She eagerly glides the brush across the broad walls, the afternoon's sun reflecting against the fresh and glassy blue coat. Satisfied with her work, she looks down on the ground and smiles at the drips of sweat spots she'd accumulated. 

"That should do for today." 

She gives an approving nod before slowly descending down on her ladder. Her steps stop her midway on a half-opened window. 
 

"Should I..." 
 

Instincts tell her to close it. 
 

But then she sees a lump under white comforter sheets and lets her eyes roam around shortly after. 
 

Books were stacked neatly in the bookshelves attached to the dark wall ahead. On the left side of the room was a luxurious study table, its color a darker shade of black compared to the walls. 
 

Everything gave off an expensive ambiance. 
 

This was definitely not an average high school dormitory room. 
 

Her eyes travel back to the immobile lump on the bed, coming to a conclusion. 
 

"Must be a privileged princess." 
 

The big self-portrait above the bed's headboard further supported that claim. The individual was wearing a pretty and lacy (but otherwise formal) one piece dress, her slender body seated on a red Victorian chair. 
 

The girl's face was covered halfway up by the room's shadow, but she could tell that the girl was pretty from the perfectly curved lips and fair skin. 
 

She shrugs her shoulders for the umpteenth time today and continues her trip to the ground floor.



 

🌹

She comes back the next day to a note on the window.
 

Nice voice, it read.
 

She ducks her head down, hiding her blush to no one as memories of her singing away during yesterday's work filled her mind. 
 

Surely that compliment was sarcastic. She'd been singing nursery rhymes. It was her way of conveying her good mood or focused state, despite her repetitive task of painting walls. 
 

The window was closed shut this time, but she looks passed the yellow sticky note to see if she was being watched. 
 

"Curious?"
 

The voice almost made her lose her footing. Her fingers start to pale as she holds on to the ladder tightly, her right hand staying limp on her side. 
 

"You almost made me fall-"
 

The face that greeted her made her mum. The expression was stoic, but oddly calming. She observes the girl's features and slightly widens her eyes at the familiar lips and fair skin. 
 

She composes herself and opens again, eyebrows slightly scrunched, on her way to demanding an apology. 
 

"My apologies." 
 

"I-, are you the person living here?" 
 

"Ahn Yujin." 
 

"What?" 
 

"That's me, the person living there. And you are?"
 

She wanted to keep her bearing, not wanting to let this person, Ahn Yujin, off the hook for almost killing her. But she catches the girl's right hand gripping at the ladder, almost protectively.  
 

As if reading her mind, the girl speaks again. "It's drizzling out, I'm afraid your ladder would slip." 
 

Ahn Yujin doesn't break a stare and it made her feel a bit self-conscious. 
 

And so she adverts her attention back to the window, mumbling out a response. 
 

"Minju. Kim Minju." 
 

Yujin nods once and clasps her hands behind her after making sure of the ladder's stability. She quietly leaves the space, walking towards the double doors but stops shortly. 
 

"You should sing often." 
 

And off she goes. 
 

Minju wrestles down a smile. 

🌹

"You startled me."
 

This was the third day of her job and the second day that Ahn Yujin had given her another mild heart attack by just staring up at her. God only knows how long the girl had been standing there before she finally looked down for a quick break. 
 

"Have you eaten?" 
 

Minju blinks once. She mustered up a reply once her stomach grumbled at the question. 
 

"I'm okay." 
 

Yujin nods but her gaze doesn't waver. 
 

Minju finds herself once again turning back to the wall, inwardly kicking herself for not being able to keep an eye contact. 
 

She collects herself by resuming her labor. 
 

"I leave in thirty minutes, my appetite can wait."
 

Minju looks down after hearing no response for some time and realizes she'd been talking to thin air. 
 

Yujin had quietly left. 
 

And she's surprised at the slight discouragement bubbling in her chest. 

It was time to call it a day. Minju wipes the trickling sweat off her temple with the back of her hand before looking down on her steps from the second floor. 
 

She was three steps down before she spots a brown paper bag by the foot of her ladder. She instinctively rushes down to it. 
 

Grabbing the bag up at eye level, she peeks inside and gapes at the cutely wrapped ham and egg sandwich of two, seemingly bought from a famous coffee shop two blocks away. 
 

 Minju was able to read the note attached to it, and feels her cheeks burn the same way as they did yesterday. 

Definitely not of quality a privileged princess would usually give, but hope it fills you up.