19 Coincidence

With Bang Si-hyuk's contact details in his hand, Min-soo could not help but feel excited. Seeing that Park Jin-young had remained in the room, Min-soo made his way over to the front and asked for the bill. He paid it with his card before leaving. It was the least he could do.

Min-soo decided to walk back to his hotel. It would allow him to take in the sights of Los Angeles, plus he had always liked the feeling of travelling at his own pace. Los Angeles in autumn was quite nice, at least it was today.

With the help of his phone's navigation, Min-soo made his way down the streets and about an hour later arrived at Venice Beach. Even at this time, the place was still packed with both tourists and locals. There were the many couples posing for photos and Min-soo could not help but feel a little out of place.

Leaning on the railing, Min-soo looked over the Pacific Ocean and could not help but admire the view of the setting sun glimmering across the ocean waves. In was in this instant that he felt a slight pang of loneliness.

Here he was in a completely new world, although it looked and felt familiar, it was not the same. He actually missed that silly younger sister of his. He wondered what she was doing and whether she had been able to move on. He hoped she was just as lively as always.

Min-soo sighed aloud before he turned around and walked back towards his hotel. Strolling past the few buskers and street artists, Min-soo admired their antics for a little while. He laughed when the man pretending to be a statue managed to trick a small child into believing it was not real and when the child approached it to test, the man moved, frightening the child into running right back into the arms of its mother.

Min-soo covered his mouth, in an attempt to stifle his laughs, as the small child in seeming disbelief regathered its courage and reapproached the man/statue. Once again, the child poked the statue and the man's head swivelled in the child's direction. The child screamed, jumped and ran back to its mother and hugged her tightly.

The mother only shook her head and similarly laughed in amusement. The child hearing his mother's laughter looked up with an aggrieved expression. This only resulted in a few other bystanders chuckling louder. Min-soo stifled his laughter and was about to leave when a melodious voice drifted over from around the corner.

Min-soo recognised the song, it was an old song, Adele's 'Someone Like You'. He had always loved songs by Adele, there was just something about them that drew him in, whether it be her unique voice or the lyrics themselves.

Although 80% of the time, Min-soo would listen to K-pop, he still made room for the songs on the radio. After all, K-pop was such a wide and encompassing genre of music that had beats and tunes from all over the world and ages.

Plus, music spoke to the heart and soul, at least that was Min-soo's firm belief.

The singer of this cover was male but his voice did not create any dissonance, his voice was firm and light, drifting in the breeze, perfectly carrying the emotions expressed in the song's lyrics.

Before Min-soo knew it, his feet had already carried him around the corner. Seated atop a milk crate was a young man and his guitar. His eyes were open and determination was writ large within them.

"Never mind I'll find, someone like you…"

Min-soo closed his eyes and indulged in the man's singing. He only realised the song had ended when he heard a solitary clap, followed by others, as each of those that had been lost in their emotions were brought back.

Min-soo similarly opened his eyes and clapped enthusiastically. His interest was piqued and he took another look at the man. It was only then that he realised the singer was quite young and looked to be no more than eighteen but what surprised him the most was that he looked familiar.

An Asian face, melodious voice and a sense of familiarity, Min-soo scratched his head and came back with nothing. So, he decided to find out more about the person. Some of the other bystanders had already thrown some loose change into the guitar case and moved on, in fact he was one of the only ones left.

The young man looked up after counting the change and was surprised to see there was still a person standing before him. In fact, his eyes widened before he pouted, as he thought the man before him had an unfairly handsome face. But he was still curious as to why the person was just stood there.

So, he took the initiative, "Hello? May I help you with something?"

Min-soo's reverie was interrupted by a curious voice, "Ah, hello." He answered reflexively in Korean.

The young man's eyes lit up and he responded in Korean, "You're from Korea?"

Min-soo looked around and decided to lure him over to a café so that they could talk more, "Yes, I'm new here, I really enjoyed your singing, this might be out of the blue but could you show me around?"

"Hmm? Oh, thanks, yeah sure, I have time. By the way, what's your name? I'm Jeon Jung-kook."

Min-soo's eyes widened in horror as he realised why the face looked so familiar. Jeon Jung-kook, Jung-kook, Jungkook. No way. First his best friend was Nam-joon and now on a random walk around LA he ran into Jung-kook.

Min-soo was not a religious person, but with these coincidences piling up one after another, he could not help but feel there was some greater force at work pushing and prodding him along. Perhaps it was the world attempting a course correction.

Jung-kook seeing the man once again falling into a daze upon hearing his name, looked around in confusion and walked up to him. He then waved his hand before his face, "Hyung? Hyung?"

"Ah, Jung-kook, great name!" Min-soo gave him a thumbs up.

Jung-kook smiled in embarrassment and a little confusion before he walked back over to pack up his guitar.

Min-soo seeing that it was getting darker asked Jung-kook, "You're pretty trusting, what if I am here to scam you?"

Jung-kook turned around while rolling his eyes, "Hyung, I have nothing to lose. Plus, I saw you enjoying my singing, so you can't be a bad person, right?" he beamed.

Min-soo laughed, "Okay then, since it's getting late, do you know any good places to eat around here?"

"Let's get burgers." Jung-kook decided.

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