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The story
When Korea's biggest K-pop idol recognizes an ordinary fan as the girl whose letters kept him from quitting, he pulls her behind the curtain of fame and into a secret romance that could upend both their lives.
When Korea's biggest K-pop idol recognizes an ordinary fan as the girl whose letters kept him from quitting, he pulls her behind the curtain of fame and into a secret romance that could upend both their lives.
The second my face appeared on the jumbotron, the roar of tens of thousands seemed to fall away. I was in the back corner of the third tier, one lightstick in my hand, and Jayden, Korea's biggest idol, was looking straight at me.
Onstage, he was so beautiful he hardly looked real. Sweat-damp black hair fell across his brow, and under the lights his skin looked almost luminous. His dark eyes, sharp beneath straight brows, were turned toward the cameras, yet somehow they seemed to find me alone. Then he smiled. "Thanks for coming tonight."
Fan service, I told myself. He says it to everyone. But after the show, a text came from a number I didn't know. Don't go home yet. The instant I decided it had to be a prank, a staffer stopped in front of me. "Jayden's asking for you."
When the dressing-room door opened, the man who had commanded the stage was standing there alone.
"So we finally meet."
"Do you... know me?"
His laugh was low. "Seven years ago, someone sent an unknown trainee one last letter. That was you."
The man I could never reach from the stands was suddenly close enough that I could feel his breath.
"You were the one who kept me from giving up when I was ready to walk away."
That night, I learned my idol had carried a secret for seven years, and that secret had started with me.