A K-Pop Romance
별빛 · Byeol-bit
Ten days in Seoul. Eight years of unfinished business. One idol who was hers before the world knew his name.
And a secret that could destroy them both.
The Story
When Nicole Miller wins an all-expenses-paid trip to AllNote88 in Seoul, the last thing she expects is to come face to face with the boy who broke her heart at seventeen, now the man who’s captain of one of Korea's biggest idol groups.
With only ten days, an unspoken agreement forbidding relationships, an obsessive fan willing to kill to protect her idol, and eight years of unfinished business between them, Niki has to decide whether loving Joon is worth becoming the secret that could destroy them both.
This is a story about second chances and the courage it takes to reach for them, about grief, and survival, and learning to stand in spaces that weren't built for you, about a man who was adored by millions and truly known by almost no one — and the woman who knew him first.
Niki didn't fall in love with J1. She fell in love with Joon — the boy on the back porch with a guitar who made HER feel like the most important person in the world.
“Every idol romance has a fan who falls for an idol. Starlight has a woman who already knew him before he was one.”
What to Expect
A Taste of Starlight
We walked out to screaming. Phones in the air, lights flashing, staff guiding us to our seats. I waved, smiled, sat down, picked up my pen, and slipped into J1. Person after person sat in front of me and I couldn't help but think how much they saved and spent to sit with us for minutes. Every one of them mattered, and I was grateful for our Echoes, but… this was probably the thing that left me most hollow. I asked how they were, where they were from, if they enjoyed the show. They told me how much my music meant to them. They quoted interviews back at me and knew things about me I'd forgotten I ever said. I nodded. Smiled. Signed. Routine. Mundane. Normal. Until…
“Hi, Joon.”
That voice. I don't know what hit me first. Remembering that voice, or the feeling that came with it. The sun on my face. A warm hand in mine. The sound of her laughing at something stupid I'd said. I looked up, and there she was. There she was. The person I had been thinking about since I'd left Canada. Nicole Miller. My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I couldn't breathe. What was she doing here? Did she know I would be here? Did she know about IKI? Did she remember?
I had left. I told her… not to call me. I'm a fucking idiot. A fucking idiot. Her brown eyes looked back at me and I felt everything at once. Regret. Shame. Relief. Panic. I had wanted to apologise for so long. I wanted to tell her I missed her. That being with her was the happiest time of my life. I dropped the pen, and my hand flew to my chest, as if to cover the tattoo under my shirt.
“Nicole,” was all I could get out.
She looked at me then like I had no right to say her name. I half expected her to slap me. Not that I didn't deserve it. Hell, I would have taken it. It was the least I could do. “What are you—”
“Looks like you made a name for yourself,” she said. Calm. Controlled. Shit. “I guess getting rid of distractions worked out for you.”
She remembered. Of course she remembered. I pressed the pen flat against the page, willing the tremor out of my fingers while the girl in front of Minjae laughed and the world continued on like it hadn't just split open. I wanted to reach for her. I wanted to pull her into me and say I didn't mean it, that I didn't mean any of it. I wanted to tell her that I was an idiot, and I'd made a mistake, and I was sorry, but there were cameras everywhere and fans lined up for hours. The guys beside me signing and smiling. Never once had I mentioned her to any of them. I'm such an idiot.
I'm an idiot and she… was beautiful. More beautiful than I ever let myself imagine she'd become. Her hair was longer. Soft, highlighted curls framed her face. Her cheeks were fuller, she had curves now. I could tell even under the hoody she wore. She wasn't the girl sitting cross-legged in the park with me. She was a woman and a beautiful one at that, and… and I'd let that go.
Meet and Greet — Starlight — Joon's POV — D.M. Lewry
The Journey of Starlight
Download the first four (1st Draft) chapters of Starlight for free. No strings, no credit card — just Niki, Joon, and eight years of unfinished business waiting to pull you in.
Find Your People
Two people who loved each other once, years of distance, and the question of whether the past can become the future. You'll feel that same ache here.
Stolen time, a love that shouldn't exist in the world it's born in, and a reunion that earns every tear it asks for. Starlight lives in that same emotional register.
A Black female protagonist who is fully herself — complicated, funny, searching — in a love story that sees her completely. Niki carries that same energy.
An idol male lead who is famous everywhere and known nowhere. The gap between the person the world sees and the person underneath. That tension is at the heart of Starlight.
Two people with every reason to keep their distance and not enough willpower to stay there. The push and pull, the banter, the moment it all breaks open.
A villain with a real worldview, not just a motive. Dark escalation and consequences that land. Hae-min is no different — she believes everything she does.
This Book Is For You
You've never seen your world portrayed this honestly in fiction. The festival, the fandom, the industry, the cost of loving someone the machine owns — all of it is here.
Dual POV. Second chance. A ticking clock. A separation that hurts and a reunion that heals. Everything you came for, with emotional depth that will stay with you.
The rain scene. The disguise meet-cute. The public declaration. The grand gesture. All the beats you love, grounded in something more honest than most dramas dare to be.
Niki navigates spaces not built for her, a man who sees her clearly when the world doesn't, and a love story where she is never the side character. This was written for you.
If you want your romance to also make you think — about grief, identity, who gets to be visible and who gets erased — Starlight gives you that alongside the love story.
Starlight will be published as an indie audiobook with a full cast. Casting is open now. Join the list to be first to know when it's ready.
The One Thing That Makes Starlight Unmistakable
Every idol romance has a fan who falls for an idol.
Starlight has a woman who already knew him before he was one.
She did not fall in love with J1. She fell in love with Joon — the boy on the back porch with a guitar who made her feel like the most important person in any room. The whole story is about whether that Joon, the real one underneath everything the industry built, still exists.
He does.
