MY ACTOR | woosan

chapter fourteen

"take care, man!" wooyoung yelled after him, and hongjoong raised his hand to wave without turning around.

thankfully, having hongjoong to accompany him halfway through on the otherwise boring walk back to the apartments made his solo trip a lot more short. he really wished there was more to see on the way back, maybe some greenery and nature, and not just buildings and apartment complexes and busy roads. seeing that stuff somehow left him feeling drained. plus, his sore legs from dancing for extended periods of time only left him feeling worse.

upon reaching his apartment, he immediately fell back on the couch, sighing. dancing was truly one of the few things that brought him happiness, but the soreness that it left in his body and the aching in his calves as an aftermath was the only part of it that he didn't like.

he kicked his shoes off and grabbed the plastic bottle of water on his table in one hand and the remote in the other, switching the tv on and skimming over channels to find something to play as background music while he dozes off. yeosang always yelled at him for doing the same because it was a 'waste of electricity', and so, wooyoung stopped doing it as often. but then again, old habits die hard. plus, it helped him sleep better; he'd rather doze off to some random dialogue from a tv show instead of try and struggle to sleep to the noise of busy cars.

he was shaken by a noise louder than that of the tv dialogue and busy cars, coming from outside his apartment. he groaned, cursing choi san in his head once more. was he incapable of even entering his apartment without causing a volcanic eruption?

an even louder noise emerged this time, and wooyoung was pissed off and slightly concerned. he decided to brush the worries away, though. if it meant he could avoid going through another situation like when he practically nursed san back to wellbeing, then he would sleep through anything. he turned back to look at the screen and watch a bit of the show, having been startled out of his sleep. how annoying.

but a worrying realization hit wooyoung like a ton of bricks when he reached out to place the plastic bottle back on the table and his eyes accidentally landed on the pile of sheets lying on it, the first one being the notice about frequent assault & robbery cases.

it couldn't be, right?

of course, it couldn't. choi san was a celebrity, so he would know better than to leave his doors unlocked, whether he was at home, or outside.

but then again, choi san was also slightly dumb.

wooyoung was now completely awakened, and he stared at the television screen intensely as a million thoughts rain through his brain. he remembered yeosang telling him about the girl in their building that had been hospitalized, and people from other buildings in the complex had also been injured to varying extents.

his brain was hesitant, but his body, without giving him the time to think twice, immediately got up and dashed for the door. he found the door to choi san's apartment was wide open, and the room was completely darkened besides the dull refraction of light from the window. various objects were scattered across the floor. wooyoung's heartbeat began to pick up. had something bad really happened to san?

he groaned in annoyance. how dumb could a celebrity be that they decided to leave their doors unlocked, he thought to himself. and what a hassle it was for the people around them. barging in wouldn't have been the greatest idea, but wooyoung had nothing to lose, but before he could even let out a breath, a darkened figure had harshly pushed him against the wall, painfully gripping both his shoulders with their big hands.

"you?" the voice said, confused, before wooyoung himself could speak. wooyoung stopped squirming and looked up, still not being able to make out the face that was inches away from his. he quickly reached for the light switch that was just beside his head, trying to ignore his racing heartbeat, and faced forward again, only to let out a sigh– one of both anger, and relief.

"choi san? are you kidding me?" he raised his voice at the confused looking man who looked like he had just been back from somewhere, considering the mask and grey hat. "you could have fucking died! look at the condition your apartment is in, and you're just looking at me like, like a fucking, lost puppy, or something. do you even know what's going on?!"

"...yeah." san answered, loosening his grip and stepping back, yet not letting go of the eye contact. "i was robbed."

"and you say it so casually, too? ARE YOU LITERALLY INSANE?! DO YOU HAVE A FEW SCREWS LOOSE IN THE HEAD, OR SOMETHING?!" wooyoung yelled even louder, pushing san's chest aggressively, causing the latter to stumble back. "you aren't hurt anywhere, are you?" he sighed, deciding to focus on the matter at hand before he got to the inevitable victim blaming.

"no," san replied, staring back at wooyoung who was checking him for wounds.

"great, let's go talk to the landlady, now. i'll give her a call. as well as the cops." wooyoung mumbled and reached for his phone, still feeling san's piercing gaze on him for god knows what reason. a heavy silence sat between the two.

"what's your name?" was what san asked when he finally decided to speak. confused, wooyoung looked up at him with his eyebrows furrowed. did he hear him right? was this what he was curious about when he had just been robbed?

"my name?" wooyoung repeated. he vaguely remembered having mentioned his name before.

san only proceeded to stare at him intensely, blinking. "...wooyoung." he replied hesitantly, feeling at unease under the taller's overwhelming gaze. "jung wooyoung."

"jung wooyoung." san repeated after him under his breath, looking down at the ground like he had something on his mind, before licking his lips and shoving his hands into his pockets, regaining his composure. he stared deep into wooyoung's perplexed eyes once again. "so you're a choreographer?"

"yeah– wait." wooyoung paused. "how'd you know that?"

"i saw you."

"saw me? saw me where?"

"let's go down to the landlady, huh?"

wooyoung didn't know what to make of the wild sparkle in choi san's eyes.