[ 5 years prior ]

College life had been a good experience for Haseul up until so far. She had dreamt of studying journalism ever since she was in middle school. Sharing and telling stories, ambitions to change the world. It was all a big dream of her.

Growing up outside the city she knew she had to leave behind all she knew to follow her dreams in Seoul. 

Haseul was raised by her grandfather. Her parents had been young when they had her and not ready for parenthood. They left Haseul behind with her grandfather. She never saw or heard from them again. 

Growing up with her grandfather was good. They were very close and he always encouraged her to follow her heart. He used to tell Haseul amazing stories from his youth every night before she went to bed as a child. This was Haseul’s favorite moment of the day. It was what inspired her to become a storyteller herself.

When she was 16 years old, her grandfather fell ill and Haseul looked after him. Haseul was his only family and had to take care of everything. Between managing the household and caring for her grandfather the young girl still managed to make time for her school work. She knew that one day she would get out of this small town and chase after her dreams.

Haseul also worked a small job delivering newspapers, to have enough money for groceries. 

That’s how she met her then-girlfriend, Gyuri. Who she saw on her farm every morning feeding her livestock as Haseul delivered the newspaper to her house.

Gyuri lived on a small farm with her parents and brother. Haseul would always be fascinated watching the chickens, cats, and other animals. 

One day Gyuri asked Haseul if she had eaten breakfast, as she dropped off the newspaper. The other girl shook her head and told her she didn’t have enough money for breakfast because she had to feed her ill grandfather.

After informing her, Gyuri and her parents prepared breakfast for Haseul every morning as she came by at the crack of dawn to deliver the newspaper.

They’d sit together on the front steps. While Haseul would fill her belly with the delicious foods they prepared for her. Gyuri would read the interesting articles of the paper out loud to the other girl. This is how Haseul knew her storytelling journey was to become a journalist.

Their relationship had always been very stable, but Haseul never felt like herself. This wasn’t because of Gyuri, she was amazing. Somehow the small town they grew up in was holding her back and it made her feel unhappy. Gyuri saw this and out of all the love she felt for her, she let Haseul go. 

Haseul’s grandfather passed away in her last semester of high school. The young girl could not overcome the loss of the only family member she had. Gyuri did all she could to support her girlfriend, but she felt she couldn’t give her what she needed. Haseul did love Gyuri, but maybe just not enough. 

She promised her grandfather that she would go to Seoul and follow her dreams. So when Haseul graduated highschool she packed up her stuff and left. The young aspiring journalist left behind the only home she had ever known because there was no longer any reason left for her to stay.

Now Haseul was in the final year of her journalism study. She had built up a new life here over the past few years. She couldn’t wait to find a job in the field and finally do what she had dreamt of.

Coming to the big city had been hard on her. She never even been to Seoul before and now suddenly she was living here. Haseul did not know a single person and she was not the best at making friends. This was a concern to her. She had not thought about the fact she would have to work together with others in group projects and communicate her ideas.

So Haseul laid low, she did not want to come off as a know-it-all or give people the impression she thought she was better than them. She had a clear goal for herself where she was headed. The journalist in training was here for herself and was not going to let anyone get in the way of that.

The first semester was so hard on the young girl. She missed her grandfather terribly and often wondered if she had made the right decision coming here. 

Her focus was on her school work 100%. She was determined to get the best grades and not lack in any aspects. Haseul was always the first to enter the classroom and the last to leave. You can never ask the teacher too many questions. She had to know everything.

She had not managed to make any friends so far. Haseul had been so invested in her school work she had not paid much attention to the people around her. She also didn’t have to because all their work so far had been individual.

The day she had dreaded came around the first group project. It was the second semester and Haseul had decided to take on another subject for extra credit. The professor announced they had to do their first research project. It was about upcoming trends in Korea. They had to form groups of six people.

Haseul sighed and looked around her seeing groups were being formed. She didn’t know anyone in this class. How was she supposed to join in? She was just staring at her notes hoping no one would notice she didn’t have a group. 

“Hey! You wanna join our group? We need one more person,” Haseul heard someone calling from behind her.

She slowly turned around unsure if the question was meant for her. It was a girl with curly hair, she had seen her around in lectures. She was standing a distance away from where Haseul was seated.

“You mean me?” Haseul asked hesitantly.

“Yes! You’re alone right? Come join us. We need one more!”

Haseul let out another sigh but knew she had no other choice. She gathered her belongings and walked over to the girl and her other classmates.

“Hi, I’m Haseul,” she said softly, giving a little wave.

“Welcome to our group Haseul! I’m Jiwon and this is Jisun, Moonbin and Seungkwan.” Jiwon said, pointing at the rest of the group.

The other girls and two guys greeted her. They all looked very friendly, maybe this wouldn’t be as bad as she had anticipated.

“So- I only count five people including myself. Weren’t we supposed to make groups of six?” Haseul asked.

“Oh yeah, Jungeun is over there,” Jisun said pointing at a girl a table away.

Haseul looked over at the girl and saw she was busy making notes while jamming away to whatever she was listening to on her headphones. Her long locks of hair were bleached and she was wearing it pulled back. She was dressed in a red top with denim shorts and tapping along to the beat with her feet wearing white converse.

“Jungeun likes to work alone, but don’t worry she always gets her part done,” Moonbin said.

“Are you new in this class? I didn’t see you here last semester,” Seungkwan asked.

“Yes. I decided to follow an extra course for more credit,” Haseul answered the boy.

“You wanna sit down Haseul?” Jisun asked, pointing at a chair.

“Actually. I’m gonna go see what Jungeun is up to. I haven’t introduced myself to her yet. I’ll be right back,” The group gave okays and sures in response as Haseul walked off to the girl at the table next to them.

Haseul had become curious about the other girl. What was her deal wanting to isolate herself? In a way, it reminded Haseul of herself. She wanted to find out more about her.

Awkwardly Haseul stopped next to where the other girl was seated, but she remained unnoticed. The blonde was too invested in her notes and music. 

Haseul didn’t want to linger too much so she took a deep breath, working up all the courage to greet her. She stretched out her hand and softly tapped the other girl’s shoulder.

In response, the blonde slowly turned her head to see who had disturbed her from her work. Greeted by Haseul shooting her an awkward smile and wave.

The girl removed her earphones and returned the wave.

“Hi, I’m Haseul. Sorry to disturb you with your work. I just wanted to introduce myself. I’m in the group project with you,”

“Welcome to the team. I’m Jungeun,” 

“May I?” Haseul asked, pointing at the chair next to Jungeun.

“Sure thing,” Jungeun removed her stuff making space for the other girl.

“So I haven’t seen you around here before,”

“Yeah, I’m taking this as an extra class for more credit,” Haseul responded.

“Oh you’re one of those smart ones,” Jungeun said jokingly.

Haseul was startled for a second. “No- I mean, yes?”

“Don’t worry, I took an extra class too,” Jungeun said.

Haseul felt relieved at the response knowing she was not the only one. She didn’t want to stand out.

“So why do you sit out here alone?” Haseul asked curiously.

“Because I like to come up with my own ideas and don’t want to share all of them with the group. What if my idea is an award-winning one and another classmate runs off with the idea, can’t have that,” Jungeun answered her.

“You give them bad ideas and keep the good ones to yourself?”

“No of course not. I come up with like 10 ideas and when we all pitch ideas to each other I only share like half of them,” Jungeun said it like it was obvious.

“I don’t understand, what about the team effort?”

“Look Haseul. Half of the people in this class are gonna get some mediocre job working for a subway newspaper no one reads. Another third is gonna be in the glossy magazine business. Only a few of us will actually become executive editors and I want that to be me.” 

Jungeun had said it with a sense of determination, not arrogance and Haseul was intrigued by her way of thinking. 

“Let me show you my ideas so far.” Jungeun slid over her notes for the other girl to read.

“You trust me enough to let me in on your brainstorming?” Haseul asked her.

“Yeah, you’re one of the good ones. I can already tell”
 

From then on the friendship between Haseul and Jungeun blossomed. They sat next to each other in class, ate lunch together, shared all their ideas and writing pieces, and were inseparable. Together they made it their goal to follow their dreams of becoming executive editors.  

Haseul had not had close friends back at home. Becoming close to Jungeun had been a real comfort to her. They understood one another well and felt comfortable in each other’s presence. 

It was a familiar feeling of security, she had only ever experienced with her grandfather and her ex-girlfriend Gyuri. Jungeun filled that emptiness Haseul had been feeling inside.

Too bad Jungeun had a girlfriend. Her name was Sooyoung, Haseul had seen pictures of her and she was gorgeous. She had not met her yet though. She had met Jungeun’s best friend Jiwoo. A bright spirit who was a bit of a chatterbox and a know-it-all, but always there for Jungeun. Haseul admired how they had been friends for such a long time and still been so close.

She felt comfortable in Jiwoo’s presence, but more than she wanted to admit to herself, she was so relieved every time she left and she would be left alone with Jungeun. They’d snuggle up together and watch movies. It was all too friendly, Haseul wanted to respect Jungeun’s relationship with Sooyoung.

That was until Jungeun turned up in tears on her doorstep one day in tears. She had told Haseul she was gonna surprise Sooyoung who wasn’t feeling well and visit her in Busan.

“Jungeun? I thought you were in Busan. What happened?” Haseul said opening her door to a teary-eyed Jungeun.

“Soo- soo- young- she…” Jungeun let out.

“Let’s get you inside,” Haseul gestured to the girl to come in and placed her on her couch.

Haseul put on the kettle to make both of them a cup of tea and sat down next to Jungeun.

“Here, take this,” Haseul pulled out a box of tissues and placed it next to Jungeun.

Jungeun gave her a thankful look and took a few of them wiping away her tears.

“Are you ready to tell me wha