Jimin thinks it all started when she was ten years old, living from one motel to another with her mother, her father having never been in the picture. She remembers the way her mother would very politely ask a stranger to buy them some snacks from the convenient store across the street or ask for spare change for the bus. 

That’s how it started.

It wasn’t until a decade later, her mother gone, and Jimin having been on her own for a few years now, did she realize how important those lessons were in surviving the life that she lived. 

She strutted out of the high rise building, a sly smile adorning her face while she caressed the thick wad of hundreds in her Givenchy handbag. Another successful win to last her the next month or so.

You see, it took a while for Jimin to perfect her craft. No, she wouldn’t describe herself as a con woman. She was a con artist, targeting only wealthy men whom she knew could survive a hit or two to their bank accounts. 

She partied alongside celebrities, dined with the elites of the city, and involved herself in a lot of events that would catch the attention of the public. Jimin was somebody, yes, yet nobody knew the real her.

The truth was that she was a nobody. A poor nobody, who made her fortune off of men who believed in her silly schemes. 

Jimin felt incredibly lonely as she stared out at the view from the balcony of her penthouse suite. It was always her and her mother, but now it was just her, all alone in this massive world fending for herself.

She made it a rule to never get too close to people. One wrong step and she could be in deep trouble. And she has worked way too hard to be where she is today for things to crumble just because of a moment of weakness. 

Another restless night leads to her usual visit to the hotel lobby’s café the next morning. Staying here for more than a few weeks wasn’t in her plans, then she remembered what had kept her around this entire time as she strolled up to the counter. 

A cute barista by the name of Minjeong. 

Jimin first noticed her the morning she checked in after a particular scam didn’t follow through the way she planned. Frustrated and stressed, she ordered a slice of cake along with an iced americano and sat herself in the far corner even though no one was around. 

“Here’s your americano and tiramisu!” She heard a voice say as she was presented with the items on a cute tray. “Enjoy!” 

Not even thinking twice about it, she catches the wrist of the stranger. “I’ve had a terrible start to my day. Do you mind just sitting with me for a second?” That was when she really took a look at the employee.

Oh crap. She’s adorable.

She immediately drops her grip and stutters out an apology. “I-I’m sorry. You don’t even know me! Forget I said anything.” Jimin turns to her slice of cake and shoves a forkful into . 

At this, the stranger giggles, the sound soft and melodic to Jimin’s ears. 

Okay. Maybe this was the moment she fell under Minjeong’s spell.

After spending that morning together, it become a usual occurrence for them whenever Minjeong would be working, which seemed like almost every day. 

Minjeong gave her a knowing smile the second she noticed Jimin approaching. “Let me guess. Rough night? Coffee black?” 

“You know me so well.”

There was that soft giggle Jimin was so drawn to. Yeah, she thinks, I’m going to be staying here for a while.

~~

For some peculiar reason, seeing Jimin being escorted out of the hotel lobby in handcuffs didn’t shock Minjeong as much as it should’ve. 

Having worked as a bartender prior to her current job, Minjeong prided on being incredibly perceptive with the people who crossed her path. It did take her the longest to figure out Jimin, though, and who she was under her fancy, extravagant exterior. 

They lock eyes just as Jimin exits through the entrance. She hopes the other girl doesn’t perceive the look on her face as disappointment, because it was anything but. 

Months pass and during this time, Minjeong finds out who the real Jimin is. 

That the name she introduced herself with, Karina, was not her real name. That she had scammed thousands of dollars from countless people. It was quite impressive actually.

Then one very ordinary day downtown, she brushes by someone so electrifying that she has to pause the music infiltrating her ears through her AirPods, take her sunglasses off and watch the figure disappear into the crowd crossing the crosswalk. 

But not before peeping the very familiar tattoo on the figure’s shoulder.

What are the odds.

Minjeong is frozen, feet glued to the sidewalk as if she’s been turned into a statue by Medusa’s eyes herself. It very well might be the same thing, seeing Karina— no, Jimin— after so long. 

She had so many questions, endless amounts of them it felt like.

Jimin had always felt so out of reach and Minjeong had a lingering doubt that it wouldn’t matter how hard she tries, she would never be able to quite reach Jimin the way she desperately wanted to.