18 Years Ago...
She sighed.
"Who does he get such good looks from...? Every time I take him out, people keep talking to me and I can't do a thing."
"Then take me instead of Hyun!" He said. "I don't think he likes going outside. I think he doesn't like people trying to touch him."
"You come home late from school," she said. "I'm worried that he doesn't like going to kindergarten. He says all the other kids bother him."
"I'm sure they do," he said. He gritted his teeth, anger flashing in his eyes. He was able to calm himself down however. "Ever since he turned seven, he's been losing his baby fat and getting more handsome by the day! Why do we look so different? And he has such a pretty voice..."
"Who's knows?" She asked. "But I'm worried he'll be TOO good looking."
"Why? It's nice to have a handsome son."
"People tend to be nicer to those with good looks and they end up becoming really naive. If he decides to become a singer, it'll be trouble."
"Don't worry about that now!" He exclaimed. Anger flashed in her eyes.
"Look at your cousin!" She yelled. "He started to play in the band or something in highschool. Now, he's starting to see girls and smoke! A student has to study, nothing else."
"Hyun's doing fine in kindergarten right now. I'm sure he'll be fine."
"Of course he has to do well! Two teachers are raising him," she said, smiling. "You can do just as good right now and go to law school. Hyun will be a doctor, lawyer, or maybe a professor. We only have successful people in our family. Even if Hyun does well right now, he has to go to a good middle school and high school."
~~~
I awoke to the beautiful rays of the sun. The sky was a beautiful coral pink with clouds lightly dusting the horizon. I sat up and stretched.
"What a great day..." I muttered. I rubbed my eyes and stood up. I walked towards the bathroom, brushing my teeth and doing other morning things.
"What should I wear?" I picked out a pretty top with a simple glitter pattern with a scarf. I usually don't wear skirts, but I felt special today for some reason. I chose a simple pleated skirt.
I made myself some toast and began eating. My breakfast was quickly finished. Soon after cleaning up the table, a chatroom opened.
"[Username]! Good morning. I haven't had breakfast yet but I'm sure you did?"
"I did! You should eat properly too," I replied.
"Yeah..." He sent a sticker into the chat. "Seven should stop eating junk food. All he ever eats is those Honey Buddha Chips. At least Yoosung cooks his own meals..."
"What?? Honey Buddha Chips?! How did he find them? They're so hard to get!"
"He helped catch a gang that was smuggling those chips. He was paid in those chips lol."
"I want to try them... Get one for me!"
"I'll do whatever I can to get one!" Suddenly, the mood dropped. "I...talked on the phone with the director. I told him that I wouldn't be able to make the rehearsals but I couldn't...finish telling him the whole story. So I told him I wasn't well..."
"Zen..."
"I can't believe I lied to him..." I sighed.
"I know it's hard but you know you always have to tell the truth..."
"I'll call the director later. I...I have no choice but to give up the role, right?"
"You'll get another chance! Everyone thinks so... Have faith in yourself!"
"Will my looks always get more attention than my acting?"
"Have confidence! Don't think like that!" Didn't I say that a couple seconds ago?
"I'll try. Thank you, [Username]. Without you, I wouldn't have been able to stand all of this. I should go call the director but I'm gonna go get goldfish shaped bread!"
"Get back safe~!"
"Ok, I'll be back!"
~~~
Zen walked outside on his crutches. The air was fresh. He walked over to Mr. Kim.
"Ten for $2!"
(Welp. I've been using ₩ all this time...)
"Huh? I only have $1... Can't you just give me five?" Zen asked.
"Alright. You look pretty handsome, boy. What kind of work do you do?" He asked.
"I'm an actor," Zen replied with a smile. He sighed. "I hurt my ankle today so I can't even do that. Oh well..."
"No wonder you look so handsome! All you have to do is get better! Here. I'll put in one more," Mr. Kim said.
"Thank you~!" Zen took the bag. "They look so good!"
"Next time, make sure to get 10!" Zen nodded.
"Ok~! Huh? Did someone park in front of my house...?" Mr. Kim looked just as surprised.
"Isn't that a limo? Is the mayor here or something?" Zen shrugged.
"Who is it?" The door opened and a young lady stepped out. Her brown hair was up to her waist. Her blue eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Oh my god! Are we in the right place?" She asked. "My Zen would never live in a place like this!
~~~
I shivered. Usually, that happens when someone talked about you but I had a feeling Zen was gonna have some trouble.
"Zenny's mine..."
~~~
"...me?" Zen asked, surprised. Who was she? Suddenly, Mr. Kim's eyes widened.
"That's...that's her! Echo Girl who sang Free Friday!" He quickly grabbed a pen and pencil. "I...I should get an autograph!"
"Oh! It's Zen! I didn't know you'd be waiting!" She smiled brightly. "Did someone call you? You look so much more handsome in person!"
"...Echo Girl...?" She grabbed onto his arm. Zen was more surprised than flustered. She began to flirt with the poor man.
"You're so cute~! I didn't know you liked goldfish shaped bread!" She exclaimed. Oh, another Fangirl...
Zen sighed. He had planned to tell the director about his incident. However, Echo Girl refused to do it with someone else! Slowly, she began to spill secrets about the fact she knew V and Jumin. Zen bgan to be suspicious. Echo Girl continued with her rambling, dragging Zen away from the goldfish shaped bread selling truck.
~~~
Ring Ring Ring!
Who could it be?
"It's me! Can we talk?" Zen asked. "You know...uhm...I went to get fish shaped buns earlier and something happened. I can't tell you the details but I think everything will go well. It did feel strange...but the show's important."
"What are you talking about?" I asked.
"Huh? To be honest...another girl came to my house, I mean, so, um, God! How can I put this? You can't take this the wrong way, ok? I'm sorry I'm all over the place. I'll organize everything that happened and tell everything on the messenger. Let's talk about it later. What should we talk about?" There was a quick pause. "Oh, right. Honey, do you like fish shaped buns?"
"Yes, I do!" I answered. They were really good!
"This man sells really good ones outside of my house. We should get it together sometime! We can eat together...watch movies...walk together... he chuckled. "Just thinking about it makes me happy. Whatever we eat or do, if you're here with me, it'll be heaven. What were you doing just now?"
"Thinking about you~!" Zen made a comment about how that surprised him. Him and his flirty humor...
The two of us chatted for a while before parting ways.
~~~
"This is too hard!" The child exclaimed.
"If you don't know, ask me!" His brother said.
"The teacher keeps making me speak up because she doesn't like how I stand out..."
"Maybe because you're so handsome!" The child slumped back in his chair.
"No. Her face gets red when she looks at me. She even gave me chocolate that mom told me not to eat! She sometimes asks if she can pinch my cheeks. I think she wants to bully me..."
"Haha..." The brother sweatdropped.
"It's not just her! Sometimes, people run after me with a camera!" The child continued.
"That's because you're too handsome!"
"Then why do they bother me?" He pouted.
"They want to see if you're real!" He said.
"I don't think I'm pretty," he said. "Mom says I'm not pretty..."
"Mom says that to keep you humble!"
"So she's lying?"
"Don't tell her! You're really pretty, Hyun. Be proud of your looks!"
"But I don't like people taking pictures of me and touching me!"
"Don't worry! They just want to be friends," he said.
"So my teacher wants to be friends with me...?"
"Of course!" Hyun smiled.
"Thank you...big brother..."
~~~
16:16
Ding dong!
Zen ran to the door and opened it.
"I've brought her following Mr. Han's orders. He told me to bring her back in two hours. I'll be waiting in the front," said Driver Kim.
"[Username]! It's nice to meet you!" He said with a blush on his face. I smiled back and stepped into his house. Zen turned towards Driver Kim. "Ignore what Jumin said. I'll call you when we've finished!"
"Excuse me? But..." he sighed. It was useless arguing with Zen. He walked outside and he closed the door.
"Sorry I don't have much in my house," he said.
"Is it ok to ignore what Driver Kim said?" I asked.
"It's fine." His red orbs met yours and he smiled. "Your eyes are so...bright..."
"Thanks..."
"I've really wanted to meet you. I mean it." I chuckled.
"You're so much more handsome in person!" I exclaimed.
"I don't want to let you go! Can't you live here? I haven't been this happy to have a guest. There are so many things to show you...!" Zen smiled. "Let's sit down and drink something. If we get bored, we can play games! Or go grocery shopping. I can't really go by myself."
"Sure, I'll help!" Zen's eyes lit up.
"Really! Oh, I'm so excited!" He smiled brightly at me that made my cheeks flare up. "Let's go!"
Later...
"This place is small," I said. The convenience store was small. There wasn't too much but it was similar to a mini supermarket.
"I always come here," Zen said. He motioned towards the plastic bag. "Can you grab a few good apples?"
"Sure!" I picked up one and inspected it. No bruises or spots! It was almost perfect. It's only flaw was that it was small. "This one?"
"Yep!" He nodded.
"But it's small," I said. He sighed.
"[Username]-"
"[Y/N]. Just call me [Y/N]." I smiled.
"[Y/N]...that's a pretty name." He smiled. "You can't judge anything by its looks. Yeah, it could look disgusting on the outside but inside, it might have amazing flavors! It's ok if it's small too! They won't grow any bigger, so why not eat it before it's thrown away?"
"Zen..."
"Come on, we don't have all day! Let's hurry up so we can head home!" We walked around the store a little more before paying and heading home.
On our way back, my eyes drifted off towards a jewelry store. There were bracelets of many colors and gems.
"Woah..." I said under my breath. "They're so pretty..."
"Hm?" Zen turned around. "What're you looking at?"
"You see that bracelet there?" I pointed to a simple bracelet that had a blue gen charm and a black leather string with a silver clasp. "It's beautiful!"
Suddenly, someone honked their horn at us. Zen, startled, immediately began moving again.
(Me: *sitting in car*
Person: *honks horn*
Me: I LOVE HONOKA-CHAN TOO!!! :D
Struggles of Idol Trash...)
We arrived at his apartment soon. I grabbed all of the groceries and went inside.
(Zen is still injured)
Once placing everything in the correct spot, there was a chatroom. I entered it and giggled as Jumin complained about Zen not modeling for his cat food line.
"That damn Jumin," Zen muttered.
"Hm?"
"He always irks me and messes with me with cats!"
"I think he jealous," I said, chuckling.
"Why is he jealous? What do I have that he's jealous of?" Zen sighed. "I'm surprised I accepted Echo Girl's offer. I'm usually wary of the rich and elite giving me offers. They remind me of my brother..."
"What was your brother like?"
"He was a so-called elite. He always emphasized that I have to make compromises with the world. Jumin treats me in a similar way. That's why I don't like him." Zen suddenly smiled. "Hey, you're staying for dinner right? You can even stay the night!"
"Okay!" I said, nodding.
"Don't worry, I won't do anything weird," he said. "I'll go cook for you, ok?"
***
Another chapter! Yus! *^*)/
I hope you've enjoyed it so far! This is only the beginning...
MWUAHAHHAHAHAHAHA-
Yeah. I'll shut up.
Thanks for reading~!
~ Yume