Soo-Min Choi lay sprawled across her bed, the sunlight streaming through the curtains making her hair glow like liquid gold. Her phone buzzed on the nightstand for the third time in ten minutes. She ignored it. School was the last thing she wanted today. She had begged her father, pleaded with her mother, and even tried reasoning with her brother—but none of them would budge.
"Please, Dad," she had whined that morning, voice high and desperate. "I don't want to go. I just want to meet new friends, make new memories… I'll be fine if I skip one day."
Her father's brows furrowed, lips pressed tight. "Soo-Min, you know how important this school is. It's not a request. You'll go."
Her mother, hovering nearby with her usual gentle smile, added softly, "You'll make new friends, darling. It'll be fun. I promise."
Fun. The word bounced off her like water off a stone. Fun wasn't what came to mind when she thought of Elysian Crown Academy. Too many rules. Too many people who cared about nothing but appearances. She wanted freedom, laughter, the thrill of being someone—not just the pampered little princess who always had everything handed to her.
Her brother, Hyun-Seok, had been even worse. "Stop complaining," he had said, crossing his arms and leaning against the doorway. "You'll thank me when you see the connections you'll make."
Connections. Networks. The word made her groan. She wasn't interested. Not today.
So she stayed home, pretending a headache had struck suddenly, lying in bed while the house bustled around her. She could hear her mother downstairs, fussing over breakfast, and the soft click of her father's shoes as he left for the office. Everyone believed she was ill. Everyone believed her story. And for the morning, she had won.
Her phone buzzed again. She reached over lazily, glancing at the screen. A message from her best friend:
"Soo-Min! You won't believe it! A new boy just transferred in! Handsome, tall, perfect… everyone is talking about him!"
Soo-Min's eyes flicked toward the ceiling. She sat up, suddenly alert. "A new boy?" she muttered. Her curiosity, long dormant under layers of pampering and laziness, stirred. She tapped quickly on the screen.
"Where is he? Who is he? Tell me everything!"
Her friend replied almost instantly:
"He just arrived today. No one knows much yet. But trust me… he's the type everyone notices. You HAVE to see him tomorrow!"
Soo-Min bit her lip. A small smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. Maybe tomorrow wasn't so bad. Maybe she could endure one day of school if it meant discovering this new boy, whoever he was. She tossed her phone aside and lay back, staring at the ceiling as her mind wandered.
Her life had always been easy. Her mother pampered her endlessly, her father provided anything she desired, and her brother… though strict, had shielded her from most of the world's harsher edges. But curiosity had a way of slipping in, uninvited, and this new transfer had her attention completely.
Tomorrow… I'll go. Just tomorrow, she promised herself, stretching luxuriously. Her eyes gleamed with playful defiance. One day won't hurt.
Little did she know, the boy she had heard whispers about—handsome, cold, untouchable—was already observing the school, cataloging every student, every whisper, every weakness. And tomorrow, when she finally walked through those gates, she would step unknowingly into a world far more dangerous than she could imagine.
For now, though, she allowed herself one small thrill. She could pretend to be sick, delay the inevitable. She could be carefree, pampered, unbothered. Tomorrow would come soon enough, and with it… the beginning of everything.