More Than Friends (he doesn't know)

Jang Sora has always been good at pretending she's okay.
She's eighteen, a top student, a jolly soul with bright eyes - the kind of girl everyone calls strong. But behind her brave smile is a world quietly falling apart. After losing both parents in a tragic accident, she was left with her seven-year-old brother, a comic store slowly going bankrupt, and an aunt and uncle who never wanted her in the first place.

Still, she wakes up each day, ties her hair, opens the shop, makes breakfast, studies, and smiles. Because she has to. Because Eumji needs her.

And because Sunoo is still there.

Kim Sunoo - her childhood best friend, her soft place to land.
They grew up in the same neighborhood, once inseparable kids chasing fireflies, before his family struck gold. Now, he lives in a house with marble floors, a politician father, and a celebrity mother who barely knows his favorite color. He's gentle, graceful, and quiet - with secrets of his own. Secrets like the trophies hidden under his bed, the love for dancing he hides behind locked doors, and a truth he told only Sora when they were eleven:

He's gay.

But Sora's secret is different.
It's the way her heart beats faster when he laughs.
The way her eyes search for him in crowded hallways.
The way she knows - no matter how much she wants to - she can never tell him she loves him.

Because he doesn't know.
Because he can't know.
Because if he did... maybe he'd leave too.

This is not a love story in the traditional sense.
It's a story about friendship, survival, and unspoken love.
About two souls growing up in the same world but living in entirely different ones.
And about the invisible line between "best friend" and "almost everything" - the one you never dare to cross.

Until life forces you to.