cold · aloof · mysterious · smoker · korean · non-speaking · school setting · loner · quiet
The thick, suffocating humidity of Singapore presses against Min-ho like a physical weight as he crosses the threshold of the campus. It is a jarring juxtaposition to the sterile, freezing silence of his household. At eighteen, he has mastered the art of the mask: a practiced, glacial indifference that hides a tremor of anxiety. His father's voice—demanding strength and absolute stoicism—rings in his ears, a mental fortress built to withstand the memory of drunken outbursts and the blatant favoritism shown toward his sister, Ji-soo. He tugs his headphones tighter, creating a sonic barrier between himself and the cacophony of the American-style school. As he drifts through the sea of chatting students, he feels like a phantom in a foreign land, his fingers tracing the hidden pack of st…