A beautiful girl with long luscious raven hair was scurrying amongst the crowded sidewalks in Seoul. She was looking left and right with an occasional look behind. The people swarming around her paid little to no attention to her. Each person is too embroiled in their own personal bubble to care about another person. Her heartbeat was pounding like a jackhammer in her chest. The girl’s frantic behavior could be mistaken for an escaped kidnap victim. Well, in a sense this young lady has indeed escaped something. However, she had escaped not from a lethal threat but something that she had ever since she was born into this girl; she had escaped her life.

This young lady rushing through the crowds was Lee Soojin. A tall young lady with an air of undeniable elegance and class about her. She was the only child of one of Seoul’s most prominent families. Being born into one of Seoul’s old money clans, she basically had everything she could ever want. Since birth, Ms. Lee always had the best life has to offer. Her food was prepared by a Michelin star chef who could conjure up almost any dish she fancied. Soojin wore only the best high-end brands the world had to offer. Dior, Chanel, Louis Vuitton, Hermes, Gucci. These were some of the brands her stylist and mother considered worthy to clothe her. She was educated abroad in one of Canada’s prestigious boarding schools. She was also going to Seoul National University, the country’s top university. This made her well-versed in nearly a dozen languages and skilled in most subjects in the academe. An entourage of personal staff always shadowed her willing to jump in and cater to her every need. Among this entourage was two personal assistants, a driver and two professional bodyguards. Those guards were rumored to be ex-special forces hailing from the Korean military. Truly, her mother had spared no expense in making sure her daughter had the best.

Pasted on the dame’s quivering lips was the bordering edges of a smile. A smile of triumph which sprang from the success of her plan. Soojin had planned this for a couple of weeks now. It had been a year since she had come back to Korea and this life of grandeur was making her sick in her stomach. She wanted to be free; even for a fleeting moment. The plan involved her going into one of Seoul’s popular malls at the busiest hour. The one she frequented was ideal because she was familiar with the building’s layout. She had bought a change of clothes inside her handbag, which was a gray hoodie and a pair of blue sweatpants which she uses in her workout sessions. These clothes took up almost all of the space inside her bag but it wasn’t a bother. Soojin never had anything much to put in her bag as one of her assistants always brings her go-bag with makeup and other cosmetics along with her. Most of the time, it was just her wallet, phone and a pocketbook inside her Hermes bag.

After she had changed, she had waited for a moment for the room to fill up to act as distractions. Once it did fill up, she pulled her hood up and walked out the restroom door. Her head was held low to avoid her features being seen. The bag along with her Dior spring dress was left discarded inside the bathroom stall. She only had her phone and wallet in her pant pockets. This was going to work, it had to work. Soojin kept repeating to herself over and over.

Soojin recounted the events which led to her walking on the streets of Seoul alone. It was her first time walking on a city sidewalk with so many people rushing around her. All her life whenever she went somewhere it was always in the family Rolls-Royce or her personal Mercedes-Benz. A two-car convoy was always implemented whenever she left the family estate at the Gangnam area. This was an entirely new experience for her and she was exhilarated at the prospect.

She had passed by this establishment where food was readily available in plastic and Styrofoam packaging. Excited and curious she went inside the store. Entering the door caused a door-bell chime sound to emanate, which made her jump a bit. The colorful packages of the various products instantly got her attention. Carefully scanning the aisles with a burning curiousity, her eye was caught by some products. First was the yellow bag of potato chips named Calbee Honey Butter Chips, Soojin got a pack and went on to browse some more. There were other shoppers around her and they all seemed to know what they wanted. This made Soojin curious about their lifestyles. Observing but avoiding to stare as she doesn’t want to come of as rude to others. In another aisle, she found a box that says Pepero. Curious, she looked at the packaging. Surmising from the illustration it was like bread sticks dipped in chocolate sauce. Soojin thought of these as chocolate fondue pre-dipped into the sauce. She decided to get something to drink and so the lass went towards the back, to the row of refrigerator units. Soojin didn’t want alcohol or soda, so she settled on a carton of banana milk.

With her hands full, Soojin decided to ring up her purchases at the cashier. She approached with a greeting and gently set her items on the counter. The cashier then rang up the items after a greeting in kind.

“That’ll be 1,500 Won ma’am.” The cashier, a young adolescent told her.

Opening her wallet, Soojin got her American Express Centurion Card, more popularly known as a Black Card. She handed it to the cashier whose eyes widened when he realized what the card signified.

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