Narrator
"It's going to be hard and there will be many sleepless nights. I'm not sure that I can trust you to keep your emotions in check," Angel investor, Kim Minji, told Y/n.
This was the 7th investor that had denied Y/n seed funding for their new startup.
"I see," Y/n felt defeated.
Minji had been the last resort.
Y/n and Minji had known each other since high school and were sort of close friends, so Y/n had waited to ask Minji for help due to personal ties.
"But..., I'm open to being an advisor for your company," Minji kindly offered.
- Y/N POV -
Minji never disappointed.
I was so happy to even just have her on my team.
"Yesss!!!" I cheered in excitement.
"Why are you so happy? She didn't give us a single penny!" Hanni suddenly exclaimed out of frustration.
I took a deep breath and grinned.
"Some connections are better than none!" I smirked at her.
Hanni and I then proceeded to take the bus home.
It was a long ride.
We had rode the bus for a whole hour to go meet Minji where she was at.
"I don't get it. Why didn't we ask her first? If connections matter than getting her on our team right away would have been a better move," Hanni asked as she put her hands in the pouch of her hoodie.
I took a deep breath, remembering all the times Minji had helped me out.
It felt wrong to ask for her help from the start.
I owed Minji too much of my life to ask her for more.
"I owe her too much already. Asking her first would have felt wrong," I answered Hanni, as I pulled the string on the bus for the next stop.
"Owe her? What do you owe her?" Hanni asked a bit confused.
"I owe her a lot," I sighed out.
"But you've got saving and your parents could probably help pay her off. How much of a debt can you have?" Hanni seemed really shocked.
"Kindness can't be paid with money," I answered her before getting to get off the bus.
- Hanni POV -
I never understood why Y/n cared so much about Minji.
Minji was rich and famous and she didn't seem the type to look twice at someone like Y/n.
Y/n was simple and ambitious like me. We didn't need peoples money or a status to feel content with our lives.
"Such a fool," I sighed to myself as I reached the front door of my house.
I felt as stupid as always.
I had gotten jealous over the fact that Y/n had fond feelings for a girl who wasn't even a threat to me.
"Why are you sulking again?" I heard someone suddenly say from behind me.
I wasn't surprised anymore...
I knew it was Dani.
"Another hard day of silently loving Y/n?" Dani teased.
"Oh, shut up!" I chuckled.
Dani knew I had been in love with Y/n for years now. She always teased me about.
"Come one, get inside and eat with us before mom starts to wonder why you didn't come begging us for dinner," I teased once I finally turned to look at Dani.
- Minji POV -
I was always fond of Y/n.
I had never seen someone persevere as much as Y/n.
"Why do you keep sponsoring that loser?" My little sister, Hyein, asked.
"I'm not sponsoring them. I'm mentoring," I coldly responded.
"You have never let your attention be wasted by amateurs," my other little sister.... Haerin... tried to knock some sense into me.
It was true. I was strict with my funding and my lessons.
"It's for someone I absolutely love," I responded with a glare.
My family was no stranger to my love for Y/n.
When I was a kid...
Y/n had consoled me.
"How can you blame a seed for not being as strong enough as a tree," Y/n told me.
As a kid, I was always the weak one.
The one who got hurt by words and being left out of the group. I was always the one who was never good enough..
But Y/n made me see...
That it just wasn't my time.
- Y/N POV -
"Okay, we have the team and mentor. We just don't have the money!" I told my team.
We had been waiting for funding for a long time but we still didn't have the money. So, I wasn't surprised when a few of people wanted to quit.
"Guys, please. We can do this!!" I begged the few who were walking out of the door.
"Don't beg!" Minji suddenly stood up to tell me.
"Yeah, we don't need them!!" Hanni followed after.
I took a deep breath and shook my head.
It wasn't up to Hanni to think of the logistic of things. It was up to me. I dealt with the whole company, while Hanni dealt with the people.
I was named the CEO.
I had to do what was right for everyone.
Still..., it was hard to do so.
"It's okay!" I tried to stay optimistic, as I watched our only developers leave.
"We can handle ourselves and build a basic foundation for our company. We don't need developers to start the basis of our company!" I tried to keep the spirit up.
It felt a bit stressful, but I didn't need more people.
More people seemed like a bigger struggle.
"You can't hold a foundation like this," Minji coldly stated as the day came to an ended.
I took a silent breath, but didn't give her an answer.
Everyone left the overpaid office and I was left to think of the bills...
As always.
"I'm doing my best. We don't need a full team to establish the company mission," I didn't even bother to give Minji a smile.
Minji was always known as a cold and brutal investor.
She was even a colder and more brutal as an advisor.
"You're burning money this way. Establish your mission statement fast and let me know when you're done playing games," She coldly glared at me before walking way.
- Minji POV -
"Goooddddd, I hate you so much!!!!" I threw a fit in my car.
I always hated how clueless Y/n acted around me.
I knew how smart Y/n was.
I knew that Y/n knew all about start ups.
"Why don't you come and ask me for help!!?!!?" I slammed my steering wheel as I drove home.
"Routing to Y/n's location," My car assistant suddenly announced.
"Noooo, that's not what I said!" I sighed in annoyance.
"Routing, Routing, Routing," My car kept telling me.
"Screw this! I already know where you are," I whispered to myself as I made an abrupt U-turn.
I speeded down the streets to get to Y/n's house and stood in front of it like a clueless idiot.
"Minji?" I suddenly heard someone say from behind me.
I turned to find Hanni and Y/n locking arms.
"What are you doing here?" Y/n stepped up to ask me.
Hanni looked offended that Y/n had unlocked arms with her and just marched into Y/n's house.
"What are you doing here?" Y/n asked again.
I took a deep breath.
I wasn't sure what excuse to make...
So, I just told the truth.
"Why didn't you come to me first?! You could have had funding by now but you waited for the last minute!!" I screamed at Y/n in frustration.
Y/n just looked at me with a blank look.
"It's okay. We're doing fine. We don't need big numbers or a developer team to get start on our vision," Y/n coldly responded.
"That's exactly what you need!!" I yelled in frustration.
"Don't," Y/n simply responded.
It was cold and calculated.
It made me feel offended at the fact that Y/n didn't speak to me like a friend anymore.
"I already owe you enough. I don't need to be owing you the success of my company," Y/n said before passing by me, slamming their shoulder against mine, and walking into their house.
I took a deep breath, knowing I had fucked up.
But I wasn't going to let Y/n treat me like they always had.
We weren't kids anymore.
"It's not my fault you can't ask for help!!" I finally let all my frustrations out.
- Y/N POV -
I stood in the front step of my gate, stiff and unsure of what to do.
"I could have helped you from the start, but you never asked. You could have been much further in life than you are now, but you never gathered the courage to ask me," Minji coldly announced.
I was shocked...
But I wasn't going to show it.
I didn't want Minji to feel like money was the one thing that could sway me.
I wasn't someone to give up my ideas for money.
I finally grasped a cohesive thought in my brain and turned to look at Minji,
"And if I would have asked for help... what would you have done?" I asked.
"I would've helped you to the best of my abilities and I would've been the first one to be there...," Minji quickly answered, as if aggravated.
"I would always be the first one by your side, whenever and wherever," Minji suddenly whispered.
- Hanni POV -
I could see Y/n and Minji bickering.
"Let them have some privacy," Dani whined as I stared out of Y/n's bedroom window.
Yes, I was being nosy...
But it was for a good reason.
"I would've helped you to the best of my abilities and I would've been the first one to be there...," Minji suddenly told Y/n.
"Sounds like she's trying to win Y/n's heart," Dani suddenly teased.
"Don't be ridiculous. It sounds like a fight!" I scoffed at the amusing prospective Dani had.
Dani came from where I came from and Y/n was no stranger to that...
So, when Y/n noticed Danielle was like a puppy following me around.... Y/n didn't hesitate to invite her into our group.
"It's okay to ask for help first!" Minji suddenly yelled throughout the neighborhood.
"It sounds like she really wants to help," Dani suddenly whispered in my ear.
I took a deep breath as I saw Y/n step up to hug Minji.
"Are you sure they're just friends?" Dani started to teased.
I gave her a dirty look before pushing her away from me and walking out of the house to get Y/n.
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