In a beautiful estate nestled in Seoul, South Korea, lived the wealthy Mae family. This family boasted a long line of children who have excelled greatly in the family's strong roots of world trade and commerce, particularly with wine.

The Mae wine is made from the freshest of Pinot noir grapes, imported from the Burgundy region of France. Its flavours which are reminiscent of sweet red berries, plums, tomatoes, cherries and at times a notable earthy or wood-like flavour have made it extremely popular, especially with the rich and famous.

The Mae family wine started with the late patriarch Mae Juyoung and is presently under the rule of his grandson Mae Jinwoo, who was a tall man with greying hair (but what was once golden brown), pale brown eyes and a tall nose. He married Sunhwa, a woman of a middle-class family, who had black to brown eyes and ebony hair. However, she hated that color so much that she dyed her hair blonde, to be one with the high-class public. Together they had four children: Yifan, the eldest; Jongdae, the second; Luhan, the third and Kyungmi, the youngest and only daughter.

Yifan looked a lot like their father, minus the greying hair and wrinkles. He had the Mae family’s distinct golden brown hair, pale brown eyes and that aristocratic tall nose to boot. Though Jongdae and Luhan also shared their father’s eyes and golden brown hair; Luhan had the natural curl their mother’s hair had and Jongdae sported their mother’s nose. Kyungmi was the very unique one; she had not only inherited their mother’s nose and black to brown eyes but she had, unfortunately, inherited Mrs. Mae’s original ebony hair, much to the dismay of their mother. Sunhwa tried desperately to do something about it, but Kyungmi would often cry or run away if ever she did something to her ebony locks.

This family of six, with two pet golden brown Labradors – Kite and Spike, live the good life with an army of servants ready at a moment’s notice. But, things are not all what it seems to be, especially, when this generation heralded a particularly challenging Mae child.

In one of the many rooms in the estate sits the youngest of the Mae children – Kyungmi – who, much like her brothers before her, is currently undergoing the rigorous training of the art of wine tasting with the strictest and most dramatic teacher she has ever met – Mr. Lee. Mr. Lee was the family's trusted wine taster and often administered the training of the Mae children who will soon take over the business.

"Wrong, wrong, wrong!" Mr. Lee grimaced for the nth time of the day. "Aish, Kyungmi! Don't you know anything about wine tasting at all?"

Kyungmi gave a nervous shrug, "From the look on your face, I don't think so."

Mr. Lee gave out a dramatic sigh, "How on earth can you mistake Pinot noir, the grape your family practically feeds from, with Vitis riparia? Vitis riparia is a hybrid grape, Kyungmi. A hybrid. It's completely different!"

Kyungmi gulped, "They all taste the same to me." And that was the final straw.

Mr. Lee pulled his jacket which was hanging on the chair in front of Kyungmi and stuffed it under his arm. He lifted his nose up in the air and exited the room, "Your brothers were nothing of this sort. Nothing at all! You are a bad fruit, Kyungmi! A disgrace to this line of art! Good-bye!" And he slammed the door shut.

Kyungmi was left with a dozen of wine glasses and a dispirited self. Mr. Lee may be as strict as a military colonel but he was right about one thing – Kyungmi was nothing like her brothers. She wasn't like them, who were somewhat (or miraculously) born with the talent and fascination of wine. She was an oddball. She was more into books than grapes. But she did try to open her mind to the subject, after all, it's her family's livelihood – but it just wouldn't work.

And the worst thing wasn't the fact that she didn't know anything about wine, it was the fact that she was always compared to her brothers. Yes, her talented older brothers whose shadows seem to chase her wherever she went. Kyungmi was often compared to their specific talents whenever she went out with her family. She would be asked if she had the monarchical-like administration skills of Yifan, or the bold experimentations (that always end up successful) of Jongdae, or the high-class social magic of Luhan.

Well, guess what, she had none of that. She was a clumsy, panicky person who had no sense of creativity but had the unfortunate talent of creating the most awkward of atmospheres in a gathering. Tragic.

Kyungmi picked up a wine glass, gave it a sniff and made a face. What exactly is different about these drinks? She thought as she placed the glass down, and took out a book from under the cushion of her seat. In every session that had something to do with wine, she had gotten the habit of secretly placing a book under her seat, just to sneak it in and out in-between breaks to read.

Ah, reading, books, Literature... now that was what fascinated her. The beautiful words inked to perfection on paper, why can't she have been born into a family of writers instead? Then, she wouldn't have to feel so miserable everyday, living in this stereotypical wealthy household. But just as she was about to open the green leather bound book, the door opened. She turned her head and almost regretted doing it immediately.

"Hey there, Kyungmi." Jongdae, the second eldest greeted with a wave. He smelled of grapes, whatever grape it was Kyungmi didn't know, but he smelled like grapes. He was probably coming up with a new mixture to add to the wine, again. "Saw Mr. Lee down by the hall. He looked ruffled. What'd you do this time, eh?"

"Nothing." Kyungmi sighed as Jongdae wrapped an arm around her neck, “H-Hey! Stop that – will you? – I’m – trying to – read here!” She choked as her brother tight