‘Form up in your groups for now and make sure your members are present. The buses are already lined up outside, waiting to depart. You can sit with whoever you want but you must sit in the same bus as your group.’

Chatter replaced the teacher’s instructions as the students grouped together. Today would be the first of four trips they would be taking to go to different places of Seoul in order to conduct research for their assignments. Mina stood impatiently with her group as Chaeyoung read off a piece of paper on a clipboard. She was talking about their allocated place of study, Garosu-gil, a small lane of boutique shops. The shops were located in Gangnam-gu but the only thing Mina was interested in was their closeness to one of the malls that housed a Myoui and Co. outlet. While her group did the work for the project, she would take a short tram ride and enjoy the rest of the day in comfort.

Chaeyoung finished her address and as they were walking towards a bus, Mina quietly informed one of the boys of the group, Bongwon, that he should not worry if she disappeared during the day. He nodded enthusiastically, his smile seeming too wide to fit on his face. Mina hid her disdain for his eagerness to please behind a serene expression and boarded the bus. As the school was already located near the city, it was only a short drive before they arrived at their destination. After stepping off, the teacher overseeing their group of people did a role call then let the students disperse. Mina followed her group towards their place of study and ambled around looking at displays before quickly losing interest and leaving for the main road to catch a tram.

She travelled towards the mall where the company’s outlet was, silently judging the stores she passed on her way. Myoui and Co. were at the forefront of the beauty industry and she had been raised to have a sharp eye for value. When she reached the outlet, she decided to browse the aisles, looking over the products on sale. Everything was neatly ordered and there were samples that could be tried. Facemasks and moisturizer creams were popular and there were at least 20 different types of each on offer. As she was browsing, she was approached by a kindly looking salesman who asked her if she needed any help. Mina looked at him for a second and wondered who would be so stupid to ask her if she needed assistance in a store she owned when she was interrupted by angry chatter near the entrance of the store.

She headed towards the voices to see what was going on, the assistant trailing behind her. There was an argument between one of the outlet staff and a female customer. Mina observed for a moment before stepping in. A small crowd had gathered to watch the altercation and they turned as one to look at her. The staff member stopped struggling and turned to look as well, the woman struggling for an extra second to free her arm.

‘What is going on here? You’re becoming a public nuisance.’

‘Who are you to speak? This isn’t any of your business.’

Mina bit back a reply to the woman’s rude tone and instead smiled, a predatory look that made the woman back down.

‘That’s none of your concern. I wasn’t asking you.’

The staff member stared at her for a moment before taking the same tone. “On what grounds are you speaking? I have this under control,” he said. Mina forced her smile at the man and he visibly swallowed at her expression. “If you really did have this under control, would there be such a big fuss?” she asked. The man flustered and he tried to bluster his way through.

‘I don’t need to answer to you, little girl. Shouldn’t you be at school or something?’

Mina ignored him and the employee fell silent as did the small crowd as she pulled out her phone and began dialling. They all waited for her as she spoke into the phone. She spoke softly so that what she said wouldn’t be heard then held out the phone to the man. He frowned in confusion but slowly reached his hand to take the phone and held it to his ear, asking, “Who’s this speaking?” There was a tense moment of anticipation and the crowd seemed to lean in then immediately started as a loud voice began to berate the staff member. His face slowly reddened as he listened to whoever was speaking on the phone and he was unable to speak save for repeated words of ‘yes’ and ‘I understand’. Holding her palm open, the man handed the phone back and immediately bowed.

‘I deeply apologise. I was unaware of who you were miss. Please take control.’

Mina smirked in satisfaction as he apologised and a few members of the crowd craned their heads curiously, wondering why the man was submitting so easily. It had only taken a quick phone call from Mina to the regional manager of the company stores and she asserted herself again. “So what is going on here?” she asked again. Instantly the man replied. He shot an angry glance at the offending female customer before saying, “I saw this lady put one of our products in her bag without authorisation. I asked her to hand over her handbag for inspection as is our right and she refused.” Nodding, Mina turned to the woman who huffed, sneering at them and crossed her arms at the accusation.

‘Excuse me lady but this man is right. It is company policy and fair trade law that our staff have every right to ask to examine your bags when you are on the premises and if you continue to refuse to cooperate, then I will have to ask security to detain you until the police arrive. Now you can either cooperate with us and we’ll take no further action if you return our product or hand in your bag for proof that you didn’t steal anything.’

The woman unfolded her arms and glared at Mina before relenting and reached into her bag, pulling out a small container of hand lotion. Mina stepped forward to retrieve the product and the woman turned her nose in the air then elbowed her way through the group of people. Mina watched her go then bowed in front of the group and said, “I apologise for having shown you this ugly display. Hopefully there was not too much disruption to your day.” There was some applause before the assembled people dispersed, leaving only the two shop assistants and Mina. Seeing that everyone had gone, she to the staff member. However, before she could speak, the employee was already bowing and apologising again.

‘I sincerely repent my actions and apologise for the way I handled the situation.’

Dismissing his apology with a wave, she spoke offhandedly.

‘It’s alright. You followed the acceptable protocols. It’s of no real concern.’

The employee bowed once more, grateful that Mina hadn’t fired him on the spot and followed her as they walked back into the store. The other shop assistant had drifted off to help another customer and Mina headed for the staffroom. As was the norm, there was a plush sofa to sit on and she took a seat. Accepting some snacks from the employee, she washed it down with a sip of some soda and thought, “I could get used to this.” Having a worker at her beck and call wasn’t unusual but that was normally because of her father’s presence and it was slightly addicting to have someone standing by to serve.

She spent the rest of the day in comfort browsing her SNS on her phone until it was time for her to head back for their bus’ arrival. She stood up and stretched, yawning as she looked around the room. She had dismissed the employee serving her for some privacy and as she walked out of the store, all the working staff met her at the entrance to see her off. They bowed in a row as she passed and she had to resist smiling at the preferential treatment she was receiving. Taking the short tram ride back, Mina made it back to the meeting place of students as the bus pulled up. As she lined up to e