It was always Him

Rose Jackson has spent her entire life balancing identities. A Black girl from London with deep Korean roots, she’s learned how to exist between cultures without fully belonging to any of them. When she transfers to KISS — the Korean Independent School of Seoul, the prestigious school where her parents first fell in love, Rose hopes for nothing more than a quiet reset. New city. New school. No expectations.

But KISS is anything but quiet.

Fluent in five languages—English, Korean, French, Spanish, and Mandarin—Rose quickly stands out, not because she tries to, but because she refuses to shrink herself to fit in. She’s confident, observant, and unimpressed by status, something that instantly puts her at odds with Min Ho.

Min Ho is KISS royalty—sharp, stylish, emotionally closed-off, and used to being admired from afar. He’s already entangled in a complicated, on-again-off-again relationship with Madison, a girl who fits perfectly into the world he’s expected to stay in. Loving Madison feels familiar. Safe. Predictable.

Rose is none of those things.

Their first interactions are charged with tension—cutting remarks, lingering glances, conversations that feel far too personal, far too fast. Rose challenges Min Ho’s worldview, calling him out when he’s cruel, seeing him when he’s vulnerable, and refusing to treat him like the untouchable prince everyone else sees.

Slowly, without meaning to, Min Ho begins to fall.

What starts as curiosity turns into jealousy. What feels like harmless attention becomes something dangerous—especially when Madison notices. Caught between expectation and emotion, Min Ho must confront the truth about his relationship, his fears, and the kind of love he actually wants.

As secrets unravel, friendships strain, and feelings deepen, Rose and Min Ho are forced to face a question neither of them is ready to answer:

Do you choose what’s familiar…
or what feels real?

Because sometimes the love that changes you
is the one you never saw coming.