Author's | PARK JIHOON

i.

I stretched my hands upward before replying to a comment my reader left.

achichude: hello, love! Thanks for reading my short story featuring PD101 hehe. I'm glad you loved it. More cheers to come for PD101, yay~

I read a few more comments. I smiled as I read the increasing number of votes my book got. It's a huge compliment for me because writing is my passion and someday I want to send inspiring messages globally through my writing. I suddenly felt sad that the story I was working on ended already. I wanted to write more so I was racking my brain for some spicy plot.

I smirked evilly at my laptop as soon as an idea came to my mind. I'm sure I'd be doing a lot of typing with this Macbaby.

I woke up because of my phone ringing directly by my ear. I shot up and answered the phone, "Ya! What's your problem, it's like 9 in the morning and it's freaking Saturday!"

"IDIOT! Haven't you seen the articles? I mean, no, don't search for them. DON'T even open any gadget until I get there. Alright?!," there was panic in Lily's voice.

"I'm your best friend, right? You trust me, right?," Lily asked, her breath starting to lose its own pace.

"Um, yes?," I answered, still confused what's gotten into her. "Then wait for me until I get there, okay? Also, turn off your phone as soon as I hang up. I'm on my way. I'm hanging up already, okay? Don't forget to turn off your phone!" And then I heard a straight sound from the other line.

Wow, and now I'm actually tempted to open the internet and see what's so shocking there. And god, she's so repetitive. She says the same thing again and again as if I can't process her words. Nevertheless, I love Lily and so I turned my phone off and waited for her to come.

She came stumbling and losing her sense of direction as soon as she entered my door. I looked at her with a blank face, "So what is the news?" I wasn't really interested. It might just be her on the news because she ran naked outside or whatever. That's probably it.

Lily asked me to breathe in and breathe out. She told me she was going to tell me something huge that it might affect my brain and I might go crazy or something.

I laughed at her, "What is this? My works are so famous that PD101 saw them already? And they want to see me? They want to direct a movie based on my book?" She only stared at me as a reply. Oh my.

I squinted my eyes at her, "Are you joking around right now?"

She cupped my face with both her hands and she was wearing a serious expression it was making me nervous. So did I predict it right? Is that what really happe—

"No, you're in serious trouble." She grabbed her phone and took a deep breath.

"I saw your new book with, apparently, a 'letter'," she told me. I furrowed my eyebrows. At first, I didn't know what she was talking about. But then I remembered posting the Prologue last night of the new book I wanted to work on. Or was it this morning that I posted it? I can't remember.

"So apparently, your works are something to look forward to. Because of your growing fanbase, more haters are coming in. Oh my god I don't even know how to tell you as you can see how I'm babbling about stuff that doesn't even make any sense. Oh god I'm—," I cut her off.

"Lily, please, you're making me more nervous. What's happening?"

"Your readers are so powerful they were able to spread a huge rumor about you being Jihoon's real ex," she wailed in front of me, "Oh my god, you don't even know him personally! Now people are posting rude comments about you and they're already speculating the truth. BY THEY, I mean the company Jihoon's on!," she screamed at my face while jumping.

"Even KOREABOO and ALLKPOP posted about it!," she shouted even more.

I hurriedly grabbed her phone from her and went straight to my new book. I reread what I posted just hours ago.

Jihoon-ah,
I've been crumpling pieces of paper already as I do not know how to start my letter. Perhaps an 'I love you' or an 'I miss you' would be great, but suddenly I remember you're not mine anymore.

Sorry for being a coward. Back then, and still now, I'm that girl who can't be reassured with a simple set of words. I want you to remember, you deserve to be loved by someone who can trust you with all their heart. And I'm not that person. I'm saying this now because I don't want you to feel that I broke up with you because you're someone not worth loving. You are, Jihoon, you really are. Heck, you deserve all the love in this world.

I just can't bear it, seeing you debut. I want you to reach your dreams and you'd probably be an actor, too, someday. But I can't and won't hold it in if I see you looking at other girls the way you're supposed to only look at me. I can't bear seeing you kiss anyone else other than me. It's just too hard, even if it's just acting.

I know, for these selfish reasons, I've hurt you. But if I keep on leaping forward with you, I'd probably hurt the two of us more. I want you to be happy. I want you to date other girls— better, prettier, smarter than me— while you can. I don't want to hold back your happiness. Again, I'm sorry. I don't know if I'm still entitled to speak of this phrase but... I love you, Jihoon.

I threw my head back in despair, "What the freaking freak of all freaks?! So aren't they aware that this thing is called a story and what I wrote is what's called a prologue?" I sighed heavily, "God, I can't even delete this thing because it's going to spark a bigger talk."

A notification popped up from Lily's phone. It was a new article from Koreaboo. I opened it and my eyes popped out of its sockets as soon as I saw the title of their latest article.

MAROO Entertainment speaks about the rumor regarding the famous writer from Wattpad
Last night, May 12, a well-known Wattpad author with the username achichude posted a mysterious letter for Park Jihoon. Achichude writes that she is the ex-girlfriend of the said Produce 101 Season 2 trainee, expressing the real reason behind their break up.
MAROO Entertainment was fast with their response regarding the alleged rumor. The company spoke to Park Jihoon about it and the trainee claims that the rumors are indeed true.

The next words were a blur to me. What is this? What's happening? What just— Lily stole her phone away from me as she noticed my reaction. She immediately read the article and said, "Heol... you've been a victim of a publicity stunt."

I washed my face with my hands. I looked at Lily, "Are these people dumb or am I just dreaming right now?"