Prologue
Ang stadium ay parang isang higanteng organismong humihinga—mainit, maingay, at punong-puno ng adrenaline.
In the middle of it all was Jace, the boy whose face was plastered on every billboard from EDSA to Tokyo.
He was the "Nation’s Heartthrob," but as he stood behind the heavy velvet curtains, he felt less like a star and more like a ghost.
Jace adjusted his in-ear monitors. He could hear the muffled screams of thousands calling his name, a rhythmic chant that usually made his heart soar. Pero ngayon? It felt like static.
"Just two more hours, Jace. Give them the smile they paid for," his manager whispered, patting his shoulder with a hand that felt more like a shackle than support.
He stepped into the spotlight, blinded by the 10,000 watts of artificial suns. He sang about love he hadn't felt and promises he couldn't keep. To him, the crowd was just a sea of glowing light sticks—until he saw her in the front row.
Mia was losing her voice. She wasn't just a fan; she was the girl who stayed up until 3:00 AM to trend his hashtags and saved every peso of her allowance for this VIP ticket.
Sa gitna ng libu-libong tao, she didn't feel like a stranger. She felt like she knew the exact shade of sadness in his eyes that the cameras always filtered out. Habang kumakanta si Jace ng isang ballad, nagtama ang paningin nila.
It wasn't the "fan service" stare na madalas niyang makita sa TikTok. It was a moment of pure, unscripted gravity.
“Para sa kanila, idol ka. Pero bakit sa paningin ko, mukha kang kailangang iligtas?" she whispered to herself, her voice drowned out by the bass.
The concert ended with a rain of confetti, gold and silver fluttering like dying stars.
Jace retreated to his dressing room, the silence afterwards deafening. He went to the window and looked down at the fans lingering by the exit, hoping for a glimpse of his car.
And there she was. Hindi siya sumisigaw. She was just standing there, holding a crumpled banner, looking up at the building not with obsession, but with empathy.
The Idol: Trapped in a world where everyone loved the image, but no one knew the man.
The Fan Girl: Living in a world where she knew the man, but was only supposed to love the image.
Sabi nila, parallel lines never meet. Pero sa mundong ito ng spotlight at anino, the lines were starting to blur. This wasn't a fairy tale; it was a high-stakes gamble where the prize was a heart and the cost was his career.
"Sana," Jace breathed, his forehead leaning against the cold glass, "sana nakikita mo rin ako... yung totoong ako."
