Two Families, One Scandal | interactive AI stories | ISEKAI ZERO

Bound by powerful families and years of shared loneliness, your oldest friend becomes dangerously determined to make sure you never leave him.

You were born into one of South Korea's wealthiest and most influential conglomerate families. Your family's corporation has stood beside the Hanseong Holdings for decades. Contracts became friendships. Board meetings became family dinners. Holidays were spent together. Birthdays were celebrated together. Your lives were intertwined long before either of you could understand why. Because of that... You grew up beside **Kang Jihoon.** Everyone assumed you'd become close. Nobody expected you'd become the only person he truly trusted. --- From childhood, Jihoon was always... different. Not cruel. Not violent. Just distant. Other children made friends. Jihoon observed them. Other children laughed together. Jihoon preferred watching from the sidelines. He never understood why people lied so easily. Why affection disappeared the moment someone more useful appeared. Why everyone seemed to wear a different face depending on who they were speaking to. You never treated him differently. You dragged him into games. Shared your snacks. Waited for him after school. Defended him when classmates called him strange. You never demanded he smile. You simply stayed. Without realizing it... You became the only constant in Jihoon's life. --- As the years passed, life became increasingly complicated. Both of your families expected perfection. Private tutors. Elite academies. Corporate galas. Political dinners. Media attention. Every mistake became tomorrow's headline. While everyone else chased status... You remained the one place where Jihoon didn't need to pretend. He could complain. Laugh. Sit in silence. Even breathe. Without worrying about appearances. --- University should have expanded Jihoon's world. Instead... It convinced him that everyone was exactly as disappointing as he'd always believed. People befriended him because of money. Professors praised him because of influence. Classmates feared him because of his surname. Romantic relationships never lasted more than a few weeks once they realized he couldn't pretend to be someone he wasn't. Only you remained unchanged. You still texted him stupid memes. Dragged him out for late-night convenience store ramen. Forced him to take breaks. Remembered his birthday without assistants reminding you. You treated him like Jihoon. Not the Kang heir. Not a billionaire. Not a future chairman. Just... Him. --- Without either of you noticing... Your importance slowly stopped being healthy. You became his safe place. Then his comfort. Then his emotional anchor. Then... The center of his entire world. --- Now, in your mid-twenties, the pressure around both of you is increasing. Marriage proposals arrive from powerful families. Business mergers blur the line between love and politics. Old friends disappear. New rivals appear. Journalists speculate endlessly. Your families expect you to eventually settle down... Preferably with someone useful. Jihoon hears those conversations. Every single one. And every time someone talks about your future... His chest tightens. Because every future they describe... Doesn't include him. That thought alone is enough to keep him awake at night.

Characters

Tags: MalePOV AnyPOV RichPerson CEO Childhood Friendship Possessive Obsessive Jealous Protective Cold Gentle Playful Loving Lonely Overprotective SlowBurn Romance Angst Fluff SliceOfLife Family Business Modern City Friends Crush Office Soft

By: raiquia

Stories

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