The search bar filled itself with suggestions before she could finish typing dramas, movies, interviews, and awards. She hesitated for a beat before clicking. And then she fell into one article after another. A List of articles was there in front of her. He was everywhere.
Film stills where he stood, brooding and breathtaking, every line of his body sculpted for the role he played. Red carpet pictures, fans crowding, flashing lights sparking like fireflies in the dark. News headlines that called him "The face of perfection." Lists of awards, golden trophies, medals, and honorary titles are all attached to his name.
Alina murmured to herself, a bitter laugh in her throat. "So famous… and yet…" Her eyes narrowed, scanning through the glossy pictures. "He doesn't even know how to show an emotion."
She kept searching. Page after page. Every tab became a new piece of the puzzle she didn't know she was assembling. There were fan-made videos, compilations of his most iconic lines, threads of people praising his "ability to breathe life into roles." A highlight reel of his awards.
And then she noticed something strange. In clip after clip, he wasn't there. At the award ceremonies, his name was called, the audience erupted, his face appeared on the screen, yet no Kai walked up to claim the trophy. Instead, someone else, a director, a producer, a co-star, would accept it on his behalf. Not once. Not twice. Again and again.
Alina blinked, sitting straighter. "That's… odd." What kind of actor, with his fame and achievements, never showed up? Not even once to accept an award, not even once to thank the people who made it happen?
The dim glow of her laptop reflected in her wide, restless eyes. The room was silent except for the faint hum of the ceiling fan and the occasional chirp of a night insect outside. There was no room for Alina to sleep.
She had spent hours digging through articles, blogs, fan pages, and interviews. Every line about Kai Arden was etched into her mind, now his awards, his dramas, his breathtaking action sequences. Every critic praised his "flawless emotional depth" on screen. But it wasn't the praises that unsettled her. It was the silence in between.
She clicked on yet another fan site, scrolling furiously, her lips pressing into a thin line. There were the usual glamorous event shots, promotional stills, and carefully curated red-carpet images. But when she typed Kai Arden's candid photos into the search bar, the results came up empty. This was another thing that made her a little shocked. Every kind of actor had unofficial photos, paparazzi shots of them on set, grabbing coffee, shopping, or just existing in public, but with Kai, there was nothing like that. No blurry cafe sightings, no candid street captures. It was as if he lived outside the reach of ordinary eyes, hidden away from the world when the cameras weren't rolling.
Not one blurry shot of him on the street. Not a single sneaky airport photo. Not even an accidental frame in someone else's selfie. It was like the man ceased to exist once the cameras stopped rolling.
Alina sat back, stunned. "That's… impossible."
She chewed her lip. "Either he's got Harry Potter's invisibility cloak, or the world has been hypnotized into ignoring him."
The thought made her laugh, but unease quickly swallowed the sound. No, something's off here. He's hiding. But why? Does he not look good when he does not wear makeup
Her jaw tightened. That sharp smirk of his replayed in her head.
"Oh, you think you're so clever, don't you?" she muttered, glaring at the laptop screen as if Kai himself were staring back at her. "You think you can just… disappear when you want, show up when you want. Well, guess you don't know who I am, so shall we play a little game then?''
Her pulse picked up, a dangerous mix of challenge and excitement sparking inside her. She snapped her laptop shut and sat cross-legged, her hands balled into fists on her knees. "You called me a dummy and a little girl? Just wait. Just watch what this little girl does."
Her eyes gleamed with mischief, the kind that usually got her in trouble. Something reckless, something wild bloomed inside her. "Something's going on inside my mind, Kai Arden. Something really crazy. And I… I'm going to enjoy it."
She hugged her pillow tight, giggling like a teenager planning a heist. "I can't wait for morning!"
When the first rays of dawn painted her curtains in soft orange, Alina was already awake, her eyes shining like someone who'd had ten cups of coffee. She sat up, stretched dramatically, and whispered, "Game day."
Maya's words echoed faintly in her head. Don't mix personal with professional. Focus on money. But Alina shoved the thought aside. This wasn't about money. This was about her pride, her curiosity, her heart thumping for answers she didn't yet understand.
By 6:30, she was out of bed, and the first thing she saw after coming out of the room was Maya curled up on the other end, asleep, her chest rising and falling with the kind of peace Alina rarely felt anymore. Alina pressed her lips together to keep quiet. She didn't want Maya to wake up and ask questions, not today, not when her plan was already burning through her veins like fire.
For a second, she just stood there, watching her friend's calm face. If she knew what I am about to do, she would never let me out of the door.
Alina tiptoped to the door, her heartbeat quickening with each silent step. She picked up her phone, shoved it into her pocket, and reached for the handle. With a slow, careful twist, she opened the door just enough to slip out. The morning air greeted her like a secret accomplice, cool and fresh against her face. She didn't breathe until she was outside, walking briskly down the lane as if the whole world was in on her secret.
By the time she reached her house, her chest was pounding, not from exhaustion but from excitement. She closed the door behind her. She rushed towards her wardrobe. She needed an outfit, not the casual one, not the floral tops and casual jeans that she wore every other day. Something different. After showering, she stood in front of her closet. She sifted through her clothes, rejecting anything too bright, too girly, too obvious. After thirty minutes of chaos, shirts tossed on the chair, jeans crumpled on the floor, she finally settled on the "spy kit."
Loose black joggers. An oversized hoodie she could pull over her head. White sneakers that wouldn't betray her with squeaky sounds. A small side purse slung across her chest, light enough to move quickly. And black mask covering her mouth and nose, paired with oversized reflective goggles that made her look like she'd stepped straight out of a wannabe K-drama spy comedy.
She grabbed the camera, Maya's prized possession, and tested it once, the shutter sound sharp and satisfying. Then she stood in front of her mirror, adjusting the goggles. For a moment, she didn't recognize herself. Her reflection looked… determined. Bold. A little ridiculous, sure, but also unstoppable.
Alina smirked. "Okay, maybe not Mission Impossible… but definitely Mission Alina-possible."
She slung the camera over her shoulder, gave her reflection a cheeky salute, and whispered, "I got you, Mr.Iceberg."
By 8:15 a.m., Alina was standing across the street from Kai's company. The world buzzed with morning energy: cars honking, workers hurrying, phones ringing. The tall glass building stood majestic, intimidating, like a castle guarding its king. Alina pulled her hood lower, adjusted her goggles, and clutched her camera like a sword.
"Okay," she breathed, her heart racing, "he usually comes around 8:30. Just act normal. Blend in. Totally casual. You're just… waiting for a bus. Yeah. That's it."
Her version of "casual" was anything but. She kept glancing around, shifting from one foot to the other, pretending to scroll through her phone while her eyes darted toward every approaching car. Each minute felt like an hour. Her stomach twisted with nerves, her palms clammy around the camera.
And then....A sleek black car pulled up. The door opened. Her breath caught. There he was.
Kai Arden. Tall, commanding, wrapped in a gray coat that flowed effortlessly with his stride. Black trousers, polished shoes, hair styled with maddening perfection. His face was a calm, unreadable expression since he was wearing a mask.
Alina froze, forgetting her plan for a moment. How… how does a man look like that at eight in the morning? She ducked behind a lamppost, fumbling to lift her camera. Her hands shook as she aimed the lens, then.
She lowered the camera slightly, her chest tightening. Is this really what I'm looking for? Or am I just trying to understand the silence behind his eyes?
For a second, guilt pricked her. But then she shook her head, gripping the camera tighter. "No. You don't get to hide, Kai," she whispered, determination flaring again. "At least not from me.even if I have to follow you till the end."
Her lips curving into a grin beneath the mask."You called me a dummy? A little girl? Just wait. This little girl is about to become your worst nightmare."
Alina stood frozen on the sidewalk, her heart torn between triumph and something...something she refused to name yet. Because for all her mischief, for all her fire, she wasn't just chasing anyone.
She was chasing him. It was Kai Arden.