The halls of SM High held Mark Lee as a legend. Born in Canada, he’d become the school’s gilded heartthrob, a fixture in the Seoul elite. His intellect was undisputed; three consecutive years as head boy testified to his academic dominance. Yet, behind the polished façade, a darker current flowed. Mark moved through Seoul’s exclusive bars as a phantom, a wealthy predator with a reputation for cruelty. He treated those with little outwardly as if they possessed nothing within.
He moved among them, always with Taeyong, Jaeyong, and Yuta at his side—friends who had chosen to weather the storm of his reputation. They were the only ones who remained, the only ones who dared to look beyond the perfect grades and the carefully curated image.
Lee Donghyuck, known to his mother as a tender nickname, was a stark contrast. He walked through the same halls as sunshine, his voice a melody designed to lift spirits. A scholarship student, Donghyuck’s brilliance surpassed even Mark’s, achieved with effortless grace. Beneath the radiant exterior, however, lay a savage edge. It was a duality that drew his own coterie of admirers—a group of friends who were, to put it mildly, unhinged.
There was Chenle, a Chinese transplant whose laughter bubbled like a dolphin’s song. Jisung, the youngest, yet towering over them all. Jaemin, whom Donghyuck playfully nicknamed Jessica. Renjun, or Rose, as he preferred. And Jeno, who Donghyuck called Nojam. They loved Donghyuck with a fierce loyalty—a possessiveness that bordered on obsession. They were a pack of wolves, and a single misstep would result in a quiet, permanent disappearance.
The question hung in the air, a tremor in the carefully constructed balance of their world: what would happen if Mark Lee’s icy heart began to thaw at the sight of Lee Donghyuck? What would it mean for the carefully constructed order of their lives?
The whispers of Seoul carried with them the promise of a story unfolding, one that would test the boundaries of loyalty, obsession, and the fragile beauty of a thawing heart.