The Stand-In | KNJ 🔞 ✓

Afterword and Q&A

First and foremost, I want to say thank you so much to everyone who has been reading this story. Whether you found this story a long time ago and had come back to see its current, much upgraded, form, or if you had only stumbled into this story in the present.

This story meant a lot to me and for a long time, I've always had a wish that I could revisit it again and maybe fix all the mistakes and change a few things. Years have passed since I first wrote this story and I realised that my writing style has changed a lot. After writing for a long time, I think I've honed my skills enough to know that I've gone a long way and there are some things in the past that I wish I could change to show how much I've grown ever since. This is why when the idea to bring this story into Wattpad, I decided to take the opportunity to do just that, that I would improve this story to match with my current skills and style.

Perhaps most of you have noticed the changes and the upgrade, or maybe not LOL. But I hope that you got to enjoy this story regardless as much as I've enjoyed working on this one.

Since we're here, I'm also going to use this chance to answer some questions that have been asked quite often by readers.

How did you get the idea behind the story? What inspired you to write this?

There was a quote that I read once which said "Fiction reveals truths that reality obscures." During the time this story came to mind, I had witnessed a few people in my real life who were struggling with various problems in their marriage. One of which inspired me to write the story of OC's failed marriage, except that I wanted to write more about how my character managed to find and see what she has been missing in life while she was obscured with her marriage life that made her feel stuck with no escape.

Where did the title "The Stand-In" come from?

From the dictionary, I learned that 'stand in' means 'a person who stands in for another, especially in a performance; a substitute,' and I figured that would be perfect for Namjoon's role in the original part of the story where he was there to help OC with her frustration and need to find release. Not only is he there as a substitute for a lover that OC did not have, but also to substitute OC's other means of release that she had been using to please herself. This meaning was mentioned/brought up in Namjoon's dialogue the first time they slept together.

Have you always planned the story to have long chapters or to release it as a series/a book?

No, absolutely not LOL. Both when I first released it through Tumblr and AO3, and then later when I posted it as a part of my BTS one-shot collection, this story had always been planned as a one-shot fic which ended with a cliffhanger. Obviously, this led to a lot of questions and curiosity from readers, and after a year (around the time I celebrated its 1 year anniversary and 1k read count), I finally began continuing the story with tiny drabbles released on Tumblr. It was then when I finally began sharing the story on Inkitt.

How much does this story mean to you and what do you wish for readers to find through this?

As someone who had once been in an emotionally abusive relationship, I found writing this story quite cathartic, as I got the chance to give the main characters the ending that they deserve and what I wished for myself to gain in life. I personally hope that I can help someone like myself to find some sense of escapism by reading this story.

Will there be any more chapters for this story? Bonus scenes? Will OC ever reconnect with her family now that the babies are born?

I don't know, but maybe not. It has been a long time since I first wrote this piece, so I'm not sure if it's going to be relevant if I add something new now haha. I have to admit that I've pictured different scenarios in my head over the years of what could happen next, about her family, their future relationship, etc, but I never felt inspired enough to sit down and write them as continuing chapters. As of now, I'm just going to leave these characters with this happy ending and a promising future ahead of them and allow readers to interpret the story however they would like.

Thank you for reading the story! 

If you enjoyed this one, please leave kudos and likes and maybe drop some comments to let me know which part of the story that you loved the most!

Do you have any more questions about this story?

Feel free to drop them in the comment box below or send them to me through this form ( https://forms.gle/LcMKAY28xFjue2K79 ), and I'll respond to them either through replies or an audio commentary.

© All rights reserved. Tomoe Dia — Unauthorized use and/or duplication of these works, including reposting, translating and modification in any form, is strictly prohibited.