After the surreal encounter with Jaemin's mother—who was gasp rational, kind, and even offered her side dishes—Mirae was emotionally disoriented.
Was this how normal people acted? Was this how rich people were supposed to act? Wasn't there a law somewhere that rich mothers had to at least throw water at her face?
She sighed as she followed Jaemin down to the parking garage. The silence between them was comfortable, but Mirae's mind was anything but.
As Jaemin opened the driver-side door of his sleek black sedan, a loud shout echoed through the underground lot.
"You coward! You left without even telling me WHY!"
Both Mirae and Jaemin turned in perfect synchronicity, heads snapping toward the source of the voice.
From behind a concrete pillar emerged a man wearing a fitted suit like he had just stepped out of a noir movie. Across from him stood Mirae's next-door neighbor, Jang Seulbi in a flowing trench coat and a tragic backstory eyebrows.
"You think I wanted to leave you?! You think it was easy for me to fake my own death and disappear to Argentina for three years?! I did it... for YOU!"
Mirae blinked. "...Argentina?!"
"You could've just texted me," The man spat.
"I COULDN'T! My SIM card was cursed!"
Mirae nearly gasped. Cursed SIM card?! This was next-level.
The two launched into an argument full of cringy declarations, wild gestures, and enough melodrama to fill an entire weekend drama series.
She slowly turned to Jaemin, her eyes wide and glittering with anticipation.
He stared at the couple for three seconds. Then calmly looked back at her and said, "They should work on their script. This feels like episode 6 filler."
And with that, he got in the car.
Mirae stood there, betrayed by common sense once again.
Still mulling over the missed opportunity to participate in actual plot, Mirae left her apartment the next morning with a mission: today had to give her something juicy.
And the universe delivered.
As she rounded the corner to catch the bus, she spotted someone very familiar stepping out of a suspicious black car.
Her Kindergarten Teacher
Miss Ha? The same Miss Ha who used to make them sing "The Clean-Up Song"?
She was now wearing all-black tactical gear (okay, maybe it was just a stylish blazer, but it gave vibes), and beside her was a man who screamed mafia underboss—slicked-back hair, sharp eyes, and an aura that said, "I once waterboarded someone for eating my snacks."
They nodded at each other. Not a word was spoken.
Mirae clutched her bag.
"…Does this mean nap time was always a cover for secret intel transfers?"
By the time she got to class, she was emotionally exhausted.
But drama, as always, was ahead of schedule.
Her friend Haeun was in the middle of a confrontation with another girl—one Mirae didn't recognize.
"You took my life!" the stranger screamed.
"How is this my fault?! I was swapped at birth too!" Haeun shouted back.
Oh, no. Not another birth swap plot.
Apparently, Haeun had just found out she was not her parents' biological daughter and had unknowingly been raised in place of the actual heiress—who was standing in front of her now, demanding restitution like a third-season antagonist.
To make things worse, their visiting lecturer had walked in right as the yelling escalated, only to be mistaken for a long-lost relative.
"You were in the hospital that day, weren't you?!"
"Don't know you... I'm a Business Administration professor!"
Naturally, class was canceled.
The students turned their desks like they were front-row for a K-drama premiere. Popcorn was replaced with protein bars. The emotional reactions were delivered on cue.
Mirae sipped her iced americano and nodded along. "Nice delivery. But the pacing's a bit fast."
Later that day, Mirae found herself standing in front of a mirror in the campus bathroom, squinting at her reflection.
"…Maybe I was swapped too?"
It sounded ridiculous, but everyone around her had some kind of wild, soapy backstory. Birth secrets. Hidden identities. Mafia connections.
What if she was just living in the wrong episode?
To get clarification, she finally sent a hesitant message to her mom.
Mirae:
"Umma… is there a chance… even a small one… that I was switched at birth?"
Her mom replied within seconds.
Mom:
"Have you lost your mind?"
Followed by a photo of Mirae as a baby—chubby cheeks, crooked smile, identical to her mom's—and a caption:
Mom:
"You have my exact eyebrows. Go to sleep."
Mirae:
"…Okay."
Later at the Cafe, Her shift started as usual.
She was just restocking napkins when she noticed a group of well-dressed women standing near the counter, talking in voices too loud to be unintentional.
At the center of it all was her coworker, Soyoung—sweet, shy Soyoung, who had just started dating a quiet guy from Mirae's university.
"Oh, you work here?" one of the women said with a fake smile that could slice butter. "That's so cute."
Another one added, "Is this what Minjae meant by liking 'simple girls'? I guess that's a compliment… maybe?"
Mirae raised an eyebrow. Rich Mean Girls: Café Edition.
Turns out, they were all childhood friends of Soyoung's boyfriend—and one of them was still in love with him, despite being publicly engaged herself.
Soyoung was trying to be polite, but Mirae had to physically restrain herself from yelling, "GET A SCRIPT DIRECTOR!"
That night, curled up in bed, Mirae typed out another question to her boyfriend:
Mirae:
"Do you have… any childhood friends who are secretly in love with you? Maybe an ex-fiancée arranged by your family?"
A minute later, Jaemin replied:
Jaemin:
"My childhood friends are mostly male. And the only female one got married to her girlfriend two years ago and Why do my family need to arrange me a fiancée?"
Mirae:
"...What about an unhinged cousin or brother trying to steal your inheritance?"
Jaemin:
"You know we are a huge group right? Each of us were looking after one industry and making huge revenue and very busy, so why do they need to steal my inheritance when they have as much as I have?
Mirae:
"Why are you like this."
Jaemin:
"Because logic."
And once again, Mirae was alone in a world bursting with chaos, drama, betrayal… and one incredibly boring boyfriend with the emotional turbulence of a plastic cup.
She sighed dramatically.
"Just once… let me be the main character."