JOHN Prats and Heart Evangelista are extremely close. They share the same birthday (Feb. 14) and can tell each other everything.

    "We don't hide secrets. We're best friends. I tell her if she's too 'maarte' (finicky) and she tells me if I'm gaining weight," John shares.

    He appreciates Heart's sweetness and thoughtfulness. "In simple ways, she always remembers me. When we have tapings or out-of-town shows, she'd always ask me what I'd like to eat. 'Maasikaso siya (she likes taking care of people),'" he stresses.

    "John is a gentleman. 'Pag bababa ako ng hagdan, lagi niya akong inaalalayan kasi alam niya na clumsy ako at laging nadadapa (When I come down the stairs, he always offers an arm since he knows I'm clumsy and always tripping over something).' 'Minsan, nag-taping kami sa Berks, at wala akong dalang pera, nilibre niya ako ng breakfast, lunch and dinner. Kung naglalambing ako ng teddy bear, binibilhan niya ako (Once we were taping at Berks and I hadn't brought any money. He treated me to breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I find a teddy bear calling to me, he buys it)," Heart recalls.

    But Heart considers the paper roses John gave her as his sweetest gift. "He made those roses from tissue paper," she gushes.

    John treasures the Bruce Lee shirts and baseball caps Heart gave him. But their first impressions of each other were not that great.

    "Ayoko kay John noon. Mestizong chinito na isnabero. Feeling ko, ang yabang naman nito, hindi niya ako pinapansin! (I didn't like him before. I thought him a Chinese mixed-breed snob. I felt he was so full of it; he wasn't paying any attention to me)," Heart shares. "Masyado siyang maarte. Noon, hindi siya makapag-pictorial ng walang salamin (She was really vain. Then, she would never be without a mirror during a pictorial)," John adds.

    Working together on the defunct "G-Mik" and on the movie, "Trip," erased those negative first impressions. Their friendship flourished. When they shot "My First Romance," they were already comfortable with each other as a loveteam, and their rapport grew.

    "Gusto ko 'yung pagka-childish at kakulitan niya. (I like his being childish and perky). I understand his moods 'kasi moody din ako (I'm moody, too),'" Heart volunteers.

    "She doesn't have any pretensions. What you see is what you get. She's not afraid to show na maarte siya (she's vain)," John says.

    "We even order the same food at the same time," Heart adds.

    "We believe in destiny. 'Kung kami talaga, kami talaga! (if we're meant to be together, then so be it),'" John confides.

    They are already the best of friends--so romance might just be around the corner.