outfit #1

outfit #2

 

Being independent was better than being told to dress and talk a certain way. Her family never cared much about how she felt. They just wanted her to learn about the company and then take over it, but she grew tired of learning about the business. It didn't spark an interest in her, so she handed it down to her siblings. Her siblings fight for the company constantly, but she lives in peace and away from all the chaos. Being born into nobility was a struggle for a power.

 

"I'll see you guys tomorrow!" Jieun shouted as walked towards the exit.

"You don't have work tomorrow!" her friend shouted back. "You don't work on Friday's!"

"Tomorrow's Friday?"she asked, then looked at the calendar. "Oh crap, it is. Thanks for the reminder!"

"Yeah, yeah, go home now, Jieun! It's getting late!"

 

She left the coffee shop and walked home. It was dark, but her apartment wasn't far from where she worked. Plus, everybody knew each other, so nothing dangerous happened in her neighborhood. She lived in a relatively safe neighborhood and will continue to, despite her parents protests. Once in a while, they would have people urge her to go back to her parents by making up lies, but she would ignore them and leave, knowing that they were lying. If anything happened to her parents, it would be on the news. 

 

"Hey, how am I supposed to carry this sofa up by myself?" someone asked himself as he paced back and forth. "How can they just leave me here and expect me to carry a sofa up to the seventh floor?" 

"Are you moving into this apartment?" she asked, tying her hair back. "I can help you. My apartment is on the seventh floor as well."

He nodded, but become hesitant when she offered to help. "I am, but are you sure? We have to use the stairs."

"Don't doubt my strength, kid," she said, pulling her sleeves up. "By the way, I'm Jieun." 

"Junhong," he smiled, then put his hand on the bottom of the sofa, getting ready to lift it up. "Thanks for helping me." 

"It's no big deal," she scoffed, placing her hands under the sofa and lifting it up. "Why didn't you guys hire those moving service people?" 

"We're tight on money, so we had to borrow a truck from our friend and move it ourselves."

She pushed the door open with her back and watched her step as she spoke. "Oh, I see. Are they moving furniture too?"

"I feel like they're taking a break right now because I've been standing at lobby for half an hour," he grumbled, rolling his eyes. "I swear, if you didn't help me, I probably would've slept on the sofa."

"Well, I'm glad I could help," she grinned as they moved up the stairs.

 

Carrying a sofa up to the seventh floor was no joke. They were both exhausted by the time they reached the fifth. They carefully dropped the sofa on the ground and sat on it, taking a small break. 

 

"Thank god I don't have work tomorrow," she muttered, wiping the sweat on her sleeve. "I probably would die if I had to stand for 12 hours straight."

He apologized as he took off his coat. "I'm sorry, I'll pay you back tomorrow."

"Don't sweat it," she chuckled, waving her hand around. "We got two more floors to go, you ready?"

 

He nodded and the two stood up, lifting the sofa up the stairs again. As they made their way up the sixth floor, a few guys walked down the stars and Junhong immediately started yelling at them. She continued walking, not paying attention to the strangers. 

 

"Seriously, what were you guys doing? I had to wait at the lobby for half an hour!"

"We took a break," somebody said from behind. "Is that your friend?"

"We just met downstairs and she offered to help," Junhong responded, then turned to Jieun. "We can let them carry it now. I think we've suffered enough."

She laughed, then turned her head around, seeing three guys behind her. "Here you go, Mr."

 

They jogged down the stairs and helped carry the sofa. Junhong and Jieun let go of the sofa and sprinted up the stairs. She reached into her bag and pulled out her keys. Once she reached her apartment, she said goodbye to him and walked inside, plopping herself down onto her own sofa. After standing all day and helping her neighbor carry a heavy sofa, her energy was down to 5%. With the remaining energy, she walked to the bathroom and showered, cleansing herself from the sweat. 

 

_____

 

Junhong glared at his older brothers for taking a break without telling him. They handed him food, trying to cheer him up, but he continued pouting. By the time he came home, he was drenched with sweat. 

 

"Come on, you can't be mad forever."

"Yongguk, you left me there for half an hour and I got weird looks from people," he sighed. "If Jieun didn't help me, I would've just slept on the sofa."

Yongguk laughed and apologized to him, putting his arm around his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Junhong. I'll make it up to you tomorrow."

"Fine," he groaned, then stood up. "I'm showering. Don't start the meeting without me."

"I'll tell you everything when we're done. It's just a short meeting."

"Okay, okay."

 

Once he entered the bathroom, they started talking. They weren't regular civilians. They were a gang named B.A.P and moved to a new city because their next target was Jeon Sangchul. Their only goal was to get paid and then leave the city, but the process of getting paid was difficult. Mapping out everything was the first step and then taking action was the next. Although there were only two steps in their plan, time was their opponent. They had half a year to get the job done and even though that may seem like a lot of time, it wasn't. It meant that they had to make progress every single day and not waste a second of their day.

 

"What's the amount that we're looking at?" Daehyun, the third oldest asked, picking up a pen. "Please give me a reasonable number."

"Fifty million," Youngjae, the third youngest suggested, tapping on the paper. "I think it's pretty reasonable. We just have to get Sangchul to transfer the money to our swiss account."

"It should be enough to last us for a year," Himchan, the second oldest nodded, agreeing with the number thrown by Youngjae. "We should keep it low."

Daehyun wrote the number down and then looked up. "We need a map of his home. How the hell are we going to get that?"

"I heard he has a daughter that lives by herself. We could approach her."

Yongguk shook his head. "No, I don't have time to waste. We don't know who she is and I don't want to waste time digging her up and even if we do dig her up, I heard she doesn't go back home anymore, so she's useless to us."

"I can just scan the house," Youngjae said. "It'll take a bit of time. I just need to set up around the house and get Junhong to tag along with me to take some pictures and then we're good to go."

"How long are we looking at because you've done this before and it took you two weeks."

"He has a mansion, so it might take a three to four," Youngjae shrugged, looking at Yongguk. "Setting up all the equipment will take about two to three days. The scans usually take two to three weeks."

Yongguk gave him a slight nod as he stood up. "We need to know Sangchul's schedule as well. I don't want to break in and then realize his isn't home."

 

_____

 

Jieun put on her cardigan and made herself ramen. She wasn't in the mood to cook a fancy meal and after a long day, she just wanted to relax. The television was and playing a drama that she wasn't interested in watching, but her friends at work said it was really good. Dramas involving wealthy people and fighting for money wasn't her favourite because it was practically the story of her life. She left that lifestyle when her siblings started fighting inheritance and being the eldest, fighting with her younger siblings wasn't something she wanted to do, so she gave up her position as heiress. Although she has given it up, Jieun still has knowledge of the company and knows how to handle situations in case anything happened. 

 

"Peasant food," she laughed to herself, recalling the time her mother had scolded her for eating instant ramen. "At least I can cook, unlike her."

 

She carried the bowl to the living room and sat down on the sofa. The night was quiet and relaxing, but was interrupted by a phone call. Groaning to herself, she picked up the phone, getting ready to berate the person who had interrupted her night and meal.

 

"Jieun, mother wants you home."

"Why?" she asked, slurping her noodles. "I'm eating."

"She has something important to tell you," her younger brother said, sounding annoyed. "Just come home already."

Jieun rolled her eyes and put the bowl on the table. "Just put her on the damn phone, Jitae."

"She wants to talk to you face to--"

"If she's not on the phone in ten seconds, I'm hanging up," she growled, cutting him off. "The only time I will come home is if it's someone's birthday or if something serious has happened."

Five seconds past and she heard her mother's voice. "Jieun, why don't you come home?"

"What is it?" she asked, ignoring her question. 

She heard her mother sigh. "There's an event next month and your father wants you to attend. You have to come and no making up excuses. You need to be there. It's on the sixth of next month."

"What is this about? You know I'm not the heiress anymore."

"Technically you still are," her mother retorted. "You're the oldest and the your brother is still in school."

"Okay, I'll mark it down. Anything else? My ramen's getting cold."

Her mother scolded her. "Jeon Jieun, didn't I tell you not to eat that stuff? It's full of..."

She kept rambling on, causing Jieun to groan. "I'll see you on the sixth."

 

Jieun hung up and continued eating as she watched the drama playing on the screen. There were a lot of scenes that she could relate to while she was watching. It brought back memories of her childhood that she never got to enjoy. 

 

There were no toys in her room. Only books that she would have to read every single day. Being the eldest child put a lot of pressure on her. She was only ten years old and instead of running around outside, she was stuck inside, reading books about business. She hardly understood a thing, but her tutor made sure to engrave it in her mind by the end of the day. 

 

"Jieun," her tutor called her, causing her to look up from the book. "You need to understand that if you don't do this, it would be handed down to your younger siblings. They would have to go through this."

"But why can't father just wait till I'm older?" she asked, swinging her legs. "I want to run around outside and play with other kids. Look at the sun, it's out and waiting for me, but you guys are just forcing me to sit here and remember this business stuff. I don't want to read this boring book anymore!" 

Her tutor put a hand on her shoulder and looked straight into her eyes. "When the company falls into your hands, you will be thankful that you learned this and know how to handle everything within the company despite your young age. Your siblings may fight for your position, but stand your ground and don't let them take it."

 

Thinking back, she was glad that she left because numerous fights erupted in her family when she was 18 years old. She remember everything clearly and everything that was said. That was when she made the choice to move out when she went to university and the only time her family paid for her things. Her apartment and assets were all hers and she even returned the clothes that her mother bought her, replacing it with the new clothes she bought for herself; with her own money.