Comfort is not something Yujin could obtain from her family.

She was an only child in the family, the one set to inherit her father’s fortune when he passes away and Yujin didn’t know what to feel of that. She’s thankful for being born with a silver spoon in , but no money could afford happiness.

Her parents were always away from home, always on a trip together to places and although they do show her their affection from time to time, it wasn’t enough for her.

So Yujin can only seek solace in her imagination, putting them down on a canvas for it to be appreciated by the others and perhaps, a part of her wishes that she could find someone whom she could relate to through her works.

Yujin glances over to the clock to check the time, blinking for a few times at the realization that it was past six. Hours went by easily for her, whenever she decided to immerse herself with a new artwork.

This time, the picture on the canvas staring at her is a woman in red, lying in a field of yellow flowers – chrysanthemums to be exact. She hasn’t gotten to the details of the face yet, nor had any idea on how to start off with it.

Depicting the emotions inside her paintings is always the hardest part. Yujin thinks that every details on her artwork matters, from the big picture to the tiny blemishes because those were the very things that gave life to her paintings. Thus, it takes a while for her to actually complete a piece.

College had finally come to an end for her this year and according to her father, she would be pursuing her studies somewhere in the states, most probably taking up her MBA just so she could help out with their family business in the future.

Yujin has nothing against this since she figures that it is only right for her to do as they say, after all they’ve went through raising her up to be a fine lady, despite of their lack of presence next to her. She was by no means a defiant child unlike her friend; Wonyoung who chose to quit school to pursue a career in the music field in spite of her parents’ many protests.

Luck seem to be on her side though, since Wonyoung ended up being casted by a huge company, debuting in a group of six that’s very much one of the most anticipated girl groups around nowadays, as far as Yujin is concerned.

Yujin strides along to the window of her bedroom after setting aside her paintbrushes, staring absent-mindedly at the roses planted in their garden. Further along were the gates that surrounded the place, people passing by the entrance to the mansion without much care; not that there were many since their home is after all situated in the expensive part of the district.

Most of the residents travel around in their fancy cars and even bikes sometimes, especially the men who like to appeal to girls by flaunting their costly possessions. It was such a sight to behold, truth to be told. She has had a few numbers of boys in her school back then, trying to court her using ludicrous gifts.

None of them managed to give a long lasting impression on her.

Yujin could only spare her smiles towards the caretakers that passed by her as she made her way along the hallway, down the stairs to meet the head of the security team, or as Yujin prefers to call him ‘Uncle Han’; a middle-aged man whom she had known ever since she was a child.

Yujin peeks her head into the security room, finding the man she had been searching for in the middle of a chatter with some of the other personnel, whom immediately got up to their feet the moment the heiress came to their view.

“What brings you here Yujin?” Mr. Han says with a smile, in which Yujin returns with one.

“I was wondering if I could go out on my own for a while.”

His face contorts into an unnerving look for a second. “Where to?”

“I was just going to grab dinner,” Yujin says meekly. She is aware of the fact that he’s not fond of Yujin wandering around on her own. Especially after the little accident that happened some time ago, that involves a car and her having to get a few stiches on her leg but really, Yujin thinks that it’s not a big deal since she turned out well in the end, although there are times where the pain abruptly comes shooting through the nerves in her leg whenever she overexerts her body.

Mr. Han stares at her before emitting a long deep sigh, slumping back to his chair. “In that case bring your phone along with you.”

Yujin grimaces at the mention of her phone, him knowing fully well that she’s not keen on carrying the device around. She mainly uses it at home, just to contact Wonyoung along with her parents but other than that, it only serves as a tracking device for her every move.

“But…”

“Your phone or a bodyguard, Yujin. Your pick.”

Stares were exchanged between the two and Yujin gives in eventually, pursing her lips into a frown and Mr. Han knows right then he had secured his victory, smiling broadly.

“I’ll go grab my phone.”

“Good girl,” he laughs merrily and Yujin didn’t waste her time in taking her leave, rushing over to her room to grab the said-device before heading out. Semester break started a few days ago and yet, Yujin still doesn’t have anything planned so far. Most of her peers were busy going on trips, having a blast partying around but then again, the closest she was to alcohol was in her father’s study room, where a bottle of cognac sits on the study table whenever she decides to pay him a visit there so maybe partying is not something she would put down her list-to-do’s for summer.

Going on trips to have a fresh change of air doesn't sound that bad but Wonyoung was particularly busy that season with her schedules so she might have to consider on going on a trip by herself.

Yujin stops in front of a fast-food chain and pushes her way through the door, heading straight for the counter to place her order but something- or rather, someone catches her attention while doing so. It was a familiar face, being surrounded by a bunch of fan girls and Yujin figures then the girl was a celebrity. Curly raven hair, matched with her pale complexion and pink plump lips.

“Minjoo, you’re so pretty!”

“Minjoo! Look here!”

“Minjoo,” Yujin whispers to herself.

Where has she heard that name before? Yes, Wonyoung.

Yujin swears the name ‘Minjoo’ had come up occasionally during her conversations with Wonyoung before and speaking of the devil, there comes the girl casually making her way to the outlet, startling her a little. It didn’t take long for Wonyoung to realize her presence, grinning as she lifts up a hand to greet Yujin.

“Hey, Yujinnie!”

Yujin flinches slightly at the sound of the girls squealing at the sight of Wonyoung and she supposes those girls who had been following the pretty girl around are fans of Wonyoung’s as well. It didn’t take her long to put two and two together to come up with the conclusion that this ‘Minjoo’ belongs to the same group as Wonyoung.

“Hey.”

“I see that you’re on your own.”

“And I see that you’re not,” Yujin tips her chin at the amount of fan girls hoarding behind the girl, busy taking pictures of their beloved idol and Wonyoung could only grin at her comment.

“You know how it is. I love my fans.”

“Wonyoung-ah.”

Yujin turns her head towards the other girl, whom came to make her appearance timidly, giving a gentle tug on Wonyoung’s sleeve to catch the girl’s attention. “A friend of yours?” Yujin hears her whisper softly.

“Yeah,” Wonyoung nods and pats on Minjoo’s arm reassuringly. “Say hello to Yujin. She’s the one whom I’ve been telling you about,” Wonyoung turns to look at the heiress and grins like a Cheshire cat.

For some reason, Yujin feels that she needs to interrogate her friend when she has the chance to because Wonyoung doesn’t use that grin very often, unless there’s something up her sleeves.

“It’s very nice to meet you,” Yujin says and Minjoo smiles shyly at this.

“Hello.”

Awkward silence fell between the two and Wonyoung had to be the one to break the ice when she notices the thick air surrounding them. “So,” her voice dwindles out. “Do you want to eat with us Yujin-ah?”

-

“Now, aren’t you happy to meet her in person?”

“I didn’t expect her to be so…”

“So?”

“Cute.”

“Do I smell something here?”

“What? I’m not going to do anything. I’m just a fan. I… admire her work.”

“Yeah, that’s what they all say at first.”

“I’m serious, her artwork at that last exhibition that we went to were amazing.”

-

Dinner with Wonyoung and her new friend Minjoo were surprisingly pleasant.

Yujin even ended up with Minjoo’s phone number when she returns home because the latter herself thinks that Yujin is a nice person to be with, despite of the fact that they barely talked. Wonyoung was the one who kept rambling throughout their dinner, with Yujin sniping in here and there and Minjoo asking her group mate on whether she could have some of her fries.

Still, Yujin could not decipher the type of person Minjoo is on her first meeting.

Her timid appearance shows that the girl is shy with strangers but the way her eyes glints when Wonyoung gave her fries towards Minjoo shows the playfulness of a kid, as if happy to receive a toy or such. Nonetheless, Yujin has this strange feeling that she will have more chances of getting to know more of Minjoo sometime soon.

The second time Yujin stumbles upon Minjoo was when she was at a party, in which her parents were invited to and she had to go in place of them because they were still away in a business trip in Japan.

It was a birthday party organized for the son of the CEO of a renowned electronics company and Yujin’s parents had known him long before they get to establish a company of their own. Mr. Xu is a nice person, as far as she knows.

His wife passed away years ago, leaving him with an only child and it serves to be the more reason why he treasures his son a lot to even go as far as organizing the birthday party himself, rather than leaving the task to one of his assistants instead.

Yujin stands next to a group of lassies, donning a black jacket draped around her shoulders atop of her dark blue dress – the tips of her jet black hair slightly curled, as she sips on her glass of orange juice, something she had specifically asked for from one of the waiters around as she refuses the glasses of champagnes offered to her.

Yujin sometimes laughs along with the other girls whenever the conversation calls for it but other than that, the young heiress couldn’t be bothered to speak a word. Some of the girls whom she meets at these kinds of parties have manners, while some doesn’t but Yujin doesn’t mind either types because it’s not as if she can be categorized into one of them.

All she has to do is to laugh to whatever the girls thinks is funny, and cringes at the things they deemed as horrendous because apparently, that’s the easiest way to blend in with the rest and Yujin likes things easy.

That being said, one can only handle so much spitefulness in a day and it just so happens that the people she chose to hang out with this time are the hateful ones, so Yujin quickly excuses herself from them when the chance comes by and she slips out of the confining ballroom, heading straight for the garden upfront to get a fresh change of air. Mr. Xu’s mansion was much larger than her family’s thus it is understandable that their garden was also of a greater scale.

There were varieties of roses and other flowers she hadn’t seen before planted on the grounds and the sweet scent of the atmosphere surrounding her was strangely comforting. Obviously Mr. Xu has very good gardeners that put great care into their work.

Just as Yujin thinks that she was on her own, another voice came greeting her from behind. A voice that is somewhat familiar to her. “Yujin?”

Yujin turns around upon the mention of her name and she almost instantly gawked at the sight of Minjoo, whom she hasn’t seen for quite some time, dressed in an alluring red dress, shoulders bare as she stares at Yujin for a while before lifting up a smile. “It is you.”

“I didn’t expect to see you here,” Yujin nods her head slowly.

“Me too. But I suppose that a rich girl like you gets invited to these kind of parties often,” Minjoo