Sunggyu let himself crash onto the couch the moment he was home. On days like this, he hated that his apartment was so big and empty. Living alone in a high-end apartment only made one feel good when there were house parties, but on any regular day it made its occupant feel extraordinarily lonely. The air felt heavier each second as he let the events run through his head again. 

While working on the novel in his favourite corner of his neighbourhood cafe in the morning, a reader happened to look over his shoulder and caught on that he was, in fact, the well known mysterious writer "Petals Falling in 60 Seconds". For months, Sunggyu's novels have swept the nation by storm. With his meticulous and sensitive style of writing and unique historical approach, his romances against the different historical backdrops were adored by boys and girls alike. Yet nobody has ever met Sunggyu as a writer. From his pseudonym to his writing style, both the industry and readers had simply assumed that "Petals Falling in 60 Seconds" was a female. Yes. A female, and probably in her 30s with 2 kids. Magazines even boldly assumed his identity and listed him in lists of most powerful female writers of the year. Netizens searched for his name, imagining the writer to be like a nice eomma telling them a new story with each new book published. 

People like to believe in things that fit their beliefs. Like the belief that girls should be caring, meticulous and sensitive, like the characters on Sunggyu's page. People also liked to believe in stereotypes. If your writing sounded experienced, then you should be older. 

Basically not a young year old male wearing a pink sweater on an autumn's day morning, typing away furiously in a cafe corner. 

The reader who took a picture of him didn't mean him any harm, to be honest. The young high school boy had simply uploaded a picture of his favourite author working on his next chapter to his sns, with the caption So this is who he is!. Yet within an hour the photo had gone viral, and K netizens were at it again. 

I knew it he was a male. 

OMG so gay no wonder he had a gay character in the previous one. 

Honestly, pink sweater...

I like his works, what's wrong?

Well, a man should think and speak like his age -.-

Ewww I'm never touching the books again. 

What if it's really a female and this is her editor?

More like ghostwriter you mean?

By lunch, Sunggyu's back was all over the internet with only two verdicts - either he's a ghostwriter writing for a despicable woman claiming his works for her own, or he is just being scolded and teased for being too feminine. Either way, this wasn't the best day for him. 

When he proudly entered the publisher's office with his newly finished book in his laptop, he was shocked to find the young man fuming. The publisher and him shared one thing in common - success at a young age. Lee Sungjong was a few years younger than Sunggyu was, yet before the publisher Sunggyu felt equally powerless. 

"DO.YOU.KNOW.WHAT.HAPPENED.AKSJFHKJSADFH-" The young publisher's big eyes only got bigger than they already were, staring straight at Sunggyu