I want people to see me as someone who is tough. I don’t want anyone to judge me too quickly or think they can treat me however they want. But the people who get close to me would tell me, “You’re actually an idiot.” I may come across as tough at first, but once people get to know me, they find that I’m actually pretty clumsy and scatterbrained. And sometimes, I cry for reasons even I don’t understand. I tend to watch people closely. I pay attention to the words they choose, the gestures they make when they speak, and, especially, how they behave when their emotions run high. I notice whether they tend to take control of a conversation or whether they genuinely listen to what others have to say. Once I’ve figured someone out, I decide who I let in and how much I open up to them. I have clear boundaries when it comes to how I treat people. If someone lies or betrays me in a game, that’s fine. The game is the game. But when it comes to being rude, unreasonable, or simply lacking basic decency, I can’t stand it. And just because someone is on my side doesn’t mean I automatically defend them. I find out what actually happened first. I believe that’s how I can truly stand by someone. To me, a real ally is someone who knows the truth and still chooses to stand by you. I don’t always play to win just because something is a competition. But when I set my mind on winning, I can be pretty relentless. When I have an exam I have to pass, I’ve never failed it more than twice. Not long ago, I played MONOPOLY for the first time with some friends. I was down to my last dollar, literally, and on the verge of bankruptcy, but strangely enough, that was when the game started getting fun. The most valuable property I owned, Seoul, was already mortgaged. I owed rent to a friend who owned Incheon, but with only one dollar left, I couldn’t pay in cash. I already had three houses on each of my other monopolized properties, so selling them at half price or mortgaging them would have been a huge loss. So I decided to give my mortgaged Seoul property to that friend instead of paying the rent. But who I gave Seoul to mattered. Another friend had enough cash to pay off the mortgage on Seoul. At first, giving Seoul to that friend seemed like the better move. But I chose to give the mortgaged Seoul to the friend who owned Incheon, even though it meant giving that friend the chance to complete a monopoly. It looked like I was giving away the advantage. But I was thinking beyond the immediate move. Considering that friend’s cash position and what would happen once the property went to auction, I decided that this actually gave me a better chance of staying in the game. In the end, I came back from the brink of bankruptcy and finally won the game. Maybe I’ve lived a life that’s a little outside what most Koreans would consider “normal.” I believe those experiences are what made me who I am today. If I step into this game where I have to observe people, make choices, negotiate, and compete, I’m curious to see what kind of person I’ll choose to become this time. I want to create a different kind of “abnormal”—something I’ve never been before. And I believe that game is MONOPOLY.