Enchanted by a Superstar

Joon chapter 3

"The view from the top of the hill shouldn't be missed today. My phone's battery is still enough until it gets dark later." Joon walked a bit faster, hoping not to meet the woman yet.

He was actually curious, and Grandma's story about the woman had arouse his interest.

When he reached the hilltop, he drank from the small bottle he brought. A few sips slaked his thirst and reduced his fatigue.

Joon sat on a large rock, gazing at the bright blue sky, white puffy clouds, and the scenery below, which included scattered green trees and a blue lake. Everything looked small and soothing to the eyes.

Joon took a selfie, capturing the sky, and recorded a video of this beautiful moment.

"I'll post about this when I get home," Joon thought to himself. He took off his hat and placed it beside him. When Joon looked down, there was something red, Joon picked up the object, and it turned out to be a red silk scarf with a floral pattern and a luxury brand logo. "How could something like this be here?" Joon flapped it, and some sand flew off the scarf.

"That means someone must have come here before and left this scarf, or maybe it fell off," Joon guessed.

"This scarf must belong to..." Before Joon could guess further, a sudden rumble from the sky startled him. The clouds had quickly turned dark. Joon quickly put on his hat and mask, took the bottle and scarf, and stuffed them into his right and left pockets. He began to step down the hill as a light drizzle started to fall, gradually increasing to a steady rain within minutes.

"Damn, why is the weather changing so fast, I should've checked the forecast first," Joon exclaimed in frustration.

As he walked quickly, he didn't notice a long tree root stretching across his path and tripped, falling to the ground with a painful "Aaarrrghh." Joon's knees were scraped, and he continued walking with a slight limp.

Midway through his journey, Joon spotted the lights illuminating a cabin house. Without hesitation, Joon headed towards the cabin.

Right in front of the door, Joon searched for a doorbell but couldn't find one. He knocked on the door fairly hard to be heard over the increasingly heavy rain accompanied by thunder.

For almost half a minute, Joon knocked on the door, but it didn't open. He knocked faster and harder. "Yes... yes... please wait a moment... who's there?" a woman's voice shouted from inside the cabin.

"Uh... sorry, could I wait here for a bit? I'm the grandson of the old lady who lives in the wooden house," Joon requested, starting to feel cold.

The sound of the key turning in the lock was heard, and the woman opened the door halfway to see who was visiting her house in the heavy rain.

She narrowed her eyes to get a clearer look at her guest. "Grandchild of the old lady?" she asked, slightly puzzled.

"Ah, sorry, I'm Joon, the grandson of the old lady, your neighbor down the hill," Joon said, removing his mask and smiling stiffly due to the cold.

"Oh, you're the old lady's grandson... come in quickly, you're soaked to the bone," the woman said, looking surprised at Joon's state, and invited him to enter the house.

"Thank you," Joon entered the cabin and immediately felt the warmth and smelled the lavender aroma in the room.

"Here's a towel for you, quickly dry yourself," the woman instructed, watching Joon wipe his face.

"The weather today is changing fast," Joon said while drying his face and hands.

"The weather forecast said it would rain today." "Yeah, unfortunately, I didn't check the weather forecast," Joon flinched in pain, feeling the sting from the scrapes on his knees from the earlier fall.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, I just fell earlier and scraped my knee," Joon said sheepishly.

The woman saw the scrapes on Joon's knees.

"That needs to be treated right away, or it could get infected and scar."

"Do you have any medicine for it?"

"Of course, but first, change into some dry clothes, and I'll wash your clothes. I have a washing machine with a dryer, it'll take less than an hour."

"But..." Joon could only watch as the woman headed straight up the stairs to her room to get some clothes.

'I think I might have made a wrong decision coming here, the rain is still heavy and my knee hurts,'Joon felt torn between leaving and staying.

'There's something fascinating about this woman. She's casual yet caring, and she's laid-back even in just a white oversized shirt and long pajama pants in front of me.'

'If she changes clothes and suddenly starts getting all dressed up, I'll start to get suspicious and make a quick exit from here,' Joon thought, considering a backup plan in case the situation turned sour.

The woman came down from her room and handed Joon a shirt and pants.

"Hope these fit, the toilet is over there," she said, pointing towards the toilet.

"Ah, okay," Joon said, taking the clothes and walking towards the toilet with a smile.

'I watched her, she didn't change her outfit, didn't get all dressed up, her face was natural, the freckles on her cheeks didn't bother her, she was indifferent to her appearance.'

After changing clothes, Joon slowly opened the toilet door with a sheepish glance and scratched the back of his head, which wasn't actually itchy. The woman was adding some small logs to the fireplace, making the room even warmer.

"I feel weird..." Joon said slowly.

"Just deal with that for an hour," the woman suppressed a laugh, watching Joon's antics.

The shirt fit perfectly on Joon's muscular build, but the pants were a bit too short, hitting just above the ankle.

"I'll get you a blanket if you're still cold."

"No need, I'm warm enough," Joon said, walking towards the woman, who was still crouched down, adjusting the wood in the fireplace to keep the flames burning.

"I didn't formally introduce myself earlier, I'm Joon," Joon said, extending his hand.

"That's right, I'm Sera," Sera replied, shaking Joon's hand.

They exchanged a brief handshake and locked eyes for a moment.

"Please have a seat on the sofa, while you wait for your clothes to dry, I'll make you a cup of hot green tea," Sera said, heading towards the kitchen, which wasn't far from where Joon was sitting.

Joon secretly observed Sera again as she prepared two cups and added green tea leaves, then poured in hot water.

'She's not adding anything suspicious, is she?'Joon watched Sera closely, still feeling a bit skeptical about her.

'I'm overthinking this, judging her too harshly... she's clearly helping me out in general. So far, nothing seems suspicious,'Joon thought, shaking his head, reminding himself that Sera was just being kind and helpful.

Before long, the aroma of toasted bread wafted through the air, and Joon's stomach started to rumble.

'My stomach growled as the delicious aroma filled the air, I need to act normal,'Joon thought, closing his eyes and resisting the urge to ask 'what's that delicious smell?'

The house was indeed small, but Joon felt a sense of comfort and warmth. In front of him, there was a bookshelf filled with many books.

'It seems she's a book lover too.'