The One I Should Love

Chapter 1 | 하나

Early January, Seoul

Hana had been working at the agency for several months now, and she was excited to finally be given more responsibilities. 

One of the team leaders had asked her to assist with a new trainee group starting today. She had been putting in a lot of energy into her job recently and was glad to see it paying off so soon. This was a step closer to what her father had done at the agency for many years, and she hoped she would live up to his memory to some degree. 

She didn't know much about the trainees yet, with her previous tasks being mostly basic administration or running errands for the managers. She had heard the boys were a mixture of ages, with some of them in high school, and one attending university. They were due to debut later in the year as a hip hop-based idol group, and several members already had experience in the dance and rap scenes. 

Hana took her time getting ready for work, moving around her tiny Seoul apartment. 

She would be turning eighteen later this year, having had to leave school and join the workforce earlier than most people. She had had to get special permission to work, having studied hard to finish her last two years of high school at once after her father died so she could start supporting herself financially. She had always thought she would go to university but life had other plans for her. 

Her father had done his best to provide for her, being a rock in her life ever since her mother had passed away when she was small. He had always been a hard-working man, and had set a good example for her. Even when he got sick, he tried to keep working as usual, but he couldn't continue forever. 

Unfortunately, several long months of hospital bills had demolished their savings, so there wasn't much left for Hana to live on. 

She was a resourceful girl, and had done the best she could with what was left. In a numb state that helped her survive, she had sold most of their valuables, and eventually moved from their family home to a cheap apartment as close to the city centre as she could afford. 

But funeral arrangements and her schooling weren't free, leaving her with large debts before she was even considered a legal adult. 

She didn't have any family now, her parents both being only children, and her grandparents having passed in her childhood. She was lucky that the agency had thought fondly of her father, and a company executive had suggested her for an entry level position as she had some experience with show business. She preferred to think that he had seen manager potential in her, rather than making the offer out of pity. 

Including her father's friend, only a few people at the agency knew her true age, the others assuming she was older as she was already working full time. She didn't exactly lie to them, but she had been creative with the truth and encouraged that misconception. She was careful to wear make-up to work everyday to look more mature, so she was treated with respect. 

Her outfit today consisted of a pair of pale pink high waisted pants, a soft cream sweater and tan leather boots to help ward off the cold. Hana didn't have many accessories these days, but wore a watch and small silver hoop earrings. 

She managed to keep a decent wardrobe on her budget, with a lot of basics and some nicer pieces mixed in. She was lucky that her dad had always bought her high quality clothes, and she'd stopped growing, so she could still fit everything. She hoped to have made a dent in her debt before her clothes started wearing out. 

Adding the finishing touches to her look, she bundled herself up against the chill early morning wind and left her apartment. 

The city was still sleeping as she walked to the bus stop, or at least as much as it ever really was. The glow of the city lights still dotted the horizon line, like a thousand man-made stars. Her bus pulled up a few moments later, disrupting the quiet street.