I'd climb every mountain And swim every ocean Just to be with you And fix what I've broken Oh, 'cause I need you to see That you are the reason
There goes my hand shaking And you are the reason My heart keeps bleeding I need you now
-You are the reason, Callum Scott
2022
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The thing about being in a relationship with Lee Haechan was that everyone knew about it. It was all over the newspapers, the media, the magazines. I often found my face and my name pasted on gossip articles and being a private person, I hated it. More often than not, I ended up reading the headlines, telling readers that maybe I was just a front—a cover because Haechan had to take over Lee Enterprises soon.
It was another one of those days and I sat in my apartment, eyeing the newspapers that come in the mail every morning. The thing is, the mail also came with a lot of subscribed magazines that I subscribed to years ago. I just didn't unsubscribe to them because as much as many things had changed—I was still a creature of habit and did read them every week.
I sighed, nodding to myself before I reached out to grab the magazine first. It was always good to choose the one that was hard to handle first and right when I opened up to the first page, my heart gave a pang.
"Lee Haechan dating? Summer fling spotted!" the headlines said and it showed a blurred-out photo of me and Haechan in a restaurant in Jeju. I closed my eyes, mentally preparing myself to read the rest of the article, the words painted out a story of how Haechan was to be married soon and he would go around dating "commoners".
Commoners.
I wasn't one to get hurt by malicious comments and Haechan brushed them off. My boyfriend was always very mentally strong and I admired him for that—Haechan telling me that people had nothing else better to do than talk. But it was natural to feel hurt, knowing everyone thought that he deserved better. The next article was about who Haechan was compatible with, my boyfriend being treated like one of those rich celebrities.
I decided to stop reading since it was bad for my mental health and I sat up, my phone ringing. I didn't have to answer it to know it was Haechan and I cleared my throat to try to sound as normal as possible, answering it just to hear him greet me.
"Sunshine," he said so endearingly that I smiled. It was a transition, Haechan calling me 102 to saying I was the light of his life and I always teased him for his theatrics. "I'm home from a meeting. Have you eaten?"
"Yeah," I answered, knowing I forgot to eat. It has only been a little bit over a year of me being with Haechan but even then, he picked up on the tiniest bit of details. He gave a disapproving grunt and I chuckled. "What?"
