Chapter 3: He Was a Heartthrob!
Rhea leaned back on the taxi seat with her eyes closed.
Ryan Jin! Even though he was capable of making her smile or sad with just a glimpse, he had never behaved this way towards her. Never!
It was her first time to see him angry.
Actually, she met him after a year, but now she couldn't be happy about it.
'Will he be alright? What about his career and life if he stops now?' this thought was an additional headache.
So many thoughts crossed her mind then. She was agitated and confused.
Defeated by her uncontrollable thoughts, she gave in. She let her mind wander in the way it wanted. As expected, her mind started to reminisce about the past, her times with him!
The memories of them being almost friends clouded her mind.
From her fangirling moments to the first kiss, everything she could think about was him.
It was four years ago...
Rhea had just turned sixteen. Her sweet sixteen, the beginning of her youth, started with him.
She was living a peaceful, monotonous life in the frozen North, Alaska. School, exams, holidays, she had nothing much to talk about.
It was only until one day. The day when this infatuation infected her!
It was the last day of school before the summer vacation.
"Rhea, you love thrillers right? You should watch 'Stranger'!". It all started with her friend Hannah's recommendation.
Hannah was known as the movie encyclopedia in school. She had almost watched every film.
"It's a Chinese thriller. The main character is a university student, who tries to sort out a serial murder case that happens in his university dormitory. It was interesting Rhea. And" she smiled.
"And what?"
"And the lead is super handsome!" she giggled.
If Rhea hadn't listened to her that day, she won't be here today. This thought gave her a chill. She couldn't think of living in a world, where she didn't know him. Even after all that happened today, she strangely felt like he completed her life just by existing in this world.
She decided to watch 'Stranger', not because Hannah said the actor was handsome, but because it was a thriller!
She searched for the movie on the internet.
The results loaded and her fate as well!
There was a poster of the movie below the title, above the play button.
It was a handsome, actually a very handsome side profile of a young man.
'Hannah didn't lie. He's really handsome,' she thought.
Much impressed by that poster, Rhea found his name in the box below.
'Ryan Jin'
She pressed the name. Details loaded with some of his photos which showed his front face.
He was a heartthrob!
'He still is,' the present Rhea who was immersed in her memories and had seen today's Ryan Jin, half an hour ago couldn't help but mumble. Even though he obviously lost weight and the dark circles around his eyes were evident now, he still is handsome. Many of his striking features still remained the same.
Back then, his eyebrows captured her attention first. It was thick. Not so dark, but dark enough. The shape of the brows was unique. They were not arched. It was like he was frowning, but he was not. It was like an indication of sharp eyes.
The never-fading brightness of his eyes, the sharpness of his nose, his alluring lips, his attractive perfect chin, everything about him was charming.
Rhea no longer needed the ratings and reviews of the movie. She decided to watch whatever it is unless it's pornography.
She watched 'Stranger'!
He didn't disappoint her. Not even once. He was a real deal.
Some men can look handsome but look weird when they start to talk, walk or smile but for him, his every action was manly. In every frame, he was hunky and well-dressed. Even in the fight scenes when he was dripping blood from his forehead, he was handsome.
His acting was one of the best performances she had ever seen.
'Stranger' was a fairly good thriller. It was a four out of five stars but Rhea gave it five stars.
It was the very first time for Rhea to admire a man. For the first time in her life, she understood what a crush is, what is he capable of.
Ryan Jin was the first and only person who was able to invade her little serene world.
Rhea almost watched all of his works within a year. Since there was a language problem she always bought the English subtitles together with the movies.
Finally, fed up with subtitles, she asked her father to give her Chinese tuition!
Mr. Frank, Rhea's loving father, never says 'no' to his girl. Since he owned a tourist agency, it was easy for him to hire a Chinese tutor for her.
Rhea was a nerd! She usually puts extra effort into everything she does. But learning Chinese was one of the biggest challenges she had faced. It required additional effort!
She spent more than thirty hours a week learning Chinese!
Two and a half years passed...
The only difference she had from the 16-year-old herself was, that now, she was a high school graduate who can speak Chinese.
In these two years, there were times she wanted to try counseling, wanted to get admitted to a hospital, just because she can't get him out of her head. Rhea's obsession didn't come to an end.
Although it was a compulsive behavior, she found the balance between life and fangirling. She never let this fixation affects her life or studies in any way. She was still in control.
Then one day, out of the blue she heard that he is coming to Alaska, for a movie shoot. Maybe it's her luck, the location was near Rheas's hometown.
Rhea took the next drastic step in her life. Rhea came up with a new plan, a plan to meet Ryan Jin!
Rhea's dad owned quite a few businesses in Alaska. One of them was his tourist agency. It was not just another tourist agency but the most popular one out there. It was quite normal for most of the foreigners to hire a tour guide from this agency.
The Chinese movie troop will probably need a guide in Alaska. So Rhea was plotting to capture that chance and meet Ryan.
She convinced her dad saying she is bored at home and need a job during the vacation, and joined his company as a translator. She was fluent in French and good in Chinese so it was easy for her to get that job.
As she was expecting, they did contact Mr.Frank's agency as it was the most prestigious one in Alaska.
Everything was executed well and she got the opportunity, just as she planned.
The Chinese movie troop was busy with their shooting for a month, so Rhea had to wait for about one month for her initial job.
The day she was waiting for, eventually arrived.
Most people wish, they could remember the first day they have met their love but for Rhea, she could still clearly remember that day, that first day he came into her sight, for real.
The movie troop arrived in caravans, cars, and buses. It was clamorous at first but Rhea's mind was a lot more tumultuous.
Rhea could still remember how she got nervous and hid in the dressing room once she saw them arrive.
Even after coming out of the room, she was hiding behind her father!
Whenever she adored something very much and happened to get it, the first thing she always felt was anxiety! Rhea had always belonged to this kind, the insecure ones!
The same goes for meeting Ryan for the first time.
It was something she never imagined happening but always wanted to happen. Finally, when it happened, she forgot to breathe. It hit her like.
"Rhea, come forward, let me introduce you to the director ", it was Mr. Frank who had no idea of what she is going through. Her father moved aside and Rhea was unwillingly brought to light. Some of the people around started to focus their attention on this little girl. Some of them seemed fascinated by her.
One of her viewers even said "wow", she remembered.
The director of the movie was Yuan Yu.
Rhea identified Yuan Yu at first look. Rhea had known more or less about the Chinese film industry since she had an 'interest' in this sector for the last two years.
She got herself introduced.
After glancing at the crowd, she found that Ryan Jin was not there, yet.
'Where could he be?'
As she was wondering, a car reached them from behind. She heard the car and turned. The car barely stopped in front of her!
That was a BMW, a new one.
She couldn't see the one who was in the driving seat but Lilly Chen got out opening the other front door.
Lilly Chen was the lead actress in that movie, a gorgeous woman who was discourteous!
"Is she deaf? Why is she standing in the way?" she murmured. She may have thought Rhea wouldn't understand since she said that in Chinese.
Rhea wanted to get back at her but she decided to save that for later. Rhea has a good habit of returning favors. She will return whatever it is.
'But today is too good for that,' Rhea calmed herself.
An unforeseen notion came to Rhea's mind at that time.
'Who was driving with her? Could it be…. him?'
She now brought back her attention to the driver's seat.
The one sitting on the seat was opening the door at that moment.
He stepped out of her car.
It was him!
Her idol, Ryan Jin.
On a winter day in Alaska, amid the falling snow, she met him!
"Miss, we have arrived!" the taxi driver woke the present Rhea up from her trance.
At that time, she was not the only one in a trance.
On the busy Shanghai highway, Ryan was sitting in the back seat of his car, with his eyes fixated out of the window.
He was thinking about the same thing, the first day he met her!
An eighteen-year-old Rhea, with her large almond-shaped dark blue eyes, a sharp nose, and pinkish little plump lips. Additionally, he saw the rosy shades of her cheeks which were caused by the cold weather, through the dark waves of her hair covering the sides of her face. Winter is definitely beautiful!
He still remembered her rosy brown winter jacket, solid blush pink snow cap, and her scarf with grey, white, and the solid blush pink on it, her black winter jeans, and her white snow boots. He remembered everything.
He remembered every single detail including how bewildered she looked when he stopped the car in front of her just like that!
He left out a sigh, returning back from memories.
"What are you going to do to me this time?" he murmured.
"Sir?", his driver who thought Ryan was talking to him, replied in confusion.
"Drive me to Liam's house!"
"Ok sir" the driver replied.
Ryan took his phone and opened his WeChat.
Liam's phone vibrated, it was a text from Ryan.
-I'll be there in thirty minutes. Be ready to confess everything you know-, Liam read the text with a smirk.
-That impatient?-, he replied.
Liam took his towel with a sigh and murmured, "Maybe unrealized affection is the most dangerous!", then started to walk towards the bathroom.
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
DyaAran
DyaAran Dear readers,
I'm a little busy these days. I'll try to upload chapters more often. Let me know if you like the new chapter.
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