mc's family was a family of scholars (the ancient kind), he was raised strictly by his father. his father married a new wife and she was originally quite okay to MC (not really caring, since she even gave a pricey bike for MC. who the hell gives a literal child sth expensive? predictably, some teenagers wanted to forcefully "borrow" mc's bike and hurt MC in the process). but after she gave birth to a son, she and mc's dad were so focused on their sickly son that MC was kind of neglected. MC often ran to ml's house because of this. once, MC didn't hold his baby brother properly and dropped him, making his stepmother furious and hate him. his father, who didn't quite love MC, also became colder to MC. financially, mc's needs were met, emotionally, he was like a lonely orphan who once in awhile had a frightening father yelling at him. ml's family, with a father who originally was a gangster, was the exact opposite of mc's suffocating family. they were cunning, the mother didn't hesitate beating her own sons, but they were also genuine, kind people. ML was also like this, he didn't talk much, cold, but he sincerely loved MC and wanted to give him everything. seeing mc's situation of not having a place for himself in his family, ML who was originally uninterested in business began to follow his father and brother to learn. he even put 5% of his brother's company's equity under mc's name after borrowing money from his parents. so when he gave it to MC, he said "would you like to pay off the debt with me?" lmao

they started dating secretly at the beginning of senior high, and everything blew up right before their second year's last semester (?). mc's father was furious and told ml's mother about it. after ml's mother knew he had already had s*x with MC, she slapped him hard too. I think... ml's mother made a wise decision. she asked ML not to contact MC at all until they finished college, let them live their own lives. she was worried this happened because her son only had MC as a friend his whole life, and he mistook this dependence as love. she also scolded him bloody for having underaged s*x. it was a wise decision, but I couldn't help tearing up a bit. ML chose to be transferred to another school because if he wasn't, then MC would be. ML gave MC his bank card that would be used to receive money from his brother's company and his own salary. MC successfully endured everything until he got accepted into college, and left his house. when he left, his father didn't realize until later that MC didn't ask for any tuition fees or living expenses. MC used the money in the card to pay for his tuition, and took part-time jobs for his living expenses. meanwhile ML seemed to take the separation harder and didn't do his entrance exam well, so he went to a college abroad while continuing to learn business from his brother.

on the very day MC got his graduation certificate, ML came to pick him up. it was only a little more than 1 chapter but I was so happy when they reunited?? lol this was probably because ml's mother asked them to prove themselves, let them meet new people, maybe fall in love with new people, that I got a bit heartbroken and anxious /head in hands/

they directly went to ml's house, MC was welcomed properly as ml's lover, and ML gave him a platinum ring, and they lived happily ever after SOBS.

as for mc's family? mc's father came to mc's college to see him, asking him whether he wouldn't go back this winter (MC hadn't been home for 3 years, damn), and MC said he wouldn't go back. he calmly told his father that he was gay and still liked ml, told him to act like he never had a son like him (mc), live well with his wife, and let his second son continue the family line. he was totally at peace at this time, he wasn't afraid of his father anymore, and just didn't care about this father who only ever hurt him. joke's on his father, though lollll his wife's company went bankrupt and his second son was almost expelled from school (elementary!!!). he had always berated MC for not teaching his younger brother, hope he understood this time that his second son was simply a complete brat, spoiled rotten by his parents.

he did have feelings for MC, but he was too traumatized by his father cheating on his mother with a guy. so he would never face his feelings properly or admit that he wasn't straight sighs