TWO
A Fan

 

 “I give up. I can’t remember. What group are you from again?”

He swore he felt his jaw drop with her reply. EXO, you stupid. He strayed his look away from her. It actually turned out… maybe. He could make up some excuse of being a random ulzzang, not an idol. He faked a laugh. “It’s a joke! I’m not an idol! I do get that a lot.” KyungSoo is a total 4D without knowing it.

HweJi raised an eyebrow. “That is the most stupid lie I’ve ever heard.” She replied frankly.

“Ah.” He almost scowled. To change the topic, he pulled the digital camera from her. “Smile. Say cheese!”

“Huh?” the guy was totally rubbing her off the wrong way now.

“I said smile. I’m doing you a favor now, aren’t I? Hurry, the sun’s setting now.” He kept clicking the camera despite the disbelief on her face.

The bizzare situation was cut short by the sudden pour of rain. HweJi gasped then pulled her camera from him, running as fast as she could to reach the porch she was standing from a while ago. KyungSoo followed suit, reasoning to himself that it was closer than his car.

 

What proceeded was two hours of silence. It was very unusual for KyungSoo. Normally, strangers would’ve started a conversation by then. Either they knew him, or he was too good-looking to ignore. The silence was deafening more than the thousand screams of his fans. He chose to marvel at the rising moon instead.

Meanwhile, HweJi found the silence perfect. The sound of rain was pleasing to her ears. It was a very unfamiliar sound contrary to rain’s sound when it fell on gravel ground in New York. She wanted to take a few more pictures but the place has turned really dark. The only light would be where they were staying and the little boats trying to reach the dock before the rain worsens.

As she was playing with her camera, she thought she heard a low hum. She guessed it was just the rain pour and the wind playing with her ears.

“Stop, stop, stop, stop…”

Slowly, she turned her head on KyungSoo who was facing his back on her. He was singing.

“In the gap between a deepening day you come slowly
The darkness skims by and wakes me up
And across the open window receding away”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xmr5IBI_VUI (Moonlight by EXO. Yes, you may listen to it here! ^_^)

“You shower in the pouring moonlight
I haven’t seen that entrancing expression before
I look at you who’s stopped like a picture and at the end of that gaze”
 

That angelic sound finally reminded her. That figure, that sound, the way he sings, and especially how he pronounces English. She remembered coming across one video of a rookie group before. This one short guy who can pronounce English very well. EXO’s vocalist.

“You…”

She was surprised when he suddenly called her out. He looked at her and asked, “Do you really not know us?”

She softly smiled. “I forgot. But I just remembered now. You’re EXO’s vocalist right? The one who can sing in English very well.” They were having a proper conversation, finally. “I remembered when you sang.”

KyungSoo didn’t know but his heart-shaped lips has curled into a sweet smile out of gladness. “You’re secretly a fan of us aren’t you?” out of nowhere, he had the confidence to .

“No.” she paused. This was by far, the longest normal Korean conversation she had since highschool in US. “What were you singing a while ago?”

“Me?” he replied. HweJi can’t help but look at his thick eyebrows. They pretty much tell her what his mood at present is. “It’s a song called ‘Moonlight’. I just remembered because of that.” He turned to the sea once again.

HweJi followed his gaze. The moon was so big as it appeared to rise from the horizon. She stood and quickened her pace towards KyungSoo. Click. Click. “It’s so pretty!” she told herself. “I too… I remember a song every time it rains like this.” She looked at KyungSoo who was quietly sitting beside her. “It’s called ‘On Rainy Days’. Have you heard of it?”

“I’m not sure…” he pondered. “Is it a very old song?” KyungSoo might have heard it before as the title seemed familiar. HyunSik? Somehow he remembered his bestfriend talking about it.

“Yeah. Was it 8 years ago? Ahh. I’m so old…” she muttered.

“Beast?” the words just came out of his lips.

HweJi’s eyes widened as she gasped. “You know it?”

She was suddenly lively, KyungSoo observed. “Ah. No. The title just ring a bell.” He was flustered as she mumbled an ‘oh’.

HweJi was silent once again. “I’m a fan of Beast.”

It was his turn to mutter an ‘oh’. “They’re great sunbaes.” KyungSoo bit his tongue. Somehow it was unfair. He couldn’t explain it. She remembers an 8 year old song but forgets the most popular band in Korea? It was unbelievable. He was too preoccupied to realize that HweJi was already walking down the porch.

“The rain is over.” She called out without looking at him. “I’m going back!”

She was already a good distance away from him when he realized it.

HweJi started her long walk on the damp pavement. She thought she could grab a cab at this hour but Haenam really was too different from New York. No cars passed by and the residential area was a bit far from the sea.

“Hey!”

“Hey! You there!”

KyungSoo tried to catch his breath. The woman was such a fast walker that he had to jog just to catch up. Her hair swayed as she turned back to him. “Where are you going?” he ask in between breathes.

“Huh? Walking home. Why?”

He placed his hands on his hips. “At this hour? You’re gonna go back on foot?” he asked in disbelief.

What’s wrong with this person? HweJi scowled inwardly. “Is something wrong with that?”

“No good. Hitch a ride with me.” He pointed his thumb back to his car.