**Sunshine's POV**
The Seoul Music Awards.
The arena was massive—a cathedral of light and sound that held twenty thousand people. Thousands of fans screaming. Cameras everywhere, red lights blinking like watching eyes. The air electric with anticipation, thick with perfume and excitement and the weight of everything that could go wrong.
I stood backstage in the staff section, hands pressed together, watching Kael on the monitor as he took his position for "Fracture."
The lights went down. The crowd roared. And then—
Music.
He moved like liquid fire across that stage. Every step precise. Every gesture intentional. The stage lights caught the silver threading in his black outfit, making him look almost otherworldly. Untouchable.
But I'd touched him. I knew the warmth of his skin. The gentleness in his hands. The way he laughed when I caught him off guard.
His voice poured through the speakers—raw and aching and beautiful. The cameras loved him. The crowd loved him.
I loved him.
The performance built to its climax. He hit the final note, holding it as the lights blazed around him, and the arena exploded.
I exhaled a breath I didn't know I'd been holding, tears streaming down my face.
"He killed it," Min-ah whispered beside me, gripping my arm.
"He always does."
Two hours later, the main awards began.
Kael sat in the artist section with the other nominees, composed and perfect in his tailored suit. Every time the camera panned to him, my heart did something stupid and desperate.
The host took the stage. "And now, for the most prestigious award of the evening—the Daesang Award for Artist of the Year."
My hands clenched in my lap.
They announced the nominees. Showed the clips. Kael's face remained neutral, but I could see the tension in his shoulders. The way his jaw was set.
"And the Daesang Award for Artist of the Year goes to..."
The arena held its breath. Twenty thousand people frozen in anticipation.
The envelope opened.
"KAEL DEVEREAUX!"
The world exploded.
I jumped up, screaming, tears already streaming down my face. Around me, staff members were cheering, grabbing each other, celebrating.
On screen, Kael stood slowly, as if in a dream. He looked stunned. Genuinely shocked. He bowed to the artists around him, accepted their congratulations, and made his way to the stage.
Director Han appeared beside me, tears in her eyes. "He deserves this," she said. "After everything—he deserves this."
I nodded, throat too tight to speak.
Kael stood at the microphone, trophy in hand, and for a moment he just... looked at it. Like he couldn't quite believe it was real.
Then he looked up.
"Thank you," he said, and his voice was steady but I could hear the emotion underneath. "This year has been... difficult. And incredible. I learned something important. I learned that it's okay to let people in. To trust. To ask for help when you're drowning. To be happy without apologizing for it."
His eyes scanned the crowd and found mine across the impossible distance of the arena. Just for a second. Just long enough for my breath to catch.
"To the people who didn't give up on me when I tried to push them away—thank you. To my team, my director, everyone who believed in me when I didn't believe in myself. This is for you."
He bowed. The crowd roared again. And I stood there crying like an idiot, so proud I thought my chest might burst.
**Kael's POV**
The after-party was at a rooftop venue overlooking Seoul—all glass and steel and city lights stretching to infinity.
Industry people everywhere. Champagne flowing. Congratulations I barely heard because my mind was elsewhere.
I needed to find Sunshine. I was ready to tell her everything about my past. Before this fragile, perfect thing between us shattered.
I spotted her on the balcony, alone, silhouetted against the city lights.
I made my way through the crowd, dodging well-wishers, and stepped outside.
She turned at the sound, and her smile nearly knocked me sideways.
"Congratulations, Daesang winner," she said softly.
"I meant what I said up there." I moved to stand beside her at the railing. "About letting people in."
"I know." Her voice was gentle. Understanding.
Our hands rested on the railing, inches apart. I moved mine closer. Her pinky finger hooked around mine—such a small touch, but it felt like everything. Like coming home. Like safety.
"After tonight," I said quietly, "we need to talk. Really talk.
her eyes went wide
"ok" she replied
"Kael!" Someone called from inside. "Press wants a statement!"
I sighed, frustrated. "I should—"
"Go." She squeezed my finger. "I'll be here."
I wanted to kiss her. Wanted to pull her close and never let go. Instead, I just squeezed back and headed inside.
Just a little longer. Then I'd tell her everything.
**Sunshine's POV**
I stayed on the balcony a few more minutes, breathing in the cool night air, trying to calm my racing heart.
The city sprawled below—millions of lights, millions of lives, and somewhere in all of it, a future I was trying not to be terrified of.
Then I heard voices from around the corner. Loud. Slurred. Drunk.
"Did you see Kael's speech? So emotional."
I should've walked away. Should've gone back inside.
"Yeah, he's really changed this year. Someone said he has a girlfriend now."
My feet froze.
"Really? Who would date Kael Devereaux? Poor girl. Doesn't she know?"
My heart started to pound.
"Know what?"
"About what happened when he was fifteen.
Doesn't she know his real name isn't even Kael?"
My heart started to pound.
"What do you mean?"
"He changed it. Used to go by his real name back in high school Kim Jae-won Before... you know. The incident."
It was like nine years ago. That kid who died at Seoul International Academy. Park Min-ho."
"Oh my God, I forgot about that! Wasn't he—wait, wasn't Kael the one who killed him?"
The world tilted sideways.
No.
No no no.
"I heard it was self-defense but they covered the whole thing up. His father paid everyone off. Money can buy anything, right?"
"No way. Kael Devereaux killed someone? Like, actually killed someone?"
"And Kael just... got away with it. His dad made the whole thing disappear."
"Jesus. And people just forgot?"
"People don't forget. They just stop talking about it when enough money changes hands."
I couldn't breathe.
Couldn't move.
My hands were shaking so hard I had to grip the railing.
Park Min-ho.
Dead at fifteen.
The article I'd found in his father's study. The scrubbed internet search results. The way his face changed whenever I got close to asking.
Someone had died. A boy. A fifteen-year-old boy.
And he'd never told me.
Months of falling in love. Months of trust and kisses and whispered promises. And underneath it all—this. A death. A cover-up. A secret so massive it had been buried by money and power.
My vision blurred. The city lights smeared into watercolor streaks.
I turned and ran..
**Kael's POV**
I was in the middle of answering a reporter's question about the award when I saw Sunshine rush past through the crowd.
Her face was dead white. Her eyes wild, unfocused. She moved like someone running from a fire.
Every instinct in my body screamed wrong.
"Excuse me," I said to the reporter, already moving. "I have to—excuse me."
I pushed through the crowd, ignoring the protests, the grabbing hands, the voices calling my name.
I caught up to her at the elevators.
"Sunshine—"
She spun around, and the look on her face stopped me cold.
Betrayal. Horror. Heartbreak.
Everything I'd feared, right there in her eyes.
"Is it true?" Her voice shook. Tears already streaming down her face. "Park Min-ho Did you—did you kill him?"
The world stopped.
The elevator. The party. The music. Everything went silent except for the sound of my heart breaking.
"Sunshine, let me explain—"
"Did you?!" She was shaking. "Answer me! Did you kill him?!"
There was no way out. No escape. Just the truth, ugly and unforgivable.
"Yes." The word ripped out of me like a confession. Like a death sentence. "But it wasn't—it's not what you think—"
"You killed someone." She stepped back like I'd struck her. Like I was dangerous. "You killed someone and you never told me."
"I tried—"
"You tried?!" Her voice broke into pieces. "You had months, Kael! Months! We said we loved each other and you couldn't tell me this?!"
"I was scared—"
"Scared?" She laughed, sharp and bitter.
Sunshine, please, just listen—"
The elevator dinged. Doors slid open.
She stepped inside.
"Don't," I said, reaching for her. "Please. Let me explain. It was self-defense, I was fifteen, he attacked me first—"
"Stay away from me." Her voice was ice. Absolute. Final. "I can't—I can't even look at you right now."
"Sunshine—"
The doors slid closed.
Her face disappeared.
And I was alone in a hallway full of people, staring at my reflection in the polished metal doors.
Three months.
That's all I got.
I'd known this would happen. I'd known from the beginning that this secret would destroy us.
I just didn't think it would hurt this much.
My phone buzzed in my hand.
I almost ignored it.
Then I saw the caller ID.
Private Medical – Dr. Lee.
My stomach dropped.
I answered immediately.
"Hello?"
"Mr. Kim." The nurse's voice was tight. Professional. Urgent. "Your father collapsed about ten minutes ago. He lost consciousness in his office. We're stabilizing him now."
Everything inside me went cold.
"What do you mean collapsed?" My voice didn't sound like mine. "Is he—"
"He's regained partial awareness, but his blood pressure spiked dangerously high.
The doctor believes it was stress-induced. You should come."
Stress.
Of course.
Tonight.
The award. The press. The whispers already starting to spread.
"I'm coming," I said.
The call ended.
For a moment, I just stood there.
Sunshine gone.
My father in a hospital bed.
And then—
Another call.
Director Han.
I closed my eyes before answering. "What now?"
Her voice was low. Controlled. Too controlled.
"We have a problem."
"Define problem."
"There's a journalist claiming they have documents from nine years ago. School records. A witness statement that wasn't included in the official report."
Ice slid down my spine.
"They're threatening to release everything by morning."
The hallway suddenly felt too small. Too bright. Too exposed.
"Who?"
"They won't say. They want a statement first. Or they go public."
My grip tightened on the phone. "It was ruled self-defense."
"Yes," she said quietly. "But headlines don't care about nuance. 'Daesang Winner Killed Classmate' is cleaner."
The world I'd built so carefully—the version of me people loved—started to feel like glass under pressure.
"One night," I said hoarsely. "I get one night."
Silence on the other end.
Then, softer: "Kael…"
"I'll handle it," I said. "Call legal. No statements yet."
I hung up before she could argue.
The rooftop doors opened behind me. Laughter spilled into the hallway. Flashing cameras. My name being called.
I looked down at the trophy still clutched in my hand.
Artist of the Year.
And by morning?
Maybe a murderer again.
Somewhere across the city, Sunshine was crying because of me.
Somewhere in a hospital bed, my father was unconscious.
And somewhere out there, someone was about to drag the worst night of my life back into the light.
The past wasn't buried.
It was coming.
And this time, it was going to take everything with it.
**END OF CHAPTER 12**