(oneshot) a song for a fool
a song for a fool
you're beautiful, kang shin woo/sayuri
pg-13, ~ 2600 words
four times sayuri sees (like, really sees) kang shin woo, and the one time he sees her
I.
The first time Sayuri sees Kang Shin Woo is on allkpop.
She's browsing through old Super Junior news when she stumbles upon an article about a new boy band debuting in a month.
A.N.Jell, she thinks. They sound pretty cool.
II.
The lights dim and the music starts to blare and Sayuri is screaming her lungs out.
Taekyung is singing, his soulful voice melting every girl in the room. Jeremy is bringing it on the drums, his bright, bright smile making the thousands of fangirls squeal.
But when Shin Woo starts his guitar solo, Sayuri is lost for words (and chants).
His usually calm eyes are lit up with a kind of fervent passion that makes her shiver, and even from five hundred seats away she can feel the intensity. He looks in control, like he knows he’s good and she should know it too. He smirks lazily, confidently, as his fingers pluck at the strings deftly. He looks like he belongs on the stage. He looks -
Shin Woo looks fucking hot.
III.
Camera lights flash incessantly as Sayuri tries to catch a glimpse of Shin Woo’s mystery girlfriend. She jumps up and down comically, her winged headband almost falling off as she tries to follow the crowd out of the conference room. Reporters are shooting questions left and right at Shin Woo and the girl bundled in his arms, but he pushes through them defiantly, a blank expression on his face.
An irrational wave of jealousy washes over her. Sayuri shakes her head. This is just how you felt when you found out Taekyung-oppa was going out with Yoo He Yi, she tries to rationalize. You’re just A.N.Jell’s number one fan; that’s why you feel like your heart is shattering into a million pieces.
Shin Woo turns back to survey the media circus he’s created, and Sayuri almost gasps when his eyes locks with hers. His eyes flash surprise and something else she can’t decipher, but before Sayuri can open her mouth (and absolutely squeal with fangirlish adoration) the reporters swarm and sweep him and his mystery girlfriend away.
It’s not until much analyzing the brief, brief encounter later on a forum that Sayuri realizes that Kang Shin Woo’s eyes (and therefore, Kang Shin Woo) were full of hope.
IV.
Sayuri’s part-time job at the noraebang is kind of lousy.
It pays off part of her university fees so she doesn’t feel like such a leech off her parents, but her boss is a bitch and the hours are crazy. The only perks were her favourite A.N.Jell songs playing every so often and the occasional celebrity coming in to hang out.
So far, she’s gotten autographs from SNSD’s Sooyoung and Yuri and even a selca with SS501’s Jung Min!
So when Sayuri brings in drinks to a private room, she really shouldn’t be all that surprised to see A.N.Jell’s Shin Woo in there, belting out some depressing love song.
“Kang Shin Woo!” she squeals excitedly.
Shin Woo nearly drops his microphone, blinking confusedly at the hyperventilating waitress. Sayuri quickly sets the drinks down, before bowing deeply.
“I’m such a huge fan!” she beams, completely forgetting the rest of her orders. “A.N.Jell is my favourite idol group! I’ve been following you since you’ve debuted! You’re so amazing on guitar and you have such a nice voice! You’re also really good at rapping and you have the nicest eyes ever! You’re so talented and handsome, Shin Woo-sshi! You’re my favourite A.N.Jell member!”
By now Sayuri’s out of breath and Shin Woo is part awkwardly confused (as he usually is around fans; he never knew how to react to their unconditional love), part really, really flattered.
“Um- thank you” he says quietly, bowing.
Sayuri beams again, and Shin Woo is surprised at the amount of earnestness displayed at two in the morning. Maybe it’s all soju’s talking, but he thinks it’s kind of adorable. She looks around the small room expectantly.
“Oh - are Taekyung and Jeremy here too? And Go Mi Nam?” Sayuri has always dreamt of meeting all of A.N.Jell like this, stumbling on them singing and then being offered to join in (except in her fantasies, she wasn’t in her waitressing uniform).
Shin Woo shakes his head, his eyes downcast.
“No - they’re - Taekyung’s too involved in his own drama to do something as mundane as this - Jeremy’s probably replying to fan messages or doing something more fun - and Mi Nam -“ his voice breaks at the name and he looks like he’s about to cry, but he takes a deep breath and forces a small smile on his face that just breaks Sayuri’s heart. “I guess nobody remembered about me” he shrugs, trying to convince her (himself) that it didn’t matter. “But it’s okay. Everyone forgets me”
There’s a moment of stunned silence (ohmygod what the hell Shin Woo why did you just tell the crazy fangirl-waitress all of that this is so going the forums later think of the scandals!) before -
“But how could anyone forget someone like you? You’re so incredible!” she bursts out incredulously.
Shin Woo is taken aback by the girl’s intensity (and sincerity). Sayuri flushes, but she plows on. If her favourite idol is sitting in a dingy noraebang being depressed about life, it is her duty as A.N.Jell’s number one fan to cheer him up and remind of just how awesome he really is.
“I mean - you’re Kang Shin Woo! You’re one of the most well-loved idols in Korea! You’re the guy that was voted as Most Likely to be the Perfect Boyfriend! Everyone that has a computer or a teenaged daughter knows you! You probably couldn’t even name one person that ‘forgot’ who Kang Shin Woo was!” it sounds like she’s a complete suck-up but somehow it’s complete truth.
Shin Woo thinks of the disastrous Okinawa trip, Mi Nyeo’s eyes staring back at him with pity (don’t, don’t, please don’t) and the fact his heart is still trying to heal.
“Me. I’m trying to forget me” he murmurs.
Sayuri almost gasps at the raw hurt in his voice. Shin Woo offers her a wry smile. He doesn’t know why, but something about this wide-eyed, earnest girl makes him want to spill his deepest, darkest secrets.
“Don’t worry about me. You should go attend to your other customers. I wouldn’t want to bore you with my pathetic story”
Sayuri bites her lip, before sitting down next to the miserable guitarist she may or may not have the hugest idol-crush on ever.
“That’s okay. I don’t really like this job anyway. So why you start from the beginning and I promise not to post this conversation online later?”
Shin Woo laughs, and Sayuri doesn’t think she’s heard anything more sad and beautiful.
He leans back on the couch, ignoring the fact he’s about to reveal his innermost feelings to a random girl he’s pretty sure has all of A.N.Jell’s albums. He’s so tired of thinking of everyone else, listening to everyone else, he’s almost forgotten the feeling of letting someone else hold the burden of a (his) heart in their hands.
Besides, what the harm in letting an obsessed fangirl (albeit a cute one) know the secret lives of A.N.Jell?
“So there’s this girl…”
V.
Somewhere along the line Sayuri becomes Shin Woo’s closest confidante. He can’t look at Taekyung without being reminded of Mi Nyeo, Jeremy wouldn’t understand (or pretend not to) and Manager Ma and Stylist Wang are just plain weird about everything.
Oh, and it’d be kind of awkward to talk to Mi Nam, because you know, 1. he’s Mi Nyeo’s twin brother and 2. Shin Woo doesn’t like the fact that the boy hates tea.
“-it’s okay to be nervous - after all, it’s your first solo stage - but I’m sure you’ll be amazing up there! Oh, and I checked soompi and everyone’s really excited - you should see how many fan threads you have - by the way, the new haircut suits you very well - I love the dark, mature concept-” Sayuri is chattering away exuberantly on the phone, and Shin Woo simply smiles because it’s just like her to be so A.N.Jell-hyped-up.
Sometimes, if he’s feeling really introspective (or drank too much tea), Shin Woo thinks Sayuri’s unwavering idolization of him is kind of cute. At first it was a little unnerving, as if it was a mistake to exchange numbers with a fangirl that texts every hour to say Shin Woo-oppa, hwaiting! ^^ I’ll never forget you! but somehow it’s endearing.
He’s never had someone that’s cared so much about how his day was, reminded him not to stay up so late composing (Taekyung’s not the only one that can write songs) and always complimented him on his guitar solo after every Inkigayo performance.
It’s nice, he thinks. To have someone like that. Besides, Sayuri’s kind of cute, with her doe eyes and her quirky charm. He’s never met someone so earnest and obsessed and sincere and intense before. She’s like a contradiction in herself, and Shin Woo doesn’t mind that.
The fact that she is completely, utterly obsessed with his every move is but a minor problem. It only got too problematic once she started turning up at the A.N.Jell residence every morning to make his favourite breakfast (pumpkin bonjuk and a cup of strong coffee) and Taekyung freaked at the fact that he let one of them in! They know where we live now! Do you want us to move again, Kang Shin Woo?
Shin Woo thinks he could get used to having someone like Sayuri around, always trying to cheer him up and make him feel like he’s worth something, winged headband and all.
So he lets her have a backstage pass to his solo debut stage on Music Core, and it’s totally worth the hour-long argument with President Ahn to see Taekyung’s face when Sayuri bursts into the dressing room, squealing and clapping gleefully.
“Shin Woo-oppa hwaiting!” she brandishes a neon-flashing banner at him and Shin Woo can’t help laugh at her utter fangirl-ness (but he’s secretly pleased at her loyalty).
Jeremy gasps.
“Ohmygod, hyung! Why didn’t I think to make a banner?” he slaps himself on the forehead.
“It’s okay, Jeremy, I made spares!” Sayuri rummages through her backpack to produce a bright pink flag reading I love you Shin Woo-oppa! and passes it to Jeremy.
Taekyung rolls his eyes.
“Are we not enough support that you have to call your own personal crazy fangirl to cheer you on?” he scowls.
Jeremy looks hurt.
“Hyung! You know I’ll always be there for you!”
Shin Woo chuckles, his new red hair falling in front of his eyes.
“I know, Jeremy. Sayuri’s here as a…friend”
Said girl beams brightly as Taekyung scoffs disbelievingly. He opens his mouth to say something even snarkier (if I didn’t know you any better I’d say you like her) before a PD knocks on the door.
“Kang Shin Woo-sshi, you’re on in five minutes. Please start heading backstage”
Shin Woo takes a deep breath. He’s kind of maybe really nervous about his solo debut. He’s been practicing for weeks, locked up in the studio perfecting his voice and guitar skills. He just wants people to see - know - how good he really is, that he’s worth their time and attention and unconditional love.
Shin Woo stands up and begins to walk out of the room. He can faintly registers Jeremy and Taekyung wish him the best of luck (because after all, they were brothers even before any of the Mi Nyeo shitstorm started) but all he can hear is the thrumming of his heart in his throat.
“Shin Woo-oppa!”
He’s on standby after the Brown Eyed Girls finish their performance when Sayuri bounds towards him, a radiant smile on her face. Shin Woo smiles kindly at her, because despite his nervousness Sayuri has always been his biggest fan and that means something (everything) to him.
“I just wanted to say” she whispers conspiratorially in his ear, trying not to be distracted by the sheer number of celebrities around her. “That no matter what happens - even you mess up a chord or your voice breaks - I’ll always support you. You can count on me to be your biggest fan, because I know you and how incredible you really are. And I’ll be sure to flame any anti-fans on your cyworld!” she finishes with a trademark bobble of her head, her infectious smile still on her striking face.
And right there and then, something inside Shin Woo swells up. It fills his lungs and his heart and his soul until all he can see - feel - breathe is the way Sayuri’s eyes light up whenever he shows her his new composition because her I feel really special that the great Kang Shin Woo is letting me into his world is so sincere and honest that - that -
- that Shin Woo realizes maybe the girl for him isn’t some bumbling almost-nun. Maybe - just maybe - it’s a girl with big eyes and a bigger heart that has his pre-debut pictures saved on her laptop.
So when he’s on stage and he’s singing his song (about finding The One who was always right next to him, how ironic), Shin Woo pours his heart into the performance, knowing that Sayuri is right backstage, screaming her lungs out for him.
So it’s about time he’s done something for her.
Shin Woo bows to the audience (they love him, they fucking love him) before he’s swept backstage into a euphoric A.N.Jell celebration.
“Waaaah ~ hyung was so cool out there! We’re totally going to have a party later!” Jeremy makes kya kya ~ sounds and hoots belligerently as Manager Ma and President Ahn high-five in the background.
“You were pretty good, Shin Woo-yah” Taekyung claps a hand on his back, which is the equivalent of him saying that was fucking awesome, bro.
Shin Woo begins to thank Taekyung, before the air is smacked out of him when Sayuri nearly bulldozes him over in a bug.
“You were so good, oppa!” she squeals, waving her A.N.Jell flags around haphazardly. “Everyone was going crazy - you were amazing on the guitar - I told you the riffs were fine! And you were so worried about it, silly - you were just the best - I bet there’s going to an overload of hits on Youtube and the server crashes because of your awesomeness - and -”
Sayuri is cut off when Shin Woo presses his lips against hers, silencing what would have been a twenty-minute rant. Shin Woo can see the shock in her eyes, before she melts into his arms and kisses him back.
And fuck, is she a good kisser.
“S-shin woo-oppa?” she blinks up confusedly at him as they break apart, her cheeks flushed and her eyelashes fluttering against his nose.
He smiles softly. He thinks he could get used to the way she says his name, all low and husky.
“You know how I was pining over some silly Pig-Rabbit?” he whispers, a breadth away from her lips. “I think I’m over her now. Besides, I’ve always wondered what it was like dating a fan”
Sayuri’s face splits into the biggest smile he’s ever seen, and it’s honestly the most adorable thing ever. Shin Woo doesn’t even need to ask for her answer, because she simply pulls him in for another kiss.
Yeah, he thinks he could get used this thing, this loving and being loved back.
“Wait-” Sayuri pulls away again, her brows furrowing. “-does that mean I can’t write fanfics about you and Taekyung anymore?”
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