Paid In Bitterness [Mimoz AU]

To the world outside the wrought-iron gates of South Korea's most prestigious academies, life is a delicate arrangement of gold leaf, inheritance, and absolute control.

To Park Min-ju, it is a war she never asked to fight.

Raised in the suffocating shadow of high-society expectations, Min-ju learned early on that love was transactional. But her deepest bitterness didn't stem from boardrooms or media headlines-it bled from her own living room. Growing up, Min-ju was invisible in her own home. Her parents' warmth, praise, and undivided devotion were entirely lavished upon Sakai Moka, the soft-spoken, hyper-sensitive daughter of her father's closest corporate partner. While Moka was treated like a precious glass doll, Min-ju was expected to sit in the corner, forgotten, cold, and composed.

Min-ju didn't just dislike Moka. She despised her. She hated Moka's tear-filled eyes, her desperate need for affection, and the effortless way she stole the air out of every room without even trying.

When Moka's older brother, Felix, left for the United States during second grade alongside their fathers, Moka was left behind-fragile, lonely, and obsessively clinging to Min-ju for a scrap of warmth. Moka wanted Min-ju's love more than anything in the world.

Min-ju gave her hell instead.

From the quiet halls of middle school to the brutal social hierarchy of high school, Min-ju made Moka's life an absolute nightmare. Pages ripped from notebooks, quiet insults in empty hallways, slaps, social isolation, and relentless harassment. While Min-ju reigned at the top of the food chain alongside her ultra-wealthy, wildly popular circle-Hyein, Hanni, and Haerin-Moka suffered in silence for five agonizing years.

It wasn't until tenth grade that Moka finally found a sanctuary of her own, forming an unbreakable bond with Yunah, Wonhee, and Iroha. But even surrounded by true friends, Moka's heart remained foolishly, dangerously anchored to her tormentor.

And then came the night in tenth gra