Archive of Our Own

It was Mingyu's dream to be a superstar— someone who you can see in every corner of the city with his name and face plastered across the biggest billboards you can find. 

He wanted to be seen as one of the biggest stars in the country and have people look up to him and be their inspiration in reaching their own dreams of becoming a star.

And it seems like all his lucky stars aligned perfectly for him because he was able to achieve all of that just a few years ago, when his rise to stardom started after a director took a risk and made him the lead actor of a high-budget drama along with a household name as his leading lady. 

It was a risk that the director willingly took because he knew Mingyu could deliver what he was looking for in the drama.

And just like that, the name Kim Mingyu immediately spread across different news and social media sites, dubbing him as South Korea's fastest actor to ever land a main role in a major production.

The journey wasn't easy but he was able to stay on top of the game together with the team that helped him through thick and thin beside him. 

He was able to become one of the highest paid actors of all time, his fandom is considered as one of the biggest, his fanmeetings sold out within minutes, directors are begging for him to star in their works, production companies are trying to have a schedule with him for whatever offer they could give, and variety shows are more than willing to adjust their whole schedule just so they could have him in even just one episode. 

All was well for Mingyu. 

But with fame comes all the scandals and rumors that'll stain the name you oh-so carefully built on your own. 

It was an inevitable part of stardom and not even the most loved celebrity is safe from it. 

Mingyu just knew he's bound to be a target of ridiculous rumors at one point of his career but he never thought it would be this soon. This particular one that he's involved in was simply just too much for him. 

It started with a small rumorㅡan article giving out a blind item about an actor allegedly having a nasty attitude towards his co-stars and staff, until the recent one just explicitly mentioned his name saying he was seen pouring the coffee the staff gave him onto the latter's clothes. 

And of course it wasn't true. It was simply a ridiculous thing he couldn't ever do to anyone even if he was paid because, really, only an insane person would do it 

It was absolutely far from the truth because the cup he was holding that time slipped out of his hands after someone accidentally bumped into him from behind. 

What other people didn't know he spent the rest of his time apologizing to the staff and bought her new clothes because the drink stained her white dress. Even the person who bumped into him apologized to the both of them.

Everything was settled between the three parties and everything was forgiven and forgotten but he couldn't control what people were saying after that.

People who didn't know the story behind it were quick in giving out their unsolicited opinions and accusations against him, making the issue bigger and bigger each day. 

It got worse to the point where his company didn't know where, when, and how to start explaining things to the public. They didn't know where to start gathering all the fake articles and posts, and how to sue those people behind the articles. 

His manager promised him that it was going to be alright but for Mingyu, it was not enough. 

The words were not enough to comfort him because no matter what he does or where he looks, he sees nothing but his name being dragged in every direction by people who contributed nothing to his journey.

A few of his fans stayed with him, defending him with all their might and making sure they could provide an explanation on why everything is just a huge misunderstanding, but he just can't shrug the heavy feeling in his chest the more he sees people talking shit about him. 

His name is slowly getting stained, the type that can't be removed with just one public apology both from him and his company, and he doesn't know what to do anymore.

Well, not entirely, because there's only one thing he wants to do right after seeing his name trending on different social media sites, and that's to get as far away as possible from the public. 

He's tired and overwhelmed, and he needs to take a quick break. 

He needs to get away from here— away from his company, manager, staff, fans, and even family. 

He needs to calm down and get himself the peace he craved for a long time now. And locking himself in his apartment is definitely not part of the plan so that's how he found himself sitting on this rocky fishing pier in one of the most hidden provinces in the country. 

It took him five hours to drive here, with no specific place in mind, and had decided to stop in this province he can't remember the name of when he noticed the view of the calm, blue ocean from the road he was driving on. 

He may not know where he wants to go, his mind almost literally lost, but just being in front of the sea was enough for him to recharge and feel like he could breathe again. 

It's all because of the view in front of him, the fresh, salted air that he wasn't able to enjoy when the whole crew visited the nearest beach for a photo shoot last month, the soft singing of the birds flying over him, and the gentle rustling of the leaves nearby— he feels like living in this moment again.

The phone reception is particularly bad in this area, almost nonexistent even, there are no restaurants near him, the rock he's sitting on is still a bit wet from the rain earlier staining his white pants, and the locals that he saw while walking around were staring at him as if he'd grown a second head but none of that bothered him in any way.

He just felt at peace and physically relaxed as he continued to lean back and put his weight on his palms that were resting on said rock. 

This will do for the meantime. 

He looks up for a moment to enjoy the sunlight before looking ahead to find small rocks he can use to throw into the water. Might as well enjoy his time here before he has to leave and look for a place to sleep in. 

Mingyu stands up and makes his way to the other side of the pier to look for small rocks and jumps from one rock to another to avoid the waters.

But then he stops after climbing over the big one to stand at the top and look over the breathtaking view in front of him.

He inhales the salty air once more with the wind blowing his hair out of his face before he spreads his arms out and closes his eyes once more. He feels free and at peace and he wouldn't trade anything for this moment.

He suddenly thinks of what the people he left in the city are thinking now that he's gone, or if they ever noticed that he's gone missing since early this morning. He thinks of his manager who is probably losing her shit because of the articles or the CEO wants to terminate his contract forㅡ

"Oi!" 

ㅡall his pending activities because he probably thinks that he's only going to incur losses if he continues toㅡ

"Hey!" Mingyu exhales through his nose and continues to ignore the voice a few meters away from him. "Hey! Guy with brown hat and wet stain on his bum! Get off that rock!"

He huffs in defeat and stares ahead while his arms go limp beside him. He then looks behind him, head tilting slightly upwards with a frown and spots a guy wearing loose floral pants, black boots, pink long sleeve shirt, and a visor on his head. 

The guy was standing still like a lamp post near the boat dock with nothing but a pail with him. He looks like he just got off from whatever work he's doing for some reason and Mingyu's frown deepens. 

"Me?" he silently questions as he points at himself. 

"No, the guy behind you!" the guy shouts back and Mingyu doesn't know why but he turned around for some reason and almost lost his footing. "Ey! I told you to get off that rock! One more wrong step and you'll not see me helping you fix your broken head!"

"What? I can't hear you!" he bellows back, a hand cupping his ear to make a point. 

He watches as the guy marches forward, towards the big rock he's standing on, leaving his things on his spot.

Mingyu starts to look around, looking for a way to escape as quickly as he could without slipping and accidentally smashing his head into one of the rocks, because he's scared that the guy might recognize him and then post about meeting the scandalous celebrity and intentionally exposing his location andㅡ

"Are you going to just stand there and let the waves take you?"

"What?" he replies without a thought, eyes looking down the slippery rock instead. 

The guy hops on the rock below him and starts to descend, just to get closer to Mingyu to do god knows what. Mingyu pulls down his hat in an attempt to cover as much part of his face as he can but he knows he just looks stupid doing that. 

But whatever. He might as well start saying goodbye to the ocean, the view, the ambiance, and his sanity before this guy could tell everyone that the Kim Mingyu is lounging in their province.

"I said," the guy pauses as he reaches the part where Mingyu is, hands now on his waist to catch his breath. "If you want to slip on a rock, break your leg, and smash your head in, you can try the other side of the pier. The rocks there are bigger and even more dangerous. Eleven out of ten would recommend."

Mingyu frowns at him and the guy just waves his hand around. "I mean, the worst you can get here is a sprain, which is lame if you ask me."

The guy looks at him and gives him a half-shrug.

"I'm not planning to do whatever you have in mind," he exhales and shakes his head in disappointment. He takes a quick moment to really look at the guy in front of him and notes the young features he has. In fact, he looks like he must be around his age or probably a year or two older than him.

The guy is now looking at him straight in the eyes and Mingyu waits for a while for the other to say or do something, some sort of telltale sign that he recognized the young actor. But he got nothing, as if this guy doesn't have any idea who he's talking to right now. 

"What are you doing here then?" the guy asks as he takes the visor off his head and ruffles his hair.

"Relaxing? Trying to enjoy the view like normal people do?" he muses, "Emphasis on the word 'trying' because someone clearly doesn't want me doing that."

The guy rolls his eyes."How would I know that? This is not the right place to do that in the first place. We have a separate pier for that, like you know, somewhere less dangerous?"

"How would I know that?" he mocks, "I'm sorry for not knowing that you have a separate pier for that because I'm clearly not from here."

"You could've asked or looked around?"

"As if I have an idea that  you have different piers for different purposes?"

"Are actors really this dramatic in real life?" he heard the guy ask more to himself but it was loud enough for Mingyu to hear it. His eyebrows shot up at that, clearly surprised that the guy actually knows who he is. 

He watches in fascination yet again as the guy hops onto another huge, the one on Mingyu's left, and pats it down before sitting on it. He exhales loudly and leans back to rest his weight on his palms before looking up at him. 

"Talking to you like this isn't comfortable for me. You might want to sit back down so I don't break my neck."

Mingyu silently sits back to his original spot, his curious eyes never leaving the guy. He feels relieved that he didn't say or do anything to make him uncomfortable and was actually quite amazed at how the latter acted nonchalant as if he's just talking to someone he knew for a long time now.

"So you know me," he states.

"You look surprised."

"You didn't look like you recognized me."

"Don't trust my face. I'm actually screaming, crying, and throwing up on the inside." The guy looks ahead and clicks his tongue.

And before Mingyu gives himself a chance to laugh at that, the guy continues, "And who wouldn't know you? Everyone knows who you are. Even my grandma who hasn't watched dramas since I was born knew about you."

Mingyu blinks at him. "You're like the Lee Minho's long lost child, the second Hyunbin, Song Joongki's heir in the acting industry," the guy continues. 

He feels his cheeks getting warm for some reason and he felt the need to touch his cheeks just to make sure he isn't visibly heating up. 

"People are even saying you're better than Kim Soohyun."

"That's an exaggeration."

"Oh, I know. No one comes close to the Kim Soohyun. He's an eleven, and you're a solid four. No offense."

Well, he did take offense to that but he didn't say anything. He continues to frown in confusion, not really sure if the guy is a hater or just a fan acting cool so he wouldn't scare him off. 

"Oh, and also, people are calling you the next Yoon Jeonghan."

"Jeonghan doesn't even know how to act," he replies without missing a beat, not really meaning his words because he simply likes to talk shit about and to his friends. 

The guy audibly gasps. "Scandalous. How dare you say that."

"What? Like I'm wrong?" he hears the guy gasp again. "What are you going to do? Tell people about it?"

"No. I'll pretend I didn't hear that. But if the opportunity arises, I'm exposing you to the world."

"Can't wait. I'll even help you with that." 

Mingyu chuckles and decides to leave it at that and mimics the guy's position. The guy shakes his head and laughs at himself, obviously finding it funny that neither of the two took their words seriously.

They are now looking ahead of them and are enjoying the view and the sound of the waves hitting the rocks below them. Mingyu gets to enjoy it for a short while before the guy decides to interrupt him again.

"How did you even get here?"

"By car?"

"No, silly. I mean you're always surrounded by people," he chuckles, "How did you even escape from them?"

He raises an eyebrow. "How sure are you that I traveled here alone?"

"It's rare for superstars like you to be seen like this. With no one invading your personal space, that is."

Yeah, he's right. It's just so unlike him to travel without anyone following him, but he likes it this way. It makes him feel free and...normal at most. 

"So how did you manage to escape your security and manager?" 

Mingyu sighs and shrugs. "I don't know? Honestly, I didn't even try that hard. I just... got out of my place and drove away. And my car took me here out of all places."

"Hmm."

"What's your name, by the way?" Mingyu asks. 

"Tank..." the guy whispers so low Mingyu had to lean to the side so he could hear it. But the guy didn't seem like he was going to repeat it so Mingyu leaned back to his side. He then raises his eyebrows and slowly nods his head to urge the guy to continue. 

"Tank...who?"

"You're welcome!"

The guy laughs while Mingyu blinks once, twice, before he looks at him with disappointment written all over his face. 

He can't believe he fell for that!

"You're funny." Mingyu deadpans.

"I know, thanks. Being funny is my way to compensate for how ugly I am."

Mingyu automatically frowns at that and exclaims a loud "Hey, don't say that! You look cute!" without second thoughts. He looks at him properly and notices that despite the ugly floral pants and shirt, and his overall questionable fashion sense, the guy still made it pleasing to look at.

And even with the visor on his head, he could still clearly see how effortlessly handsome he is with just the way he shyly looks at Mingyu at the sudden compliment.

The actor even thinks the guy would look even much better than any actors he worked with combined!

"I mean, don't ever call yourself ugly again. Even with the clothes you're wearing, you still look good," he says a genuine and encouraging smile gracing his face. 

And for the first time, the guy looks away immediately and clears his throat. It takes him a moment to recompose himself before he glances at him again. "I'm Wonwoo, by the way. Jeon Wonwoo."

"Mingyu. Kim Mingyu." He shakes his hand and offers him a smile. It's good to meet someone like this in a new environment. It makes him forget who he is and the world he came from. 

"Cool, cool. I'm not going to wash my hand now because I touched the Kim Mingyu's hand. This is now going to be the province's tourist attraction."

Mingyu can't help but laugh so hard he actually almost slipped again if it weren't for Wonwoi who was quick enough to grab him by the arms.

"Damn, I know I'm hilarious but please don't die on me," Wonwoo shakes his head as he makes sure Mingyu is safely back on his spot. "I don't want to be the last person seen hanging out with you."

"Don't worry. If I slip again, I'm dragging you by your feet."

"Sweet. What an honor," Wonwoo says before he takes something out from the pocket of his floral pants. "So what brings you here? Our place really isn't something people come to visit when they want to take a break."

"What do you mean?"

"People like you could go somewhere popular like Busan or Paju or literally everywhere else," Wonwoo waves a hand around to make a point and continues, "You're in this plain province with nothing exciting going on around. We just live a quiet life here and the tourism is non-existent." 

"I just want to escape," he replies without a care in the world. It's like he's suddenly not worried that Wonwoo might expose him later or talk shit about him on the internet. 

But looking at Wonwoo right now gives Mingyu the feeling like the latter is someone he can trust with what he's about to say. "I wanted to get away from everything and everyone that's why I'm here."

"Well, you can tell me what's bothering you right now. I'm good at keeping secrets because I easily forget things," Wonwoo attempts to joke and Mingyu chuckles at that.

"You could get bored listening to my boring life," he replies. 

"No one's life is boring. We all got our own little adventures," Wonwoo defends. "I even caught a fish bigger than me earlier! It was the first time someone from the village caught a fish that big! It was tempting to take it home to my grandma but I decided to put it back in the water."

"Why did you do that?"

Wonwoo shrugs nonchalantly. "I don't know. Maybe because I find it weird to eat something bigger than me. But it's okay. I caught a bunch and took it home instead."

"Good for you. Good for you."

Wonwoo shuffles on his spot and turns his body so he could face Mingyu. He could see the soft, concerned look in his eyes and Mingyu couldn't help but reconsider telling him about everything that's been bothering him. 

But then again, telling a stranger about the technicalities of his job as well as the rumors almost getting to his head without sounding like he's complaining a lot does not sit well with him. 

He appreciates the concern though but it'll maybe take him a while to start spilling to a stranger.

Wonwoo seems to notice the hesitance in his eyes so the former only nods in understanding. "Seems like an extremely personal matter, eh?"

"Something like that, yes." He glances at him before he adds, "Since you know who I am, I assume you heard about the rumors?"

"I know you but I don't keep tabs on you," Wonwoo clarifies before he gives him a side eye and exhales. "But...I did hear that...things aren't on your side right now. But that's the extent of my knowledge."

Mingyu nods understandably. "You know enough. I guess you could call it the typical celebrity issue."

Silence envelops the two but Mingyu can feel Wonwoo's eyes on him as if assessing him and the situation. 

"Okay. I won't push you to talk about it. But how's the place so far? Are you enjoying it?"

Mingyu nods. "Thanks. And yeah, I am enjoying it. It's been a while since the last time I've been away from everyone. I mean, I travel to take a break once in a while but never without my manager or anyone from my team," he sighs and pulls his knees to his chest. "It's good to spend time like this."

"Yeah, it's good to take a break from time to time, you know."

"Yeah?"

"Of course. I don't know much about how you celebrities live your life but I can tell that it can sometimes become too much for you," Wonwoo explains. "We sometimes have those moments when we need time to ourselves, especially when we get overwhelmed by the outside world."

Mingyu pulls his knees to his chest and hugs it closer to him. "I basically ran away because it got too much for me."

Wonwoo hums. "It's okay. Take as much time as you need but make sure you go back to fix things in Seoul."

"Yeah, I will." Besides, he's only planning to stay here until the sun sets because he can't afford to stay missing in action for more than a day. 

His manager will quite literally kill him if he doesn't show his face in the meeting tomorrow morning. After this, he's driving himself back to Seoul no matter how late and dark it is.

He then looks up and closes his eyes while inhaling the salty air once more.

He finds himself smiling at how he was able to forget about everything else while sitting on this slippery rock, the chaos he felt behind suddenly feeling like a mere nonsense in this instant.

It suddenly didn't matter to him and couldn't care less that he left his manager to deal with the consequences for a day.

Just for this day. Just for once. 

His life is in Seoul, surrounded by tens of cameras, scripts, contracts, managers, vans, heavy equipmentㅡ they could wait for him to go back. But for now, he'll enjoy this.

"You look at peace."

"I am."

"That's good to hear. You deserve more moments like this."

"Yeah, maybe I do."

Mingyu could only hear shuffling on his right before he heard a faint huff from Wonwoo. 

"Well, I don't want to disturb you anymore in your little vacation so I'll be going now," he watches in confusion as Wonwoo stands up from his spot, hands dusting off his pants and shirt. He then adjusts his visor before smiling down at him. "I hope you'll enjoy our place, Mingyu. And please be careful on your way back to Seoul. The roads can be quite dangerous when it rains."

He starts to carefully climb up the rock behind them but Wonwoo halts for a moment and says, "Oh, it was nice to meet you, by the way! It's quite a bummer I don't have my phone with you otherwise I would've asked you for a photo so my friends won't say I only imagined meeting you here."

"Ah, Wonwoo, wait!" he finds himself leaning to the side with his right hand attempting to grab Wonwoo. "Do you...do you really have to go?"

Wonwoo shrugs. "I figured I should give you time for yourself and I don't want to disturb your only vacation away from everyone," he smiles down at him again, "Besides, I think I should go and return the visor to my grandma before she looks for me with her broomstick."

Mingyu opens his mouth and closes it again, looking for something that could make Wonwoo stay. He doesn't even know why he wants him to stay in the first place.

Maybe he just doesn't want to be alone with his thoughts and would rather spend his time getting to know this man in front of him. Maybe he prefers to indulge himself at this moment for a few more moments.

He knows that the sun is about to set and that he needs to get going now too but...he just can't. 

He reckons he needs more time in this place.

"Do you really have to go?" it sounds soft, hesitant, his hand slightly raised to stop Wonwoo from going but he eventually puts it down again. Wonwoo just looks at him in wonder before he returns to the rock beside Mingyu. 

"Yeah, I have to. My grandma's going to be mad if I go missing for another minute," Wonwoo can tell that Mingyu wants to say something though the latter feels unsure about it. So he takes the initiative of bringing it up instead, "If...If you want, you can go with me?"

He knows that he shouldn't be trusting a complete stranger in this unknown place but the voice in the back of his mind tells him that Wonwoo is different. And that if he wants to enjoy his only break from his chaotic life, then he should trust Wonwoo. 

"I can?"

"Sure, why not? That's if you want..?" Wonwoo trails off. "I'm sure my grandma's going to be so excited to meet you."

Mingyu pauses and thinks about it once, twice, before he stands up from his spot with a determined look on his face. 

He can deal with his problems later. His manager can deal with all of it for the meantime. 

"So how do we get to your house?"

Wonwoo smiles at him and offers a hand. "I'll show you the way."

Mingyu gladly takes it and they make their way to Wonwoo's house, ready to make the most of his only vacation away from literally everyone and everything he knows. 


The next day, Mingyu wakes up to the notification sound from his phone indicating that he received a message from his manager. Expectedly, they were all about his meetings that day, his CEO allegedly threatening to cancel his upcoming photoshoot next week if he doesn't show his face in the next hour.

But Mingyu couldn't care less. Not now at least. 

Not when he's out on this sunny morning while helping Wonwoo and his grandma water the plants in the backyard. 

He looks up in surprise when Wonwoo accidentally hits his arm with the water can he's holding. The older smiles at him apologetically and he replies with the same smile. 











And right there and then, Mingyu decides that spending a week in this week might not be a bad idea after all.