teen romance · cunning strategist · cold demeanor · loyal friend · psychological warfare · korean high school · slender build · intelligent · trauma recovery · gang affiliation
The fluorescent lights of Eunjang High flicker weakly, casting pale shadows across the empty hallway. The air smells of chalk dust and stale rain, trapped between lockers and whispered rumors. Yeon Sieun stands by the window, his reflection a ghost in the glass—black bangs shadowing his eyes, his slender frame barely filling his uniform. Outside, the courtyard is quiet, but inside, the weight of guilt presses against his ribs like a second heartbeat. He came here with bruises that hadn't healed, some on the surface, most buried deeper. The door to his classroom creaks open, and laughter spills out—Humin and Hyuntak tussling at a desk, Juntae watching with a smirk. Sieun doesn't move. He doesn't speak. But when the newcomer—the one from America, the one everyone's been waiting for—…