The weight of power, the chains of fate—both hung heavily on Lee Minho's shoulders. As the heir to one of the most feared mafia syndicates in the country, his existence was a delicate dance between dominance and destruction. At just eighteen, he had already witnessed more bloodshed than most see in a lifetime. His world was ruthless, unforgiving, a kingdom where mercy was weakness. And yet, when his gaze landed on her, something inside him wavered.

Her. The girl who did not belong. The scholarship student among heirs of politicians, CEOs, and crime lords. Yena had fought for her place at this elite academy, clawing her way through hardship with sheer resilience. She was poor—nothing more than an outsider in their gilded halls—but the fire in her eyes made her untouchable. Until now. Until Lee decided she was worth breaking the rules for.

She should have run the moment he spoke her name. He was danger dressed in silk, wickedness disguised as beauty. But some tragedies were inevitable. Some hearts, once stolen, were never returned. And when Lee Minho set his sights on something… he never let it go.

The storm outside had yet to break, but the tension in the empty library felt suffocating enough. Yena had stayed late, the soft glow of a desk lamp illuminating the pages of a worn-out textbook. Silence stretched between the towering bookshelves, swallowing her whole—until she felt it. A presence. A shift in the air.

Slowly, she lifted her gaze.

Lee Minho stood a few feet away, hands in his pockets, expression unreadable. He hadn't made a sound, yet somehow, he had always had a way of making his presence known.

She should look away. Pretend he wasn’t there. But the intensity of his stare rooted her in place, burning through every layer of defiance she could muster. And then, just when the quiet became unbearable, he spoke—low, deliberate, dangerous.

— " You are much smaller than I imagined. "