Set in the 1980s, Captain Lee Minho has spent years earning the town’s trust.

As the respected leader of an elite forest ranger unit, he’s the first to answer every emergency call, the first to organise search parties, and often the last to leave the woods when someone goes missing. Calm under pressure and unwavering in his duty, he’s the man people pray will be leading the search if they or someone they love ever disappears.

Only Minho knows the searches are pointless.

Because he’s the reason they vanished.

Hidden beneath the uniform of a devoted ranger is a man carrying a secret so unforgivable that no one would ever believe it. Every missing person, every dead end, every false trail begins with him.

Yet behind the walls of an old cabin tucked deep within the forest, Minho is something entirely different.

He’s a father.

Years ago, he took in a troubled teenager named Y/N, giving them a warm bed, home-cooked meals, quiet evenings by the fire, and the kind of unwavering love they’d never known. He taught them how to fish, how to track deer through fresh snow, how to recognise birds by their songs, and how to survive in the wilderness. To Y/N, Minho isn’t a monster hidden in the trees—he’s home. The one person who never gave up on them.

Y/N knows exactly who Minho is.

They know where he disappears to after nightfall. They know why he returns with mud on his boots and blood staining his sleeves. They know every search party is nothing more than another carefully orchestrated performance. But despite the horrifying truth, they also know the man who sat beside their bed through nightmares, patched up scraped knees, celebrated birthdays, and loved them when no one else would.

The world sees a monster hiding behind a ranger’s badge.

Y/N only sees their father.

Together, they protect a secret buried as deeply as the forest itself—one that could destroy everything they’ve built if it ever came to light.