New Beginnings

Sangwoo was walking down the London street at night at a slow pace with his arm being grabbed by his mom. His mom took him on this trip to London as a goodbye gift since he had decided to move out. He observed his surroundings with his soulless gaze while his mother rambled on about who knows what. Nothing looked interesting to Sangwoo, it's not like anything ever had. The city lights reflected off the wet pavement, but he didn't notice. His mother was saying something about how she was going to miss him, but Sangwoo didn't respond. He never responded. He just kept walking, his eyes scanning the street. As they turned a corner, Sangwoo's eyes were drawn to an electric bus stop billboard. These types of billboards were on the sides of benches at bus stops and displayed a promotion to something for about a minute before switching to an alternative one, then after another minute to a third image, and finally back to the first again. Usually, these types of things didn't interest Sangwoo, but this time was different. The billboard showed a promotion to a new Netflix show called Insiders2, the image showed a bunch of different people. One of these people was what caught Sangwoo's eye. He stopped walking, causing his mother to stumble forward. She looked over at him, confused, only to see him staring at the billboard. Still confused, she looked at the billboard, but it had changed the instant she had walked over. Now, it showed a group of people laughing and having fun. She asked Sangwoo what's wrong, but he didn't respond. He just stared at the billboard for a couple of minutes. His mother tried to pull him along, but he didn't budge. Eventually, the Netflix promotion popped up again, and Sangwoo instantly took out his phone and snapped a picture of the promotion, then one again at one of the participants. His mother saw something different in his eyes that she'd never seen before - a spark of emotion. Sangwoo had felt something for the first time in his life: love, obsession, and a need for the boy on the screen. The boy had caught his eye and gave him emotions for the first time in his life. This boy was Jason, the unnatural blond-headed man with the brightest smile. Sangwoo's mother looked at him, concern etched on her face. "Sangwoo, what's going on? You look...different," she said, her voice laced with worry. Sangwoo didn't respond. He just kept staring at the billboard, his eyes fixed on Jason's image. His mother tried to pull him along again, but Sangwoo resisted. He was frozen in place, his eyes glued to the screen. The billboard changed again, but Sangwoo didn't notice. He was too busy studying Jason's face, committing every detail to memory. His mother's grip on his arm tightened. "Sangwoo, come on. We need to go." But Sangwoo didn't move. He was lost in his newfound emotions, and nothing else mattered. The world around him melted away, leaving only him and the boy on the screen. As the minutes ticked by, Sangwoo's mother grew more and more concerned. She had never seen her son like this before. He was always so emotionless, so distant. But now, he seemed...alive. And it was all because of a boy on a billboard. She didn't know what to make of it, but she knew she had to get him out of there. "Sangwoo, please," she said, her voice softening. "Let's go home. We can talk about this later." But Sangwoo didn't respond. He was too busy dreaming of the boy with the bright smile and unnatural blond hair.