Sunyoung wondered if she was born into the wrong family. 

No, no. She knew she was born into the wrong family. The wrong life. 

Nobody ever gave a thought about elevators. An elevator empire? Everyone was too busy trying to build law firms, IT companies and the like. But elevators? Who the hell gives a damn? Apparently Sunyoung's grandfather thought it was a good idea.

The world of the rich depended on relationships. Everything was about who you knew and what kind of connections you had. Sunyoung remembered being a little girl and watching her parents from the top of the spiraling staircase of their home. Some old man would come dressed in a fancy suit and Sunyoung would wonder why her parents would practically be kissing his feet. As Sunyoung grew older, she understood that her parents were always trying to sign off on deals. 

To her parents, they were all precious family friends. Connections that played a part in determining the family's place in society.

To Sunyoung, they were all crooks in suits. 

So when she let word slip that one of their business partners were laundering money and the guilty party was arrested, her parents had her disowned, obviously. Kicked her out on her 18th birthday with three months worth of allowance, which in itself was enough to buy a nice condo overlooking the city. It did at least help that her family was notoriously camera shy.  Had her family actually been high profile, her parents probably would have sent her abroad. After all, who wanted to be the family whose daughter was a two-faced snitch?

Sunyoung knew she wasn't cut out for the life she was born into. All her friends were snakes. All the boys in her life were after her money. She promised herself long ago that she would be the only person she would depend on; she would build herself from ground up.

Easier said than done.

"Like I said, just come work for me." Jongdae grinned crookedly as Sunyoung plopped into her usual seat at the Chuggin' Barrel bar by the tech firm where she was working as a receptionist.

"And like I said, no thank you. Taking that sub secretary job at your friend's was already more than enough." Sunyoung grumbled as she flagged down the bartender and ordered a Mai Tai. "What are you doing here? It's not even noon." 

"A guy can't enjoy a bourbon before lunch? I could ask why you're here too." 

"Can't a girl grab a drink while job hunting?" Sunyoung retorted. 

"Just come work for me." Jongdae knocked shoulders with her.

"Sweet of you, but like I've said a hundred times already, no thank you." Sunyoung said wryly. 

Kim Jongdae was really one of the only people Sunyoung couldn't quite place in her life. When people were nice to her, she couldn't help but suspect they wanted something from her. It was what she was taught and was a principle she sometimes used herself. Want something? Want to get out of something? Be nice. Say nice things. It wasn't something she liked to do. What was the meaning of everything without hard work? 

But Jongdae had no reason to be nice to her. They met because Sunyoung had been wasted at the Chuggin Barrel after being fired from one job and long story short, she ralphed sloppy vodka seconds onto the designer suede loafers of some guy. 

That guy was Jongdae. 

Son of TechWare Inc, a multi-million dollar IT company, Sunyoung had actually heard of him before they met and he was one of the potential marriage interviewees she would've had before she had her kicked out into the street.

Their relationship was casual. Extremely casual. They didn't exchange cellphone numbers or any other contact information. All they had were names. Last names made no difference because honestly, how many last names were there in South Korea? After her whole vomit incident, Sunyoung apologized to him and she thought it was the end of it, but since she frequented that bar, she began to run into him and he would join her for a drink. It became a kind of routine and they've been going for a month about now. Maybe she could classify him as a friend.

"Alright fine. I'm starved. Wanna go grab a bite?" Jongdae hopped off the bar stool and straighted the lapels of his suit. 

"Seriously?" Sunyoung asked with a surprised look. She and Jongdae's relationship never left the bar.

"Seriously."

"I just started." she whined as she held up her Mai Tai. 

"I'll get down on my knees and beg. Kiss your feet and all that." Jongdae said sweetly as he waggled his brows.

"You wouldn't." Sunyoung gritted her teeth at him.

Jongdae shrugged and got down on one knee. 

"Fine, fine alright, get the hell up." Sunyoung grabbed his arm and yanked him up, embarrassed as a few heads turned over to watch. Jongdae got up on his feet with a smile as they left the bar.

"Where to?" Sunyoung was half expecting and hoping for one of the places she used to be able to go to, like a sushi place with fish imported straight from the coasts of Japan.

"Oh, its just across the street. My friend owns a place there." Jongdae pointed ahead of them as they stood outside the bar facing another small plaza across from them. 

"Um, ok. Which one? Chickn's? The Mora Cafe? Dud's? Soo's Diner? Give me a hint." Sunyoung said as they crossed the crosswalk to the small plaza, where all the shops she listed were in a L-shaped formation, with Chick'ns on, Moras, Dud's and a dry cleaners were one side and the diner, a covenience store and a flower shop made up the other.

"The diner. I know it looks kinda sketchy, but its good." Jongdae reassured her as they hit the curb and walked to the entrance of the diner, where there was a man standing at the entrance. 

"Kyungie!" Jongdae cooed as he widened his arms to embrace the man and Sunyoung felt slightly uncomfortable with a wave of goosebumps running over her body at Jongdae's cheesy voice and weirdly y expression.

"Call me that one more time and I'll cut off those peanuts you call and feed them to you." the man growled, grabbing Jongdae's fingers and bending them back so far that Jongdae was practically on his knees. Sunyoung should've been scared, but she bit back a smile at the sight of the small man having put Jongdae on his knees.

"Sorry, sorry." Jongdae winced as the slight man let go of him. "Why're you out here? I thought you stopped smoking." 

The other man smiled wryly as he rolled up his sleeve, where Sunyoung saw three nicotine patches. "I have." He rolled his sleeve back down and nodded towards Sunyoung. "Whose she?" 

"Sunyoung. A friend. Sunyoung, this mean er is Kyungsoo." Jongdae said and was slapped across the back of the head by Kyungsoo. 

"It's really nice to meet you. Thank you for taking care of this fool." Kyungsoo shook Sunyoung's hand with a smile. He seemed scary, but something about him made Sunyoung feel like she could trust him. 

"It's nice to meet you as well." 

"Yes it--" 

Kyungsoo's eyes were suddenly looking past Sunyoung to the other side of the plaza, with a clear view of the inside of Dud's and the the cafe. In curiosity, Sunyoung turned around to see a girl walking into the cafe with probably the most contorted, disturbed, scared, upset and bitter expression she had ever seen in her life. She was dressed in the nines, in high heels that looked ready to snap and a tight skirt. 

"I've seen her before." Sunyoung murmured as Kyungsoo turned back to her with surprised. 

"You have?" 

"Yeah. She came in once when I was working for Jongdae's lawyer friend." Sunyoung explained.

"What's going on? What did I miss?" Jongdae arched his eyebrows.

"Jongin came by for breakfast with that girl a while ago." Kyungsoo rubbed his chin. "It surprised me. He'd never done something like that before." 

"Are you kidding? Jongin's got a girlfriend?" 

The girl stepped onto the curb and stepped into the cafe, her lips pursed like she had eatten something bitter. She took a seat at the first seat in the cafe, by the door and thankfully, a good peeping spot for the trio standing in front of the diner. 

"She has an escape route planned. She doesn't want to meet the person she's meeting." Sunyoung said as-a-matter-of-factly.

Kyungsoo nodded, like he and Sunyoung were on the same page. "She's looking around. She's nervo