Yes, the male lead should have the worst kind of past. There's another thread regarding this [url]https://www.mangaupdates.com/showtopic.php?tid=18156[/url]
But I don't need the inclusion of 'girl comforts guy or the romance. What I need is a helping friend or a rival by whose indirect/direct help the MC changes or...somehow softens. Like let's say the friend resemblesthe character of Draco Malfoy from the movie or Bakugou. Those kinda rivalry dudes.
Any genre is fine as long as there's the bad past and the two-male lead factors.
Thanks. 😀

Adekan
Banana Fish
Black Cat
Count Cain and its sequel, GodChild, maybe. It has a tragic ending, though.
Switch
Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicles - Not the main pair but the side pair, who still feature very prominently throughout the series.
Tactics
Sougiya Riddle, though in this case the one who has the dark past is the second lead and the one who "saves" him is the protagonist.

Thanks a lot. I seem to have read almost all. There's just adekan. Arigato for the recs 😀