To the world, Jasmine Mei Hirai is elegance itself — a fashion icon, a social media star, the woman every brand desires.
But behind the flawless smile hides a soul bound by scars.
Her father, Hiro Hirai, built an empire on power and control… and Mei is just another pawn in his game.
When she defies him and shatters an arranged marriage, she’s banished — stripped of her title, her name, her home.
But exile becomes her freedom.
Seoul becomes her new beginning.
Here, she meets three men who will change everything.
Kai Yoon-seok, the cold-hearted CEO who sees love as weakness.
Every glance between them sparks war and fire.
“You think I hate you, Mei? I’m only fighting because I can’t stop wanting you.”
Choi Min-ho, her best friend, her safe place — the one who listens when no one else does.
“You don’t have to be strong all the time. Let me be your strength.”
Lee Asher Do-hyun, the charming perfectionist who hides heartbreak behind his calm smile.
“You taught me love without even trying.”
But in the glittering world of power, betrayal, and designer dreams, love comes at a cost.
Enemies move in shadows. Old wounds resurface. And the line between business and desire blurs dangerously.
In a city where ambition rules all, Mei must decide what matters most — her freedom, her career, or the love that might destroy her.
“Is love my weakness… or the only freedom I’ve ever wanted?”
Hi there, I just started reading Holding to You and the dual timeline hook immediately grabbed me, Yeon Joo starting her neurosurgery residency and idolizing the brilliant, fearless Dr. Lee Jong Suk in modern Seoul, only for a mysterious necklace to yank her straight into the Joseon era as the newest Sukbin to a sharp-tongued king who turns out to have his own royal physician wearing a very familiar face. The way her medical training carries over between both worlds, performing emergency CPR in a hospital corridor one chapter, then assisting an emergency C-section by candlelight with ancient instruments the next, gives the story such a fun, high-stakes blend of medical drama and historical fantasy. The scene I'd love to illustrate most is that first jarring transition, Yeon Joo sitting up in an ornate Joseon-era chamber still clutching her iced coffee, ponytail intact, modern scrubs completely out of place against the silk and ink-brush surroundings as a startled King Lee Yeong sits up across from her. There's such great visual comedy and disorientation in that clash of two worlds colliding in one small room. I'd also love to capture the tense operation scene in Princess Eun Hwa's chamber, Yeon Joo and Dr. Jong Suk working side by side in full modern surgical gear smuggled from his backpack, stethoscope and scalpel against a backdrop of hanbok, oil lamps, and ancient wooden beams. It's such a striking juxtaposition, cutting-edge medicine dropped into a candlelit historical setting, life hanging in the balance either way. I do manga style commission art, and stories blending modern medical drama with a fish-out-of-water historical romance are exactly the kind of stories I love bringing to life through illustration. Discord: emmamaxwell0713 Instagram: mirabellebrushes