Our world is like the sea. Some people float with a life raft, some people tread water, and some people actually swim. You, my dear, must swim, Joohyun’s mother’s words reverberate in her head. Sophomore year business class is boring. Terribly boring. Not to mention, she doesn’t know anyone in her class. Sure, she’s fairly certain that a good chunk of them had had courses with her freshman year, but she never paid any attention. They weren’t her concern, after all.

Halfway through the year Joohyun began rolling her eyes every time the professor would stumble over his words or get a statistic wrong. It’s a habit she’s kept up with fervor. Thank God that there were only a few weeks of the insufferable experience left. It wasn’t that she didn’t love business (she has to), it was that everything in the course was already drilled into her head.

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The Bae Family was certainly well off.They owned a multitude of businesses and shops all along the western coast of Korea. Their home in Seoul was nothing short of grandeur: modern, chic, and efficient. It encompassed everything that the Bae business empire was. And so, of course, when a little girl was introduced into the family line, she was given all of the tools that she needed to take over one day.

Joohyun was only four when she learned about competitive analysis. Her parents were home one day, together, for once, when they decided that family time would best be spent instructing their daughter. “You must look at the people around you and see their weaknesses and strengths, then beat them at their own game,” Mr. Bae told her. His stern voice was all business, matching the keen look Ms. Bae was giving Joohyun. There was a plethora of other vocabulary words, tips, and tricks that were taught, but this was the lesson that they always seemed to revisit over the years. Joohyun could recite it in her sleep by the time she was eight.

Yeri was the troublemaker. Much more enthusiastic, excitable, and free-spirited than her older sister. Born eight years after Joohyun, she was a bit of a surprise. They shared the same jet-black hair, though. Her parents didn’t put the same pressures on her than that of her sister. They knew that so long as Irene was successful in taking over the business, Yeri wouldn’t have much to worry about. They cared about her image, though. “You musn’t be so brash, Yerim. Who you hang out with.. what you do.. everything! People are watching, and we don’t want to see you get hurt,” the Bae parents chided her after a recent fit she had thrown in class that ended with her hot lunch all over the teacher. They truly did care about their youngest, but it was no secret that their recent worries had coincided with their overall look.

"Joohyunnie gets to be a big famous person once she graduates college,” Yeri pouted. “I want to be famous too!”

"Well, if you work hard and behave, we’ll send you to whichever specialized private high school you want.”

"Deal!” Yeri exclaimed, obviously happy that she managed to bargain them down. The art of striking deals was apparently a gene that ran in the Bae bloodline.

Joohyun looked over at her little sister, watching her with loving and observant eyes. She knew that she would never receive the same treatment from her parents that Yeri did, and she was okay with that. It is what it is, she supposed. The seriousness and lack of attention for most other things besides business from her parents was ingrained in her. She was fine with just about anything, just as long as it didn’t cause her to stray from her predestined path.

The Bae's loved their eldest daughter despite appearing otherwise, so much so that all they wanted was for her to grow up happy in their own definition. This included having a stable job getting out of college so that she was free to find a husband, have a few kids of her own, and do whatever she wanted to. “I won’t be free. I’ll be tied to the business. It will follow me for the rest of my life,” Joohyun pointed out at age 16. She didn’t necessarily see it as a bad thing. It was all she knew. There was a certain drive instilled in her to one day lead Bae Executives and control her own life. Not once in 16 years had she ever experienced something that could deter her. Even when she noticed that Yeri came home with song lyrics she had been working on instead of practice business portfolios, Joohyun never considered herself to be missing anything. Her life is her own, she doesn’t have something to work for like I do, Joohyun told herself. She never realized how lame of an excuse that was.

High school for her was one of the top private high schools in Korea, centered around business and young entrepreneurship. It wasn’t like she got the opportunity to do a lot of things such as the arts, sciences, or the normal things that kids do for fun. It was a schedule: wake up, go to school, do work, come back home. For Joohyun, that was okay. It was what she wanted - no - needed.

She had a small group of friends. Her parents had introduced them over the summer since their families would be working closely together to improve business and welfare of some of the cities directly outside of Seoul. Seulgi was closest to her. Coming from the city of Ansan, she knew how to conduct business but still have fun. It was something that she learned from her parents, just like Joohyun. She had playful eyes and the cutest bear-like face. On the weekends she freely danced for pleasure. A fun group activity for the girls was to go watch Seulgi dance, then head to the nearest cafe to study and hang out. It was around Seulgi that Joohyun learned to drop her work-hard-no-play mindset and loosen up.

Then there was Tiffany. The American transfer student who brought over so many Western customs and expressions that Joohyun and Seulgi could barely keep up at points. She looked more like Joohyun with her dark hair and cautious smile. She loved living in the moment, singing and dancing if the situation called for it but never hesitating to work. She was older than the other girls by a year but enjoyed their company the most out of all of her friends. It was around Tiffany that Joohyun learned that there was far more in the world than just Seoul, Korea for her. Joohyun remained focused and ever vigilant, however, knowing that her future could only lie within the business.

Senior year was when she noticed that people were treating her differently. There was a certain detachment that they would get when speaking to her. A ceaseless stream of confidence both in and out of the classroom prevented Irene from dwelling too much on it, though. Her small group of friends was always there for her. It wasn’t until halfway through the year that she figured out it was due to her parents’ infamy and lineage. She knew that Yeri was feeling it too as she got older. Her younger sister had decided that she wanted to go to the Hanlim Multi Art School, a dream that would most likely be fulfilled once she graduated from grammar school. Yeri knew that she had to work for it, but she also knew that in the end it wouldn't be a problem. Their parents would find a way. “I want to be a songwriter,” she had declared at dinner one day, her parents nodding along. Joohyun didn’t think much of it in comparison to her own career choice; she was incredibly happy for her sister no matter what she did. Yeri continued, “I’ll become a famous songwriter with Joy.”

“Joy? You mean that girl Sooyoung, Yerim?” Ms. Bae questioned curiously. She had a hard time keeping up with her daughter’s lives and her own busy work-filled one despite her best efforts.

“She likes to be called Joy, mom. And I’ll be called Yeri permanently when we’re famous,” the younger answered, shooting her mom a look. Both daughters could never quite grasp that they were already quite a bit famous just by simply being the daughters of multi billionaires. Joy was Yeri’s closest friend, a troublemaker herself. She was by far taller than Irene or Yeri, and liked to use that to her advantage when playing pranks and joking around with Yeri. If she ever got in trouble, she would always resort to using aegyo to get out of the situation. Joohyun was sure that Yeri liked her because she was just, well, normal. She didn’t have the same responsibilities that the two Bae sisters did. Over time, she and Yeri often hung out with Joohyun and her friends, creating a larger but still tight-knit friend group.

After graduating high school at the top of her class, Joohyun’s next step was enrolling in college. It was not hard for college to accept her. Whether it was due to status or the hard work that she was putting in, she didn’t care. She went in with a predetermined major: Business Management. She found that freshman year was easy enough and that she knew most of the material beforehand. Joohyun knew that she owed that to her parents.

The biggest surprise to her was that there were many people who weren’t necessarily going into a career just for business there. Many performing arts students took a business class so that they would have something to fall back on. It also helped to know a little bit about business if they were to navigate their way through show business. It was almost uncomfortable for the sheltered Joohyun, who had only ever been in class with business men and women her whole life. Joohyun presumed that her sister would follow a similar path in the future.  

Freshman year ended calmly and quietly, Joohyun earning a new perfect score on all of her tests. She was famous for being one of the smartest students, everything coming rather naturally to her. Her professor told her that she had been in competition with another hardworking girl who was receiving stellar grades in the class but Joohyun never asked who it was. She didn’t care. It’s not like she would have known anybody else in her class. Joohyun was so absorbed in her goal that she barely looked around. It’s not like it would have changed how she worked. She worked for nothing but her own success.

She was secretly more than pleased when her professor told her that she came out on top by two small points for the year.

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Joohyun opens up her folder full of work for another class. She is sick and tired of hearing her professor drone on. She decides to be efficient and get other things done. Wait ‘till Seulgi and Tiffany hear about this class, she thinks, trying to imagine her animated best friends next to her. They wouldn’t have lasted five minutes. Though Tiffany and Seulgi attended the same school, they had varying schedules and enough work to last them weeks. The group rarely saw each other outside of studying, yet adamantly remained friends.

Professor Choi drawls on, “Yes, so, now what we must look at is how major corporations have been- ”

“Excuse me, Professor Choi?” the small intercom speaker in the room interrupts. That earns a snicker from the class. What was funny about that? Joohyun asks herself, though glad for a break from the lecture.

“This is he.”

“Great, well, could you please send a student down to the Performing Arts Major’s Financial Aid room?” the intercom crackled. The other end sounded like a deflated balloon.

“Ah, sure. What’s the name?”

“Son Seungwan.”

"Of course, I'll send her down immediately."

Professor Choi looks around, finally landing on a smaller girl in the back corner that Joohyun never noticed was even there. She’s pretty, small, and delicate. Mussed caramel hair shapes an angular Korean face. Her posture is slightly slumped and her head is down, furiously taking notes out of her textbook. She seems too fragile to be involved in the unforgiving world of business. Definitely a performing arts major, Joohyun concludes.  Seungwan has to be the first person that Joohyun has taken note of in her entire two years of university. It's an odd feeling, stopping to breathe for a second and actually looking around the room. It feels unnatural for the young heiress. It’s only because she has this attention drawn to her now, she excuses herself.

Seungwan gathers up her things, looking a bit confused and a tad annoyed that she was interrupted whilst taking notes. Small pieces of hair that were tucked away as side-bangs fall softly into her face. Joohyun carefully watches her quietly leave. For once, she looks at something without the eye that her parents taught her to use: looking at everyone and determine their strengths and weaknesses. Joohyun hums to herself, not thinking too deeply about the fact that she wasn't consumed by business in class for once. She's completely unaware that it would be the first and last time she saw Son Seungwan in her class. It doesn't matter. There's work to be done.

Classe resumes normally. That is, for the next four years.

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A/N: Hope you guys enjoyed hearing about Joohyun's background. The next chapter will be a time jump! Get ready for the real stuff to start happening. I promise the story is going to start moving after this.