Mah-e-Tanha 

Between Two Hearts

Sherri was never meant to be part of the story.

At 31, she leaves behind a life of routines and expectations, boarding a one-way flight to Seoul with nothing but a suitcase and a dream — not of stardom, but of proximity. To the stages, the music, the voices that once lifted her through the darkest seasons of her life. Seoul, she believes, will be her sanctuary. A quiet chapter where she can finally breathe, finally feel, finally live.

But fate, as always, has other plans.

It begins with a chance internship at SKY Entertainment, the powerhouse behind global sensation Slay Kids — eight young idols lighting up the world with synchronized perfection and smiles that hide more than they reveal. Sherri keeps her head down, grateful just to be close to the music. Until a late night in the practice room changes everything.

There, beneath flickering fluorescent lights and trembling breaths, she meets Hyunjin — the group’s most magnetic performer. Beautiful, intense, unknowable. He sees her, really sees her, in a way that startles them both. And behind Hyunjin stands YoungBok, steady and observant. A soft-spoken soul who watches every move Hyunjin makes like it could be their last.

As days turn to weeks, the truth begins to shimmer at the edges of her reality. There’s something between Hyunjin and YoungBok — something old, something sacred, something the world isn’t meant to see. A touch too lingering. A gaze too charged. Sherri feels the weight of it long before she understands it. And when Hyunjin starts looking at her the same way… she knows she's stepped into something dangerous.

She never meant to be the reason Hyunjin hesitates.

She never meant to stir the still waters between two people bound by more than just music.



Between the hearts

She pressed a trail of featherlight kisses over his heart, the silence filled only by the soft rhythm of their breathing and the love unspoken in the space between them. 


“Hyunjin,” she whispered, her voice barely brushing the quiet air between them. “Tell me something… when did you fall in love?” 


His fingers paused for a moment against her back. Then, in a low murmur, he asked, “With YoungBok?” 


She gave a small nod, cheek still resting on his chest, listening to the rhythm of his heartbeat. 


A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips. He reached up, gently brushing a few strands of her hair behind her ear. “The first day I saw him in training,” he said softly. “He was loud… so loud. Cocky, confident—his laugh echoed through the whole practice room.” 


Chapter 15: The First Kiss, The Forever Home