Kim Taeyeon might seem like a person who’s got the perfect life – rich family, popularity at school, the chance to one day become the country’s basketball star, but underneath all of that lied a fragile lonely girl who hated how unhappy she was. Her parents lived in a huge fancy house in the richest neighborhood in Seoul and had always spoiled her and her brother Jiwoong. Whatever they desired, they got immediately. But that kind of wealth came with consequences unfortunately. Both their parents weren’t around much and when they were, they would only care about one thing – the family’s reputation. Since Jiwoong’s the son, it’s his duty to inherit the family business one day, that’s why both parents have a different attitude towards him than they do towards their daughter. That was something Taeyeon hated a lot, but there was nothing she could do about it.

“Bend your knees more, Taeyeon!” Mr. Kim told his daughter with a firm voice as he watched her train in their backyard on their personal basketball hoop. It was Saturday and the man had a couple of hours free from work. He would usually spend them with Taeyeon so he would keep an eye on her. He was paying close attention whether she works on her basketball skills enough. The reason was that it was crucial for the family’s reputation to have Taeyeon scouted and to play college basketball, then later maybe for a team in the WNBA. “The power is in your legs, Taeyeon. The hands just guide the ball. Remember what I taught you!”

“I know, dad…” the girl just replied with a slightly annoyed voice and did as she was told. She hated how bossy her father was towards her all the time, especially how much he pushed her when it came to basketball. It was surprising how she still hadn’t started hating the game because of him. 

“Come on, I want you to make fifty free throws in a row and if you miss, you have to start from the beginning,” Mr. Kim said loudly and Taeyeon just nodded in reply. She was so damn tired and her whole body hurt from all the running around, dribbling and throwing the ball, but she couldn’t stop. Her father wouldn’t allow her to take a break even for five minutes. You would say that she was used to this by now because that was how it was almost every week for a long time, but she still wasn’t…

As the girl was shooting the free throws, her father’s phone suddenly began ringing.

“Continue. I’ll be right back…” Mr. Kim told his daughter and then without thinking, he immediately answered the call and went inside the house to speak.

When she saw her father disappear out of sight, Taeyeon let out a tired sigh and sat down on one of the chairs a few meters away from her in order to catch her breath. She knew that he wouldn’t be back for about an hour because the business calls usually lasted that long, so Taeyeon smiled and ran her fingers through her dark hair while panting hard.

While sitting there, the girl decided to then take out her phone and see what’s on Facebook. Or more precisely, to check if she had any new messages from a certain girl named Jessica Jung. The two became kind of close in the past couple of days and would often message each other throughout the day. Even in school, they would text one another from time to time when they weren’t busy with other people or in class. Sadly, though, there were no new messages from Jessica, so Taeyeon just clicked on their chat and re-read their last conversation. It was something random about their interests because she had asked Jessica. A wide smile formed on the girl’s face as she scrolled and read over and over again what was written on the screen.

Jessica Jung: I have many interests to be honest. One of them is reading books.

Kim Taeyeon: Don’t worry. I think it’s kind of adorable. You’re so passionate about reading books. It’s the same as how I feel about basketball. ^-^

Jessica Jung: Exactly! =))

Kim Taeyeon: ^____^

Jessica Jung: BTW, my mom’s calling me… I have to go see what that witch wants… -_-

Kim Taeyeon: Okay, talk to you later then… Byee~ ^-^

The girl got so lost in reading the chat that she didn’t really hear her best friend and teammate Kwon Yuri honk at her from her car.

“Yo, Taeng…” she yelled out at Taeyeon as soon as she got out of the vehicle and ran up to her. “What got you so distracted? Didn’t you hear me honking?”

“Sorry, Yul… I was reading something,” Taeyeon told her startled and quickly closed the Messenger application before her best friend could look at her phone.

“You? Reading? Damn, don’t tell me you’re really becoming like those nerds Mr. H. forced you to work with,” Yuri said surprised and then laughed at the other girl, making Taeyeon a little bit annoyed because she didn’t think they were that bad and she was having fun, especially with Jessica. Of course, Yuri had no idea that her best friend was becoming so close with the other girl and Taeyeon wanted it to stay that way. If she had found out, the dark-haired girl wouldn’t hear the end of it and Yuri would probably try to make her stop communicating with Jessica.

“Taeyeon, something came up at work. I have to go. You finished your free throws I’m assuming since you’re hanging out with your friend?” Mr. Kim asked his daughter and Taeyeon just nodded her head, informing her father that way that she had finished what he asked of her. It was a total lie, but she didn’t really care. There was no way for him to find out anyway.

“Hey there, Mr. Kim! Nice seeing you again,” Yuri said and waved at her best friend’s father like she didn’t even care how scary he looked at that moment. He was a man of power and had a lot of influence, but it just didn’t seem to affect Yuri at all. Mr. Kim just grunted without saying anything else and went inside his car, then drove off to work quickly. “I’ve always liked your dad!” Yuri then said sarcastically and sat next to Taeyeon on the vacant chair.

“Why are you here by the way?” the dark-haired girl asked her best friend curiously and Yuri rolled her eyes before nudging her in the stomach once.

“Do I need