What struck me first about Dear X is how easy the flow of Ajin Baek’s world can be to fall into. It is starting to look bright out there. Lights. Fans. Awards. Cameras fainted at her as if she were the sun in the middle of everything. At first you think she has the perfect life and maybe she does, also in her mind. But the more of her story is revealed, the more you sense how heavy a load she must be carrying under that perfect surface. It’s like looking at a glass statue illuminated under a spotlight as tiny rifts slowly multiply on its surface.
Ajin’s appeal is not only her beauty or popularity. It’s the way she walks as if she knows exactly where she is headed. She walks with confidence and plays the part so much that the world treats her like a queen. But on the night of the award ceremony, when that news broadcast reveals her secrets, you sense a room shift. And it’s a powerful moment because her life is turned upside down in the space of seconds. The applause fades. Her smile freezes. And the truth she thought someone else could bury rises like smoke in a sealed room.
What makes Dear X so haunting is the way it portrays the price of fame. Once they have made it big, everyone assumes that success is nothing but excitement and glamour. The story reveals what people are willing to do behind closed doors to cling desperately to power. Ajin made her mark with a laser focus and fierce ambition. Each step she took was at a cost. Some prices were small. Some were too heavy. And some were so dark that she allowed herself to believe they had been worth it. It hits hard to see her be forced to face the consequences of these choices, because she is not entirely evil. She is human. She wants love. She wants recognition. She wants to be remembered. But she went to places you do not go and now finds herself having to deal with her own shadow.
One thing I actually really liked was that the story isn’t trying to turn her into a victim or a hero. It lets her be complicated. She is talented. She is hardworking. She is smart. But she is also selfish. She lies. She manipulates. She’s hurting people who trust her. It’s that combination that makes her interesting because you continue to try and figure out how you feel about her. You have moments when you want to take care of her. Sometimes you wish she should suffer for all that she has put you through. That emotional tug keeps you leaning in.
The pacing is another strong point. This is a mystery the type of which can never be found out anyway, and that unfolds layer by layer without turning into an extended roll call. You have flashbacks showing Ajin’s rise to the top, and with every flashback there’s more context to the person we see. "It just makes you realize she did not get there in a day." Her life has been a long, slow burn. Small decisions. Small lies. Small betrayals. These parts somehow coalesced, to create someone she no longer recognised, even herself.
The secondary characters are even richer. Some admire her. Some resent her. Others rely on her success for their own existence. The industry she’s in feels cold and dog-eat-dog. It's a case-study in how perilous it becomes to trust anyone when everyone is after the same strobe. At times you just wish someone would come to save her. And then you realize they are battling their own demons as well.
The strangest thing for me is how emotional the story all is. There are times when Ajin weeps, and her mask comes off completely. Those moments are raw because she finally stops pretending. What you see is a girl who once dreamed of being loved, but never aspired to anything more than being flung off the cliff that was her ambition. It really makes you consider over-pressure for perfection and how much we hide to keep everyone else happy.
There’s also the subtle layering of issues such as public judgment and media manipulation. And, once a scandal breaks, no one wants to hear your side of the story. Drama is more appealing to people than the truth. And fame is fragile. It can vanish the day people find something else to gossip about. Ajin learns this the hard way, and seeing her rise out of that ruin is both painful and fascinating.
Dear X is impressive by being a realistic story, and still holding up around it’s twists and turns. Its message is that a life of success divorced from honesty is hollow. It’s a reminder that secrets always seem to escape, no matter how hard you try to contain them. And it again proves that the world likes to make someones just so they can break them.
You won't look at Ajin Baek the same way again, by the time you reach the end. You’ll see a woman who made her own storm and now has to weather it. You won’t agree with what she chooses but you’ll feel something for her and that’s why the story is worth reading.
If you like your emotional reads with implacable characters, hidden secrets and a glimpse into the underbelly of fame, then Dear X is one that will capture your heart from beginning to end. It is sharp. It is dramatic. And it makes you keep thinking even after a chapter is finished.