Genre: Dark Romantasy • Enemies-to-Lovers • Master/Slave • Power Imbalance • Slow-Burn BL (explicit themes, violence, possessive behavior, power play) WARNING: (i forgot to do the math in the age gap) In the brutal Empire of Aetheris, magic is everything. Those born without power are branded NULL: worthless, hunted, condemned to slavery or death beneath the Bleeding Moon. Han Jisung is a Null. Nineteen, fragile, and heartbreakingly beautiful, he has spent his life collared and caged, waiting for the day someone finally breaks him completely. Lee Minho is the exception to every rule. The only Omniforge in history, he wields every element as a weapon and answers to no one. Ruthless, savage, and devastatingly cruel, they call him the Crown's Blade, the monster who burns cities for sport and collects pretty things only to watch them shatter. When Minho buys Jisung at a rain-soaked auction for an impossible price, the empire expects another tragic, short-lived toy. But something ancient wakes inside the powerless boy when Minho's star-forged collar snaps around his throat. Something that hungers. Something that might be strong enough to bring even the most dangerous man in Aetheris to his knees. In a citadel of eternal storms, where gentleness is a blade and cruelty tastes like devotion, master and slave begin a deadly game. Minho wants to own him. Jisung wants to survive him. Neither expected to need the other. A dark, twisted love story about broken boys, forbidden power, and the terrifying moment when a monster decides the only thing worth burning the world for... is keeping one fragile star alive.

❝ a little death ❞ minsung | stepbrothers | slow burn to hell make me feel like somebody else when you're touching me, touching me never felt so holy and ruined at the same time Lee Minho was fourteen when he sold his soul for a jar of strawberry jam and a smile he wasn't allowed to want. Han Jisung was twelve, loud, sticky-fingered, and wearing Minho's hoodie like it was made for him. He didn't know that one look turned his new step-brother into a walking graveyard of sins that hadn't happened yet. Eight years. Eight years of teeth and silence and "don't come in, I'm changing" and "stop stealing my fucking shirts, Jisung-ah." Eight years of Minho loving him so hard it felt like dying every single day, just a little. A little death by a thousand almosts. They share a house. They share a bathroom. They share parents, a last name, and a secret that would burn the whole thing down if it ever slipped out. This is not a love story. This is a confession. This is blasphemy in the shape of two boys who call each other "hyung" and "Sungie" while pretending their hands don't shake when they brush. Touch me like a prayer you're scared to say out loud. Ruin me slow. Make me yours in every way the world won't let us be. (And when we finally break, let it be quiet. Let it be sacred. Let it be the kind of death that feels like coming home.) ⛧ slow burn so slow it hurts ⛧ stepbrothers (yes, really) ⛧ no one dates anyone until chapter 20 (i'm not kidding) ⛧ strong language, religious guilt, and too many almost-kisses ⛧ inspired by "a little death" the neighbourhood you shouldn't want this. you're going to read it anyway. welcome to the sin. hope you brought holy water.

In the shadows of a ruthless empire, Han Jisung... the sheltered son of a dangerous mafia boss... lives trapped in a gilded cage. Lee Minho, the cold and loyal bodyguard assigned to protect him, hides a secret that could destroy them both: he's desperately, obsessively in love with the boy he's forbidden to touch. Forced to push Jisung away with cruel words and icy distance to keep him safe from his father's wrath, Minho suffers in silence while Jisung believes the man he aches for truly hates him. A slow-burn forbidden love filled with stolen glances, unspoken longing, heartbreaking sacrifices, and the agonizing question... how much pain can one heart take before it shatters... or finally fights back? "I was told to stay away from you to keep you safe... but every step I take from your side feels like dying. All I saw was you... and God help me, I still do." - Lee Minho [A Bit Inspired by All I Saw Was You By Johnny Huynh, Jessica Baio]

❝You're infuriating, you know that? But damn if the rebellion isn't seductive.❞

❝My world flipped the page and all my blank pages are screaming her name.❞

❝Everything is better in Busan.❞

❝Damn it, you're the kind of trouble I can't help but crave.❞

❝I fake it because I ache for you, and you don't even notice.❞

❝We're so young but we're on the road of ruin.❞

❝Forget the champagne, victory feels like you.❞