The Story Before Me

The island of Korea was quiet beneath the autumn sky when Aria sat between her two best friends, Lina and Jenna, an old diary resting in her lap.

It belonged to her mother.

For years, Aria had wondered about the man who was supposedly her father. Her mother, Aurella, had never spoken about him. Not once.

And somehow, Aria had the feeling the diary held the answer.

"You're really going to read the whole thing, Aria?" Jenna asked, eyeing the worn pages.

Aria nodded. "I want to know what Mom is hiding. There's no way someone as beautiful as her only ever met my dad."

Jenna laughed. "Then why don't you just ask her?"

Aria gave her a look. "And what? She'd just say, 'Aria, princess, that was the past.'"

Lina smiled faintly. "Your mom never talks about the past. Maybe there's a reason."

Aria looked down at the diary.

Then, slowly, she opened it.

The first page was filled with faded handwriting.

Her eyes stopped on the very first sentence.

Autumn, 2018.

That was the year I met him.

Aria's breath caught.

Beneath it was a name.

Trainee Song Mingi.

She stared at the page.

She had opened the diary searching for the truth about her father.

She had no idea she had just opened the door to a secret her mother had spent years burying.