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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saturday morning, the sun was warm and bright, and birds in the trees along the sidewalks chirped, rustling the branches and sending leaves dwindling down.
san, who was overjoyed because the weekend meant he wouldn't have to wear his uncomfortable job-related clothes at unholy hours, strolled down the pavements, holding another album he'd been meaning to return.
his skin felt cool upon absorbing the autumn breeze. weekends were always the most magical. even though he had flexible work hours and wasn't sitting at a desk all day on weekdays, and even though he enjoyed his job, san preferred his free time to work.
after about ten minutes of skipping down the unoccupied but welcoming sidewalks, yeonjin's shop came into view, and san picked up his pace when he saw the building. the best way to start a morning was to ruin someone else's morning. what better candidate for that than yeonjin?
san's face was covered in a smile that would almost appear psychotic to anyone else who saw it as he approached the building, gradually slowing down. his hand automatically flew to the door handle without looking around—thankfully, he came to a complete stop when he saw who was standing at the counter through the tiny circular window on the wooden door.
choi san ducked quickly and dashed to the light pole, which was only a few feet away from yeonjin's store. he wrapped his arms around the pole and pressed his forehead against the chilly steel. and then, choi san stomped his feet like a ten-year-old.
"yeonjin..." he muttered with gritted teeth. the only time she had managed to ruin san's day rather than the other way around was, surprisingly, when she was out of town.
san groaned, feeling his skin tingle with humiliation rather than the autumn wind. he'd tried to forget what had happened the night before. in the process, he had completely forgotten that yeonjin and seonghwa would be in seoul to meet the journalists. perhaps that was why she had left the shop to wooyoung for the day.
the image of jung wooyoung from a few moments ago, sitting up on the stool behind the counter with his cap shadowing his face and a magazine on the table as he dozed off, caused san to slap his hand over his eyes as if it would remove the picture from his mind.
a fan. jung wooyoung had called him a fan. san knew jumping out of the window as soon as wooyoung said he wanted to speak with him was the best way to save himself. here he was, deeply regretting that he hadn't taken the easy way out, no matter how stupid it would have made him look.
san was only in the process of figuring out his own feelings and understanding why he was the way he was with jung wooyoung, but the guy ruined everything with a single word. a fan?!
of course, he enjoyed wooyoung's music and knew an unhealthy amount about him, including what he liked and disliked, all of his fears and talents, and he'd gotten all of this information from the various interviews and lives wooyoung had done. that made him appear, without a doubt, like a fan. and san knew he was confused about a variety of issues, but this wasn't one of them.
