First and foremost, thank you to all the readers who showered XOXO with so much love and support. This book would not be possible without you. 감사합니다.
To my editor, Carolina Ortiz, thank you for your gentle guidance and wonderful edits. ASAP is the book it is today because of you. To my agent, Patricia Nelson, this is our fifth book together! We’ve come such a long way—thank you for everything.
I was ecstatic when I found out I’d get to work with designer Jessie Gang and illustrator Zipcy again: thank you for the most beautiful, dreamy cover! You always hit it out of the ballpark.
To everyone working behind the scenes: copyeditor Jill Freshney, proofreader Genevieve Kim, production editors Mikayla Lawrence and Gweneth Morton, production managers Annabelle Sinoff and Nicole Moulaison, you give me so much confidence, and for that I will forever be grateful.
To the team at HarperTeen and Epic Reads, including Lisa Calcasola and Kelly Haberstroh, I’m so proud to have you on Team ASAP. And to my wonderful audiobook narrators, Greta Jung, a.k.a. Jenny from XOXO, and Joy Osmanski, a.k.a. Sori from ASAP—thank you for bringing my characters to life!
Special thanks to Nadia Kim for your invaluable insights and to Anissa from FairyLoot, whose dedication to and passion for books inspires me!
My Korean author friends grow every year—I treasure all of you: Kat Cho, Sarah Suk, Susan Lee, Grace K. Shim, Lyla Lee, Stephan Lee, and Ellen Oh. Thanks for all the laughs and real talk!
To the Tree chat, I honestly don’t know how I’d even write a novel without all of you: Akshaya Raman, a.k.a. ATEEZ’s #1 fan (special shout-out to Wooyoung); Katy Rose Pool, CRJ’s and Sufjan’s group chat representative; and Madeleine Colis and Erin Rose Kim, my favorite Swifties.
Thank you to my critique partners: Meg Kohlmann, Amanda Foody, Amanda Haas, Alexis Castellanos, Ashley Burdin, C. L. Herman, Mara Fitzgerald, Melody Simpson, Tara Sim, and Janella Angeles—you’re more than critique partners; you’re friends for life.
To all my friends, old and new, thank you: Karuna Riazi, Nafiza Azad, Lauren Hennessy, Ashley Kim, Michelle Kim, Kristin Dwyer, Adalyn Grace, Stephanie Willing, Candice Iloh, Devon Van Essen, Michelle Calero, Gaby Brabazon, Cynthia Mun, Cindy Pon, Judy I. Lin, Swati Teerdhala, Hannah Bahn, Veeda Bybee, and June CL Tan.
To the wonderful owners of the Writer’s Block, Drew and Scott—thank you for providing a home for the Las Vegas book-loving community!
To the foreign publishers of XOXO and ASAP—thank you for sharing my stories with readers all around the world! And to XOXO’s international fans, thank you! I’m honored to have such fantastic readers.
Thank you to all the bloggers and booklovers who’ve supported me and my stories; special shout-outs to Alexa from @alexalovesbooks, Lili from @utopia.state.of.mind, Cori from @coristoryreads, Michelle from @magicalreads7, and Tiffany from @readbytiffany.
To my very large extended family: I love you all so much!! Special shout-out to Rhys and Nora, our newest members <3
To Toro and Leila: I love you, mong mong!
And last, but never least, to my family, who have always given me the most strength: Mom and Dad, Camille, and Jason.