THE TRUTH BEHIND OUR WALLSSome families hide their wounds. Others hide the truth.Chapter One: The Perfect FamilyThe first lie I ever believed was that my family was happy.I believed it because my mother smiled whenever visitors came to our house. I believed it because my father prayed loudly before dinner, thanking God for blessing him with a beautiful wife and three wonderful children. I believed it because our family photographs showed us standing together in matching clothes, smiling beneath expensive decorations.To everyone outside our house, we were the perfect family.My father, Kang Min-jae, owned several successful businesses in Seoul. My mother, Seo Hye-jin, was a graceful woman who rarely raised her voice. My older brother, Kang Ji-hoon, was handsome, intelligent, and destined to inherit everything my father had built.And then there was me.Kang Ha-eun.The daughter who was always told to be grateful.I was seventeen years old, and I had become an expert at noticing things nobody wanted to discuss.I noticed how my mother stopped smiling whenever my father's phone rang after midnight. I noticed how my brother sometimes returned home with red eyes and locked himself in his bedroom. I noticed that my father never allowed anyone to enter the study at the end of the upstairs corridor.Most importantly, I noticed that nobody in my family ever asked whether I was happy.Perhaps they assumed I was.I never complained about the expensive school I attended, the clothes my mother bought me, or the beautiful bedroom overlooking the garden. I never asked why my father sometimes disappeared for days or why my mother cried in the bathroom with the shower running.I had learned that questions made people uncomfortable.And uncomfortable people often became cruel.So I stayed quiet.Until the night everything changed.It was a Thursday evening in October when I discovered the photograph.I had returned from school early because our last lesson had been cancelled. Rain tapped against the windows as I entered the house, calling out for my mother.Nobody answered.I found her in the kitchen, speaking to someone on the phone."No," she whispered. "She must never find out."I stopped outside the doorway.My mother turned and saw me.Her face went pale."I have to go," she said quickly into the phone before ending the call."Who was that?" I asked."Nobody important."I looked at her.My mother had never been a good liar. Her fingers always moved when she was nervous, and at that moment, she was twisting the ring on her right hand."Ha-eun, why are you home so early?""Our teacher cancelled class.""Go upstairs and change your clothes. Dinner will be ready soon."She turned back to the counter.Conversation over.I wanted to ask what she had meant by she must never find out, but I knew better than to push her.Instead, I went upstairs.As I passed my father's study, I noticed that the door was slightly open.That was unusual.My father always locked it.I should have continued walking.I knew that.But something about the afternoon felt wrong, and I couldn't shake the feeling that the answer was somewhere behind that door.I pushed it open.The room smelled of old books and my father's expensive cologne. Files covered the desk, and a half-empty cup of coffee sat beside a silver picture frame.I approached the desk.The photograph showed my father standing beside a young woman I had never seen before. She held a baby wrapped in a white blanket.My father was smiling.Not his polite smile for business partners.Not the cold smile he gave reporters.It was a genuine smile.The kind I couldn't remember seeing on his face in years.I turned the photograph over.Three words were written on the back."Our little daughter."My fingers went numb.A daughter?I was his daughter.Ji-hoon was his son.Who was the baby?And who was the woman standing beside my father?I heard footsteps in the corridor.I quickly returned the photograph to its frame and stepped away from the desk.The door opened.My father stood there.For a moment, neither of us spoke.Then his eyes moved toward the picture frame."What are you doing in here?"His voice was quiet.Somehow, that frightened me more than shouting would have."I was looking for a book.""Get out.""Father, who is the woman in that photograph?"His expression changed.It was small, almost invisible, but I saw it.Fear.My father, the man who could silence a room full of businessmen with one sentence, looked afraid of a seventeen-year-old girl asking a simple question."Forget what you saw.""But—""Ha-eun."He stepped forward."Some things are better left alone."I stared at him, waiting for an explanation.He offered none.I left the study.That night, dinner was silent.My brother sat across from me, scrolling through his phone. My mother barely touched her food. My father spoke about a busi

THE GIRL WHO LEARNED TO STAND ALONEChapter One: The Girl Nobody NoticedAmara had always been the quiet girl in the room.At school, she sat near the window, watching other students laugh and talk as if the world had given them a happiness she could never understand. She smiled when someone spoke to her, answered questions when teachers called her name, and kept her problems hidden behind a face that rarely showed what she felt.Nobody knew how lonely she was.At home, things were not much better. Her mother worked from morning until night, trying to provide food and pay the bills. Her younger brothers depended on her, and there was rarely enough money for everything the family needed.Amara had dreams, too. She wanted to attend university, travel to places she had only seen in pictures, and build a life where her family would never have to worry about money again.But whenever she spoke about her dreams, reality seemed to laugh at her."Dreams don't put food on the table," one of her relatives once told her.Amara never forgot those words.That night, she sat beside her bedroom window with an old notebook on her lap. The electricity had gone out, and the only light came from the moon outside.She opened the notebook and wrote one sentence.One day, my life will be different.She stared at the words for a long time.She did not know how it would happen. She had no rich relatives, no important connections, and no one waiting to rescue her from her circumstances.All she had was a tired heart, a small dream, and the determination to keep going.For the first time, she made herself a promise.She would stop waiting for someone to notice her.She would start building a future for herself, one small step at a time.And even if the whole world ignored her, she would learn to believe in herself.

THE QUIET GIRL'S SURVIVALA story of strength, healing, and a brighter tomorrowCHAPTER ONEThe Girl Nobody NoticedPeople often mistook silence for weakness.They assumed that a girl who spoke softly had nothing worth saying, that someone who avoided eye contact had nothing to offer, and that a person who preferred being alone must be perfectly content with loneliness.They were wrong about Han Eun-seo.But Eun-seo had spent seventeen years learning that correcting people was exhausting.So she let them believe whatever they wanted.Every morning, she woke up at 5:10 a.m., folded her thin blanket, washed her face with cold water, and stood before the cracked mirror above the bathroom sink.She always looked at herself for a few seconds.Not because she admired what she saw, but because she needed to remind herself that she was still there.Still breathing.Still standing.Still trying."Today will be different," she whispered.She said it every morning.Some mornings, she believed it.Most mornings, she didn't.Her mother was already asleep when Eun-seo left their tiny apartment. The woman had returned from her night shift at a restaurant only a few hours earlier, and the dark circles beneath her eyes seemed permanent now.Eun-seo had left breakfast beside her mother's bed: two slices of bread and a cup of warm water.There was no milk.There had been no milk for three days.She slipped her schoolbag over her shoulder and quietly closed the door.Outside, Seoul was waking up.Buses groaned along wet roads. Shopkeepers raised metal shutters, delivery workers hurried through narrow streets, and students gathered at bus stops with expensive backpacks and perfectly pressed uniforms.Eun-seo walked past them with her head lowered.She wore a secondhand uniform that was slightly too large, shoes whose soles had begun to separate, and a coat that had belonged to her older cousin.Her classmates knew.They knew about the shoes.They knew that she sometimes skipped lunch.They knew that her mother worked long hours and that Eun-seo had never attended the expensive school trips they discussed so enthusiastically.And because they knew, they had decided that she was an easy target."Look, the ghost has arrived."The voice came from behind her as she entered the classroom.Eun-seo recognized it immediately.Choi Min-ji.Beautiful, popular, wealthy, and cruel in ways that adults rarely noticed.Min-ji sat near the window, surrounded by girls who laughed at nearly everything she said."Good morning," Eun-seo whispered.Min-ji tilted her head."What was that?""Good morning.""Why do you always talk like you're apologizing for being alive?"The girls laughed.Eun-seo stared at her desk.She had learned not to respond.Responding gave them entertainment.Crying gave them victory.Silence, at least, allowed her to preserve something that belonged to her.Her dignity.She sat down, opened her notebook, and pretended to study.But her hands were shaking.Not because she was frightened of Min-ji herself.She was frightened of how much she had begun to believe the things Min-ji said.That she was boring.That she was unwanted.That the world had no space for a girl like her.When the first bell rang, Eun-seo made herself a promise.She would finish school.She would find work.She would take her mother somewhere warm and beautiful, somewhere they could sleep without worrying about rent.And one day, she would look back on this classroom without feeling small.She didn't know how she would accomplish any of it.She only knew she couldn't give up.Because giving up was a luxury she could not afford.---CHAPTER TWOThe Empty LunchboxBy lunchtime, Eun-seo's stomach hurt.She had brought no food.Again.At home, her mother had counted the remaining money twice before leaving for work. Rent was due in four days, and the electricity bill had arrived that morning.There had been just enough money for transport and breakfast.Eun-seo had quietly chosen transport.She could endure hunger.She could not afford to miss school.She sat at the back of the library with a mathematics textbook open before her. Around her, students unwrapped sandwiches, shared snacks, and discussed weekend plans.She tried to concentrate on the page.Numbers were easier than people.Numbers followed rules.If you worked hard enough, you could often find the correct answer.People were different.People could smile at you in the morning and humiliate you in the afternoon.People could promise to help and disappear when you needed them.People could look directly at your pain and decide it was inconvenient."Eun-seo?"She looked up.A girl stood beside the table holding a lunchbox.Her name was Kim Da-eun, a quiet student who had transferred into their class two months earlier.Eun-seo had spoken to her only three times."Do you want some food?" Da-eun asked.Eun-seo imm

THE BODYGUARD'S FORBIDDEN LOVEA Korean BL NovelCHAPTER ONE: THE LETTERSeoul, South Korea — 11:48 PMThe rain had been falling for three hours when Yoon Ha-jun discovered the letter.It was hidden inside an old wooden box at the back of his mother's wardrobe, beneath photographs, expired documents, and a watch that had stopped working years ago.Ha-jun had been searching for his university identification card. He wasn't looking for family secrets.But then he noticed his name written on a white envelope.Not his full name.Just three words.For my son.The handwriting was unfamiliar, yet something about it made his fingers go cold.His father had died when Ha-jun was twelve. At least, that was what his mother had always told him. There had been no funeral he could remember, no photographs of his father's final days, and no explanation beyond the same sentence repeated whenever Ha-jun asked questions.Some things are better left in the past.He had learned to stop asking.Tonight, however, curiosity was stronger than obedience.He opened the envelope.Inside was a photograph of a man standing beside a black car. The man's face was partly obscured by shadows, but the expensive watch on his wrist was unmistakable.On the back of the photograph, someone had written a date and an address.Below it was a short message.If anything happens to me, don't trust the people who claim to protect you.Ha-jun read it twice.Then his phone rang.His mother."Ha-jun? Are you home?""Yes, Mum.""Lock the doors. Don't open them for anyone tonight."He sat straighter."Why? What's happening?"There was silence on the other end."Mum?""Did anyone contact you today?""No.""Did anyone give you anything?"Ha-jun looked at the letter in his hand.His mother seemed to sense his hesitation."Ha-jun, listen carefully. Whatever you find in that house, leave it alone. Do you understand?"Before he could respond, the call ended.He stared at his phone.For the first time in his life, he wondered whether his father's death had been a lie.Outside, a black car sat across the street.Its headlights were off.And someone inside was watching his apartment.---The following morning, Ha-jun walked into his university lecture hall carrying a coffee he hadn't touched.He had barely slept.Every time he closed his eyes, he remembered the photograph, the letter, and his mother's frightened voice.He was so distracted that he didn't notice the man sitting at the back of the room until the professor called his name."Yoon Ha-jun, are you listening?"Twenty students turned toward him."Yes, professor.""Then perhaps you can explain the question I just asked."Ha-jun looked at the board.His mind went completely blank.A few students laughed.He muttered an apology and sat down, his ears burning.His best friend, Park Min-jae, leaned toward him."You look terrible.""Thank you. You're a wonderful friend.""I'm serious. Did you stay awake watching dramas again?""Something like that."Min-jae followed his gaze toward the back of the lecture hall."Who's that?"Ha-jun turned.The man in the back row was wearing a black coat over a dark suit. He was tall, broad-shouldered, and completely uninterested in the lecture.His eyes were fixed on Ha-jun.The moment their gazes met, the stranger looked away.Ha-jun frowned."Maybe someone's older brother.""An older brother who looks like he's attending a funeral?""Min-jae.""What? I'm just saying."When the lecture ended, Ha-jun packed his things and hurried outside.The stranger was waiting near the entrance."Yoon Ha-jun?"Ha-jun stopped."Who are you?"The man held out a black identification card."Kwon Si-woo. I've been assigned to protect you."Ha-jun stared at him."Protect me from what?""That's what I'm trying to find out.""Is this a joke?""No.""Then call whoever assigned you. I don't need a bodyguard."Si-woo looked at him for several seconds."Your father's name was Yoon Tae-hyun."Ha-jun's expression changed."How do you know my father?""Because he saved my life."For the first time, the stranger's voice lost some of its coldness."And now, someone believes you have something that belongs to him."Ha-jun felt the blood drain from his face.The letter.The photograph.The address.He had told nobody about them.Nobody."Who sent you?" he whispered.Si-woo glanced toward the road.A black motorcycle had stopped across the street. Its rider wore a helmet and seemed to be watching them."Someone who wants you alive.""That isn't an answer.""It's the only one I can give you here."Si-woo opened the rear door of a waiting car."Get in."Ha-jun didn't move."You're not my father.""No.""You're not my brother.""No.""Then stop ordering me around!"For a moment, the air between them became completely still.Then Si-woo said quietly, "You're right. I don't have the right to order you arou

Chapter OneThe Boy in Front of the Black CarSeoul, South Korea — 7:42 PM"Hey, Seo-jun! Why don't you just admit that you like boys?"Laughter followed him down the school corridor.Han Seo-jun tightened his grip on the straps of his backpack and kept walking.He had learned that answering only made things worse."Are you ignoring us now?"A hand grabbed his shoulder, pulling him backward.Seo-jun stumbled."Please, just leave me alone," he whispered."What was that? Speak louder!""I'm sorry."Those two words had become his favourite way of surviving school.Sorry for being different.Sorry for taking up space.Sorry for existing in a world where people seemed to believe that being gay gave them permission to treat him like he was less than human.Finally, the boys grew bored and let him go.Seo-jun hurried out of the school gates before anyone could change their minds.The evening air was cold, and the sky above Seoul had turned a deep shade of purple. Streetlights flickered to life, illuminating the crowded pavement and the long line of cars crawling through traffic.He wanted to go home.He wanted to shower, eat something warm, and pretend that today had never happened.Most of all, he wanted one day when nobody laughed at him.His phone vibrated.A message from his class group chat appeared on the screen.Someone had posted another photograph of him, taken without his knowledge.The caption read:Our little princess is going home.The comments were already filling with laughing emojis.Seo-jun stopped walking.His throat tightened.He quickly locked his phone and shoved it into his pocket. He wouldn't cry here. Not where somebody might see him.He stepped off the pavement, intending to cross the narrow road toward the bus stop.He didn't see the black car turning the corner.He didn't hear the driver shout.All he heard was the sudden, violent sound of a horn.BEEEEEP!Seo-jun froze.Bright headlights flooded his vision.A black luxury sedan screeched to a halt barely a step away from him.For a moment, the entire world seemed to stop.Then the driver's door opened.A tall man stepped out.He wore a perfectly fitted black suit, a dark shirt, and a silver watch that caught the streetlight. His expression was unreadable, but something about his presence made the people nearby fall silent.He looked like a man who was accustomed to being obeyed.And he looked furious."Are you trying to get yourself killed?"Seo-jun stared at him, trembling."I—I'm sorry."The stranger's eyes narrowed."Do you always walk into the road without looking?""No.""Then why did you do it?"Seo-jun lowered his head.He couldn't explain that his mind had been somewhere else. He couldn't explain the messages, the laughter, or how tired he was of pretending that none of it hurt."I wasn't paying attention," he murmured.The man studied him for a moment.Seo-jun was noticeably shorter than him, with messy black hair falling over his forehead and a school uniform that looked slightly untidy after the day's ordeal.His hands were shaking.The stranger noticed.His anger didn't disappear, but his voice became quieter."Are you injured?"Seo-jun shook his head."No, sir.""Look at me when you're answering."Slowly, Seo-jun lifted his eyes.For the first time, their gazes met properly.The stranger had sharp features, dark eyes, and a small scar near his eyebrow. There was something intimidating about him that Seo-jun couldn't quite explain.He looked young enough to be in his twenties, but his eyes carried the coldness of someone who had seen too much."What's your name?" the man asked."Han Seo-jun.""How old are you?""Seventeen."Something changed in the man's expression when he heard the answer.He glanced toward the school gates, where a few students were watching the scene.One of them whispered something to another, and they burst into laughter.Seo-jun immediately looked down.The stranger followed his gaze."What are they laughing at?""Nothing.""That didn't look like nothing."Seo-jun said nothing.The man turned his attention back to him."Where are your parents?""My mother is at home.""Can she come and get you?"Seo-jun hesitated. He didn't want to cause trouble for anyone. He had already caused enough trouble simply by being himself, or so the people at school made him feel."I can go alone."The man stared at him for several seconds.Then he turned toward his driver."Get out."The driver immediately stepped away from the vehicle.The stranger opened the rear door and looked back at Seo-jun."I'll have someone take you home. You nearly ended up beneath my car, and I'm not leaving until I know you're safe."Seo-jun blinked."You don't have to do that.""I'm aware.""Then why—""Because I said so."The answer was so blunt that Seo-jun fell silent.The man reached into his jacket and produced a black business card.