Jung Taekwoon was a rising idol under the stage name 'Leo' with the perfect public image. He's handsome, humble, and kind, with a beautiful voice that made everyone's hearts melt and a beautiful girlfriend, called Mina, who seemed to be his soul mate. Behind the facade, though, was a very troubled young man trapped in a toxic relationship with a girl he kind of hates, who definitely hates him back.

He had started dating Mina as a misguided rebound after the love of his life moved away and they had lost contact due to their suffocating families. The stress of his unhealthy relationship with Mina, and the stress of keeping up a perfect public image had been getting to Taekwoon, and he had wound up depending on alcohol to make it through the day. With their relationship only getting worse, Taekwoon had decided he couldn't take it much longer, and was about to break up with Mina when she made a sudden announcement. 

"I'm pregnant."

Advised by his manager to marry Mina fast to avoid a scandal about having a baby out of marriage, Taekwoon was now truly trapped. More miserable than he had ever been before, Taekwoon was hitting the alcohol harder than ever, and it was rare for a day to pass where he didn't have at least one drink. One day, he wound up at the beach by himself at nighttime with a bottle of vodka. Staring at his wedding ring, he sighed, biting his lip hard to try and stop himself from screaming. He didn't know what to do. Overwhelmed, he began to cry.

"Hey, are you okay?" a deep voice approached him, tapping him on the shoulder. Taekwoon's heart skipped a beat - he recognised that voice.

As he looked up and wiped his tears away on the sleeve of his oversized black jumper, he gasped. He looks so different, he thought as he studied the young man standing next to him. He wore a white and black striped t-shirt with black skinny jeans. He was devastatingly handsome, with fluffy blonde hair, and his arms covered in tattoo's. His ears were pierced, and he held a cigarette in one of his hands. As Taekwoon studied the young man, a smile formed on his face, and he shot up to greet him. However, he was a little tipsy, and stumbled, falling into the young man's chest.

"Hey, steady," the young man laughed, helping Taekwoon steady himself. "...Wait..."

"Wonshik-"

"Taekwoon?" the young man finally recognised him. "T-Taekwoon!" Wonshik grinned, dropping his cigarette to pull Taekwoon into a hug.

It was Wonshik - Taekwoon's long lost love. 

"Wonshik~" Taekwoon sobbed, holding Wonshik tight. They hadn't seen each other in seven years. "Wonshik, I..."

"How have you been?" Wonshik smiled, pulling away from their hug to get a good look at Taekwoon's face. That was when he noticed that Taekwoon had began to cry again. "H-hey, it's alright," Wonshik pulled him back into the hug, his back to comfort him. "You're okay, Woonie. Cry all you need to." 

After a few minutes spent crying into Wonshik's arms, Taekwoon felt a little bit better. He composed himself, sitting back down in the sand and patting the open space next to him to invite Wonshik to sit with him. As he sat down next to him, the boys smiled at each other. "I'm sorry about that-"

"It's okay. What's wrong?" Wonshik asked, furrowing his brow and tilting his head out of concern. Taekwoon felt somewhat relieved that Wonshik appeared to know nothing about his fame. 

"Doesn't matter. How have you been? How long have you been back in Korea?"

"I only moved back, hm... a week ago now? I think?" Wonshik laughed - he had never been one to keep track of time. "I've been alright, though. Don't have a job yet so just doing odd bits, like dog walking, but it's nice. I... I've really missed you, though-"

"I've missed you too."

"...Not too much, huh?" Wonshik's heart sank as he noticed the ring on Taekwoon's finger. "...Whoever they are, they're lucky-"

"They're not. . I hate it," Taekwoon mumbled, pulling off his wedding ring and throwing it. 

"What did you do that for?" Wonshik asked, a little bit taken aback by Taekwoon's actions.

"It's all a lie. I hate her," he sighed, looking up at Wonshik hopelessly. "It's just because she's pregnant-"

"Taekwoon, you can't throw away something like that," Wonshik sighed, standing up and taking his phone out of the pocket of his jeans to use as a light source as he searched for Taekwoon's wedding ring for him. As Taekwoon watched, he couldn't help but smile a little bit, touched by how kind Wonshik still was. He hasn't changed a bit, he thought to himself. "Here," Wonshik smirked as he handed Taekwoon his wedding ring. He reluctantly put it back on with a sigh.

"T-thank you, Shikkie."

"Why'd you marry her if you don't love her?" Wonshik asked as he sat back down next to Taekwoon

"It's... it's complicated," he explained. "Wonshik, I still-"

"Maybe it's best if we pretend we didn't meet. I... I don't want to get in the way of your life, Woon-"

"No, please," Taekwoon pleaded, taking Wonshik's hand into his own and squeezing it tightly. "I want you in my life, Shik. No- I need you in my life. Even if we're just friends."

Seeing the desperation in his love's eyes, Wonshik couldn't say no. He sighed, but with a smile on his face, nodding in agreement. "Okay. But we're just friends, alright?"

"Alright," he begrudgingly agreed. "Just friends."

"You stink," Wonshik smirked, getting his shoulder shoved in response. He laughed. "You need sobering up. Come back to mine for a bit, yeah?"

"Yeah," Taekwoon agreed with a smile.