after a scandal, wooyoung, a defunct k-pop idol, runs away to his sister's hometown. he craves anonymity, yet his quiet routine is disrupted by a chance encounter- a local with a warm presence, who offers him a glimpse of a life beyond the spotlight...
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only when wooyoung stepped back into the comforts of hana's home did he realise he'd been holding his breath the entire way there.
with his back pressed against the door, wooyoung let out a deep sigh. choi san lived in this town out of every available one in the country? why? what kind of twisted coincidence was that?
in an attempt to regain his composure, wooyoung finally kicked his shoes off, stepping out of the entryway so the living room was finally in his line of sight. for some reason, all the pinks in the small house that was big enough for a typical early-20s girl only overwhelmed wooyoung's senses. the baby pink couches, the hot pink sequin pillows that sat on them, the multiple neon signs plastered onto the wall, and the fuchsia pyjama set hana was wearing while sitting on the ground in front of the glass coffee table, mirror in hand and pimple patches plastered all over her face...
"you little devil!" wooyoung immediately pounced at her, resulting in a loud, almost deafening scream from the girl who fell on her back, the mirror in her hand flying all the way up and somehow safely landing on the carpet.
"ouch— what, what?!" she yelled, wriggling like a cockroach that was under the influence of bug spray. "let me go, will you?! you fucking hippo!"
"why didn't you tell me," wooyoung's voice shook, hindered by the power he was using to hold hana down, "that choi fucking san lives here! in this town, this fucking close to us!"
"ugh— why does that even matter?! the two of you weren't even close to begin with! why is this information important all of a sudden?!"
after delivering those very words, hana blew a final fatal kick dangerously close to wooyoung's ribcage, successfully getting rid of his weight. but despite the pain, wooyoung didn't say anything, and he simply stared at the ceiling while hana cursed at him and caught her breath at the same time.
she was right.
they were never close to begin with, and there was no substantialness to the relationship they held. could they even be considered former friends? even that seemed like a stretch.
wooyoung closed his eyes, taking himself back to his high school days.
choi san was the popular boy.
now, there were many popular boys, and they were popular for different reasons— seonghwa was popular for being the class clown, yeosang was popular for being the pretty nerd, and mingi was popular for being the charming music prodigy. and choi san was popular for a multitude of reasons.
first and foremost, he was insanely handsome. even wooyoung didn't have trouble admitting that. he had the most perfectly carved dimples, his black hair reflected under the sun like gold, and the way his eyes squinted when he smiled was enough to draw the life out of a vulnerable being. choi san was part of the school's swimming team, which only added to his charms. he was both athletic and smart. well, moderately smart; though wooyoung had no right to say that considering how san was always averaging a's and b's while wooyoung stayed consistent in the c's.
when it came to high school crushes that you would think about later in the future and smile at the memory, he was the blueprint. his lax behaviour, how he got along with the teachers and joked around with them, the confidence with which he carried himself... to some people, he was probably the only thing keeping them from ditching classes.
they were from two different worlds— at the time, wooyoung was too distracted working for the future, while san was living in the now. the struggles and turmoils that came with preparing to be an idol had weighed on him ever since he was 16. he was lucky to be able to debut so early when he joined the industry considerably late, and that was all thanks to the extra effort he put into his dream.
wooyoung gulped. there was no need to be so dramatic about this, right? after all, hana was being realistic. there was absolutely nothing between them. there was no reason to fret over choi san. the guy probably didn't even care about him.
hana was still rubbing her aching arms when wooyoung's lips parted.
"do you know what he's doing now?" he asked, his eyes never steering away from the blinding ceiling lamp.
then and now, wooyoung remained curious about choi san. in his state of shock, wooyoung had completely forgotten to hear from jongho about choi san; what he did for a living, and how time had changed him.
hana rolled her eyes. "he's a game developer, or something," she said. "he's really well off. not like that's a surprise, though. he's one of those people that always had potential to make it big in life. honestly, i thought he'd end up as a professional swimmer, or whatever."
a game developer. flurries of thoughts raced through wooyoung's mind as he thought about the heartthrob of their high school days. to others it might seem odd, but weirdly, to wooyoung, a game developer seemed like the perfect fit for someone like san.
"anyway, that guy's face card has like, no expiry date. he's only gotten more handsome." hana let out a sigh, and she increased the volume on the drama playing on the tv screen. "did you meet him today?"
wooyoung chewed on his lip. again, there was absolutely nothing between them. at least not through his idol days. instead, another sinking feeling had latched onto wooyoung's ankles like an anchor that pulled him downwards.
"if i ran into him, you wouldn't be seeing me right now. i would've taken my life that very instant."
"what?" hana scoffed. "hey, do you really have to go that far? that guy hasn't even done anything to you." she crossed her arms, giving wooyoung a sceptical look. "don't tell me... you're—"
"you don't need to know."
and with that, wooyoung finally sat up straight. was it an incident so life-changing that it warranted him acting like this? probably not. nonetheless, his own pride and ego held it against him like nails through his skin and wooyoung absolutely could not bring himself to face choi san in the near future.
"for fucks sake," he muttered under his breath as he got up, taking lazy steps towards the kitchen.
"hey," he stopped to face hana, "do you have any drinks at all? or are you still doing that thing where you stay sober because it's bad for your skin?"
hana smiled pridefully at him. that gave wooyoung the answer he needed.
he shook his head. on any other day, he would applaud his sister for taking care of herself, but today was not one of those days.
opening the refrigerator, wooyoung scanned its contents, hoping to find something, anything, to distract him from his thoughts. he grabbed a bottle of water, taking a long sip as he leaned against the kitchen counter. the cool liquid did little to ease the tension coiled in his chest.
wooyoung glanced at the clock on the wall, realising how late it had gotten. the darkness outside the window enveloped the world in an eerie stillness, the only sound being the faint hum of the refrigerator and the television drama that hana was watching. despite the late hour, the weight of his thoughts refused to let him rest.
turning away from the window, wooyoung took a deep breath, trying to push aside the lingering unease that clung to him like a shadow. stress seemed to have followed him well into the ordinary life. and here he thought it was just a side effect of the idol life, but considering the amount of sighing he'd done the past week, it truly wasn't.
the trace amounts of hopes he'd held were gone with the wind, and once again, wooyoung was left feeling unsure.
could he truly get used to this?
almost like a moth to a flame, wooyoung found himself drawn to the memory of that day.
