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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strangely, the sight of choi san, who was dressed in a grey hoodie and black sweatpants, brought a sense of relief to wooyoung. his eyes twinkled behind black-rimmed spectacles against the dark night, and his hair was sloppily slicked back as if he had run his hand through it multiple times.
however, wooyoung's relief was short-lived as he remembered there were two drama-hungry monsters sitting in the living room, right behind the door he stood in front of.
wooyoung quickly closed the door behind him, never looking away from the man in front of him.
"what are you doing here?" he whisper-yelled as if his sister and her best friend could hear him over the noise they were making, his voice piercing the silence of a windy night as he hurried down the steps.
san held up the plastic bag in his hand, taking a few steps back to make way for a slightly alarmed wooyoung. "i thought you'd need a break," he vaguely nodded towards the door. "they're doing that marathon stuff again, aren't they?"
"woah," wooyoung gasped, eyes widening. "how did you know that?"
"it's nothing new," san shrugged. "yeonjin's shop was closed, which could only mean one thing— woo, what are you doing?"
the question marks etched into san's deep-brown eyes jolted wooyoung, who was busy trying to push san out of the gate, from his spell.
he opened his mouth to defend himself, only to quickly close it. again, how would he explain himself? he needed to get choi san out of there because if the two women in the house saw him standing there, they would jump to their own delusional conclusions—wouldn't choi san just stare at him as if he were the crazy one, not the girls who spoke with such determination in their eyes about a man's shoulders?
with a sigh, wooyoung let go of san's shoulders, his hands shamefully dropping to his sides.
san blinked like a curious puppy, his back against the gate due to wooyoung's determination to get rid of him, and there was a hint of amusement in his eyes. "you good?"
"fine," wooyoung murmured, awkwardly scratching his hair, his eyes fixed on the ground for a moment before looking up at san as realisation dawned. "right, how are you feeling? you drank a lot last night. like, a lot."
for a moment, san simply stared. and then he smiled, a charming, sparkling smile that revealed the deep dimples on his defined cheeks. without saying anything, he shuffled past wooyoung and sat on the small steps leading to the door, hands reaching into the plastic bag he was holding.
he took a carton and a can of soda from the plastic bag and placed them on the steps behind him before patting the spot next to him, inviting wooyoung to sit down.
"are you going to keep me waiting?" san looked up at him expectantly.
wooyoung hesitated for a moment, glancing back at the door. the muffled sounds of his sister and yeonjin still echoed through the walls.
