Friends to lovers doesn't always work out. Eun-Ji learnt the hard way and now, with the help of her friends, can she fix and rebuild her heart? Will she ever be able to accept the love being offered, or is it a lost cause? Dreams fade until the righ...
Growing up, Eun-Ji had always been the odd one out among her friend group. She grew up in a tiny house in one of the poorest areas of Seoul. Her friends, on the other hand, all grew up in a luxury apartment building in Gangnam. She became friends with them by chance one day when she was visiting her aunt and uncle, who lived in the same building. They liked to have Eun-Ji visit them as much as possible as they didn't like that her parents wouldn't accept help to get her out of the slums, even offering to take her in, but her parents refused and didn't want to accept charity.
Eun-Ji's uncle had made a lot of money investing in property development and knew that a time would come when her parents would have to move out of the area as it was earmarked for redevelopment in the future, but they stood their ground and wouldn't accept help, even if it meant a better life for their only child. Having no children of their own, they spoilt Eun-Ji as much as they could, and she had her own room in their apartment with all the luxuries she didn't have at home.
She had been visiting one weekend when she was about twelve and there was a lot of commotion going on in the apartment next door. There had been a knock on the door and the neighbour was apologising for all the noise, but it was their son's birthday and they had family and a large group of children from the building over for a party. They spotted Eun-Ji sitting quietly, writing in a notebook and asked if she'd like to join the other children. Being shy, Eun-Ji thanked them but declined, making the excuse she had homework to finish, which she hadn't as she'd finished it the night before. The neighbour said she always saw her with them, but never with any of the children from the building. Eun-Ji's aunt explained that she was very shy and that she only got to experience the lifestyle they had when she visited, so felt out of place. The neighbour understood and said she could visit them whenever she wanted and the invitation to the party withstood. Eun-Ji's aunt told her it might be a good idea to make some friends, so she wasn't so lonely when she visited. Eun-Ji eventually gave in as she wanted her aunt and uncle to be happy and not be the people with the weird niece.
Entering the apartment next door with her aunt, she saw it was very similar to theirs, but with a bit more colour and a lot more toys. The neighbour then introduced her to the other children from the building and out of all of them there was only one other girl who had the biggest and brightest smile at meeting Eun-Ji. Her name was Hye-Won and she was a few years older than her, but she made her feel welcome. The boy whose birthday it was, was Jungkook. He was a cute-looking boy with dark hair, big eyes and the cutest smile. He told his parents that Eun-Ji was visiting and that they should invite her as she looked lonely whenever he saw her, and it made him sad. There were two other boys around the same age as Eun-Ji, and they were Taehyung who was taller than the other boy Jimin, but they both had nice smiles and Jimin's eyes even disappeared when he smiled which Eun-Ji found funny. There were four other boys who were a bit older than them and then two more boys who were probably a few years older than that. The four older boys all stayed back and just observed as Eun-Ji was introduced, but she caught their names as Hoseok, Namjoon, Yoongi and Seokjin, but he insisted that everyone called him Jin.
The friendship between Eun-Ji and Hye-Won blossomed and they became like sisters. The bond between Eun-Ji and the boys grew slowly, but the older ones took her under their wings and made sure she didn't get any trouble from any of the other kids in the building. As they got older, the differences between how they lived became more evident, with all of them attending the top schools in the city while Eun-Ji attended the school closest to her home. There were days she wanted nothing more than to be like her friends and not be the odd kid whose shoes had holes in as she couldn't wear the ones her aunt got for her as her parents refused to accept help even if it meant she suffered.
One winter's day, she arrived at her aunt's house, and she was almost sixteen. Her parents had dropped her off at her aunt's as she was sick, and they needed to work so couldn't take care of her. Her aunt tucked her up in bed and kept a close eye on her, bringing her soup and calling a doctor when her fever piqued. Hye-Won's older brother had seen Eun-Ji being dropped at the building entrance as he left for studies that morning. He informed Hye-Won and the others that evening and they all went to check on her. Seeing her sick, the guys decided they needed to do something to make her feel better. They all pooled part of their allowances and had several bouquets of flowers delivered. When Eun-Ji woke, her room smelled so fragrant she thought something was wrong, but seeing all the brightly coloured flowers around her room made her feel so much better. Even when she was better, her aunt told her parents she was still unwell, and she could stay with them a little longer until she was strong enough. They even collected work from her school, so she didn't fall behind.
The older she got, the more notice the four older boys took of her as the shy, quiet girl with pale skin, dark hair and chocolate brown eyes became more beautiful and found her confidence. They all had crushes on her as she was the only girl they all felt comfortable around other than Hye-Won, but she was dating Yoongi's older brother. Even though they were all comfortable around her, none of them were brave enough to even attempt to ask her on a date and happily spent years just watching her from afar.
The older boys all started university, and some were almost done with their courses when the time came for Eun-Ji to enrol. She got into the university she wanted, but her parents weren't happy that her aunt and uncle were paying for her to go and told her it was time she paid her own way and stop taking charity from them. Eun-Ji's aunt told them that if she was to get a good job, she needed to finish university so was happy to help but this made her parents angry and they told Eun-Ji she was to drop out, get a job and cut all ties with her aunt until she could pay to go to university herself. Eunji had been upset by this and refused, she loved her aunt and uncle and wasn't going to stop seeing them. She'd drop out of university but not cut ties, so her parents kicked her out and she ended up in a student accommodation as it was cheap and the only thing she could afford. Eun-Ji's uncle told her to move in with them and she'd always have a home there, but she declined the offer as she didn't want to upset her parents more than she already had. She kept up her studies, taking early morning and evening classes that fit around her job as an assistant in a high-end clothing store as she was determined to accomplish her dream and become a published author.
On her 24th birthday, everyone reunited, returning from studying overseas and taking time out from busy work schedules. They met at Jin's restaurant and threw her an amazing birthday dinner. Hye-Won was even able to make it after dropping her two children off with Yoongi's parents as his brother was away with work. Hye-Won had told Eun-Ji she couldn't make it, but Yoongi knew that she was upset that she couldn't go, so made arrangements with his parents to make both of them happy.
Eun-Ji had a great time celebrating with her closest friends, who all spoilt her as they knew she wouldn't spoil herself. She received jewellery, handbags, perfume, flowers and cosmetics, but the last gift she opened was the most surprising. She opened a small box to reveal a heart-shaped pendant with three small diamonds. She looked around, unsure who it was from when Namjoon asked if she liked it. She said it was beautiful but too much, to which he told her nothing was too much for her and that she could always repay him by becoming his girlfriend, as he'd liked her for long enough and it was time she knew. Eun-Ji was shocked but agreed much to the surprise of all the guys at the table, especially as she was closer to Yoongi through Hye-Won, and Hoseok as she had helped him editing his travel blog, but she must have felt something for Namjoon to say yes to dating him.
They would all meet up once or twice a month at the apartments, which most had taken over from their parents as the building had been filling with younger professionals and the area had become trendy which they didn't fit into. The group dynamic changed after Eun-Ji and Namjoon started dating as the others often felt uncomfortable, especially when they met at Namjoon's apartment, as the fun, carefree single group of 20-somethings were no longer that.
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