'Turn left. Slowly. No, no! Brake! Alright, now gently press down on the accelerator and we can drive down this straight. Gently I said! Wait! There's a cone there!'

Heechul raised a hand and pulled back his hair as he sat in the passenger seat trying to teach Momo how to drive. It was a stressful experience and he maintained a strained expression as he tried to remain calm. Momo was good at most things that you could study but driving was not one of them. She was the epitome of the stereotype; an Asian woman driver. Finally though, Momo managed to navigate her way through the course and Heechul hurriedly popped off his seatbelt and jumped out of the car. He yelled out in relief and knelt down to hug the ground.

'I love you land. I'll never leave you again.'

"I wasn't that bad was I?" asked Momo as she got out of the driver's seat. Heechul turned and glared at her. "My sensibilities claim otherwise," he countered. "And if you don't believe me, look behind you." Momo turned and looked for a few moments before bursting out in laughter.

It was the typical scene that you saw in movies. Empty parking lot with orange cones forming a course over the asphalt. The only difference was that Heechul owned the parking lot and that oranges cones were strewn around the place, lying on their sides and some freshly bowled over ones still rolling. Momo had been too focused on the many aspects of driving and she hadn't given a single thought to Heechul's strained tone during the lesson. "Alright, I admit I'm not the best driver-”

'-Probably never will be-'

’-but you were like that on your first few times driving too right?'

“How could anyone be this bad?” Heechul exclaimed, gesturing again to the driving course. He groaned and went back to hugging the ground.

'I think I might have to get some therapy before I can even think about getting into the same car as you.'

Momo grinned unashamedly but shrugged, knowing that there was merit to what Heechul was saying. She knew she hadn’t done the best job in navigating the course and the cones that were strewn across the tarmac. She stepped around the car to sit in the passenger seat and Heechul eventually rose off the ground to get behind the wheel. He drove her home, Momo watching his every move, eager to improve her driving.

~

Mina ran down the stairs as the knocks faded and opened the door breathlessly. “Come in,” she huffed then ran back up to her room. “I haven’t checked it yet.” Looking around her room, Mina spied her bathrobe and slipped it over her shoulders before sitting at her desk. Footsteps thundered up the stairs and a moment later, Tzuyu burst into her room.

‘You promise you didn’t check it without me?’

‘Relax mother goose. I just woke up. I haven’t had the time to check.’

Tzuyu glared suspiciously for a second before setting her bag down and joined Mina at her desk. Today was the first round release of university placement offers and Tzuyu had come to find out the news with Mina. She had received her exam results a month ago and had been all but assured a place in any of Korea’s universities as part of the top 2% of all students but Mina’s acceptance was more of a grey area. Mina had sat the test with some difficulty and even though she had managed to answer all the questions on the test, she was still uncertain as to whether she would get in. Yonsei had a strict set of rules governing acceptance into its university and even the name of the Myoui family held no weight.

Instead, Mina had studied hard all throughout the summer with the help of Tzuyu. Tzuyu had been instrumental in helping her study, understanding most of the business concepts that Mina had never even heard of. However, with her experience working with her father, Mina had otherwise already known some of the concepts and quickly grasped the others. Now she moved her cursor across her laptop screen and clicked into her mail inbox. Sitting at the top of the list was an email from the University of Yonsei. Opening the email, she scanned over the greeting then moved down to the result.

Jumping up out of her seat, she screamed in excitement as she read the words, ‘Congratulations. We would like to offer you a place at the Yonsei Business School’. She hugged Tzuyu who was stunned and together they danced around the room. Eventually, they collapsed onto Mina’s bed out of breath and stared up at the ceiling. “How do you feel?” Tzuyu asked. Mina thought for a while, still in shock that she had been accepted. She had never worked so hard for something and having gotten it, all her work seemed worthwhile.

‘It’s surreal but I’m so happy. I didn’t know how much I wanted this until today. Thanks for all your help. I couldn’t have done it without you.’

‘It’s alright. I believed in you and besides, it was fun seeing you actually work for something. You’ve always gotten what you want so easily.’

Mina laughed and sat up, going over to sit at her laptop and reading over the words again. She didn’t get tired of reading the phrase multiple times, wanting to imprint it in her mind. A few moments later, Tzuyu walked over and pulled out her phone. After their excitement at Mina’s acceptance, they had neglected to remember that Tzuyu would also be trying out for a place. Opening up her mail, Tzuyu scrolled through her inbox as an influx of messages loaded. She had received offers from many universities, some that she had applied for and more that she hadn’t, until she found the one with the same logo as the one on Mina’s. With a shaky finger, she clicked on the mail and thumbed down to the result. The words differed slightly but they gave the same message and Tzuyu grinned at Mina as they entered a second round of celebrations.

They jumped around the room hugging each other, wrapped up in happiness. Although it had been expected, it was no less novel to find out that they would be attending the same university together and Mina thought to the many opportunities that would come. Standing up as she remembered something, she left the room. She walked downstairs and into the dining room but it was empty and she went out to check the driveway. Sure enough, her father’s car was still there and she walked back into the house before she bumped into the maid.

‘Good morning Miss. Shin. Do you know where my father is?’

‘He’s in his office.’

The maid pointed a thumb over her shoulder and Mina smiled her thanks as she rushed off to the study. She knocked tentatively and entered when her father answered. She sat at the empty chair opposite her father and she waited for her father to turn his attention to her before she spoke.

‘I got in.’

Her father’s normally serious face split into a grin and he reached over the desk to give Mina a hug. “Congratulations. I saw how hard you were working during the holidays and knew that you would be accepted,” he said. “I’m glad that your hard work wasn’t for naught.” “About that,” Mina began, “I remember you promising me something if I got in.” Her father raised an eyebrow in confusion then smiled when it dawned on him what Mina was referring to. “I had forgotten about that,” he said as he reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a key ring. There were two keys attached to the ring and Mina’s eyes widened as her father handed them to her.

‘You already bought a house?’

‘Of course. I knew that you would get accepted so I made the early decision.’

Mina grabbed the keys and gave her father a quick hug before dashing back up to her room. “Sorry,” she said as she entered. “I forgot about a promise I had with my dad.”

‘Promise?’

‘Yeah. He said that if I got accepted then he would let me move out. We were thinking that it would be a pain to travel across Seoul just to get to uni so he bought me an apartment near the school.’

‘Ooh, you’re so lucky.’

Tzuyu pouted as she groaned. “My parents won’t even think about letting me have a car let alone my own place to stay,” she complained. “They still think I’m too young to handle that kind of responsibility.” Mina hummed sympathetically as she patted her friend’s knee, knowing that although the Chou parents loved their daughter, that love was a double-edged sword and they harboured concerns that Tzuyu would get into trouble if they weren’t there to help.

‘One day they’ll realise that you’re old enough to take care of yourself.’

‘I just wish it’d be sooner rather than later.’

Tzuyu exhaled noisily then stood up and stretched.

‘Anyway, I got to go. My parents planned a dinner with the rest of our family to celebrate my acceptance and they already booked the venue.’

‘Sure. Talk to you later.’

Mina waved to Tzuyu and was left alone in her room. Clutching the keys tightly in her hand, she let out a silent whoop of happiness and danced a little jig at the thought of being able to live by herself. Having her own place to live was a start to gaining her independence and father’s trust and she welcomed the opportunity.

~

“Is there anything else?” Mina’s father asked as he unloaded the last of her bags onto her bed. Mina pursed her lips in thought and shook her head.

‘That’s all I think.’

Today was the day that she properly moved into her new apartment and her father and their chauffeur were helping her transport the last of her belongings. She went out into the garden and leaned against the gate. Mr. Song was closing the trunk of the car and nodded his head in greeting. “We’re all good to go,” he called out. Mina relayed the news to her father inside the house before turning to the chauffeur with a question.

‘How are the kids?’

Mr. Song’s worn face broke into a smile at the thought of his two young daughters.

‘They’re doing well, thank you for asking. My littlest one just started kindie and the other is now in third grade.’

Mina nodded and turned as her father stepped out of the house. Mr. Song seated himself in the car to give them some privacy and she looked at her father expectantly. He didn’t say anything and wrapped her in an embrace. Separating, her father looked over her before quietly saying, “I’ll miss you.” Tears sprang to Mina’s eyes at her father’s words but she stood firm, unwilling to back down from her quest for independence.

‘Promise you’ll visit sometimes.’

‘I will.’

‘Alright, good luck.’

 Mina stood at the gate as her father entered the car, waving until it disappeared down the street. Left alone, she went back into the apartment and started to sort out her stuff, smiling as she glanced around the rooms knowing that it was hers.

~

An air conditioner whirled as customers entered the store looking for refreshment from the heat outside. It was a hot day and Momo could feel some sweat on the back of her neck even inside the cooled interior. She was glad that she wasn’t wearing any makeup, having dropped the practice of trying to hide her identity. She took another sip of water from her bottle and scanned the aisles. Hyunjoo was restocking some drinks and avoiding her yet again. She sighed as she tried to think of a reason why Hyunjoo would avoid her. She hadn’t been late again since those two times in a row and had set an example of a model worker beyond that so there was no reason for Hyunjoo to think her slack. Even more confusing was that she hadn’t said anything borderline in the brief conversations that they had held.

Sighing again, she straightened up as another customer entered the store and pasted on her employee’s smile. She waited for them to grab their purchase then scanned them through and returned to thinking. Hyunjoo had come across as a nice and hard-working girl in their time working together and she reminded Momo of herself when she had started working and it only annoyed her as she thought once again that there should be no reason for any distance between them.

Time passed slowly in the heat and night eventually fell, Seungwan deciding to pop in to he