“Yes, Mom,” Dara said on the phone. When she felt a sob rising on , she immediately covered the mouthpiece. More tears flowed as she listened to her mother nagging at how she was a stupid lady because she continued her studies in Seoul, at how she never called for a whole year until now, and at how she was worried sick when she saw the farewell letter Dara left on the kitchen table, even stating to her Mom that she didn’t have to worry because she was going to be able to live better in Seoul even if alone.

“Mom, sorry, but I have to do this,” Dara interrupted as she heard her Mom also sobbing on the other line. It broke her heart. “It hurts seeing Cheondoong and Durami stop their studies to make way for their stupid eldest sister. As I told you in the letter, the moment I’ll graduate, I’ll make sure they’ll have a bright future. I’ll be sending money that I earned from working too and a part of my allowance from my scholarship. Don’t worry.”

“You pabo! I don’t want you away. The money I earn from the market is more than eno—“

“Mom! We both know that’s not true,” Dara said and then sighed. “Mom, I miss you.”

“Then just come back home, you idi—“

“I’m hanging up,” Dara said before she did. She sighed as she wiped the remaining tears on her face.

She just called after a year but instead of assurance, she felt guilt. She lied. It was her graduating year. She worked hard but with lack of funds, she was forced to stop schooling. She wasn’t a scholar too. Her grades couldn’t reach the required and maintaining grades so she wasn’t qualified. She stopped schooling five months ago so she just continued working full-time on a small restaurant. Unfortunately, the pay wasn’t enough to cover her daily expenses and she even had to put aside more than half of her salary to be sent to Busan.

That is why, even though it took a lot of her energy every day, she had sidelines besides the restaurant she was working. Her friends from the university were her bandmates. She was the vocalist, along with another one, and the lead guitarist. Sometimes, their group gets hired by parties. Sometimes, they perform in bands. Other times, when she has spare time (which she rarely has), she performs in streets.

She sacrificed a lot but she didn’t mind. It was for her family. If ever her father didn’t fcuk up, they wouldn’t live this difficult a life.

She sighed again before she turned around and decided to go back to work when someone in a hoodie and mask bumped into her. It looked like he was being chased as he was running wildly and didn’t even turn to apologize.

“Jerk,” Dara muttered. She was oversensitive at the moment, what with the emotional phone conversation with her mother after a year. She glared at the retreating back before she turned around and started walking.

Because her mind was preoccupied and she was missing home, she didn’t hear a swarm of girls running towards her, causing her to be thrown off the ground.

Dara was stepped on as she felt that it happened for forever. She just squeaked in pain but no one even stopped and helped her. They didn’t even seem to notice the poor lady in the first place.

“KYAAA! GD Oppa~~~” they shouted as Dara just sat on her as she couldn’t feel her legs anymore.

She tried to remember who this “GD oppa” was as it seemed like it was a familiar name. Maybe she heard it once or twice before around her friends. Well, she wouldn’t really know because in one day, she would hear a lot of different names. But, one thing was for sure, there was only one thing that made this large of a swarm of fangirls.

“K-POP,” she muttered under her breath. “I hate K-POP. I’d rather stick to indie musicians. At least they’re humble unlike these K-POP idols.”

While she struggled to stand up, she swore by the grave of her great, great, great grandmother:

“If I see this GD guy, I’ll make sure to do to him what his fangirls did to my feet,” she said, struggling to walk with her aching legs. “I wonder what GD stands for though… Good… Disease…? Are there even good diseases?” she asked and laughed at the silliness of her joke.

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note:Hello~~~ whoa whoa whoa~~ what's with all the upvotes? I haven't even started the fic yet. LOL. And the number of subbies!! OMG~ THANK YOUUU~~ I am sorry I was only able to prepare the prologue. Classes started last week and as usual, as a university student, we’re being stacked with loads of homework. Sometimes, even though there isn’t any homework, I am obligated to study because of my difficult major subject. /ugly sobbing/ anyway, updates may be slow, so I am sooo sorry. I hope Christmas break comes fast. /crosses fingers/

Till next time, friends~~ THANK YOUUUU~