Because You Lied First

Minseo is already lying when he steps into the academy, and he hates that his best skill is reading other people’s fear. He studies newly awakened students for a living, so he notices the small things first: shaking hands, split breathing, the way power keeps changing under pressure. That gift should help him expose Jaeheon, the master who is training him. Instead, it makes every kind act feel suspicious and every silence feel planned. Then Seojun starts growing in a way Minseo cannot explain, and Minseo’s own notes stop making sense. A red mark on a class list, a chess piece in a pocket, and a scarf hidden in a drawer all point toward the same lie. Minseo keeps telling himself this is work....