𝑔ℎ𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑡𝑜𝑤𝑛 𝑔𝑖𝑟𝑙.

from the very beginning, dalrae (known originally as min yuyeon) treasured the escape above all else; running free from whatever ails you was always her motto.

growing up in a group home with her two sisters after the abandonment of their mother did little but harden the girl’s exterior and make it increasingly hard to trust at all. though she wasn’t the oldest sibling, she was considered the toughest and least emotional. she was far more willing to do what had to be done.

whenever the home didn’t feed her sisters to her standards, rae would swipe food from the pantry when the attendants weren’t looking, risking a hefty beating. and even when she got caught, she’d stand against them defiantly, tearless and silent.

she learned to take what she needed when she needed it, the consequences be damned. eventually, the punishments became too harsh for even her to handle, and she escaped the facility when she was fifteen.

her sisters had always been so well behaved, so she knew they’d be okay in the group home’s care, but dalrae herself didn’t really know what to do next. she’d never really had anyone to depend on, and now she truly was alone.

she wound up falling in with a group of small-time criminals who, strangely enough, treated her far better than the group home ever had. they ran underground fight rings, laundered money through local businesses; nothing they had was gained through legitimate means, and yet they were her family. they gave her a new name and a new identity. they were the only ones who’d ever been there to take care of her, and at the same time, they filled her head with dreams of something bigger.

banks, corporations, luxury car dealers...they all had so much wealth for the taking, and no intention of sharing. rae and her crew spent their time developing their skills, learning the police response times and computer security systems like the backs of their own hands.

by the time she’d entered her early twenties, she was damn near a pro at stealing from the rich and prosperous of seoul - it had been keeping her and the crew going for years, and they’d all improved upon the petty crimes they’d started out committing.

they had become the shadowy organization, known simply as OZ, or at least that’s what the news and the public had begun to call them. they were something of local superstars, even if no one knew their names or faces. while some in the crew found that notoriety intoxicating, rae knew it could only spell the end of their little adventure.

she knew that people were going to eventually connect them to the thefts being committed, and her intuition proved to be correct.

they were taking one of the biggest corporations in the city one night, and despite their years of experience doing just that, they were unable to correctly predict the police response time. squad cars descended upon the crew in less than a minute, and in spite of their attempt at a quick getaway, the police were determined to steer them off the road.

after making a tearful plea to a crew member she knew was romantically interested in her to take all the blame and let her escape, dalrae slipped silently out of the car while it was still in full movement. she went tumbling down the bank and landed with a painful splash in the shallow banks of the han river.

she gritted her teeth and made the freezing cold swim across the river to put distance between her and the cops. she dried off and warmed up at a small, independently owned internet cafe, after observing that the place didn’t have a security camera set up. she transferred all the money OZ still had in its various accounts to her own offshore, despite guilt gnawing at her the entire time; but she simply had to survive, and her freedom was imperative to that.

after sitting on the money for a while, dalrae left the mainland behind, making the move to mulmalu island to get away from the events of that night. she used the money she’d stored away to buy a small cottage on the beach, where she could be left alone.

after nearly getting caught, the desire to amass a fortune through improper means had left her; she just wanted to hide away until her time would eventually come. she didn’t find meaning in much of anything anymore...she was finally starting to realize just what her life was.

...that was until she met him; bae hyuk - the charming, handsome photographer who would sweep her off her feet. from the very first time they met, she felt an overwhelming happiness whenever she would talk to him. it seemed his sole goal was to earn her trust, and after a lifetime of not being able to trust, perhaps she was a bit too eager.