“Sir, it’s no good. We’ve tried everything.” A man in a gray suit said while facing a board with some charts displayed on it. Strips of red and black lines were visible in it which seemed to bear bad news. “Sales are going down and if we don’t do something about it soon, we’ll go bankrupt.” His boss sighed audibly while scratching his chin, clearly thinking of a solution.

When his boss hadn’t said anything yet, he dared to voice out his opinion about the matter. “The only chance we have is if we sell our latest design to the competition sir. I heard they were very interested and willing to pay a huge sum of money.” He nervously looked at his boss for his reaction but the older guy didn’t seem to consider what he just said.

“Then what? We invested half of our profits in that design. We can’t afford to lose it and lose our money at the same time. Even if they are willing to pay, it wouldn’t cover everything. The investors are already suspecting something and if they find out about this, they will pull out of our company then it will be the end of us.” The boss said rather calmly which didn’t fit the crisis they’re currently facing.

“What will we do sir? Thousands of workers are depending on this company and if we don’t find a solution, how are they supposed to live?” The employee stated nervously, coz if the company goes bankrupt, then he too would lose his job.

He heard his boss sigh again, burying his face into his hands. This time he looked like he already accepted defeat. “I guess I have no choice.” The employer looked at his boss quizzically. Whatever Mr Choi plans to do, no doubt, he had no choice but to trust him.

“Heok! This is sooo cute!!” I exclaimed when I saw a ‘couple cell phone chain’ displayed on a small store near my school. I took it from the stand and examined it happily. There was a cute little boy holding a broken heart and a girl holding the other half of the heart so if you put them together, it will obviously form a heart. “Ahjumma, how much for this?” I asked the vendor politely and she told me the price. Before I could take out my wallet, I heard a shrill voice behind me.

“Yah Choi Sooyoung! What are you buying?!” Yoona, my best friend, screeched while holding my arm to stop me from getting my wallet out of my bag. She saw me holding the cell phone chain and she eyed me dangerously. “Why do you need that thing? You don’t even have a boyfriend!”

I yanked my arm from her grip and continued my quest to get my wallet. Yoona always does this when she thinks I’m wasting my money buying ‘insignificant stuff’. She could it up because for me this isn’t insignificant. “Mind your own business you alligator!” I always call Yoona an alligator because she looks like one when she laughs not to mention she has a big mouth. She doesn’t mind though, I think she got used to it. “I will have one in the future! I want to be prepared!” I exclaimed and the ahjumma vendor just laughed at us.

I saw Yoona roll her eyes while I pay for the new cell phone chains that I will give to my future boyfriend. We walked together towards the street corner where my family car was parked. “You know, I don’t oppose to you spending your money because you’re richer than the queen of Spain, but seriously, it doesn’t make sense to buy a ‘couple’ anything if you are not a part of a couple.” Yoona said air quoting the word “couple” for emphasis. And did Spain have a queen? If they do, my family was definitely NOT richer than them.

“Tsk, will you just let it go? This is my happiness.” I held out the item I bought and smiled at it adoringly. “And it’s cute!”

“Oh please, it’s really common. I think you could do better.”

“I like simple things.” I said. It’s true. Even though I’m well-off, I’m not fond of spending my money on expensive things. It just happened that way even though everyone thinks that I’m a spoiled rich kid (because I whine a lot). But I always tell those people that I’m not rich, my parents are. And then they’ll say, ‘that’s what rich kids always say’. Then I would just smile at them smugly so they would just go away. Coz sometimes people can get very offensive.

“Yeaaaahh you do.” Yoona said dramatically. We reached the curb and as expected, my black family car awaited for my arrival.

“Do you want me to give you a ride home?” I always offer Yoona a ride. She’s not really from an elite family like I am. So she takes the bus home. I know there are a lot of people in the bus whenever it is rush hour and I don’t want her to experience that after a long tiring day at school.

“Oh no, not today. I need to stop by somewhere first.” Yoona said casually.

“Where? I can take you there.” I said, stalling so I won’t have to go home yet. It because our house is always empty except for the house help and it gets lonely at times. I don’t have anyone to talk to coz I’m an only child, and even though my mother is a ‘house wife’, she’s not really the typical one. She goes out a lot; mostly she’s with her friends or my dad. Don’t get me wrong, my parents are