Dreaming Alone | taekook ✔️

author's note + what's next

first things first
you should listen to the song i based this story of :) it's one i hold close to my heart

if you go to my bio, you'll find a link to my spotify. i have a playlist solely for this book if you wanna listen to it. it includes:
- that song up there ^ Dreaming Alone
- songs whose lyrics i used at the start of chapters
- songs that remind me of this story
- songs i listened to while i wrote this story

T H A N K Y O U
thank you for sticking around. i owe you a lot. like sometimes i find myself writing not because i want to write but because i was excited for you guys' comments. it really makes me smile sooo much. and y'all crack me up hella.
lemme know if you had a favorite part or favorite scene of this book. lemme know your thoughts. you know i love hearing them.

i wish i could put into words what this book means to me. last time i felt this way was when i finished writing my descendants duology. i'm literally on cloud nine.

DA is extremely personal to me. some characters i relate to more deeply than others.

tae— his personality is practically mine. we both have the tendency to blame ourselves for everything. seeing him overcome it makes me want to do better as well.

kook— our family situation is extremely similar. every time he neared the ocean i felt his fear in my bones and when he screamed it's not my fault out into the open i felt like i was screaming with him too. plus, we're both suckers for writing :]

i sprinkled smaller doses of myself into the others too.

yoongi— who was often times ashamed to play piano for anyone the way i sometimes feel ashamed to show people my writing. art and expression can be a scary thing sometimes lol

hobi— who made peace with the fact that he lost someone he once called a soulmate. i had one too. now we don't even talk, but i'm okay with it because when you lose you gain.

madeline— who liked keeping her friend group small because she doesn't trust strangers with bad first impressions. same girl.

jin— who believed protecting his brother meant hiding things from him. i have a little brother too. and i also have secrets i wouldn't be telling him until he's older.

jimin— yeah. i had a crush on a girl at camp once and she ended up dating my best friend for a couple months. no hard feelings, but i understood what jimin was going through.

carter— yes. even carter. i've loved someone before who ended up using me for attention. and it's hard not to be angry, not to fight back. but i've learnt that forgiving and letting go leaves so much less damage. don't be teenage carter please lmao.

so there. i just gave you a tour of my soul.

writing this book was heaven and hell at the same time. i almost gave up on it twice but look we made it. whoop whoop.

what's next?

no clue.

i'm still on the fence about that ghost au taekook book. 70% chance that it'll happen but i can't make any promises :)

i think i might spend the next few weeks editing my old books. my writing style has developed a lot since and i want to make them better— more me.

i'm also probably gonna edit this book into an original version. i'll change the names up and such. i'm trying to make writing a career. and this is a book i would love to be able to publish one day. that would be an absolute dream. i'm probably gonna put it in my other acc hardwiredhay but eh we'll see. i'm practically dead over there.

all i can say is stay tuned!
this is a journey i never want to end and i'm very happy to have met the people i've encountered in the making of this book. you know who you are. i love you loads.

- hay