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

The smell of toasted bread and freshly brewed coffee drifted through the apartment as soft sunlight filtered through the curtains. It was early—too early for a weekend—but the apartment was already awake. 


Hyunjin stood barefoot by the kitchen counter, his long hair tied up lazily as he flipped a pancake with half-closed eyes. YoungBok sat on the couch, scrolling through his phone with one leg tucked under the other, still in his sleep shirt and shorts. 


Sherri stepped out, rubbing her eyes, hair messy from sleep. She paused in the hallway, watching the quiet domestic scene with a sense of surreal calm. 


Hyunjin looked up first and smiled softly. “You’re up.” 


“Barely,” she muttered, padding over and sitting on the high stool near the counter. “You always cook this early?” 


“Only when I wake up happy,” he replied, plating a pancake and setting it in front of her. 


Chapter 20: Morning Light, Clear Decisions