Kim Seungmin

Title: "The Crumbling Stage" Kim Seungmin had always been the city's Golden Boy—Straight-A student, debate team captain, and the son of a politician whose face smiled down from every billboard. He wore his reputation like a suit of armor; always polite, always composed, always smiling for cameras and his parents' friends. Teachers trusted him, classmates envied him, and strangers whispered about his perfect future. But behind the shining image, Seungmin's world was falling apart. It started with a single headline—a news leak that shattered his family's reputation overnight. His father's campaign crumbled, reporters swarmed their home, and Seungmin watched classmates turn cold, teachers look away, and friends vanish into the background. Whispered accusations followed him everywhere he turned. School halls that once echoed with his laughter became hunting grounds for gossip and betrayal. At home, the tension was as thick as fog. His parents' voices, once full of warmth and ambition, now tangled in sharp arguments and slammed doors. He tried to hold his family together, masking every crack with a practiced smile. But the pressure was relentless, and every day felt like a balancing act on a collapsing stage. Y/N was the only one who saw through it all. She noticed the way his hands shook when he thought no one watched, the exhaustion written in his eyes, how he lingered in empty classrooms long after the bell. When gossip spread, she stood by his side, daring anyone to challenge her loyalty. She left notes in his locker—jokes, encouragements, reminders that he wasn't alone. Late at night, after the shouting faded, Seungmin found himself texting Y/N, confessing fears he could never say aloud. With her, he let the mask slip—sometimes angry, sometimes scared, sometimes just tired. For the first time in his life, he started to realize that surviving the storm might mean tearing down the walls he'd built, letting someone else see all the scars to help him start again.