I hug my knees, letting this new feeling of happiness wash over me. I don’t want it to take over me. I refuse to allow myself to enjoy it.

Ever since I woke up from my sleep last night, I have been walking on cloud nine.

Now that it’s starting to sink in, I realize I can’t enjoy this too much.

How long can YG let me sleep in that room? Am I going to be stuck in this type of situation forever? I bet not! I need to find my own place. Just because Yang CEO has provided accommodation, I am not supposed to just accept it without finding alternative solutions - solutions that are far more permanent and realistic.

I know I have enough money to rent an extremely cheap room. I need to find one and get my out of YG building.

I hand the receipt to the customer and she leaves me alone again with my thoughts.

Da Eun’s care for me last night reminds me greatly of my mother. My mother before she was involved in the nasty business that got her arrested. I watched crying in her room that night she got arrested. She was so self-absorbed that night. She left without even giving me a second glance.

I had deep unresolved feelings towards them, but the resentment starts to fade away as I observe the world around me in the past two months. As my anger subsided, I clearly see that I’ve never actually tried to find out what happened – let alone visit my parents in prison.

If they are as innocent as my father claimed, then they deserve sympathy from their children. I can’t imagine how much tougher they have it if they’re innocent and trapped in prison unfairly.

I take a bite out of a red bean bun.

It’s not even half an hour into my shift when I see a familiar figure walking outside the convenience store, wearing his usual cap. He might be familiar, but definitely not one I’m used to seeing around this area.

“Yang CEO!” I stand up, surprised.

“Youngmi,” he smiles, approaching me. How did he find me? I’ve never told him the address of where I worked. Seeing my expression, he explains, “I was about to go home when I saw you leave the building.”

“You followed me?” I ask, glancing outside. It doesn’t look like he drove in a car to get here. The more surprising thing is that I didn’t notice. How careless of me! I must have been so wrapped up in my bubble that I fail to notice a shady man trailing me! See, this is exactly why I need to get my feet back on the ground and off the clouds.

“Do you want to buy anything?” I offer lamely. I don’t exactly know what to do with him.

He goes into the aisles and browses through our products. He makes comments about the products that this store is selling, saying, “Oh, I didn’t know they sold these here,” or “Wow, this looks yummy.” I cringe in second hand embarrassment for him. I know he is trying to be polite, but really, he does not need to do that.

He places a basket full of items on my counter.

“CEO…you really don’t need to buy these,” I assure him. “It’s okay if you don’t get anything.”

“Don’t misunderstand! I actually need these,” he insists, taking out his wallet.

I scan the items for him.

“It’s a dangerous area, don’t you agree? I was even afraid to follow you at one point,” he admits.

“That’s why I’m always vigilant and dressed like this,” I point out, showing him my attempt at making myself looking manlier in the uniform.

“It’s still a bit worrying.”

“I’ve been doing this for five months already. I’m used to it.”

“You’re just a young girl,” he states and I notice his eyes glazing over.

We stay silent as I receive his cash and give him his change.

He snaps out of it and puts his attention on me, “I think of my daughter a lot when I see you.”

“I think about how I’d feel if my daughter was in the same position as you,” he continues sadly.

“Don’t worry, CEO,” I hear myself comforting him. “She’ll never have to go through this.” As much as I love it when people drown in misery beside me, it is way too much to hope for others to go through what I’ve been through; what Munhee is going through. I will never wish our lives on anyone.

He nods slowly. Then he goes and makes himself two cups of ramen.

“Come and eat with me,” he calls me over. “You wanted to discuss your pay, right?”

We have a proper discussion and I find myself fascinated as I ask him questions about his life as a CEO of a company as huge as YG.

“You’re such a curious girl,” he comments, laughing at the numerous questions I’ve directed his way.

“I used to be,” I mumble, smiling. “Thank you, CEO,” I add in a serious tone. “It has been awhile since life felt…this…good.”

“What time do I need to be at iKon’s apartment tomorrow?” I ask suddenly to break the awkwardness left by my previous statement.

“Um…I’m not sure. I’ll have to ask their manager.”

Fidgeting in my seat, I tell him honestly, “I’m…I think I like Hanbin.”

He looks at me, not even attempting to hide his smile.

“I don’t mean like like,” I clarify quickly. “I might be his fangirl.”

“Might?” he questions, amused. “It’s either you are or you’re not.”

“That’s not the point,” I reply, annoyed that he’s enjoying teasing me. “Is it still appropriate for me to be their house cleaner? Even if for one day?”

“As a fangirl, I might steal their or do weird stuffs,” I inform him. I imagine what diehard fans would do if they were in my position. “I might even burn their apartment or something crazy like that so that I can leave a lasting impression.”

He contemplates about this. “You won’t do that. I trust you.”

“At any rate, you still should be concerned!”

“I don’t need to be,” he says confidently. What does he mean by that? How can he trust me so much within such a short time? “You’re very smart and frank. You talk things out, such as your pay, very carefully with me. If you were to actually destroy iKon’s place, for instance, I don’t think it is wise for you to inform their boss about it beforehand, don’t you think?”

Fair enough.

“Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t do it,” I threaten lightly.

“You wouldn’t.”

His statement flatters me more than I expected.

“So you study here?” he asks, pointing at my open textbook placed on the counter.

“I study everywhere,” I reply, gathering the trash on the table.

“It’s good to know you are working hard to improve your grades.” Someone has been snooping on my student file it seems.

“If I don’t, I’ll be stuck in this cycle of poverty.”

“Either I study,” I point at my textbook, “and get myself the highest education possible so I can get a good job or, you know.”

“Become an idol?” he suggests helpfully.

“No. Marry an extremely rich man.” An awkward silence falls between us. I didn’t mean it to sound like I’m targeting him. “An extremely rich, young man,” I add after reflecting on my previous sentence.

“Marrying would be easier, don’t you think? Even becoming an idol is comparably easier, don’t you think? Especially since you have a connection to a CEO like me.”

Those are strange thoughts coming from him. It almost sounds like he wants me to take advantage of this ‘relationship’ we are having.

“If you make Jiyong fall in with you, you’ll be rich in no time,” he continues and looks over expectantly. “He’s very generous to people he loves.” He even slyly adds, “Hanbin isn’t rich yet. You’ll need to wait a bit for that one.”

I ignore his last sentence.

“I don’t care,” I mutter, uncomfortable with this topic. “I don’t want to depend on anybody.”

Just look at what happened to me and my sister.

“I see,” he mutters. He calls a cab to pick him up and even kindly gives me money to call a cab for myself after my shift has finished.

“You know what, don’t call a cab,” he takes back his offer. “Here, call this man. He’s my driver. Save his number on your phone.”

“Why are you going home on a cab when you have a driver?”

“He is probably asleep already. He wakes up pretty early though, so you can call him first thing in the morning. Go on, save his number.”

“Wait, let me get a pen—”

“Just save his number directly on your phone,” he orders, persistent. “What’s wrong? Don’t you have a phone?”

If I say I don’t, my guts are telling me that he is going to throw his expensive phone my way. So I pretend that I am planning to buy one tomorrow.

----

The total amount of money I have on me right now does not allow me to buy a new phone.

Getting a new phone is low on my list. The utmost priority I have is to buy Munhee her beloved bouquet. I’ll do that later today.

The luxurious car pulls up in front of YG building.

“Thank you, Mr. Hong Min!” I say to his driver. He gives me an okay sign back.

Before I reach out to open the door, someone opens it from the outside.

The man is surprised to see me sitting inside though. I think he expected Yang CEO.

“Um, okay,” I mutter nervously as I leave the car. “I’ll close the door, thanks.”

I rush to shut the car door myself before the man does it for me.

A few screams from the corner of the street are heard.

“YANG CEO!!! YANG CEO!!!! Where’s Big Bang????”

“WINNER! WE LOVE WINNER!!”

“WHEN IS IKON DEBUTING???”

“TWO-N-E-ONE!!!!”

Instinctively, I pull my snapback to cover my face and run into the building.

“WHO IS THAT?!?!”

“ISN’T THAT YG’S CAR???”

I run towards Raina. Out of breath, I rest myself on her desk. I should never use his driver ever again! Goodness!

“Are you working with me today?” Raina asks, staring at me questioningly.

“Huh, oh, no,” I say, waving my hands to indicate ‘No’. “I’m assigned somewhere else.”

She goes back to doing her work. When she realizes that I’m still standing there watching her, she puts up a flower vase to block my view.

“Wow!” I gasp in amazement at the flower arrangement. “Sorry to disturb, Raina. Where can I get flowers like these?”

She moans in annoyance. “I don’t know. Please, please, just leave me alone,” she pleads, desperate.

“I just wanted to know where you bought these flowers,” I pout, upset at her negative reaction.

“It’s a gift for your father,” she mumbles. A shock expression settles on her face when she realizes what she says. “I mean—”

“What do you mean?” I ask in disbelief.

“Nothing.” She turns away.

“Excuse me,” I persist, pulling her to face me. “Did you just say my father?”

“I meant Yang CEO,” she attempts to correct herself.

“Do you know who my father is?” I inquire, baffled. Why would someone give my father, who is in prison, flowers? Why would they even give it to YG? “What did you mean by that?”

“Nothing!”

“Raina!”

She wipes her forehead and fumbles around like a nervous wreck.

“Do you know who my father is?” I repeat, tightening my grip on her wrist.

“I don’t!” she exclaims, defeated. “Rumours are circulating, you know.” Rumours?

“I don’t know.”

“They’re saying you’re Yang CEO’s love child…” she mumbles, trying her best to make it unclear as possible.

As this information is taken in by me, I realize what she meant. People think that? She thinks Yang CEO is my father! So does everyone who has no clue what’s happening!

I loosen my grip on her and let her go.

It makes sense how people end up with that conclusion though. Was anyone to blame?

A strange girl comes in and gets free entrance into Yang CEO’s office. Stupid people would jump to that idea. It doesn’t make that idea any less crazy though.

“Love child,” I scoffed. “Don’t you think it’s stupid for a CEO to come in and publicly bring around his love child in his building? Raina, why would he let his love child sleep in a room like that?” Do they think he'll treat a love child the way he treats me? I know I seem to be on his good side but it isn't exactly as glamorous as a red carpet treatment. 

Raina looks at me fearfully. Is that why she’s so afraid of me? She thinks I might rat her out to my ‘father’?

“You should tell them to make a much more plausible theory than that. It’s ridiculous.”

I have a moment of satisfaction when I imagine people trying to make a reasonable theory out of this unusual scenario. They will never possibly come close to the truth.  

I turn my back to the flowers. Maybe Da Eun knows where to get a bouquet as beautiful as this.

----

“Well, that’s settled,” Da Eun says, hanging up the phone. “The flowers will be delivered as soon they receive your payment. They’re under YG’s name.”

“Thank you, Da Eun!” I say, hugging her tightly. “I’ll drop by later!”

“I do this all the time. They make the prettiest arrangements.”

“I hope my friend likes it.”

“Who is this special friend?” she asks, curious. She winks at me as she adds, “Is it a boy?”

“Um, no,” I flatly reply.

“Hmm…not juicy,” she says, turning her attention back to her computer.

Juicy? I wonder if she heard about the rumours about me being Yang CEO’s love child. Now, that's juicy. I am about to ask her when she distracts me by dropping a set of keys into my lap.

“This is iKon’s address,” she hands a slip of paper to me.

Ah. Yes. Cleaning duty calls.

“Yang CEO told me to remind you not to steal their ,” she tells me, trying to hold back her laughter. “He says he can get it for you if you really want them though.”

“GROSS!” I push her in embarrassment.

She giggles.

“Where can I get the cleaning supplies?” I ask, changing the topic.

“I don’t know,” Da Eun replies. “Maybe in their closet? Next to their ?”

“DA EUN!” She’s teasing me to no end!

“I’ll call their manager to ask,” she says, starting to dial on the phone. “Hmm, no reply.”

“It’s still early,” I comment. It’s only just 8am. “You know what, I’ll come back a bit later to get the details. I need to go somewhere first.”

----

I drop my money off at the florist. The shop itself was heavenly. I wish I could bring Munhee there. I want us to envelope ourselves in its bright, cheery aura.

A chunk of my money is gone now - all for Munhee and I regret nothing. I can’t wait to meet her after the flowers get delivered. I hope she loves it as much as I do.

There’s another person I’ve been meaning to meet.

That person got me all tangled up in YG’s web.

I ring a bell beside a door to an apartment and a young teenager opens the door.

“Is Jang Hanna in?”