Only For The Money

Lim Juya used to be the kind of kid who looked like she had batteries installed instead of bones.

Always running. Always laughing. Always one scraped knee away from chaos.

Then a car decided her front yard was a perfectly acceptable parking spot.

It wasn't.

After that, everything kind of... stopped being loud.

She ended up in an orphanage that was too small, too crowded, and suspiciously good at producing emotional damage in bulk.

The kids split into groups.

There were the doll girls, very serious about Ken and Barbie's complicated relationship status.

There were the car boys, convinced every plastic vehicle was destined for Olympic-level stunt work.

And then there was Juya.

Sitting in her own corner like a loading screen.

Thinking about everything.

And also nothing.

At thirteen, she made a life decision.

No drama. No note. No cinematic window escape.

Just a backpack, a door, and a quiet exit like she was checking out of a hotel she never booked.

Freedom, she thought.

But there was a small issue...

Money.

So she became a pickpocket.

First attempt: she got caught so fast it was practically a public service announcement.

Second attempt: slightly less humiliating, slightly more running.

Fifth attempt: nobody noticed.

Which she considered character development.

By seventeen, she was living in a one-room apartment that was technically "cozy" if you were being generous, optimistic, or legally blind.

She attended Bomun Only Girls High School, where ambition went to suffer quietly in uniforms.

And that's when she heard about it.

The Union.

And more importantly,

Na Baekjin.

The name landed like a coin dropped into a deep, dark well.

She tilted her head.

"...Sounds interesting."

And that was it.

Lim Juya decided she was going to get into the Union.

One way or another.

Preferably the way that involved the least dying.

But she wasn't picky.