ONE
Sunset Glow

 

March 2023
Do KyungSoo | Age:30

The bells on the café rang as an old guy on his thirties entered with the unusual noise outside faintly heard from the inside.

“Hyung.” A shorter guy stood and gave a light hug on the guest who had just entered. It was Do KyungSoo and his well-loved older brother.

They had a lot of catching up to do. KyungSoo had been away from home for almost ten years now. When EXO met so much success, he was able to afford his own unit which was really expensive mainly because it had a mini studio inside. He had been set on composing his own songs. It’s something he really liked. He had spent all of his time recording and training while most of the EXO members were in the army, some on vacation and hiatus. It was hard to have a comeback now that they were past their prime.

Yet, KyungSoo was set on singing for a few more years, finally singing the songs he’s comfortable with. He just hoped someone would still listen to him. Well, he had faith on his fans. He is quite a solid name in the music industry despite belonging to an idol group. He had been acting from time to time and had a few main roles during his mid-twenties. Simply put, he was a well-loved personality. It was a good thing for the CEO probably hit his head and decided to invest on a solo album for him. Well, Chen and Baekhyun had their mini albums two years ago before they enlisted.

He was thirty and in three months he too was enlisting quietly.

“Are you still thinking about that?” his hyung smiled with a hint of concern.

KyungSoo’s doe-eyes turned to him. He was holding an old picture that was turning yellow due to old age.

“Why? Are you regretting it?”

He frowned and started fidgeting the handle of his coffee cup with his free hand. An unreadable expression crossed his face.

“KyungSoo-ah,” his hyung called softly. “It’s fine. It can’t be helped. Don’t be confused now. It was a long time ago…”

“424 days hyung. Each day without her was a struggle.” There was a long pause. He kept frowning as he looked at the picture on his hand. “I regret it a lot. Hyung was I wrong? I lost two of the most important people in my life in the process.”

The older man didn’t know how to pacify his brother. They might be grown up men but to him, KyungSoo would be forever the baby brother he as to protect and take care of. “Yes. To put it frankly. But it isn’t only you KyungSoo. It was her choice.”

---

 

October 2019
Do KyungSoo | Age: 26

It was a fun joyride for KyungSoo. He couldn’t believe that his plan is being put to action. Escaping the building and the eyes of the sasaengs was such a feat that he was grinning all the way to his destination. Haenam-gun, South Jeolla Province was the farthest he could go and he was sure that only a few people would be able to recognize him. He had been there once with his hyung and now they are planning to meet in the middle of the week. For now, he was free to do anything he wished.

The ride took him almost 8 hours, and the second he was in Haenam, he immediately headed for the beach. What else would one do when the sun is about to set right? Of course reflect about life as one watches the sun go down.

He grinned as his shoes sank on the beach sand. He liked everything around him right now. The feel of the wind against his cheeks, the weight of the sand in his shoes, the sound of the waves, the silence of the town, and the orange sky. Everything was just beautiful. This was one rare opportunity—to go alone on a trip as Do KyungSoo and not as EXO’s D.O. Today he felt free.

He walked a bit closer to the sea. He remembered his rookie days; their MT at the beach when Suho and Luhan bravely faced the cold waters, when Suho gave Kris ‘the look’ which forced him to go on the waters, when they swore by the sunrise that they would be better and one day reach the top. A smile graced his lips. Those days. At present they were just like Super Junior back during EXO’s debut. They were slowly being replaced by a new boy group from their company and the reason they were still on top is because of their huge fanbase. It was the reality that hurt.

KyungSoo pulled his black hoodie tighter as the sea breeze made him shiver. The sunset really was such a sight.

---

 

“YAHHHH! Do Hwe Ji, this is really the best!” a girl shouted as she stood by a porch overlooking the sea side. Her dark brown hair was a total mess due to the wind but it was something she didn’t mind. Today was the best. It was her first day in Korea and she chose to go to the southwest island before exploring Seoul.

Do Hwe Ji was born in Chicago and only knew Korea by the stories her parents had told her. It has been a year and a half since she started undergoing training as an understudy of a Broadway musical. They were given a few months to take a rest. It was timely actually as she was starting to get sick of the fast-paced lifestyle in New York. And one more reason, she wanted to meet her love after ten long years. It was something she just came across in the internet a few weeks ago—BEAST’s 10^th year anniversary concert.

She perked up the sky. Korea was so much different, uncomfortable in a way, but something she felt like exploring. This is her real home.

Click. Click. She zoomed her camera over the sunset and took pictures on different angles. A tiny dark figure caught her attention on her left. She adjusted her lens and looked through. Standing by the rocky side of the sea was a guy wearing a black hoodie and sweatpants folded up to his knee. He was too focused on the sunset. It actually made a pretty picture. A guy standing by the orange sunset. She zoomed a bit and waited for the waters get calmer before she took one shot. She immediately dropped her camera when the figure peered to his right but looked back at the sea once more. It was a good thing the strap holding her camera was around her neck that time. Yahh, Did he see me? No way! She was flustered. He was really far and she figured she’d would look like a tiny figure as well from the man’s view. She dismissed the idea and continued taking pictures of her surroundings, careful not to take pictures with random people in it again.

The sun was glowing and soon darkness would cover the area. She took a small digital camera from her purse and started filming herself. Since it was hard to take selfies, she figured she would just video herself over the places she was going. “Annyeong! Do HweJi imnidaaa~” she laughed at the camera as she started walking closer to the waters. Honestly, she wasn’t really confident with her Korean as she left home when she entered college. English was her primary language and Korean was something she only learned through songs she listened on her spare time.

A few more minutes later and the sky has turned indigo. HweJi sat on the sand while still taking pictures of the waters and the sand when a voice called from her left. “Excuse me,”

“Yes?” she replied in english, perking up to the owner of the voice. She was met with a pair of big round eyes that looked at her warily. He was handsome actually. More than being manly, he looked like a flower boys with is pearly white skin. Heck, he was even whiter than her. Who? Somehow this guy looks familiar. It took a few more seconds before her eyes wandered on the guy’s clothes. Oh. The guy I took a picture of. rats =_= He might yell at me!

He was a few centimeters taller than her. She observed as she waited for him to respond. He only raised an eyebrow and nudged his head to the direction of the camera wrung around her neck.

She looked at her camera then looked back at his face. He want it deleted. But her eyes couldn’t take off his face. “Ah!” she jolted. “You’re an idol aren’t you? Oh wait… Korean…” she corrected english burst out. Judging by his bulging eyes, he obviously was taken aback with her sudden English attack. “Sorry,” she started in korean this time. “You’re an idol aren’t you. Oh my god. I’m so sorry! I’ll delete it immediately!” she jittered as she held her camera.

“Psh. Sasaeng.” He grabbed the camera from her quite roughly and looked through the gallery. There must be some picture of him. Do KyungSoo was so used to this scenario. This girl destroyed his day. How can a sasaeng follow him until the farthest island of the country? He rolled his eyes. “Jeez. You guys are persistent.” he pretty much mumbled to himself.

She didn’t understand what he said actually, only that he really looked annoyed. “I only took one because it looked pretty.” She replied.

He wasn’t replying, a confused look on his face as he examined each picture. Where is it? Was it in a different album? Did she upload it already? .

“Did you find it?” she curiously stepped closer to peer at the camera.

KyungSoo stepped back but she followed and pulled the camera towards her. He didn’t let go as she held it too and looked for the picture she took. “Here.” She smiled. “You can delete it if you want. I’m really sorry for that.”

 What KyungSoo saw surprised him.

Indeed it was a pretty picture. A picture of the sunset where the back figure of a lonely man stood. There was no picture of him in the camera but this. He pulled the camera closer to his face to check if the figure could be identified as him. It obviously wasn’t a stalker pic. Oh god. I’m a stupid person. The distance was obviously big that I’d look like an ant in the picture. He calmed down and pretended to delete a picture. “That too. I need to check it.” He pointed at her digital camera hanging on her wrist after returning the bigger camera.

Her eyes widened. “Ah. No…” she mentally sighed as she shyly handed it to him. “Don’t laugh!”

KyungSoo looked at it but it was full of videos. ‘Annyeong! Do HweJi imnidaaa~ This is awesome, look, look! The sea is so  beautifu—

He stopped the video and started forwarding it. It was full of her face. This is stupid.

“Don’t look at me like that!” HweJi protested. “I don’t have someone who can take my picture that’s why.” She just felt like she had to redeem herself. It was humiliating. A random stranger looking at you as you spoke at the camera.

“It’s fine. I didn’t understand half of what you said in it.” She found his deep voice nice. Handing back the camera, he asked. “Are you a fan of us?”

“You?” she laughed nervously. What is the correct answer to this question? It’s like asking if I want 1 million dollars or 1 million gallons of ice cream. I can’t choose. This person… I only remember his face. Kekeke~ What should I say? Of course, I need to be nice and ask his autograph or something. He doesn’t even know I’m from overseas. “Of course! Give me your autograph!” she tried to sound ecstatic.

He looked at her weirdly. “Really?” he was really doubting her nervousness. The woman infront of him was really weird. Her korean is a little weird as well.  An EXO fan would have shoved themselves onto him given such a situation. Or is she just a normal fan? Maybe.

She was afraid of meeting his eyes. Those big orbs feel like it’s gonna look through one’s soul. But when she met his eyes again she gave up. A chuckle escaped her lips as she looked at the ground. “I give up. I can’t remember. What group are you from again?”

Do KyungSoo, 26, at the peak of his career, part of the most popular group in Korea and has the largest international fanbase, met a girl who knew he was an idol but didn’t know EXO.

---

 

A/N: Sooooo... btw, B2ST is a feature here and the future chapters. lol. Obviously I stan them. If it wasn't clear, the first part is a future event. kekeke~ to hint you on some things, I guess? Oh btw, I have bad photoshop skills. How do I get a poster? And please do point out typos that I missed. ^_^ Thanks!