Chapter 1

College was tiring. 

Areum stared out the window, watching the leaves of the tree outside sway with the wind. She sighed and turned her head back to the teacher. She's had a difficult life due to her parents' early passing in a car accident when she was 11. The only people who were there to take care of her were her grandparents, who she didn't have a close relationship with. They barely talked to her and would always keep a distance, as if telling her that she had to work alone to fend for herself. Areum always studied hard, and tried her best to earn money independently by having multiple part time jobs, but it was never easy.

She wanted to feel liberated from her exhausting life, but there was no way out.

As the bell rang, the teacher reminded the class to borrow a book from the library for tomorrow's spanish class; class was dismissed.

~

Areum walked down the corridors towards the library to quickly borrow the book and head home. She had started to get a headache due to the lack of sleep she had last night. As she opened the door to the library, the chilly air hit her face, and she pulled the sleeves of her cardigan to cover her cold hands. As she found the spanish section at the back of the library, she started to look for the book she needed for class. She softly ran her finger down the row of books, reading the titles as she walked. Her feet stopped in place when she came across