The Exhausted Boy

For Hong, perfection is a mask. On the surface, he is the top student and the quiet, reliable friend. But behind the facade, he is drowning in a silence no one seems to hear, crumbling under the weight of expectations he can no longer meet.

When a series of cruel betrayals shatters his carefully constructed world, the fragile trust he placed in others becomes the source of his greatest pain. Left alone and invisible in the crowded school hallways, he feels himself slipping away, ready to be consumed by the darkness.

But in his lowest moment, the person who steps out of the shadows isn't a friend. It's his academic rival the sharp, arrogant, and relentlessly competitive boy who has only ever been his opponent. Instead of the usual scorn, he offers a strange and unexpected kindness that Hong doesn't know how to accept.

What do you do when the only person left to catch you is the one you always thought was trying to watch you fall?

Ranking:

#1 Nuthong