TWO PEOPLE MET AND THEN THEY WENT ON A DRIVE for SPRINGMAID
For: springmaid
Title: Two people met and then they went on a drive
Pairing(s): Chanyeol/Kai
Rating: PG
Warning(s): incoherency ///
Length: 3200+ words
Summary: Chanyeol is living his dream as the main vocalist of a rockband with a cheesy name. On the way he met someone who doesn't dream.
His name is Park Chanyeol.
He is 184 cm tall, weighs about 70 kilograms, and his shoe size is 280 mm.
Aside from his more-than-average height, he is just another average guy.
Except that he isn’t.
Park Chanyeol was born on November 27, 1992 in Seoul SKY Hospital as the second child of Park Seho and Im Jinah. Growing up as the ‘fat kid’ and the ‘weirdo’ (well, he loved ferrets), Park Chanyeol had spent his childhood in the expanse of the house’s backyard and in company of their family pets. Unfortunately, he had to give up his only ‘friends’ (his pets) when they moved into an apartment in another part of the city. Park Chanyeol had no friends.
However, when he graduated elementary school, he hit puberty hard-gone his baby fat and pudgy arms, his parents’ good looks started to appear on him. He even had undergone an eye surgery to get rid of his 5 mm thick glasses, revealing his much-loved big doe eyes. With his boyish face and tall figure, by the end of junior high school Park Chanyeol was already dubbed as the ‘male god’ of Shinsa-dong.
Summer 2008 was when he took a part time job at his uncle’s bubble tea shop in Ulsan. He worked there for about two months before entering high school.
Oddly on that period of time, ‘Little Deer’ bubble tea shop had almost three times more (271.1%, to be exact) its average sales. That also coincidentally took the same place with a whooping increase of female (mostly teen-aged) customers. This phenomenon had repeatedly occurred on summer 2009 and 2010, respectively, when Park Chanyeol had brought along his friends (Do Kyungsoo and junior Oh Sehun) to work together at his uncle’s place.
Park Chanyeol used to ride bus as transportation, but in high school he opted to ride his bike instead because of an unfortunate accident he witnessed involving a bus and a black sedan. That being said, the mass traffic of bus route 56 had decreased magically through 2008, and walking pedestrians (mostly teen-aged female) were spotted much more in bike lanes and streets-bringing digital cameras and cell phones, hands ready to snap a shot whenever a bike-riding male was seen.
Another odd case involving Park Chanyeol was the rapid user amount increase of the phone application EveryFace right after he uploaded three pictures he made on the cartoon-generator app on his Instagram-mocking the faces of his unfortunate friends. A month prior, there was also a sharp rise on Coldplay’s single sale exclusively in South Korea. Coincidentally (or not), on that month Park Chanyeol had uploaded a video of him listening and covering the song ‘Magic’ by the band, earning over than 1,127 likes and 610 comments.
The peak of it all was when he (and his friends) came out as the winner of a talent contest hosted by a famous entertainment company in 2008, and the prize is to debut in the said company. He (and his friends) signed the contract as a band, and they were debuting as soon as they finished high school in 2012 (Oh Sehun was the last to graduate). Well, the contest’s text-message voting system helped them a lot, but that didn’t change that every Overdosed Virus’ albums so far had been best-selling on every sites and stores.
Park Chanyeol obviously enjoyed the luxury and fame he obtained thanks to his good looks and (much unrecognized) talent. Thus, he believed that without good looks and fame, a person was nothing.
Park Chanyeol is famous and everybody knows that.
Almost.
On the other side, Kim Jongin was another case.
He is a bit shorter, 181 cm, weighs just as much and has smaller feet.
Well, he definitely is the epitome of average-
-or maybe not.
Growing up with strict parents, Kim Jongin was pressured to be the best in everything he did. He got in the top three of his class every year, got countless medals of various competitions in every field, and had no problem making friends or being a good student for the teachers. But it didn’t matter how hard he was trying with all his might, he still never got out from his two older sisters’ shadows. One was an honor student at a business school, and another was a taekwondo national champion. In contrast of being known as the all-round achiever, in his own family he was instead known as the cute, little Jongin that (only) did ‘good’.
That all changed when he met jazz and ballet-dancing.
His parents always signed him up for extra lessons outside school. Although he did good in all of them-violin, taekwondo, painting-none of them really perked his interest. Thus, in a few first years of his youth, he kept changing his extra lessons out of boredom. But when his parents took him to the dancing school, he knew he wouldn’t want to change lessons again.
It was an understatement to say Kim Jongin was a good dancer. He was a prodigy.
Only on the first weeks of the lesson, Kim Jongin had already mastered the basic techniques of ballet and was catching up with jazz. He was immediately transferred up to the advanced class, his trainer sparing no thoughts on wasting his talent.
Then was when Kim Jongin realized that dancing was his passion.
And around 2008 was when things started to fall apart.
Kim Jongin’s parents had missed his first dance showcase-even when it was held at Seoul Arts Center, the most prestigious performing hall in Korea. They were busy attending their divorce trial, fighting only over his custody because both of his sisters were already considered as adults.
Kim Jongin got the loudest applause at the showcase, but none of it came from his family. The only thing he got was a report that he, at least, got to decide with whom he wanted to live.
Feeling disappointed at both of his parents, he didn’t state his decision, making the trial got prolonged for three months. In that span of time, Kim Jongin stopped dancing.
He spent his time pondering over his thoughts, spacing out in the small expanse of his oldest sister’s house attic.
He thought of dancing and how easy it was for him to just stop doing it at all, like how easy it was for his father to lose his patience in an argument with his mother, until they even forgot what they were arguing about and just cursed at each other.
He thought of dancing and how pointless it was to him (at least at that time), how it didn’t even matter to anybody (in his family), and how it never could bring his parents back together.
When he finally recovered (he decided to stay with his sister, raging both of his parents), he thought about how quick he was to forget his moves, his steps, his beats, like how his parents had already forgotten the vow they made at the altar. Forgetting the bond they had formed over the years only for the sake of fame, earned from their little dancing prodigy.
And with all that, he forgets.
Kim Jongin left dancing and went on believing that dreams were delusions, fame was overrated, and some people were not meant to be happy. Including him.
It was by a mere chance that Park Chanyeol and Kim Jongin were destined to meet.
The last beats of cymbal dissipated into thin air in EXO Records’ studio that night. Popular rock band Overdosed Virus was finishing their last rehearsal for the day.
“Well, we are more than ready for the next leg of our national tour. Good job, Viruses!” Self-proclaimed leader/guitarist of OV, Suho Kim, exclaimed, a bright smile etched on his face.
“Stop calling us that.” Bassist Do Kyungsoo deadpanned as he plugged out his instrument cord from the amplifier.
Childish maknae of the group, drummer Oh Sehun, let out a disagreement over the statement. “Why? We are Overdosed Virus-we are viruses!”
As Kyungsoo was about to respond, a deep, raspy voice cut him. “Stop bickering about useless things,” main vocalist Park Chanyeol said after he finished his water bottle. “We got fans down there to greet.”
A cheer, a chuckle, and a groan were heard as the tallest led them to the waiting crowd of fans outside.
After the mini-chaos that was walking out of the studio-blossomed by constant shouts of their names, shoved papers/t-shirts/boxes (there was also a guitar) for them to sign on-Chanyeol ended up carrying five large bags (four for him and one for Kyungsoo; because Kyungsoo was such a dominating jerk who ordered everyone to do things for him) containing presents from his fans (and Kyungsoo’s).
They all each went on their separate ways-well, Sehun and Suho went together by the older’s car because the maknae didn’t have a driving license yet, and then there was Kyungsoo who rode his motorbike into oblivion. Meanwhile, Chanyeol decided to put his things in the car and went to a nearby store to console his growling stomach.
Perching at one of the tables provided, Chanyeol had just finished eating his favorite melon ppang while fiddling on his phone when-
“Excuse me?”
Chanyeol looked up from his phone. There was a (rather cute?) guy holding a bag of something that looked like … a box. Chanyeol tilted his head in confusion; his brows were furrowed with squinted eyes looking closely at the guy.
“Do you-”
“Ah, you’re the one that was asking for my sign on a box!” Chanyeol exclaimed, recounting the guy from the previous flock of fans he met. “Is that a box of cake? Weird, why would you have my sign on a box that’s going to be thrown out anyway? My signature is precious!”
Hearing that, the guy turned to look thoroughly confused. He was constantly shifting his gaze from the box to Chanyeol. Well, well, Chanyeol thought that he might as well help his seemingly shy fan to state his means.
“Is the cake actually for me? Thanks!” Chanyeol reached out a hand which ended up hanging awkwardly in the air.
Seeing that the guy didn’t even flinch from his place, Chanyeol thought he might get himself a company as well. “Let’s eat together-do you want to come over to our apartment downtown? Not all fans are lucky to be invited-”
“Sorry, but … I’m actually looking for directions.”
Chanyeol froze.
“… uh, what.”
“Um, do you happen to know Kamong? It’s a coffee shop that has only opened recently-”
“Wait-wait a second. So you’re not actually here for me? Not approaching me even just to greet and have small talks?”
The guy gave him an unsure look. “Well … no. I’m actually kinda lost, you know. I’m not familiar with this place.”
Chanyeol spluttered in shock at the declination.
“But-but aren’t you excited to accidentally meet me? I mean, I’m not someone you can find everyday walking on the streets.”
The guy tilted his head. He didn’t seem to grasp what Chanyeol was saying. He eyed Chanyeol from his toes up to his head, narrowed his eyes, and managed to say:
“And … you are?”
Chanyeol exaggeratedly gasped.
“You don’t know me?!”
The guy shook his head. Chanyeol’s eyes widened itself in horror.
“I-I-ah, maybe it’s because I don’t wear any makeup.” Chanyeol muttered to himself. He fiddled on his phone, swiped left a few times and showed his phone screen to the guy. It was a picture of him on stage, mouth widely opened, screaming at the mic.
“See! That’s me!”
The guy shifted his head back a little-because Chanyeol literally shoved the phone up front his nose-and tried to compare the person on the screen with the one holding it up for him.
“Yeah … I can see that. He looks like you.”
“Of course-what … ?! You still don’t recognize anything?”
He shrugged.
“I’m Park Chanyeol! The main vocalist for Overdosed Virus! I also play the guitar! And the drums!” Chanyeol said, gesturing the motion for every instruments he mentioned.
The guy opened his mouth to say something, and there was something akin to a spark of recognition in his eyes, so Chanyeol nodded frantically at the prospect of his fame acknowledgement. Unfortunately for him, instead the guy just said: “… okay?”
He sighed big time. “Seriously, you’ve never heard of me or my band?”
The accused guy plainly shook his head. Chanyeol pulled his hair in frustration. The guy might start thinking that the person flailing his hands in front of him was an escapee from the mental asylum.
“I can’t believe this!” he put his arms up in the sky and dropped down to the concrete in a comical manner that-fortunately-made the guy let out a little laugh.
Chanyeol directed his attention back when the guy cleared his throat.
“So … do you know where the coffee shop is?”
Feeling generous (and embarrassed) that night, Chanyeol offered the guy a ride to his destination, which he gladly accepted. It was not like Chanyeol had better things to do, anyway.
“What was the name of the place?”
“Kamong. It’s a coffee shop.”
Chanyeol typed the place into his phone’s navigation. “Ah, by the way you can call me Chanyeol. What’s your name?”
The guy cleared his throat. “Jongin. Kim Jongin.”
“Jongin.” Chanyeol tried the syllables on his tongue. It was nice. “Jongin.”
He fiddled a little more with his phone. Then a female voice was heard, saying that the destined place could not be found.
“Well, Jongin, I can’t find it on my GPS. Any idea how to get there?”
“I only know that it’s near Seoul University.”
Seoul University is not far from here, Chanyeol thought as he turned the car to the right direction. Night driving on empty streets with only one other person in the car, Chanyeol’s mind wandered to those celebs’ dating scandals; many of them were caught doing this. Screw it, he absent-mindedly revved the gas. I don’t mind getting caught with him.
The guy, Jongin, looked amusedly at the driving man beside him. Even while not talking, his face was full of expressions-he had only witnessed his face changed from relaxed to a confused expression as if he was thinking, and then suddenly he smiled widely in full bloom. He is interesting, Jongin had decided, and it’s not bad that he is handsome too. Jongin blushed at his own thought.
They spent the next minutes in comfortable silence; the car engine humming smoothly at the background. It was actually quite nice. Chanyeol wondered why he had never done this before. Maybe it was because he didn’t have any company to do it with.
Well, when he got himself one he might as well get to know the guy.
“You said you’re not from around here.” He started the conversation.
“Well, technically I live in this city. It’s just that I live in the outer parts and I don’t really go out much … only on occasions.”
“Like what?”
Jongin scratched the back of his neck. “Um, visiting my sisters? Just like right now.”
“So you’re on a date with your sisters at the coffee shop?”
“No, actually one of them had just recently opened the shop. I only get the time for a congratulatory visit now.”
Chanyeol hummed in response. “Busy much?”
“You can say it like that.” Jongin said after a pause.
“What is it that you do that made you miss the grand opening of your sister’s shop, if I may know?”
“This and that. Many things.” He shrugged.
Seeing that Jongin might not want to talk about it, Chanyeol decided to leave it there. He talked about himself instead.
“I’m quite busy myself, as you can see. I’m currently living my dream as every teenage girl’s dream guy.” He said, chuckling. Jongin laughed.
“So that’s your dream? Being every teenage girl’s dream guy?”
“Now that I think about it, not really. I have always been the dream guy. Junior high, high school, and now.” Chanyeol pondered. “Right now the thing I want to do the most is going to college.”
Jongin was silent so he kept talking.
“Even as a professional singer I think I still lack in many points. I want to get a formal music education and be the best of them all. Maybe I can even build my own agency and realize the dream of other people like me!”
“That’s good.”
Chanyeol huffed at the so-so response. “If so, then what’s your dream, Jongin?”
“What is it with you and dreams?!” Jongin suddenly increased his tone. Chanyeol raised his eyebrow. He was taken aback by Jongin’s reaction. Realizing what he did, Jongin sighed. “I’m sorry, I got overworked.”
“What is it, anyway?” Chanyeol asked.
“Nothing.” Jongin looked down and played with his own fingers. “I don’t dream, though.”
Chanyeol furrowed his brows. “Why not?”
“Mine got crushed a long time ago.”
Chanyeol’s ears perked when he heard that. “Why? What happened? You’re handsome!”
Jongin turned his head at Chanyeol incredulously. “What does that have to do with my looks?”
“We good-looking people always get what we want.” Chanyeol deadpanned.
Jongin looked back to the front. “It doesn’t work that way, you know.”
“Really?”
He took a deep breath. “My parents divorced when I was a kid. They fought over my custody just because I was a dancing prodigy. In reality none of them even kept up with my daily life. Then I just stopped dancing.”
Chanyeol was silent for a while. “If it’s really your passion you wouldn’t stop.”
“I didn’t. After graduating high school I … I refused to go to college and applied as an assistant at a dancing course instead. I got in; it’s where I work now. My parents don’t talk to me anymore, but my sisters still got my back.” Jongin sighed. “Why am I even telling you all these?”
Chanyeol only laughed. They had reached Seoul University campus, and something crossed his mind.
“Hey, you want to apply for college together?”
“What?”
“Yeah, I apply for music, you apply for dance. We’re in the same arts department!” Chanyeol stopped the car in front of the campus gate. “It’s never too late to make a dream comes true.”
Jongin looked at Chanyeol. His words were true, it was never too late. Looking at the towering campus gate, he found his new spirit. He nodded slowly and determined his goals. He would continue his fight. He would perform once again at Seoul Arts Center, and then again, many times after that.
But still, something seemed off. Jongin then said flatly, “Nobody is applying for college in the middle of the night, stupid.”
Realization hit Chanyeol and he facepalmed. “Oops.”
“Let’s go find Kamong. My sister is waiting.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot.”
Maybe it was not by chance. Maybe Park Chanyeol and Kim Jongin were actually destined to meet. Maybe they were each other’s opposites and were meant to balance the other’s life.
Or they were just two strangers with opposite minds that met by chance and turned out to be friends-maybe more than friends.
Well, anything works. They are the new constant to the other’s life.
“Hi, little brother-oh, you bring along someone, that’s rare. I’m Jongin’s sister, and you are-Park Chanyeol?! You look like him-oh, it is you! It’s really you! Ah, Jongin, bring my phone here! You need to take a picture of me and Park Chanyeol! Oh my god, he is right in front of me! I-”
Final author's note: Big thanks for the mod that had been so patience with me. And to my recipient, senpai, I’m sorry if this takes a different turn than what you meant, but please enjoy~
Title: Two people met and then they went on a drive
Pairing(s): Chanyeol/Kai
Rating: PG
Warning(s): incoherency ///
Length: 3200+ words
Summary: Chanyeol is living his dream as the main vocalist of a rockband with a cheesy name. On the way he met someone who doesn't dream.
His name is Park Chanyeol.
He is 184 cm tall, weighs about 70 kilograms, and his shoe size is 280 mm.
Aside from his more-than-average height, he is just another average guy.
Except that he isn’t.
Park Chanyeol was born on November 27, 1992 in Seoul SKY Hospital as the second child of Park Seho and Im Jinah. Growing up as the ‘fat kid’ and the ‘weirdo’ (well, he loved ferrets), Park Chanyeol had spent his childhood in the expanse of the house’s backyard and in company of their family pets. Unfortunately, he had to give up his only ‘friends’ (his pets) when they moved into an apartment in another part of the city. Park Chanyeol had no friends.
However, when he graduated elementary school, he hit puberty hard-gone his baby fat and pudgy arms, his parents’ good looks started to appear on him. He even had undergone an eye surgery to get rid of his 5 mm thick glasses, revealing his much-loved big doe eyes. With his boyish face and tall figure, by the end of junior high school Park Chanyeol was already dubbed as the ‘male god’ of Shinsa-dong.
Summer 2008 was when he took a part time job at his uncle’s bubble tea shop in Ulsan. He worked there for about two months before entering high school.
Oddly on that period of time, ‘Little Deer’ bubble tea shop had almost three times more (271.1%, to be exact) its average sales. That also coincidentally took the same place with a whooping increase of female (mostly teen-aged) customers. This phenomenon had repeatedly occurred on summer 2009 and 2010, respectively, when Park Chanyeol had brought along his friends (Do Kyungsoo and junior Oh Sehun) to work together at his uncle’s place.
Park Chanyeol used to ride bus as transportation, but in high school he opted to ride his bike instead because of an unfortunate accident he witnessed involving a bus and a black sedan. That being said, the mass traffic of bus route 56 had decreased magically through 2008, and walking pedestrians (mostly teen-aged female) were spotted much more in bike lanes and streets-bringing digital cameras and cell phones, hands ready to snap a shot whenever a bike-riding male was seen.
Another odd case involving Park Chanyeol was the rapid user amount increase of the phone application EveryFace right after he uploaded three pictures he made on the cartoon-generator app on his Instagram-mocking the faces of his unfortunate friends. A month prior, there was also a sharp rise on Coldplay’s single sale exclusively in South Korea. Coincidentally (or not), on that month Park Chanyeol had uploaded a video of him listening and covering the song ‘Magic’ by the band, earning over than 1,127 likes and 610 comments.
The peak of it all was when he (and his friends) came out as the winner of a talent contest hosted by a famous entertainment company in 2008, and the prize is to debut in the said company. He (and his friends) signed the contract as a band, and they were debuting as soon as they finished high school in 2012 (Oh Sehun was the last to graduate). Well, the contest’s text-message voting system helped them a lot, but that didn’t change that every Overdosed Virus’ albums so far had been best-selling on every sites and stores.
Park Chanyeol obviously enjoyed the luxury and fame he obtained thanks to his good looks and (much unrecognized) talent. Thus, he believed that without good looks and fame, a person was nothing.
Park Chanyeol is famous and everybody knows that.
Almost.
On the other side, Kim Jongin was another case.
He is a bit shorter, 181 cm, weighs just as much and has smaller feet.
Well, he definitely is the epitome of average-
-or maybe not.
Growing up with strict parents, Kim Jongin was pressured to be the best in everything he did. He got in the top three of his class every year, got countless medals of various competitions in every field, and had no problem making friends or being a good student for the teachers. But it didn’t matter how hard he was trying with all his might, he still never got out from his two older sisters’ shadows. One was an honor student at a business school, and another was a taekwondo national champion. In contrast of being known as the all-round achiever, in his own family he was instead known as the cute, little Jongin that (only) did ‘good’.
That all changed when he met jazz and ballet-dancing.
His parents always signed him up for extra lessons outside school. Although he did good in all of them-violin, taekwondo, painting-none of them really perked his interest. Thus, in a few first years of his youth, he kept changing his extra lessons out of boredom. But when his parents took him to the dancing school, he knew he wouldn’t want to change lessons again.
It was an understatement to say Kim Jongin was a good dancer. He was a prodigy.
Only on the first weeks of the lesson, Kim Jongin had already mastered the basic techniques of ballet and was catching up with jazz. He was immediately transferred up to the advanced class, his trainer sparing no thoughts on wasting his talent.
Then was when Kim Jongin realized that dancing was his passion.
And around 2008 was when things started to fall apart.
Kim Jongin’s parents had missed his first dance showcase-even when it was held at Seoul Arts Center, the most prestigious performing hall in Korea. They were busy attending their divorce trial, fighting only over his custody because both of his sisters were already considered as adults.
Kim Jongin got the loudest applause at the showcase, but none of it came from his family. The only thing he got was a report that he, at least, got to decide with whom he wanted to live.
Feeling disappointed at both of his parents, he didn’t state his decision, making the trial got prolonged for three months. In that span of time, Kim Jongin stopped dancing.
He spent his time pondering over his thoughts, spacing out in the small expanse of his oldest sister’s house attic.
He thought of dancing and how easy it was for him to just stop doing it at all, like how easy it was for his father to lose his patience in an argument with his mother, until they even forgot what they were arguing about and just cursed at each other.
He thought of dancing and how pointless it was to him (at least at that time), how it didn’t even matter to anybody (in his family), and how it never could bring his parents back together.
When he finally recovered (he decided to stay with his sister, raging both of his parents), he thought about how quick he was to forget his moves, his steps, his beats, like how his parents had already forgotten the vow they made at the altar. Forgetting the bond they had formed over the years only for the sake of fame, earned from their little dancing prodigy.
And with all that, he forgets.
Kim Jongin left dancing and went on believing that dreams were delusions, fame was overrated, and some people were not meant to be happy. Including him.
It was by a mere chance that Park Chanyeol and Kim Jongin were destined to meet.
The last beats of cymbal dissipated into thin air in EXO Records’ studio that night. Popular rock band Overdosed Virus was finishing their last rehearsal for the day.
“Well, we are more than ready for the next leg of our national tour. Good job, Viruses!” Self-proclaimed leader/guitarist of OV, Suho Kim, exclaimed, a bright smile etched on his face.
“Stop calling us that.” Bassist Do Kyungsoo deadpanned as he plugged out his instrument cord from the amplifier.
Childish maknae of the group, drummer Oh Sehun, let out a disagreement over the statement. “Why? We are Overdosed Virus-we are viruses!”
As Kyungsoo was about to respond, a deep, raspy voice cut him. “Stop bickering about useless things,” main vocalist Park Chanyeol said after he finished his water bottle. “We got fans down there to greet.”
A cheer, a chuckle, and a groan were heard as the tallest led them to the waiting crowd of fans outside.
After the mini-chaos that was walking out of the studio-blossomed by constant shouts of their names, shoved papers/t-shirts/boxes (there was also a guitar) for them to sign on-Chanyeol ended up carrying five large bags (four for him and one for Kyungsoo; because Kyungsoo was such a dominating jerk who ordered everyone to do things for him) containing presents from his fans (and Kyungsoo’s).
They all each went on their separate ways-well, Sehun and Suho went together by the older’s car because the maknae didn’t have a driving license yet, and then there was Kyungsoo who rode his motorbike into oblivion. Meanwhile, Chanyeol decided to put his things in the car and went to a nearby store to console his growling stomach.
Perching at one of the tables provided, Chanyeol had just finished eating his favorite melon ppang while fiddling on his phone when-
“Excuse me?”
Chanyeol looked up from his phone. There was a (rather cute?) guy holding a bag of something that looked like … a box. Chanyeol tilted his head in confusion; his brows were furrowed with squinted eyes looking closely at the guy.
“Do you-”
“Ah, you’re the one that was asking for my sign on a box!” Chanyeol exclaimed, recounting the guy from the previous flock of fans he met. “Is that a box of cake? Weird, why would you have my sign on a box that’s going to be thrown out anyway? My signature is precious!”
Hearing that, the guy turned to look thoroughly confused. He was constantly shifting his gaze from the box to Chanyeol. Well, well, Chanyeol thought that he might as well help his seemingly shy fan to state his means.
“Is the cake actually for me? Thanks!” Chanyeol reached out a hand which ended up hanging awkwardly in the air.
Seeing that the guy didn’t even flinch from his place, Chanyeol thought he might get himself a company as well. “Let’s eat together-do you want to come over to our apartment downtown? Not all fans are lucky to be invited-”
“Sorry, but … I’m actually looking for directions.”
Chanyeol froze.
“… uh, what.”
“Um, do you happen to know Kamong? It’s a coffee shop that has only opened recently-”
“Wait-wait a second. So you’re not actually here for me? Not approaching me even just to greet and have small talks?”
The guy gave him an unsure look. “Well … no. I’m actually kinda lost, you know. I’m not familiar with this place.”
Chanyeol spluttered in shock at the declination.
“But-but aren’t you excited to accidentally meet me? I mean, I’m not someone you can find everyday walking on the streets.”
The guy tilted his head. He didn’t seem to grasp what Chanyeol was saying. He eyed Chanyeol from his toes up to his head, narrowed his eyes, and managed to say:
“And … you are?”
Chanyeol exaggeratedly gasped.
“You don’t know me?!”
The guy shook his head. Chanyeol’s eyes widened itself in horror.
“I-I-ah, maybe it’s because I don’t wear any makeup.” Chanyeol muttered to himself. He fiddled on his phone, swiped left a few times and showed his phone screen to the guy. It was a picture of him on stage, mouth widely opened, screaming at the mic.
“See! That’s me!”
The guy shifted his head back a little-because Chanyeol literally shoved the phone up front his nose-and tried to compare the person on the screen with the one holding it up for him.
“Yeah … I can see that. He looks like you.”
“Of course-what … ?! You still don’t recognize anything?”
He shrugged.
“I’m Park Chanyeol! The main vocalist for Overdosed Virus! I also play the guitar! And the drums!” Chanyeol said, gesturing the motion for every instruments he mentioned.
The guy opened his mouth to say something, and there was something akin to a spark of recognition in his eyes, so Chanyeol nodded frantically at the prospect of his fame acknowledgement. Unfortunately for him, instead the guy just said: “… okay?”
He sighed big time. “Seriously, you’ve never heard of me or my band?”
The accused guy plainly shook his head. Chanyeol pulled his hair in frustration. The guy might start thinking that the person flailing his hands in front of him was an escapee from the mental asylum.
“I can’t believe this!” he put his arms up in the sky and dropped down to the concrete in a comical manner that-fortunately-made the guy let out a little laugh.
Chanyeol directed his attention back when the guy cleared his throat.
“So … do you know where the coffee shop is?”
Feeling generous (and embarrassed) that night, Chanyeol offered the guy a ride to his destination, which he gladly accepted. It was not like Chanyeol had better things to do, anyway.
“What was the name of the place?”
“Kamong. It’s a coffee shop.”
Chanyeol typed the place into his phone’s navigation. “Ah, by the way you can call me Chanyeol. What’s your name?”
The guy cleared his throat. “Jongin. Kim Jongin.”
“Jongin.” Chanyeol tried the syllables on his tongue. It was nice. “Jongin.”
He fiddled a little more with his phone. Then a female voice was heard, saying that the destined place could not be found.
“Well, Jongin, I can’t find it on my GPS. Any idea how to get there?”
“I only know that it’s near Seoul University.”
Seoul University is not far from here, Chanyeol thought as he turned the car to the right direction. Night driving on empty streets with only one other person in the car, Chanyeol’s mind wandered to those celebs’ dating scandals; many of them were caught doing this. Screw it, he absent-mindedly revved the gas. I don’t mind getting caught with him.
The guy, Jongin, looked amusedly at the driving man beside him. Even while not talking, his face was full of expressions-he had only witnessed his face changed from relaxed to a confused expression as if he was thinking, and then suddenly he smiled widely in full bloom. He is interesting, Jongin had decided, and it’s not bad that he is handsome too. Jongin blushed at his own thought.
They spent the next minutes in comfortable silence; the car engine humming smoothly at the background. It was actually quite nice. Chanyeol wondered why he had never done this before. Maybe it was because he didn’t have any company to do it with.
Well, when he got himself one he might as well get to know the guy.
“You said you’re not from around here.” He started the conversation.
“Well, technically I live in this city. It’s just that I live in the outer parts and I don’t really go out much … only on occasions.”
“Like what?”
Jongin scratched the back of his neck. “Um, visiting my sisters? Just like right now.”
“So you’re on a date with your sisters at the coffee shop?”
“No, actually one of them had just recently opened the shop. I only get the time for a congratulatory visit now.”
Chanyeol hummed in response. “Busy much?”
“You can say it like that.” Jongin said after a pause.
“What is it that you do that made you miss the grand opening of your sister’s shop, if I may know?”
“This and that. Many things.” He shrugged.
Seeing that Jongin might not want to talk about it, Chanyeol decided to leave it there. He talked about himself instead.
“I’m quite busy myself, as you can see. I’m currently living my dream as every teenage girl’s dream guy.” He said, chuckling. Jongin laughed.
“So that’s your dream? Being every teenage girl’s dream guy?”
“Now that I think about it, not really. I have always been the dream guy. Junior high, high school, and now.” Chanyeol pondered. “Right now the thing I want to do the most is going to college.”
Jongin was silent so he kept talking.
“Even as a professional singer I think I still lack in many points. I want to get a formal music education and be the best of them all. Maybe I can even build my own agency and realize the dream of other people like me!”
“That’s good.”
Chanyeol huffed at the so-so response. “If so, then what’s your dream, Jongin?”
“What is it with you and dreams?!” Jongin suddenly increased his tone. Chanyeol raised his eyebrow. He was taken aback by Jongin’s reaction. Realizing what he did, Jongin sighed. “I’m sorry, I got overworked.”
“What is it, anyway?” Chanyeol asked.
“Nothing.” Jongin looked down and played with his own fingers. “I don’t dream, though.”
Chanyeol furrowed his brows. “Why not?”
“Mine got crushed a long time ago.”
Chanyeol’s ears perked when he heard that. “Why? What happened? You’re handsome!”
Jongin turned his head at Chanyeol incredulously. “What does that have to do with my looks?”
“We good-looking people always get what we want.” Chanyeol deadpanned.
Jongin looked back to the front. “It doesn’t work that way, you know.”
“Really?”
He took a deep breath. “My parents divorced when I was a kid. They fought over my custody just because I was a dancing prodigy. In reality none of them even kept up with my daily life. Then I just stopped dancing.”
Chanyeol was silent for a while. “If it’s really your passion you wouldn’t stop.”
“I didn’t. After graduating high school I … I refused to go to college and applied as an assistant at a dancing course instead. I got in; it’s where I work now. My parents don’t talk to me anymore, but my sisters still got my back.” Jongin sighed. “Why am I even telling you all these?”
Chanyeol only laughed. They had reached Seoul University campus, and something crossed his mind.
“Hey, you want to apply for college together?”
“What?”
“Yeah, I apply for music, you apply for dance. We’re in the same arts department!” Chanyeol stopped the car in front of the campus gate. “It’s never too late to make a dream comes true.”
Jongin looked at Chanyeol. His words were true, it was never too late. Looking at the towering campus gate, he found his new spirit. He nodded slowly and determined his goals. He would continue his fight. He would perform once again at Seoul Arts Center, and then again, many times after that.
But still, something seemed off. Jongin then said flatly, “Nobody is applying for college in the middle of the night, stupid.”
Realization hit Chanyeol and he facepalmed. “Oops.”
“Let’s go find Kamong. My sister is waiting.”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot.”
Maybe it was not by chance. Maybe Park Chanyeol and Kim Jongin were actually destined to meet. Maybe they were each other’s opposites and were meant to balance the other’s life.
Or they were just two strangers with opposite minds that met by chance and turned out to be friends-maybe more than friends.
Well, anything works. They are the new constant to the other’s life.
“Hi, little brother-oh, you bring along someone, that’s rare. I’m Jongin’s sister, and you are-Park Chanyeol?! You look like him-oh, it is you! It’s really you! Ah, Jongin, bring my phone here! You need to take a picture of me and Park Chanyeol! Oh my god, he is right in front of me! I-”
Final author's note: Big thanks for the mod that had been so patience with me. And to my recipient, senpai, I’m sorry if this takes a different turn than what you meant, but please enjoy~