Hey, everyone! It's been a while. These past couple of months have been crazy, both in a good way and bad way.
I found a stray kitten on a rainy evening back in May and decided to take her in. She's adorable! As much as I love her, though, the decision to keep the kitten has also been stressful, mainly because she has an eye infection. She developed a corneal ulcer a few weeks back, which involved multiple vet visits and seeing an eye doctor. We're hoping she gets to keep the eye. She has an appointment later today with the eye doctor, so I'll keep you posted.
As a result, writing kind of took a back seat. I haven't been able to write as much as I wanted. I know there's no need to apologize, but you know me, I can't help but say I'm sorry anyway. Not sure when my next update will be, but I'll start buckling down and pushing more words out of my head soon!
I’ve been working on my Rumi/Jinu story, but I’ve also fallen deeply in love with ATEEZ, so that’s where most of my headspace has been these days, haha!
San is my bias, so imagine my shock and glee when I found out Abby’s design may have been inspired by him! Not sure if that’s official, but I can totally see the comparisons.
And after diving into the fandom, I also found adorable video clips of San and Wooyoung. I’m not one to ship real people, but there’s no denying the strong friendship and affection between them. The more videos I watch, the more I can’t help but feel like I’ve been unknowingly basing Abby and Romance off of these two (except I gave the dimples to Romance 😜)!
I mean, look at them!
Are you kidding me?!? 😍
I adore them, and I adore this group so much. I needed new music to fuel me for this next story, so ATEEZ fell onto my lap at the right time. If you haven’t listened to them, please do! Their music is amazing from beginning to current, but here are some of my favorite songs:
Pirate King
HALA HALA
Say My Name
Promise
Answer
Inception
Deja Vu
Crazy Form
BOUNCY
Blind
Work
Ice on My Teeth
Lemon Drop
In Your Fantasy
Adrenaline
NASA
On The Road (this is the song that officially made me an Atiny)
There are more songs I wanted to add, but the list would essentially be their entire discography, haha!
Anyway, this was a minor update to say I am currently working on the next part of the series. Stay tuned for more!
Chapter 7 of “Nothing's Better Than You” is now available on AO3!
Here are some notes to accompany the chapter:
🕰️ = Originally, I didn’t start this last chapter with a flashback. It went straight into the action, but I changed my mind and added a flashback instead. I thought it was important to highlight Abby’s propensity to react first and how that’s often intertwined with him following his heart. I also wanted to put emphasis on Rom’s necklace and establish the sort of relationship he had with Min-jae (Mystery) when he was a child.
😴 = In Romance’s dream, I initially only had Abby. The more I worked on it, the more I realized it felt incomplete without Mira, so I went back and rewrote some of it to include her because she’s just as important to Romance. The one thing I wish I could have done was figure out a way to feature Youra, probably in a different dream sequence. She’s mentioned here and there, but I would have loved to have given her some lines of dialogue. Unfortunately, I wasn’t sure how to fit it in.
(Placing a temporary “Read More” here to avoid spoiling anyone who hasn’t had a chance to read the chapter.)
📝 = Romance’s note and Abby reading it before finding out the truth were not part of my initial outline. Those things popped up later in the writing process. When I was switching stuff around, I thought to myself, “Wait, what if I put this note here? And what if I make Abby think he died?” I immediately felt like Monsieur D’Arque in Beauty and the Beast when he said, “Oh, that is despicable. I LOVE IT!” 😅
✍🏼 = One of my favorite things about writing is figuring out subtle connections to previous chapters. Sometimes, they go over my head, but other times, I catch them and run with them. When I settled on Romance writing a note to Abby, I had him write the note in the back of his notebook, but then I remembered Abby’s sketch. That felt more profound, so that was one of those connections I randomly figured out one day and immediately dropped everything to make the change.
👂= As much as I love drama, there had to be a reason why I put our beloved trio through this mess. The first lesson they learned together at the start of their relationship was communication. The second lesson I wanted them to learn was listening. Communication is key, but listening, especially in a relationship consisting of three people with different opinions and perspectives, is just as important.
⚡️= When I wrote Abby’s “Do you, though?” to Mira, it was written with Thor vibes from Thor: Ragnarok.
🌖 = Mira’s soul shooting “straight to the moon” was a tiny reference to the Artemis II mission. I was writing that part of the chapter during their fly-by, so naturally, it worked its way into the story.
👀 = Abby’s secret is finally revealed! It also introduces part of the premise for the next story in the series featuring Rumi and Jinu. I know the mystery surrounding Rumi’s parents is something fans have theorized and tackled in their own stories, so I’m excited to throw my own interpretation into the mix.
🧡 = Romance’s “A new day, a new beginning” is similar to a quote from Star Wars Rebels, “This is a new day. A new beginning.” Rebels is one of my favorite shows, so I’m happy I was able to insert a little reference to it.
💎 = The setting for the engagement scene kept bouncing back and forth between Abby’s sitting room and a few other locations before I finally settled on the glow caves, since it was a special place for all of them.
💍 = The “cat ears” part was literally a last-minute addition. As I was writing it, a Youtooz notification popped on my phone with the headline “Kitties are taking over!” It felt like a sign, so I stuck with it.
Speaking of the rings, here’s a rough sketch I drew of them:
Thanks so much for taking the time to read my little corner of the KPDH universe. It's been such a fun journey as someone who's still trying to find her way as a writer. I started re-reading the story yesterday and realized how much my writing has evolved since August 2025. I'm tempted to go back and beef up some of my initial descriptions, since they're looking pretty bare compared to my later chapters, but that's a project for another day. For now, I'm happy with it, and I hope you are too!
If you have any questions or curiosities, please feel free to submit an ask or leave a reply. I'm always happy to chat!
And fear not! Mira, Romance, and Abby will return (in Avengers: Doomsday, lol). A future sequel is in the works. I've already written some dialogue for it, but until then, please enjoy the next parts of the series when they become available.
I'll be taking a tiny break to recharge, but the Rumi/Jinu sequel will arrive in the next couple of months.
I stupidly got too excited and started doing the jacket art before I decided what I wanted his hair to look like so ignore how it’s very much not exactly the same style 🫠
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Summary: Time is ticking for Romance, but while he prepares for his final hour, Mira makes one last-ditch effort to save his life.
Notes: This is it! The final chapter. I know it's bittersweet, but once I get through the next two stories, I promise they'll come back in their own sequel. For now, I hope you enjoy. Thank you for sticking with me and my slow writing!
I was so ready to finish and publish this last chapter by today, but I woke up with vertigo (excessive dizziness) on Friday. It completely ruined my weekend plans. 😭
It’s Sunday morning, and after two whole days of my world spinning like crazy, I’m back to feeling myself again, so I’m going to finish this today, proofread it over the next couple of days, and hopefully have it published by Wednesday (April 29).
The next and last chapter of “Nothing’s Better Than You” is coming together very nicely! I’m really happy with it so far. Just bear with me a little longer as I get through the rest of it.
For those who’ve stuck with me this far, thank you so much for your support and patience. I can’t wait to share it when it’s done! 😍
Both Mystery and Baby are definitely dog and cat coded respectively 🐕 🐈. If they don't like you, they'll hiss, growl, scratch, bite, and they'll avoid you like the plague. But when they like/love you, they cling to you like magnets, follow you everywhere, and they're relentless cuddlers. Like, if you need to get up or move, then it's a you problem, not a them problem.
