all jung wooyoung ever wanted was to go about life like he always did, and that worked for him; until the top-tier celebrity choi san was in the picture, that is.
but there was a catch; wooyoung was his anti-fan.
start: august 9, 2023
end: septembe...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
it was a peaceful tuesday and wooyoung had spent his entire morning and afternoon binge-watching the newest drama that was out on disney+. day four of no contact. by the time yeosang came back home, it was 5:30 in the evening and wooyoung had already finished 8 and a half episodes.
yeosang stared at wooyoung, making a face that read 'your lifestyle is disgusting and i'm glad i'm not like you'. wooyoung stared back at him. "you've gotten cheeky after landing a job, you know that?"
yeosang only clicked his tongue in response before setting down his bag and plopping down on the couch next to wooyoung. he sighed loudly, stretching his arms. "ah, why did i even dream about having a 9-5 job... it's hell."
wooyoung chuckled, even though his work hours were often longer. the only difference was that he actually enjoyed doing his job and when you like what you're doing, time flies quick. "right, yunho said he'd be back late today."
"it's whatever." yeosang yawned before sitting up straight like he recalled something. "i almost forgot," he started, turning to face wooyoung who looked back at him curiously. "remember bang chan? that aussie dude we used to go to school with. the one that flirted with everything that moved."
"the name rings a bell. why, what's up?" wooyoung asked, fixing his posture. like he said, he wasn't very good with the names of people he went to high school with.
"well he called me out of nowhere today," yeosang said. "apparently, that girl kim mirae planned a high school reunion for this friday. i'm sure you don't remember her, though. i thought she was still in the states."
wooyoung withheld a groan. so she was being serious about a reunion? "no, i remember her. i met her yesterday."
"wait, what?! really? why didn't you tell me, you idiot?" yeosang exclaimed, slapping wooyoung's arm. "so how is she? pretty as usual?"
"hmm. she looks the same, i guess." wooyoung shrugged. if he was being honest, he didn't pay much attention to whether she had changed anything about herself or not. it's not like any of that mattered, anyway. "did they decide the location for the reunion? is it far from here?" wooyoung diverted. if it was at least half an hour away, he could use the distance as an excuse to not show up. he would've been fine with the idea of seeing his classmates again if it weren't for the fact that he had bad relations with most of the guys.
"oh, yeah, let me check," yeosang mumbled, pulling his phone out of his pocket. "well i guess she decided on dinner for the reunion... it's that new restaurant called la spiga." he looked at wooyoung again. "hey, isn't that place really expensive? she better be planning on handling the bill. even if we split, it would cost me all my life savings."
wooyoung stayed silent after that and focused on his drama instead. besides being expensive, la spiga was about 25 minutes away from them, which meant he couldn't put his idea to use. it was even closer to wooyoung's apartment complex; probably 5 minutes by car or so. he could already imagine how things would go.
"hey jung wooyoung! remember me? the guy you punched square in the jaw for a minute straight because you caught me while i was extorting money from our juniors!"
"hey, woo! it's me! the guy you waterboarded in the school toilets for dumping a bucket of water on the new kid!"
"woo! remember when i had to get a rhinoplasty because of you and your damn fist?! good times, bro!"
it occurred to wooyoung that he might have been slightly violent in his high school days. but everybody knows that people change so it was alright, and maybe things wouldn't be awkward at all. or maybe, he hadn't really changed, rather he never had to encounter a situation that he needed to solve with his fist thereafter. to be truthful, it wasn't his fault that his high school had all kinds of ungrateful rodents running around.
"woo." yeosang called and wooyoung hummed in response. "if you remember mirae, then do you remember that she liked you?" he asked. wooyoung pursed his lips.
"how could i forget." he muttered. really, how could he? it was hard to forget all the crazy things she did out of pure feelings and nothing else. no wonder it was so easy for wooyoung to recall everything. yeosang burst out laughing.
"oh, man, she did all sorts of stuff." he recalled, wiping the tears from his eyes. what was so funny to this guy? he really laughed at the strangest things. "but she's the reason you were able to graduate, anyway."
"what do you mean by that?" wooyoung perked up. of course the girl had done a whole lot of things for wooyoung, but what was this about?
"didn't you know?" yeosang furrowed his eyebrows and wooyoung shook his head. "seriously?! okay. do you remember the time when you singlehandedly beat up like, 5 other guys in the auditorium because they kept smoking on school premises? one of those boys' families was really well off so you almost ended up getting expelled. but mirae's family had ties with the school board somehow. that's how she even ended up coming to our school, and that's how she literally saved your life. well, duh, you were always skipping classes so there's no way you knew about any of this."
after hearing what yeosang had to say, wooyoung was left speechless. he stared at the tv screen with his mouth slightly open, still trying to process the information. she'd done all that for me and i didn't know? wooyoung felt bad to say the least. if she had at least told him, he would've treated her to something nice every now and then.
it was never too late to return the favor anyway, because what she did wasn't just a small thing that was trivial to the course of wooyoung's life. she had ensured that he would graduate, for god's sake. he made a mental note to ask her for her schedule when they see each other at the reunion so he could treat her to a meal, just the two of them.
"i'm home!" yunho exclaimed as if anyone cared, barging in through the door with bags in his hands. "and i brought food with me!"
yeosang pounced, running to grab the bag from yunho. he quickly unpacked it on the coffee table. "oh man, i've been starving." he whined, taking the lid off the container that had black-bean noodles in it. "wooyoung, come down here and eat!"
with that, wooyoung set aside his guilt and sat on the ground in front of the coffee table, joining the boys as they had their dinner.
