Yuri hated group projects.
She especially hated group projects in Chemistry, because Chemistry meant lab work, which meant partners, which meant interaction she couldn't control. And right now, staring at the partner assignment sheet their teacher had just posted, Yuri felt her carefully constructed world start to crack.
*Partner: Lee Hajun*
*Fuck.*
"Ms. Han?" The teacher, Mr. Kim, was looking at her expectantly. "You're with Mr. Lee. Please take your seats at station seven."
Yuri's fingers tightened on her textbook. Around her, the other students were already moving, chattering excitedly about their partners. She could hear whispers, feel eyes on her.
"Did you see? Lee Hajun got paired with the scholarship girl."
"Poor him."
"Or lucky her, more like."
Yuri blocked it out. She'd gotten good at blocking things out. She picked up her bag and walked to station seven, where Hajun was already waiting.
He looked up as she approached, and something crossed his face. Satisfaction? Interest? Yuri couldn't tell and didn't want to know.
"Hi," he said.
Yuri set her things down without responding. She pulled out her lab notebook, her pencil case, arranged everything with precise movements. Control. She needed control.
"So," Hajun continued, apparently unbothered by her silence. "I guess we're partners."
"I can see that."
"We should probably figure out how to split the work—"
"I'll do it," Yuri said flatly.
Hajun blinked. "What?"
"The project. I'll do it. You can put your name on it." She was already reading through the assignment sheet. Acid-base titration experiment, full lab report due in two weeks. She could do it in her sleep.
"That's not how group projects work."
"It's exactly how group projects work." Yuri didn't look up from the sheet. "I do the work, you get the grade. Everyone's happy."
"I'm not happy with that."
"Then I don't know what to tell you."
She could feel him staring at her. The weight of his attention was like pressure on her skin, making her want to crawl out of her chair and disappear.
"Look," Hajun said, his voice lower now. "I know you probably don't want to work with me—"
"I don't want to work with anyone."
"—but we're stuck together for two weeks, so we might as well make the best of it."
Yuri finally looked up at him. His expression was... earnest? Like he actually gave a shit about a Chemistry project. It was probably an act. Rich kids were good at acts.
"Fine," she said. "What do you suggest?"
"We split it fifty-fifty. I'll handle the experimental procedure, you handle the calculations and write-up."
"You'll mess up the procedure."
"Wow. Thanks for the vote of confidence."
"It's not personal. Most people mess up titration. The endpoint is easy to overshoot."
Hajun leaned back in his chair, studying her. "Okay, then. You do the procedure. I'll help with data collection and we'll split the write-up."
It was more reasonable than Yuri wanted to admit. She nodded once, curtly.
"Great," Hajun said. He was smiling slightly, like he'd won something.
Mr. Kim started the lecture, and Yuri focused on taking notes. Perfect handwriting, every word captured, diagrams labeled precisely. She was aware of Hajun beside her, occasionally glancing at her notebook, but she ignored him.
The lecture was about acid-base equilibrium, pH calculations, buffer solutions. Yuri wrote it all down mechanically, her mind already somewhere else. She was calculating today's money.
Tutoring this afternoon: ₩50,000. She'd deposit ₩45,000 into her savings account immediately. Keep ₩5,000 for expenses—subway fare for the week was ₩15,000, so she'd need to pull from savings for that. Actually, she'd keep the full ₩50,000 as cash. Use ₩15,000 for subway fare, ₩5,000 for food, give her father ₩3,000 when he inevitably demanded it. That left ₩27,000 to deposit.
Wait, no. Her father had texted this morning demanding money. She'd have to give him at least ₩3,000 today. So: ₩50,000 minus ₩3,000 for father minus ₩3,000 for food this week = ₩44,000 to deposit.
The math shifted in her head, adjusting, recalculating.
Class ended. Yuri packed up quickly, efficiently, already calculating her escape route.
"Hey," Hajun said. "We should exchange numbers. For the project."
Yuri paused. She didn't want to give him her number. Didn't want another line of contact, another way for someone to reach her. But refusing would be weird, would invite questions.
"Fine."
They swapped phones. Yuri typed in her number with the minimum amount of information—just the digits, no name, no photo. Hajun's phone felt expensive in her hand, the case probably costing more than her entire monthly food budget.
When she got her phone back, she saw he'd entered himself as "Hajun (Chem partner)" with a little beaker emoji.
*Of course he did.*
"I'll text you," Hajun said. "We can set up a time to work on the project."
"Library. After school. Mondays and Wednesdays." Yuri was already walking toward the door.
"Wait, I have—"
"That's when I'm available. If it doesn't work for you, I'll do the project myself."
She left before he could respond.
Out in the hallway, Yuri checked her phone. Two messages from her father, both from early this morning.
*I need money today*
*Don't make me wait*
Her stomach tightened. She typed back: *I have tutoring after school. Will bring ₩3,000 when I get home.*
The response came immediately: *3000? That's it? Fucking useless.*
Yuri didn't respond. She shoved her phone in her pocket and headed to her next class.
The rest of the morning passed in a blur. Korean literature, English, History. Yuri took notes mechanically, answered when called on, otherwise disappeared into the background.
At lunch, she went to the convenience store near school. Bought a triangle kimbap for ₩1,200. Ate it in the library, alone, while reviewing vocabulary for tomorrow's English quiz.
Her phone buzzed. Text from Hajun: *Hey, it's Hajun*
She stared at it for a moment, then put her phone away without responding. She'd answer later. Maybe.
The afternoon classes dragged. Math, Science, one more period of study hall. By 3 PM, Yuri was exhausted and she still had tutoring, then home, then her father.
*Just keep going. Don't think about it. Keep going.*
She took the subway to Gangnam for tutoring. The ride was forty minutes—she used it to finish her English homework. The train was packed with students, salarymen, ajummas with shopping bags. Yuri stood in the corner, swaying with the movement, eyes on her textbook.
Her tutoring student, Park Minho, was waiting at the academy. Twelve years old, struggling with English grammar, parents who paid ₩25,000 per hour for Yuri's help.
"I don't get it," Minho whined five minutes into the session. "Why is it 'have been' and not 'has been'?"
"Because the subject is plural," Yuri explained. "They have been, not they has been."
"But it sounds wrong."
"It sounds wrong because you're used to Korean grammar. English is different."
"English is stupid."
"Yeah," Yuri said. "It kind of is."
They worked through the exercises. Minho was a good kid, just lazy. But he tried, and his parents paid well, and that was all Yuri needed.
Two hours later, she had ₩50,000 cash in her hand.
She stood outside the academy, the money in her wallet, doing the math again.
₩50,000 total.
₩3,000 for her father—unavoidable.
₩2,500 for food (she'd buy milk and bread for home, plus one more kimbap for herself tomorrow).
That left ₩44,500.
But she also needed subway fare. She'd been using money from her savings to cover it, but she was trying to stop doing that. Subway fare for the week was ₩15,000 (₩1,250 per ride, two rides per day, six days).
₩44,500 minus ₩15,000 = ₩29,500 to deposit into savings.
Yuri felt the disappointment settle in her chest. She'd hoped to save more this week. But the math was the math.
She went to the nearest bank ATM. Deposited ₩29,500 into her savings account.
New balance: ₩2,876,500.
₩123,500 away from three million.
She kept ₩20,500 in her wallet. ₩15,000 for subway fare, ₩3,000 for her father, ₩2,500 for food.
The subway ride back toward her neighborhood took another forty minutes. Yuri used it to work on calculus—she had a test tomorrow and needed to review.
She stopped at a convenience store two blocks from her apartment. Bought milk (₩2,800) and bread (₩1,500). Total: ₩4,300.
*Shit.* She'd miscalculated. She thought it would be ₩2,500 total, but milk was more expensive here than at the store near school.
₩20,500 minus ₩4,300 = ₩16,200 left.
She'd have to make it work. ₩15,000 for subway fare, ₩1,200 left over after giving her father ₩3,000...
Wait. ₩16,200 minus ₩3,000 for father = ₩13,200 left. That wasn't enough for subway fare.
*Fuck.*
Yuri stood outside the convenience store, the plastic bag in her hand, recalculating.
She'd have to give her father less. ₩2,000 instead of ₩3,000. He'd be angry, but she literally didn't have ₩3,000 to give anymore.
₩16,200 minus ₩2,000 = ₩14,200. Still not quite ₩15,000 for subway fare.
She'd have to pull ₩800 from her savings tomorrow. It wasn't ideal, but it was manageable.
The walk to her apartment building took twelve minutes. Yuri used the time to prepare herself mentally. Her father had been demanding this morning. That meant he was already in a mood.
The apartment door was unlocked. Bad sign.
Yuri walked in slowly, the plastic bag with milk and bread in her hand.
Her father was at the kitchen table. Two empty soju bottles in front of him, working on a third. Not completely drunk yet, but getting there.
"You're late," he said without looking up.
"I had tutoring. I texted you."
"Don't talk back to me."
Yuri set the milk and bread on the counter silently. Then she pulled out ₩2,000 from her wallet and set it on the table in front of him.
Her father looked at the money. Then at her.
"Two thousand won? I said I needed money. This is fucking insulting."
"It's all I have after buying the milk and bread."
"Liar. You had tutoring today. That bitch pays you fifty thousand."
Yuri's stomach dropped. "I have expenses. Subway fare, food, school supplies—"
"I don't give a fuck about your expenses!" He stood up, the chair scraping loudly. "I'm your father. I put a roof over your head. And you can't even give me a decent amount of money?"
"I gave you what I can—"
"Empty your wallet."
"There's nothing—"
"I said empty your fucking wallet!"
His voice was loud enough that the neighbors probably heard. Yuri pulled out her wallet with shaking hands, opened it.
₩14,200 inside.
Her father's eyes narrowed. "You said you only had two thousand."
"I need the rest for subway fare. For school. I can't get to school without—"
He snatched the wallet out of her hands, pulled out all the cash. ₩14,200.
"You can walk to school," he said, shoving the money in his pocket. "Or maybe you'll learn to stop lying to your father."
"That's for the whole week—"
"I don't care."
He threw her empty wallet at her. It hit her chest and fell to the floor.
Yuri stood there, hands shaking, staring at the empty wallet.
₩0.
She had ₩0 until Thursday night's convenience store shift.
No subway fare. No food money. Nothing.
"Can I go to my room?" she asked quietly.
"Get out of my sight."
Yuri picked up her wallet and went to her room. Closed the door. Leaned against it.
₩0.
She'd have to walk to school tomorrow. That was... she calculated the distance in her head. About 8 kilometers. An hour and a half each way. She'd have to leave at 6 AM to make it by first period.
And no food. She'd eaten the kimbap at lunch. Had nothing for dinner tonight, breakfast tomorrow, lunch tomorrow.
Two days until her Thursday night shift.
She could survive two days without eating. She'd done it before.
Yuri changed out of her school uniform carefully. Hung it up. She'd have to wear it again tomorrow—couldn't afford to wash it at a laundromat.
She pulled out her homework. Calculus problems for tomorrow's test.
Her phone buzzed. Text from Hajun: *Just wanted to confirm Monday works for you? Library at 3:30?*
Yuri stared at the message. Monday. That was in four days. By then she'd have money again from Thursday's shift. She could deal with the project then.
She typed back: *Yes. See you then.*
His response was immediate: *Great! Looking forward to working together*
She put her phone away and focused on her calculus.
At 8 PM, her father yelled for dinner. Yuri made ramyeon with the last package in the cupboard. Brought it to him.
"Where's yours?" he asked.
"I ate already. At school."
Lie. But he couldn't prove it.
He shrugged and ate. Yuri washed his bowl afterward, then went back to her room.
Her stomach was cramping with hunger, but she ignored it. Drank water from the bottle she kept by her mattress.
At 10 PM, she heard her father's bedroom door slam. Good. He was done for the night.
Yuri finished her homework, then pulled out the bottle of sleeping pills from under her mattress.
Half a pill tonight. She needed to make them last.
She swallowed the half pill with water, then lay down.
Set her alarm for 5:45 AM. She'd need the extra time to walk to school.
Her mind circled the same thoughts:
₩2,876,500 in savings.
₩0 in her wallet.
Two days until she got paid again.
8 kilometers to walk tomorrow.
361 days until her birthday.
The pill started working. Her thoughts got fuzzy.
*Just survive. Keep surviving.*
Yuri closed her eyes.
Tomorrow would be hard.
But she'd make it.
She always did.