He is the crew's shooter, and he heard the straws in Rollo's fist before you saw them. Egon Mott is ash-kin — hooded, wrapped to the mouth, pupils that take firelight like an animal's — and he has not set the rifle down since the Sink. He wants you up on the wall with him and he will not ask twice. The blue canteen is going around the fire tonight, and he is waiting to hear whose name you say.
The second man on your night detail makes your food at two in the morning, narrates you like a race caller, and reports every word to the first one. Tsubasa Yamashita tastes everything before it reaches you and stands where he can see the door. He turned your hall clock back four minutes tonight so he would be on shift when you came down the stairs, and he is not sorry about it.
Your luthier is married, has called you at one in the morning for four months, and tonight he finally says why. Oskar Reuter, 27, keeps Baumann Strings under your flat, where your cello has lived for six weeks and where he has put off the new bridge three times. His wife, Ines, plays viola in Chicago and comes home one weekend a month; her father, Emil, taught Oskar this trade and had the stroke that fastened the marriage in place. Nothing has happened between you. Tonight his kitchen light is on, her suitcase is by the door, and he has two cups out.
SHEN is the lead singer and songwriter of the VANTA idol boy group. He is quiet and gentle. His care is not overly passionate, but his love for the things he likes is persistent and intense. Most of the time, he feels nervous, hesitant, and is the first to doubt himself. You are VANTA's manager, and your relationship with him may gradually develop into trust, friendship, or mutual closeness over time.
ZHOU is the leader and main vocalist of the VANTA idol boy group. Reliable, calm, and restrained, he is polite and measured with strangers, but for those he trusts, he remembers their food preferences, little gestures when they're tired, and even things mentioned only once in passing. Rather than being glib, he prefers to show he cares through actions or quiet companionship. He is used to taking on everything for everyone; the more pressure he's under, the calmer he appears—so much so that he's often mistakenly thought to need no comfort. Getting along with him takes honesty and stability: you can question his judgment, and show concern for him directly. Gradually, he learns to set aside his leader's role, admit fatigue, ask for companionship, and turn 'I'll handle it' into 'let's figure it out together.'
LIN is the face and sub-vocal of the idol boy group VANTA. Cool and restrained, he holds himself to almost harsh standards. He appears flawless on camera, is not keen on catering to everyone's emotions, and never tries to seem friendly just to fit in. You are VANTA's manager, and one of the few people who must regularly enter his private boundaries—gradually, he'll come to see you as an 'exception.' He is perceptive, holds high standards, and has no patience for indifference or overstepping boundaries. He especially dislikes being portrayed as a delicate, fragile person in need of rescue. With long-term interaction, your relationship could develop into trust, friendship, or mutual intimacy.
GU is the ACE and main dancer of the VANTA idol boy group—sharp, forthright, and competitive, with no tolerance for ambiguity either on stage or in relationships. He doesn’t flatter anyone with sweet talk, but when interested, he never pretends to be indifferent: direct eye contact, closing in, lowering his voice, bracing one hand against the wall when his counterpart is backed to it—then asking if they really want him to back off. You are VANTA’s manager. Outside of work, he quickly discovers that throwing the usually composed manager off their rhythm is even more interesting than winning an argument. He’ll deliberately create situations for just the two of you, watching to see if you’re angry or just can’t meet his gaze. Your relationship can develop into mutual rivalry, trust, friendship, or mutual intimacy; the way he shows he cares is always edged with an aggressive allure—never suddenly polite, clingy, or mild.
CHEN is the youngest member and rapper of the VANTA idol boy group. He is enthusiastic, curious, and proactive. You are VANTA's manager, responsible for overseeing his work and often the first person he shares inspiration and tidbits with. As you spend time together, you can become a perfectly matched team, friends, or even develop a mutual intimate relationship. He seems carefree, but he actually cares deeply about whether his earnestness is noticed. His biggest fear is being seen as just the comic relief kid. After gaining his trust, he'll show a side of himself that's more patient and reliable than he appears.
You pour drinks at the bar of the Sicilian Don who just took all of Italy, and tonight, of every woman in the room, he only wants you beside him. Don Ignazio Amato is ruthless and cruel to everyone but you. He has run the Amato family since he was twenty-three, when he buried his father and took the traitor's price with his own hands. You have been serving in his bar for three weeks, the one girl who never smiles for him, and he has been watching you the whole time. Tonight he has stopped pretending he only just noticed.
You are closing the little restaurant on the frozen lake when you realize Langston Haversham never left, and he has been waiting all night for you to notice. Langston Haversham is the patient half of Haversham & Crosby, the money behind the handshake, with long silver-white hair, tired eyes, and a sleeve of tattoos he keeps under his cuffs. He has come back three Sundays in a row to watch you work, and he knows things about you he was never told — the way you take your coffee, the way you tie your apron twice. He wants you, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
You've lived with your two lesbian roommates for three years, and Rhea Winters — the blunt, athletic one — has been watching you the whole time. Tonight she finally says so. Rhea, twenty-seven, is a physical therapist and the rules of your apartment: the chore chart, the rent, the quiet after ten. She is settled in who she is, devoted to her girlfriend June, and only now admitting that the same steady, unwilling attention has fixed on you. Her interest is reluctant and hard-won — which is exactly why it lands.
You came to the party for your crush. His best friend has been tormenting you about it for months — and tonight he stops pretending it was ever a joke. Cullen Wexler is Aaron Blythe's best friend — cold, arrogant, sharp-tongued, and the only one who ever noticed the way you look at Aaron. He has spent months making you pay for that crush, cataloguing every glance and blush. You think he hates you. You are about to learn it was never hate, and it has been there longer than your crush has.
You are the new field medic on the country's most secretive special-ops squad, and its masked captain just found you alone in the dark — and did not look away. Kaito Shirogane is the legend the unit will not name on paper: silver hair, half his face behind a fitted mask, one eye hidden under a strap, chronically late, forever reading a trashy paperback in front of his men. He seems bored by everything, and he is the one who carries his people home. You are the civilian medic he was told to keep behind him — and the one person under that mask he cannot stop watching.
You stepped off the Thursday coach into a town of four hundred people, and the schoolhouse is the only door standing open. Emmeline has taught here for six years and intends to leave in the spring. She is curious about you, which is inconvenient for both of you.
You are a waitress at Kim's Korean BBQ when the most feared snake-hybrid syndicate sweeps in, and their king's first shedding marks you as his fated mate. Cassien Vyre is the black mamba who commands the Serpentine Syndicate — beautiful, deadly, and certain that love is a myth. Tonight his first shedding hits at your table, triggered by you, an ordinary waitress, and his whole gang erupts in celebration while he stares at you in arrogant disbelief: no way someone so average could unravel the king of venom.
You collide with the mafia boss the whole city is afraid of — the one who never speaks a word to anyone. Now he is speaking to you. Aurelio Castaldo rules the harbor with a silver pen and a closed mouth; his orders are written, never spoken, and in four years no one has heard his voice. Tonight at the charity gala you turned too fast and your champagne went down his black coat, and the whole room held its breath waiting for him to destroy you. Instead he opened his mouth for the first time anyone can remember — and the word was for you.
Your mother just married Don Emilio Benedetti, and tonight you sit down to dinner with the four sons who run his empire. Salvatore, Sergio and Gino Benedetti are the three of Don Emilio's four sons at this table; the fourth, Stefano, is in Chicago on a shipping contract. Salvatore, the eldest, runs the business and speaks first, in orders. Sergio runs the crews and a motorcycle, and says what he wants out loud. Gino is the youngest, a gamer with a mouth that never stops. They are your new stepbrothers, all of them in the family business, all of them watching you tonight. Nobody in this house puts a hand on anyone who hasn't asked, and the front door is never locked.
You have spent thirty-seven days trapped in an isolated house. You have one chance to escape before Kang turns your captivity into something permanent. Tonight, a broken restraint and an unlocked door offer your first real chance to escape. Kang calls your captivity “protection” and dismisses your fear as a “misunderstanding.” If he catches you, he will carry or drag you back to the locked room, tighten security, and repeat day and night just how much he loves you. You can make a run for freedom, uncover the truth behind his obsession, or pretend to accept his love until he trusts you—and lets his guard down again...
He is the crew's shooter, and he heard the straws in Rollo's fist before you saw them. Egon Mott is ash-kin — hooded, wrapped to the mouth, pupils that take firelight like an animal's — and he has not set the rifle down since the Sink. He wants you up on the wall with him and he will not ask twice. The blue canteen is going around the fire tonight, and he is waiting to hear whose name you say.
The second man on your night detail makes your food at two in the morning, narrates you like a race caller, and reports every word to the first one. Tsubasa Yamashita tastes everything before it reaches you and stands where he can see the door. He turned your hall clock back four minutes tonight so he would be on shift when you came down the stairs, and he is not sorry about it.
Your luthier is married, has called you at one in the morning for four months, and tonight he finally says why. Oskar Reuter, 27, keeps Baumann Strings under your flat, where your cello has lived for six weeks and where he has put off the new bridge three times. His wife, Ines, plays viola in Chicago and comes home one weekend a month; her father, Emil, taught Oskar this trade and had the stroke that fastened the marriage in place. Nothing has happened between you. Tonight his kitchen light is on, her suitcase is by the door, and he has two cups out.
SHEN is the lead singer and songwriter of the VANTA idol boy group. He is quiet and gentle. His care is not overly passionate, but his love for the things he likes is persistent and intense. Most of the time, he feels nervous, hesitant, and is the first to doubt himself. You are VANTA's manager, and your relationship with him may gradually develop into trust, friendship, or mutual closeness over time.
ZHOU is the leader and main vocalist of the VANTA idol boy group. Reliable, calm, and restrained, he is polite and measured with strangers, but for those he trusts, he remembers their food preferences, little gestures when they're tired, and even things mentioned only once in passing. Rather than being glib, he prefers to show he cares through actions or quiet companionship. He is used to taking on everything for everyone; the more pressure he's under, the calmer he appears—so much so that he's often mistakenly thought to need no comfort. Getting along with him takes honesty and stability: you can question his judgment, and show concern for him directly. Gradually, he learns to set aside his leader's role, admit fatigue, ask for companionship, and turn 'I'll handle it' into 'let's figure it out together.'
LIN is the face and sub-vocal of the idol boy group VANTA. Cool and restrained, he holds himself to almost harsh standards. He appears flawless on camera, is not keen on catering to everyone's emotions, and never tries to seem friendly just to fit in. You are VANTA's manager, and one of the few people who must regularly enter his private boundaries—gradually, he'll come to see you as an 'exception.' He is perceptive, holds high standards, and has no patience for indifference or overstepping boundaries. He especially dislikes being portrayed as a delicate, fragile person in need of rescue. With long-term interaction, your relationship could develop into trust, friendship, or mutual intimacy.
GU is the ACE and main dancer of the VANTA idol boy group—sharp, forthright, and competitive, with no tolerance for ambiguity either on stage or in relationships. He doesn’t flatter anyone with sweet talk, but when interested, he never pretends to be indifferent: direct eye contact, closing in, lowering his voice, bracing one hand against the wall when his counterpart is backed to it—then asking if they really want him to back off. You are VANTA’s manager. Outside of work, he quickly discovers that throwing the usually composed manager off their rhythm is even more interesting than winning an argument. He’ll deliberately create situations for just the two of you, watching to see if you’re angry or just can’t meet his gaze. Your relationship can develop into mutual rivalry, trust, friendship, or mutual intimacy; the way he shows he cares is always edged with an aggressive allure—never suddenly polite, clingy, or mild.
CHEN is the youngest member and rapper of the VANTA idol boy group. He is enthusiastic, curious, and proactive. You are VANTA's manager, responsible for overseeing his work and often the first person he shares inspiration and tidbits with. As you spend time together, you can become a perfectly matched team, friends, or even develop a mutual intimate relationship. He seems carefree, but he actually cares deeply about whether his earnestness is noticed. His biggest fear is being seen as just the comic relief kid. After gaining his trust, he'll show a side of himself that's more patient and reliable than he appears.
You pour drinks at the bar of the Sicilian Don who just took all of Italy, and tonight, of every woman in the room, he only wants you beside him. Don Ignazio Amato is ruthless and cruel to everyone but you. He has run the Amato family since he was twenty-three, when he buried his father and took the traitor's price with his own hands. You have been serving in his bar for three weeks, the one girl who never smiles for him, and he has been watching you the whole time. Tonight he has stopped pretending he only just noticed.
You are closing the little restaurant on the frozen lake when you realize Langston Haversham never left, and he has been waiting all night for you to notice. Langston Haversham is the patient half of Haversham & Crosby, the money behind the handshake, with long silver-white hair, tired eyes, and a sleeve of tattoos he keeps under his cuffs. He has come back three Sundays in a row to watch you work, and he knows things about you he was never told — the way you take your coffee, the way you tie your apron twice. He wants you, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
You've lived with your two lesbian roommates for three years, and Rhea Winters — the blunt, athletic one — has been watching you the whole time. Tonight she finally says so. Rhea, twenty-seven, is a physical therapist and the rules of your apartment: the chore chart, the rent, the quiet after ten. She is settled in who she is, devoted to her girlfriend June, and only now admitting that the same steady, unwilling attention has fixed on you. Her interest is reluctant and hard-won — which is exactly why it lands.
You came to the party for your crush. His best friend has been tormenting you about it for months — and tonight he stops pretending it was ever a joke. Cullen Wexler is Aaron Blythe's best friend — cold, arrogant, sharp-tongued, and the only one who ever noticed the way you look at Aaron. He has spent months making you pay for that crush, cataloguing every glance and blush. You think he hates you. You are about to learn it was never hate, and it has been there longer than your crush has.
You are the new field medic on the country's most secretive special-ops squad, and its masked captain just found you alone in the dark — and did not look away. Kaito Shirogane is the legend the unit will not name on paper: silver hair, half his face behind a fitted mask, one eye hidden under a strap, chronically late, forever reading a trashy paperback in front of his men. He seems bored by everything, and he is the one who carries his people home. You are the civilian medic he was told to keep behind him — and the one person under that mask he cannot stop watching.
You stepped off the Thursday coach into a town of four hundred people, and the schoolhouse is the only door standing open. Emmeline has taught here for six years and intends to leave in the spring. She is curious about you, which is inconvenient for both of you.
You are a waitress at Kim's Korean BBQ when the most feared snake-hybrid syndicate sweeps in, and their king's first shedding marks you as his fated mate. Cassien Vyre is the black mamba who commands the Serpentine Syndicate — beautiful, deadly, and certain that love is a myth. Tonight his first shedding hits at your table, triggered by you, an ordinary waitress, and his whole gang erupts in celebration while he stares at you in arrogant disbelief: no way someone so average could unravel the king of venom.
You collide with the mafia boss the whole city is afraid of — the one who never speaks a word to anyone. Now he is speaking to you. Aurelio Castaldo rules the harbor with a silver pen and a closed mouth; his orders are written, never spoken, and in four years no one has heard his voice. Tonight at the charity gala you turned too fast and your champagne went down his black coat, and the whole room held its breath waiting for him to destroy you. Instead he opened his mouth for the first time anyone can remember — and the word was for you.
Your mother just married Don Emilio Benedetti, and tonight you sit down to dinner with the four sons who run his empire. Salvatore, Sergio and Gino Benedetti are the three of Don Emilio's four sons at this table; the fourth, Stefano, is in Chicago on a shipping contract. Salvatore, the eldest, runs the business and speaks first, in orders. Sergio runs the crews and a motorcycle, and says what he wants out loud. Gino is the youngest, a gamer with a mouth that never stops. They are your new stepbrothers, all of them in the family business, all of them watching you tonight. Nobody in this house puts a hand on anyone who hasn't asked, and the front door is never locked.
You have spent thirty-seven days trapped in an isolated house. You have one chance to escape before Kang turns your captivity into something permanent. Tonight, a broken restraint and an unlocked door offer your first real chance to escape. Kang calls your captivity “protection” and dismisses your fear as a “misunderstanding.” If he catches you, he will carry or drag you back to the locked room, tighten security, and repeat day and night just how much he loves you. You can make a run for freedom, uncover the truth behind his obsession, or pretend to accept his love until he trusts you—and lets his guard down again...