That evening, Seong-woo came to see her.
He couldn't go through the front entrance.
There were already reporters outside.
He entered through the back of the building wearing a mask and a cap.
When Nari opened the door, she immediately knew something was wrong.
He looked exhausted.
"Are you okay?"
She smiled.
It wasn't convincing.
"I'm fine."
He stepped inside.
"You're not."
Neither of them spoke for a moment.
Then Nari looked down.
"I've been getting messages."
Seong-woo's expression changed.
"What kind?"
She hesitated.
"Nothing."
"Nari."
She looked at him.
"I said it's nothing."
He walked toward her.
She stepped back.
Not because she was afraid of him.
Because she was afraid of what would happen if she let herself feel safe around him.
Seong-woo noticed.
His face softened.
"Show me."
She shook her head.
"Why?"
"Because I need to know."
"I don't want you to worry."
"I'm already worried."
She finally handed him the phone.
He read the messages.
His expression hardened.
For the first time that evening, Nari saw anger in his eyes.
Not at her.
At the people who had decided they were entitled to threaten her.
"This isn't okay."
"I know."
"We'll report it."
"And then what?"
He looked at her.
"What do you mean?"
"They'll keep watching."
She laughed quietly.
"Maybe tomorrow they'll find out where I buy groceries."
"Nari….."
"Maybe they'll photograph me going to work."
She looked away.
"Maybe they'll find out where my parents live."
Seong-woo went silent.
She wiped beneath her eye.
"I don't want this."
"I know."
"I didn't ask for any of it."
"I know."
She finally looked at him.
"I don't want you to lose everything because of me."
He stepped closer.
"You're not something I lose."
She shook her head.
"You know what I mean."
"I do."
His voice was quiet.
"But I don't care."
"You should."
"Nari."
"You worked for this for years."
He looked at her.
"You were there before the stage."
She smiled sadly.
"And now I'm the thing standing between you and it."
"No."
"Yes."
He shook his head.
"You're not."
She stared at him.
"You don't get to decide that alone."
The words were gentle.
But they hurt.
Because she knew he was right.
The next morning, Seong-woo's agency held a meeting.
His manager sat across from him.
Two executives were there.
Nobody smiled.
The room felt colder than usual.
"We have a problem."
Seong-woo didn't answer.
"The company can protect you from some of this."
"Some?"
"We can't control public opinion."
"I don't care about public opinion."
"You should."
Seong-woo looked at him.
"The group has a comeback in three months."
"I know."
"Advertisements are being reviewed."
"I know."
"Two sponsors have already asked whether the relationship is real."
Seong-woo leaned back.
"So?"
"So this affects more than you."
The room fell silent.
His manager slid a document across the table.
"We have spent years building this group."
Seong-woo looked at the paper.
"You're asking me to break up with her."
Nobody answered.
That silence was answer enough.
His manager finally spoke.
"We're asking you to think carefully."
Seong-woo laughed once.
"There is nothing to think about."
"There is everything to think about."
He leaned forward.
"You have thousands of people depending on this group."
Seong-woo's expression hardened.
"And Nari?"
His manager didn't answer.
"Does she not count?"
"Of course she counts."
"Then why are we sitting here pretending this is only about my career?"
His manager looked tired.
"Because your career is the thing that can be measured."
Seong-woo looked down.
His phone vibrated.
Nari.
One message.
Are you okay?
He stared at the words.
Then turned the phone face down.
That night, Nari sat alone in her apartment.
The room was quiet.
Too quiet.
She opened her laptop.
Her manuscript was still unfinished.
The cursor blinked on the screen.
She couldn't write.
Every sentence felt meaningless.
Her phone rang.
It was Seong-woo.
She answered.
Neither of them spoke immediately.
"Are you okay?" he asked.
She smiled despite herself.
"You always ask me that."
"Because you always lie."
She laughed softly.
"Maybe."
A pause.
Then she asked:
"What did they say?"
Seong-woo looked through the window of his apartment.
The city was glowing beneath him.
"Nothing important."
She knew immediately.
"Don't lie to me."
He closed his eyes.
"They want me to think about my career."
"And?"
"And I am."
Her heart sank.
"I understand."
"Nari."
"You should."
"I didn't say I chose it."
She didn't answer.
He continued.
"I don't know what I'm going to do yet."
She swallowed.
"That's okay."
"It isn't."
"It is."
"Nari."
She looked at the ceiling.
"I love you."
Silence.
"I know."
"I mean it."
"I know."
"And I don't want you to disappear from my life."
Her eyes filled with tears.
"Then don't ask me to stay if staying means you have to lose everything."
He didn't answer.
Because he didn't know how to promise both.
For the first time since they had found each other again, there was something neither of them could solve by simply loving each other harder.
His career was real.
Her fear was real.
The threats were real.
The cameras outside her home were real.
And love, no matter how sincere, couldn't make any of those things disappear.
"I'll see you soon," he finally said.
Nari smiled through her tears.
"Okay."
The call ended.
She remained sitting there with the phone in her hand.
The following evening, Seong-woo stood alone backstage.
The concert hall was full.
Thousands of people were waiting for him.
His name echoed through the building.
His members were preparing nearby.
The lights were beginning to come on.
His manager approached him.
"We need your answer tonight."
Seong-woo looked at him.
"Tonight?"
"Yes."
"And if I don't give you one?"
"You know what happens."
Seong-woo looked toward the stage.
This was the life he had dreamed about when he was a teenager.
The life he had once wished for beneath a sky full of stars.
He remembered Nari sitting beside him.
Her hand shaking his arm.
Her voice telling him to make a wish.
He remembered what he had wished for.
That she would stay happy.
That she would stay healthy.
That she would achieve her dreams.
He had never told her.
The stage manager called his name.
"Thirty seconds!"
Seong-woo looked down at his phone.
Nari's name was still on the screen.
His thumb hovered over it.
Outside, thousands of people began chanting his name.
Inside his chest, everything was quiet.
His manager stood beside him.
"Seong-woo."
He looked toward the stage.
Then at the phone in his hand.
For years, he had known exactly what he wanted.
The stage.
The music.
The life he had fought for.
But now there was another thing standing in front of him.
A woman who had loved him before anyone knew his name.
A woman who had waited for him.
A woman who was now being punished simply for loving him.
The stage lights brightened.
The crowd erupted.
His manager looked at him.
"It's time."
Seong-woo took one breath.
Then another.
His hand tightened around the phone.
He still hadn't made his choice.
And for the first time since he had begun chasing his dream, Seong-woo wondered whether the life he had always wanted was worth having if the price was losing the person he had always loved.
The stage door opened.
The lights swallowed the darkness.
And Seong-woo stepped forward, still carrying the question with him.