The first photograph appeared at 7:14 in the morning.
Nari was still asleep.
Her phone was somewhere beneath her pillow, vibrating against the mattress every few seconds, but she didn't notice.
She had stayed up late the night before finishing a manuscript she had promised herself she would complete before the weekend.
For once, she had fallen asleep without thinking about the approaching deadline.
Without thinking about the group chat she no longer belonged to.
Without wondering whether the people who had left her behind had ever missed her.
She slept peacefully.
Until her phone wouldn't stop ringing.
When she finally opened her eyes, the screen was filled with notifications.
Messages.
Missed calls.
Mentions.
Hundreds of them.
Nari frowned.
She reached for her phone.
At first, she didn't understand what she was looking at.
Then she saw the photograph.
Her hand stopped.
It was her.
Standing beside Seong-woo.
They were outside a small restaurant.
He was wearing a black cap and a mask pulled beneath his chin.
She was laughing.
His hand was resting lightly against the small of her back.
The photograph had been taken from a distance.
The headline beneath it was already spreading across social media.
TOP IDOL SEONG-WOO SPOTTED WITH MYSTERIOUS WOMAN
Nari stared at the screen.
Her heart began beating faster.
"No."
Another notification appeared.
Then another.
Someone had posted a second photograph.
This one was worse.
It had been taken outside the private garden where they had met.
Seong-woo was holding flowers.
Nari was smiling at him.
The caption beneath it read:
WHO IS THE WOMAN SEONG-WOO HAS BEEN SECRETLY MEETING?
Nari sat up.
Her fingers trembled.
She opened the comments.
Thousands of people were already talking about her.
Some were curious.
Some were angry.
Some were cruel.
She kept scrolling until she couldn't anymore.
She locked her phone.
Then unlocked it again.
She didn't know why.
Perhaps because part of her still hoped the photographs would disappear.
They didn't.
Across the city, Seong-woo was sitting in a meeting room when his manager placed a phone on the table.
"It's out."
Seong-woo stared at the screen.
His face changed.
For several seconds, he didn't speak.
His manager watched him carefully.
"There's more than one photograph."
Seong-woo picked up the phone.
He looked at the first picture.
Then the second.
Then the third.
His jaw tightened.
"How much do they know?"
"Not enough yet."
"Yet?"
His manager sighed.
"They'll find her."
Seong-woo's eyes lifted.
"Don't let them."
"We're trying."
"Then try harder."
His manager leaned back.
"Seong-woo."
He looked at him.
"You know how this works."
"I know."
"You're not just a singer anymore."
"I know."
"You're the leader of one of the biggest groups in the country."
Seong-woo put the phone down.
"And?"
"And your private life stopped being private the moment you became famous."
Something cold settled in his chest.
He hated that sentence.
He hated how normal it sounded.
By noon, Nari's name had been discovered.
It didn't take long.
Someone found her social media.
Someone found her photographs.
Someone found her books.
Someone found an old interview she had given years ago.
Then people started connecting the pieces.
The writer.
Seong-woo's first love.
The mysterious woman.
Nari sat at her desk staring at her laptop.
Her name was everywhere.
Her books were being discussed by strangers who had never read them.
Her photographs were being reposted.
People were speculating about her relationship.
About her family.
About her appearance.
About her past.
Somebody had even found an old photograph of her and Seong-woo from high school.
The photograph had been taken beside the sea.
They were teenagers.
Young.
Careless.
Smiling as though the world had never taught them that happiness could become complicated.
Nari stared at it.
She remembered that night.
The shooting star.
The wishes they had made.
She had wished for him to succeed.
She had wished they would stay together forever.
She hadn't known that one day the entire world would know his name.
And she certainly hadn't imagined that one day loving him would make her afraid to leave her house.
Her phone vibrated again.
This time, it wasn't a news notification.
It was a message.
Unknown number.
Stay away from him.
Nari stared at it.
Another message arrived.
You're ruining his career.
Then another.
If you love him, disappear.
Her throat tightened.
She put the phone down.
A few seconds later, it vibrated again.
She didn't look.