When Kim Sok-joo closed the app, his hands were still shaking.
The hoodie.
It was the same hoodie.
The stranger from the café, the one who had listened to him like he was just another tired person in the world, was not just a stranger at all. He was the leader of Rider. The face he had loved from afar for seven years.
Kim Sok-joo sat on his bed staring at the screen, watching the likes rise, watching thousands of people praise the picture, while his own heart felt like it was losing its rhythm. Somehow, the fact that he had spoken to his idol so calmly, without knowing who he was, made it even more unreal.
At least I talked to him like a normal person, he thought.
That night, for the first time in a long while, he slept without fear.
The next morning, however, fear came back.
Kim Sok-joo stood in front of his mirror, staring at his reflection. He tried different shirts, different jackets, but none of them felt right. In the end, he went back to his lucky suit. It wasn't perfect, but it was his.
He told himself he was going to work as a professional. Not as a fan. Not as the boy who had once skipped school just to see Rider pass by. Just a manager.
But the moment he stepped into the company building, his chest tightened.
What if the leader remembered him?
What if he told someone?
What if this one mistake destroyed everything?
Kim Sok-joo's hands were sweating as he walked through the hallway. He kept his head down, pretending to read the schedule in his hand, pretending he was just another employee.
Then he heard a voice.
"You."
He froze.
Slowly, he looked up.
The Rider leader was standing a few steps away, staring at him with recognition in his eyes.
"I know you," he said. "You're the one... you're the one I met the other day."
Kim Sok-joo felt the world tilt.
Without thinking, he reached out and gently pulled the leader toward the corner of the hallway, away from the eyes of the staff walking by.
"Please," Kim Sok-joo whispered. "Please don't tell anyone. I just started this job. If people find out we met before, I could lose everything."
His voice was shaking. He hated himself for sounding so small, but he couldn't stop.
"I don't want to ruin anything for you either. I'm just your manager now. That's all I'm supposed to be."
The leader looked at him for a long moment, trying to read his face.
"You don't have to worry," he said quietly. "I won't say anything."
Relief rushed through Kim Sok-joo so fast that his knees almost gave out.
"Thank you," he said, bowing without even realising he was doing it.
The leader nodded once and walked away.
Kim Sok-joo stayed in the corner for a moment, breathing, trying to calm the storm in his chest.
After everything, after everything had collapsed and everything felt over, Kim Sok-joo tried to calm down. He still couldn't believe that he had actually held his idol's hand, but now he had to live with it, because this was his job.
So when he went into the training room, he met all the band members and introduced himself. Not all of them were polite. Some of them were mean. They told him they did not need a manager.
It turned out their old manager had always protected Rider. He had always helped their rights and treated them like family. Now the company was trying to replace him because he did not agree with what they wanted. The old manager wanted freedom for Rider, but the new studio wanted control.
So when Kim Sok-joo walked into that studio, he was already caught in the crossfire.
But he could not step back. His name was already on the list. All he could do was stand there and be humiliated.
It hurt.
The people he loved, the people he held close in his heart, were now standing in front of him, angry and cold. One of them even told him he was useless because he did not know them.
Kim Sok-joo felt like everything inside him was breaking.
The owner, the receptionist, and the director told him to wait in the lobby while they talked to the band members. All Kim Sok-joo could do was sit there, holding himself together.
He thought, maybe they were right. Never meet your idols. Because when you do, they always give you the lowest of your expectations.
There was a lot of back and forth. Orders kept changing. The legal team stood with the members. Everyone was arguing.
Kim Sok-joo was in the middle of it all.
He felt like the little boy he used to be - bullied, small, and unprotected.
In the end, all he could do was take a deep breath. Breathe in. Breathe out. He left the building and went to a quiet place to try to calm himself.
But when he sat down, all he could do was stare at the table and cry.
He cried because he felt pain.
Real pain.
So he walked into the restaurant, and one of the coffee workers came up and asked, "What would you like to have?"
Kim Sok-joo said, "I would like an iced Americano. Americano, please."
The barista nodded and said, "Okay."
Families were sitting around, people talking and laughing, and Kim Sok-joo felt troubled. He was really troubled. Everything that had happened at work was still heavy in his chest.
Then the restaurant manager came over and asked, "Hey, is everything okay?"
Kim Sok-joo nodded at first. "Yes, of course. The place is great "
But when the manager asked, but again this time really concerned, if he was really okay, Kim Sok-joo told him the truth. He said he wasn't.
He said he had just realised that the people at work did not want him. They did not want to see his face. They did not want to deal with him. He was tired, frustrated, and down. He didn't know how to undo what he had just seen.
He said he wanted to be free. He wanted to quit. He felt like he was not good for the role, that he was useless and stupid.
Then the barista said something that caught Kim Sok-joo's attention.
"It doesn't matter what others think," the barista said. "It doesn't matter what you think. It doesn't matter what anybody thinks. All that matters is that you show up. You show up. You smile. You show up, and everything will be okay. In the end, it's all work."
Kim Sok-joo listened.
The barista went on, saying that holding people too high and putting them above yourself will only hurt you. Life is always up and down. Everyone gets frustrated. Sometimes the people we admire are the ones who keep us going, but that doesn't mean they should take away your place in the world.
Kim Sok-joo felt something inside him shift.
He admitted that when he finally saw Rider in real life, he felt like he had made a mistake by applying for the job. Everything felt too heavy. He was tired.
Later, the director spoke to him and said, "Everything is going to be fine in the end. You can't give up when you've barely started. Don't put others on such a high level. Give yourself that respect."
Then the director smiled and said, "What was your name again?"
"My name is Kim Sok-joo," he said. No
"You are Kim Sok-joo, the manager," the director replied. Do you hear me ?. " yes, i am kim sok -joo the manager, Thank you so much." You are welcome, said the manger
Kim Sok-joo took a breath.
"Okay," he said. "Okay."