“GET OUT!!! We don’t need a mess like you! Just how many glasses are you going to break in just three days!? Do you want the customers to drink from their bowls!?”

With pleas of reconsidering the situation, Minjoo was driven out of the Korean barbecue restaurant that she works part time at. The angry owner pushed the helpless girl out who was still wearing her work apron that time.

“Please, sajangnim. I really need money! Please, don’t fire me. Give me one more chance!” Minjoo begged the furious lady as if she was some kind of saint. The old lady shook her off and crossed her arms. The owner had enough. (사장님, sajangnim; the usual way to address an owner of a restaurant, factory and other businesses.)

“I don’t need someone like you here! You have just been here for three days and you’ve broken a lot of soju glasses. Something that we break in a year’s worth! You are so clumsy that the orders always end up on the floor useless! Why are you so weak!?” The owner then took a deep breath. “And now you are going to slap a patron customer just because he accidentally touched your !?”

“B-But sajangnim! It’s true that he touched—”

“Enough of this nonsense, Kim Minjoo! You are fired and that’s final. The three days that you worked here is not enough to compensate for the damage that you have done to my business! Get lost and don’t come back!”

The old lady turned around and went back inside the said restaurant. But before she even stepped in, she went back to Minjoo and forcefully took the apron from her.

“You won’t get hired anywhere with that clumsiness! Even if you’re beautiful no idol agency will accept a stupid girl like you! You better work in a club or something!”

After that pride-wrecking statement, the owner went back inside and apologised to the patron that Minjoo slapped. Everyone on that street was looking at her. Even those who were eating inside the restaurants had their necks stretched just to see what was happening. She doesn’t know how many times it happened already. She has lost count of it. But one thing is for sure—she’s once again humiliated.

Minjoo picked up her backpack that the owner threw away as she was being pushed outside. She ran away from the busy alley, avoiding the judgmental stares of the people who have witnessed the happening. Wiping her tears away, she tried to escape not knowing where her feet would lead her.

Kim Minjoo is a freshman in SungKyunKwan University and is currently in her summer vacation trying to earn money for next semester’s tuition fee. She’s majoring in Psychology in hopes of becoming a psychiatrist in the future. The problem is that the tuition fee is very, very expensive for her. Her family couldn’t support her dream because her mother is under medication and all the earnings that her farmer father earns go to her mother.

Minjoo completely understands the situation, that's why she studied so hard to get into a good university with the desire to help her family, especially her mother. She managed to get into one of the most prestigious schools in Korea, something that her relatives were really shocked of. Well, Minjoo’s clumsiness level is of a different scale. She couldn’t survive pressure and it was a miracle that she managed to get through the heavy pressure of the College Scholastic Ability Test. It was considered as a huge miracle that they had to conduct their emergency thanksgiving and bow to their ancestors.

But now, after failing one of her subjects because of her unnecessary fear of the professor, Minjoo is in trouble of going back to their province and ends up thriving on their soil for some produce. The F has caused her to lose a chance for the tuition discount, leaving her with no other choice but to pay the whole 4.557 million won worth of tuition excluding all the books and dormitory fees.

How could she even earn money like that in just two months of vacation? She even has to get back to school twice a week to take the subject that she failed. She hasn’t paid her dorm bill for two months and if she wasn’t working in restaurants then she could’ve already starved for days. But the shame that she got this time is the actual mark of the end.

She has lost the confidence to try again. She can’t even afford to call her father and ask for help.

“You better work in a club!”

Minjoo shook her head to get rid of that idea. She has heard a lot of people telling her that but no matter how desperate she is she still has her pride. It is never her intention to disappoint her parents. She never wanted to hurt their feelings.

“I can manage. I have to do things on my own!” Minjoo convinced herself while packing her things out of the dorm. Her roommates are out on vacation; some are with their families while others are overseas. They are having the time of their youths while here she is stuck in debt.

Due to her breathtaking visuals and incredible proportions that even brandless clothes look luxurious when she wears them, no one realised that Minjoo is just another Cinderella who is working really hard to survive. The same beauty made her a target of jealousy and envy, she hardly made friends.

The only friend she made from her department is the Japanese student who happened to be an idol. The said girl, even though busy with her idol activities, took the initiative to earn a college degree. But now, Minjoo has to leave even that one friend because of shame, without any parting words.

“I will survive Seoul. I will be able to enroll for the next semester. I will be able to graduate.” Minjoo continued to wipe her non-stop tears as she tried to convince herself that everything was alright. She went out of the dorm premises without anyone suspecting her escape since it’s vacation.

She left a note on her bed that she would pay her balance once she got a pay from a job that she hasn’t even found yet.

Unable to afford a taxi, Minjoo dragged her luggage out of the school premises and took a rest at the bus stop. She tried to gather herself and think of how she could survive the night. Maybe, for that night she can just stay in a 24-hour sauna, hopefully the people there would accept her with the amount of bags that she has.

When the bus arrived, the driver didn’t even let her in because of her things. She wanted to shout at the driver but all she could do was nod at him and say okay before backing off. This must be the unluckiest day of her life; so unlucky to the point of wanting to disappear in thin air.

“Minjoo-ya… How dare you flunk that one subject? How come you didn’t see the questions on the back of the paper?”

The girl started talking to herself after almost an hour of nothingness. All the buses just rejected her since it was rush hour. Having someone with lots of baggage would just make the bus more cramped. She leaned on the bus stop’s bulletin while still speaking to herself.

“Kim Minjoo… Why are you even born poor? If only you were born from a rich family then you won’t have to suffer like this. You could enjoy your holidays like a normal student. You could go and meet your friends. But no, aside from being poor, you were born awkward and aloof. And the worst of it? You’re stupid. Good luck to your life… Ha ha ha…”

She laughed at herself but her teary eyes are telling another story. How she wishes that someone would save her from this life but her pride is pushing her to strive for her wellness and not wait for a charming prince to save her.

When she decided to get up and walk her way towards the sauna which is around six kilometres away, a car stopped in front of the bus stop. It is a familiar car that is always the centre of attention whenever students see it in school.

It is an extended model of Retribution coming from AhnSong motors. The said SUV isn’t out in the market yet but someone is already going around the town with it. And with things like this, the only reason for having such a car is either you are the owner of the company or you are the child of the owner.

And for the case of this Grand Retribution, it is the latter.

Minjoo didn’t notice the driver getting out of the car since she was busy trying to carry all her stuff without anything getting out of her grip. She was just surprised to see one of her carriers being carried away. The next thing that she saw is that it is already being put in the trunk of the Grand Retribution.

“W-Wait!” She stammered, getting the attention of the owner of the car. An audible gasp was then heard from Minjoo after she recognized who it was. Wearing a comfortable, oversized half-sleeved white shirt paired with black, ripped jeans, the owner of the car turned to her with a scrunched face, probably because of the heaviness of her bag.

“What?” the car owner asked, her grumpiness only emphasised those bunny teeth of hers. Minjoo wasn’t able to speak and just watched the uninvited girl take her duffle and put it in the trunk. Once again, the owner turned to her with a scowl. “Aren’t you going to help me?”

“A-Ahn Yujin!” Minjoo finally called the name of the car owner leaving the girl more unimpressed.

“Who else do you think would own a Grand Retribution? You took around five minutes just to recognise me. What a bummer.”

In no time, Yujin finished putting all of Minjoo’s stuff on her car and all that was left was the frozen owner of all those things. Yujin opened the door of the front seat and gestured, “Get in.”

“B-But… W-Why… W-What—”

“Are you telling me to get those things off of my car after all my hardwork?” Yujin’s scowl deepened.

“B-But! W-Where are we—”

Yujin slapped her forehead because of the hesitating Minjoo. She is taking so long to process that a bus already arrived at the stop and is now angrily honking at Yujin to remove her car. The girl then grabbed Minjoo by the wrist and dragged her towards her car. She slammed the door closed after ensuring that the girl was already seated.

With a grin on her face, Yujin went back to her seat and took off. Of course, she didn’t let Minjoo see that smile of hers.

AHN Yujin is probably one of the school’s attractions. Aside from being the heir of a worldwide automotive company, she is considered one the school’s pride in terms of academics. She might look like a normal kid outside but she has a very powerful mind as most people say. Well, Minjoo could never denounce it. Yujin is taking up two majors at the same time but she never had her grade down to 4.3 to both majors.

There was never an issue of power abuse since the professors really praised the girl for her amazing learning abilities. There was never a time that her classmates accused her of bribery or any sorts of under-the-table allegations since they could witness themselves how spectacular of a student she is. She is a