Chapter 1: Sojeongwon

"Mom, I'm heading out to go tutor."

"Wait! Come here for a second."

Iyeon turned, revealing a pair of large eyes, a neat forehead, and tightly pursed lips all framed by long black hair.

Iyeon was on her way to the chairman's manor, and her mother wouldn't let her go without grabbing a hold of her daughter and hiking up her skirt a good measure. Incredulous, Iyeon glared at her mother coldly.

"What do you think you're doing?"

"Oh, don't you mind me. It's just that you might bump into Young Master Seungjo."

"And?"

"And nothing. You're going to be late. Off you go!"

Iyeon glared a moment longer at her mother who was trying to shove her out of the house. Then she turned and went on her way, grumbling all the while.

The chairman's manor was a short five-minute walk from Iyeon's house.

Iyeon's father, Seongtae Chu, was personal chauffeur to Hyeonbae Lee, Chairman of Jaekyung Group, while her mother, Sukhui Ahn, was one of the countless people employed as staff at the Lee Manor. As a result, Iyeon had never once left Jaekyung Group's sphere of influence since the day she was born. It was something that had always bugged her, but she was in no position to ever make that apparent. After all, it was thanks to the conglomerate that her parents had a steady diet of upscale food.

The Lee Manor, or Sojeongwon as it was officially called, stood expansive and imposing as usual.

Upon entering through the entrance reserved for staff, Iyeon was greeted by the lavish chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Not only was it extravagant, but it also looked excessively heavy and jagged, and it made her feel ill at ease.

"Ugh. I've always hated that thing."

She was standing there staring absent-mindedly at the chandelier when Ms. Jang addressed her.

"Good morning, Iyeon."

"Good morning, Ms. Jang. I see you're working today."

"Yes, until the evening. But I'm more worried about you. To think that you're tutoring on top of all your senior-year studies."

"What can I do? It was a personal request from the vice chairman himself."

"Right you are. After all, what power do little people like you and me have? You go on upstairs now. I'll bring you some snacks later."

"Thank you, Ms. Jang."

Iyeon made sure to step quietly. This was the area where she might cross paths with the chairman’s and the vice chairman's families. She'd learned to be cautious there.

***

It was three months ago that Iyeon started tutoring. It all started with a personal request from Vice Chairman Dogyeong Lee, Chairman Lee's son.

"Iyeon, I hear you're top of your class. Your father is very proud of you."

"Yes, sir."

"So I was thinking, do you think you could tutor Munjo?"

"Sir?"

"You've probably heard. He’s a smart boy, but he just doesn't have any interest in school. I don't expect him to excel as much as his older brother, but I'd like him to at least be able to keep up with his class. It'll be good to have the two compete later on."

"Oh, but I'm a senior in high school right now. I'm very busy preparing for entrance exams."

I thought it was important to stand my ground. But the vice chairman simply responded by phoning the senior secretary.

"Hello, Jeong? It's me. How much does the chairman's driver get paid right now? Let's give him a raise. I'll approve it right away. I think 30% will do nicely. Get it processed and tell him right away."

He hung up and added, "And don't worry. You'll be paid as well. Look, I'm not asking for a lot here. Just try to get him up to average. That's all."

Iyeon bowed in compliance robotically. Money wasn't the issue here. And it rubbed her the wrong way that he would use it to pressure her like that.

***

Iyeon replayed that day in her mind as she walked up the stairs one step at a time.

Jaekyung Group's estate was located in Hannam-dong, a ritzy neighborhood in Seoul that might as well have an aristocratic bone-rank system like in the ancient days of the Silla dynasty.

There’d be the Sacred Bone, the highest rank and the only one qualified to inherit the throne. Then there’d be the rank of True Bone, which allowed one to attain the highest government positions but never become king.

Munjo was an example of a True Bone, for although he was the vice president's son, his mother was not Gyeonghye Min, the V.P.'s legal wife. He was the result of Vice President Lee's affair with actress Aera Seo. And what a result he was. To 19-year-old Iyeon, 17-year-old Munjo was a carcinogenic headache.

Iyeon knocked twice before opening Munjo's door and walking in.

"Munjo, did you do your homew–"

"Hey, what the f*ck?! Didn't anyone ever teach you to knock?"

His room was larger than Iyeon's living room. And out of all the places he could be in that enormous space, he was sitting in front of his computer looking at dirty videos. Iyeon was left speechless.

Come on, is he for real? I told him to be going over his homework.

Munjo took one look at the scowl on his tutor's face and turned off his computer bitterly. Iyeon thumped her chest in frustration a few times as she glared at him.

"I knocked twice. I'm giving you five minutes. You'd better be ready for class when I come back."

Iyeon stepped back out and closed the door carefully behind her. It seemed a bit much to go all the way back downstairs, so she just stood there in front of Munjo's door awkwardly.

She considered marching over at once and telling the vice president that his son was completely hopeless. Or maybe she could tell him she could make something out of Munjo only if he gave her permission to smack the punk's head once a day.

Iyeon bit her lips and considered her options as she looked down at her watch. And that was when the door opened one room over and he walked out.

The crown prince of Jaekyung Group, Seungjo Lee.

Vice President Lee and his wife, Chief Director Min, had three children between them—Seungjo, Jiseon, and Myeongseon. And because the other two legitimate children were both girls, the only threat to Seungjo's right to the throne was Munjo, a mere son of a concubine. But as clearly stated before, he was hopeless.

Furthermore, there was a sizable gap between the ranks of Sacred and True Bone. Seungjo occupied a place in line to the throne that Munjo couldn't even dream of taking. In fact, Seungjo even walked differently. It was almost as if he knew since birth that he'd one day be king.

Iyeon hadn't seen Seungjo in the manor for some time. Unlike other conglomerate heirs that could easily weasel out of compulsory military service, Seungjo had served his two full years. Seeing that his hair had grown out from the short buzz cut brought a faint smile to Iyeon’s lips.

She could still recall how he looked in his school uniform like it was yesterday. Not a single wrinkle on his snow-white dress shirt, his taut, straight necktie, and his shoes that always looked brand new. Seungjo wasn't simply neat and clean-cut. He gave off an aura of austerity and extreme self-control. To put it another way, the heir to the Jaekyung throne was a walking ethics textbook, the embodiment of what it was to be a royal.

He must've been thirsty. He downed a glass of water as he stepped out of his bedroom.

Seungjo's room was a good distance away, but Iyeon couldn't pry her eyes off of him. Her eyes followed the veins on his clean, elegant fingers down to the silver-colored watch on his wrist, all the way down to the gulps of water moving down his throat.

It took a moment for Seungjo to notice her, but he spoke first when he did.

"Hi."

Iyeon quickly bowed her head.

"Good morning, sir."

"Tutoring Munjo?"

"Yes."

"Must be a lot of work. Oh, are you taking your college entrance exams this year?"

"Yes, I am."

"Right. Good luck."

A meaningful glance shot from his eyes to hers. Iyeon saw the shadow of a smile flash across his lips, but she made no mistake. To a Sacred Bone like Seungjo, Iyeon was nothing but a commoner, the lowest of the low.

He would never know to what depths of despair his arrogant walk sent Iyeon. She was poverty drowning in affluence, a kind of alienation that was only magnified by her living on the chairman's estate.

Iyeon tugged down the skirt that her mother had hiked up once Seungjo had gone downstairs. Her mother's tastelessness annoyed her to no end, and it bothered her even more that she had inherited that trait.

Me? A real-life Cinderella? Like that could ever happen. Dream on.

Iyeon put on her cold face again and knocked on Munjo's door.

"Five minutes are up. Can I come in now?"

She heard Munjo answer from inside.

"Come in."

Munjo's desk was a mess as usual, and Iyeon tidied it up before opening up his math workbook. She'd expected the boxes to be blank again, but they'd been filled in. Every one of them. Her eyes grew wide.

"What's this?"

Munjo sat with his chin resting on his hand, looking into Iyeon's face. Her eyes were beautifully hooded with double eyelids.

"Not bad, right?"

"Yeah, but... Did you really do all this? You didn't pay some other poor kid to do it for you, did you?"

"Hey! Just what do you take me for anyway?!" Munjo protested.

"A lazy bum who's always looking for things to do besides study?"

"Hey, come on! That's only because–"

Iyeon poked at Munjo’s head a couple times before stroking it gently. Then she looked into his eyes and asked, "Did you really do this all by yourself?"

Munjo suddenly turned away and bit his lips as if he was embarrassed.

"I did. You said I could have one wish if I got my grades up this final."

"And what's your wish?"

"A french kiss."

The little gremlin didn't even have to think about it. Iyeon knocked him over the head with her knuckles.

That's all this pervert ever thinks about.

But still, she was somewhat impressed. She could see from skimming over it that he'd gotten half of the problems wrong, but the margins full of scribbles told her that he'd really thought them through.

Iyeon playfully shook Munjo's head and whispered, "You can make out to your heart's content with your future girlfriend. For now, I can help you meet your mother."

“...”

Ever since coming to Sojeongwon, Munjo only saw his mother Aera once a month.

"Get your final grade up, and I'll talk to your father myself. I'll tell him I promised to take you to a movie as a reward."

Munjo understood immediately. But he also seemed a little disappointed.

"So... I'd be watching the movie with my mom. Not you."

"That's right. Give me her number and I'll tell her in advance."

"Iyeon Chu."

More knuckles to Munjo's forehead.

"Where are your manners? Don't drop the nuna."

"Whatever. You mind if I crush on you, Iyeon?"

Iyeon burst out laughing. If there was one thing that was absolutely forbidden in the manor, it was romance. Not with the Sacred Bone Seungjo, nor with the True Bone Munjo. Ever. Iyeon shook her head firmly.

"Munjo Lee."

"What?"

"What do you want to be when you grow up?"

"Iyeon Chu's boyfriend."

Ugh. This kid. He met her incredulous face with a question of his own.

"What about you? What's your dream?"

Iyeon looked off into the distance, her pen still in her mouth.

"That chandelier on the first floor."

"You... want to become a chandelier?"

"No. I want to shatter it."

A life in which she wasn't at the mercy of money and power, a life in which she could tell her parents to stop kowtowing to the chairman.

That was 19-year-old Iyeon Chu's dream.