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 warm thursday afternoon, and wooyoung looked forward to the weekend more than ever. he envied san who was probably still asleep, seeing how he had so much free time on his hands now that he was temporarily freed from work.
wooyoung sat in the corner of the room by the giant mirror, mindlessly sipping on his chocolate flavored soy milk. mingi was lying down on his lap and scrolling through his socials while humming to the tune of the music playing through the speakers.
"friday, please come quick," jongho groaned, speaking wooyoung's mind. he was splayed out on the floor in exhaustion. hongjoong emerged into the room, tossing a cold bottle of water at jongho. he sat down next to wooyoung, leaning against the glass.
"we deserve the three month summer breaks more than high school kids," yunho sighed, sliding down against the wall.
"that's a reach, don't you think?" hongjoong said, reaching down to retie his shoelaces. wooyoung stretched his legs out and mindlessly stared at the top of his sneakers. for someone who always enjoyed working, wooyoung seemed to look forward to going back home a lot lately.
yunho whined like a child, dropping his head down in dismay. "is it just me, or is work extra exhausting lately? i just wanna take the whole month off."
"i'm with you on that," mingi joined and slightly raised his hand, his attention not shifting from the phone screen. wooyoung agreed with a nod of his head.
"i really can't do this for another day," wooyoung complained and the others collectively groaned in distress upon being reminded that they had another day of work left for the week. wooyoung chewed on the straw of the milk carton, wishing he could just sit in that position until it was time to go back home.
"hopefully the carnival will help get our minds off things," hongjoong reminded, trying to cheer them up. mingi raised his eyebrows and dropped his phone to his chest, looking up at hongjoong.
"you guys are going to the carnival? you're lucky," he mumbled, "i'm going down to see my parents this weekend."
"me too," jongho chimed in, sounding equally as let down. "it's my little sisters birthday."
"hey, she's your family, and she's adorable," wooyoung lectured, throwing his empty chocolate milk carton at him. "be happy to see her again."
hongjoong chuckled, ruffling a disgruntled jongho's hair. "that's right, listen to woo."
"by the way," wooyoung began, suddenly remembering what he had to tell hongjoong, and he turned to look at him. "i invited.. two more people over for the carnival. you don't mind, do you?"
hongjoong shrugged. "like i said, the more, the merrier. and it'll be nice to see some new faces after a while."
"no way!" mingi exclaimed excitedly, staring at something on his phone screen. he shoved it in the direction of the other curious boys. "look at this! it's the promotional poster for their new movie together."
the boys inched closer to the screen and wooyoung leaned to the side to get a better look. it was a movie poster, with seonghwa and san on the cover.
"choi san, the man you are..." jongho was almost drooling as he stared at the photo intensely, and wooyoung cleared his throat awkwardly. hongjoong shook his head.
"you guys are sleeping on seonghwa. he's way more handsome. i mean, look at that jawline, for fuck's sake! and those eyebrows..."
"is this a group coming out session?" yunho scoffed, and wooyoung was grateful he didn't make things awkward, considering how he knew about san.
hongjoong rolled his eyes. "fellas, is it gay to admit a bunch of dudes are handsome? i think not. don't be so fragile with your masculinity." he lectured, getting back up on his feet. jongho reluctantly followed behind him, and mingi kicked himself back up as well, more revitalized than ever. yunho stared at their backs as they left and shifted close to wooyoung.
"thanks," wooyoung said, offering yunho a tight-lipped smile. yunho looked back at him and shrugged nonchalantly.
"seeing those celebrities face-to-face is great, but i don't wanna take accountability for all the trouble i could get in if i speak. if you know what i mean," he declared, and wooyoung chuckled.
yunho laughed along with him, wrapping his arm around his shoulder reassuringly. "don't worry about me and yeosang. your secret's safe with us."
wooyoung nodded, grateful for the trustworthy friends he'd made. "san said he'd join us to the carnival this weekend. he might bring seonghwa with him as well."
"and hongjoong doesn't know?" yunho said after a pause, tilting his head curiously. "i mean, he's dealt with more idol celebrities than us. this probably wouldn't affect him too much. but he's a seonghwa super-fan."
he did have a point there. maybe this was a bad idea, but he trusted hongjoong to an extent. wooyoung could only hope he didn't stand corrected when the weekend approached.
———
it was late in the evening when wooyoung got off from work and he quietly dawdled towards his apartment building with his hands behind his back like an old man. all he wanted to do was crawl under his blanket and sleep for an eternity or two.
maybe it was the two week break he'd taken after he injured himself, but wooyoung was starting to get quite lazy when it came to work. or maybe it was the fact that he could finally enjoy a good night's sleep, so much that he hated having to wake up early all because of work. talking with the other boys and spending quality time was the only thing he enjoyed doing at the studio. he loved dancing, but having to train the other boys was slowly starting to drain him of his energy.
he kicked at the gravel beneath his feet, preoccupied with all his hateful thoughts about work. he had been so disconnected and lost in his own world, he didn't even notice the masked figure waiting patiently by the entrance to the apartment building with his hands in his pockets.
"wooyoung," he spoke, and wooyoung looked up at him, snapping out of his daze.
"san?" he furrowed his eyebrows. "what are you doing out here?"
"waiting for you. what does it look like?" he said, pulling his mask down. "don't worry, i haven't been out here for long."
wooyoung nodded, deciding to take his word for it. seeing him after a long day of working was like a breath of fresh air, for some reason. he pressed his card against the scanner, making his way inside. "so what are your plans for the day?"
"hmm," san hummed, playfully rubbing his chin. "i had a feeling you'd be tired today, so i won't bother you too much."
wooyoung raised his eyebrows. "so you're just gonna let me go after this?"
"i never said that," he defended. "you really wanna get rid of me that bad?"
"and i never said that," wooyoung responded, stepping into the elevator with san. "then what is it?"
san took off the hood that was shielding his face, revealing his disheveled black hair. he looked down at wooyoung with a cheeky smile that made wooyoung's inside churn with apprehensiveness.
