

We get our hopes up for RiXel every time Rica treats Axel with the same fondness. After all, she already said she’s comfortable with him. We end this video montage with that scene wherein Rica’s face lit up as Axel breathed her encouragement. She smiled, and again, he went crazy deep inside.

Are you on Team RiXel? Catch more of Rica and Axel in Viral Scandal, weeknights, on Kapamilya Channel, Kapamilya Online Live, and A2Z.