---

It's the early afternoon the next day, and Kyungsoo's in his car driving home from college. His mom finally got her car back from the shop which means that he can once again enjoy the solace that one can only pretend to have while driving alone. Though now he definitely feels more on edge since he has to notice everything and anything to stay safe on the road. Because basically, some drivers are really unpredictable.

But, with the added precaution comes a bit of excitement too because he'll get to see his older cousin In-sung once he's home. (In-sung's plane had landed in the next city over early this morning and after Kyungsoo's uncle had picked him up in his car and dropped him off at the house, hugs were had and big grins were given before his uncle took an hour nap and headed off to work while Kyungsoo eventually left to go to his sole class today that lasts about three hours.)

Now Kyungsoo's finally some minutes away from his home and he still feels both excited and worried about things. Excited that his favorite cousin's gonna be here for the rest of the week, excited that his date with Jongin is in four days now, but also worried that something bad could happen this week. Because since his cousin is a South Korean celebrity, Kyungsoo worries about fans and possibly stalkers having followed In-sung all the way here.

Because sure, not everyone in this town is going to know who In-sung is, but with more people getting interested in K-pop music and dramas and the like--there's gotta be a decent amount of people that would at least know his cousin's name. And then with his upcoming date with Jongin, he worries of saying or doing something weird. Worries of freak accidents happening, getting stood up--really the possibilities for a first date are endless.

The traffic lights in front of him suddenly turn from green to yellow to red, so Kyungsoo slows the car down to a stop about a foot away from the crosswalk. He then looks over to the left as a car stops next to his on the other lane and sees a middle-aged woman behind the wheel with her head turned to talk to an elderly woman in the passenger's seat. At his right, a guy in a business suit is talking to someone using a wireless earpiece.

Then, the crosswalk light system signals for people to walk and so a good amount of people walk using the crosswalk (while some jay-walk). None of them are people he's seen before but the vast diversity between everyone piques the creative side of himself.

So, he tries to imagine a life for each person as they walk past. Looking at a glasses-wearing teen who has long platinum blond hair down to their and casual clothes on, he imagines them in a rock band, maybe as a bassist or a drummer. And the teen walking next to them with dyed bubblegum-pink hair in a fro-hawk and their hands gesturing in the air as they talk to the blond, makes Kyungsoo imagine them as a cake-maker for some reason.

It only takes a second or two to imagine a possible life story for each person but, unbeknownst to him, the blank look he's giving everyone is creeping out the ones who notice him.

A young kid with their mom walks onto the crosswalk from the right and the scared look on the kid's face makes him realize how he must look as they get closer. He blinks when the mom gives him stern eye contact as they pass by and his eyebrows tilt upwards making him look like a scared puppy. The woman scrunches up her face in confusion at that and Kyungsoo feels too embarrassed to imagine lives for people anymore.

The walk signal's now counting down to when the traffic lights will change again and he sees a few more people speed-walking and running across the crosswalk from one side to the other. He frowns and adjusts his glasses with his left index finger while trying not to think about what just happened (but inevitably he'll think about it over and over again). The crosswalk light system then signals for no one to cross and the traffic lights quickly turn green once again.

As he drives off again, Kyungsoo soon sees a familiar array of shops through the corner of his right eye and suddenly feels a craving for some food like maybe a churro. Then, he remembers that the nearest place to even get one is in the next city over so he frowns and drives past the shops.

---

Later, once he's made it home and has parked his car in the driveway, he gets out and walks towards the front door to unlock it with his ho