“Um… What are we doing here unnie?” Moonbyul asked apprehensively, staring at the streams of mask wearing people entering a huge mansion. Ignoring her best friend, Solar pulled up at the driveway, and threw something blue at Moonbyul before stepping out of the car and muttering, “Man, and you call me a pretty idiot. A ballgown and a suit, most people would have guessed it by now” under her breath. “Yongddonieeeeeeeee! Weren’t we supposed to go for my birthday dinner? What are we doing here?” Moonbyul whined, a pout appearing on her face as she stepped out of the car. She looked down at blue object in her hands and realised that it was a mask, in fact, it was similar to the one Yongsun had just put on, just not that sparkly and that Yongsun’s was pink. Like really bright, eye-blinding pink. Moonbyul could not stand it, and looked instead, at her own. It was a pretty sky blue colour, with hints of white which made it look like a nice day with clouds in the sky and not too sparkly, which Moonbyul actually liked. Moonbyul hesitantly put on the mask, and walked towards Yongsun, stumbling a little due the the unfamiliarity of the mask. She soon got used to it and walked quickly to her best friend, avoiding the huge masses of people. Ignoring the giggles from Yongsun, she repeated her question for the third time tonight. Her friend turned to her sighing before saying, “Byul-ah, you are in a suit. I am in a dress. We both have masks. Everyone here are wearing what we are. So what are we doing here? And if you are really that dumb, then think back to last Friday,” while counting off each reason. Still not being able to link everything, Moonbyul traced her memory back to Friday. Her face showed disgust upon realising where they were. “Don’t tell me… it’s the masquerade ball isn’t it?” Her friend’s face lit up, and her head bounced up and down repeatedly showing that what she said was right. You see, the town that the two friends live in hold an annual ball, each year with a different theme, of which last year was Winter Ball and this year was a Masquerade Ball. It fell on Moonbyul’s birthday, December 22, and she never went for it, being the anti-social and shy girl that she was. She had a little anxiety disorder, only able to freeze when she was around more than 3 people that she did not know at the same time. It was also never a problem. Her family never forced her to go, respecting her decisions, but that all changed after Yongsun came into her life. 

Yongsun was her senior by 1 year technically, but Moonbyul skipped a grade, after acing the math paper of the senior students when she was just a sophomore. That was how she first met Yongsun. Yongsun made a grand arrival on the 3rd day of school, as she ‘fell sick’  on the first 2 days. She was paired up with Moonbyul, the teacher hoping that at least a little intelligence and self-control would rub off on the girl. Thankfully, it seemed to have worked, though it took quite some time, seeing how shy Moonbyul was. Soon they were studying together and Yongsun’s grades improved and she had a clean attendance record for the first time in years. They were best buddies ever since. 

The Ball was a huge tradition, and everyone in town on that day was invited to go regardless of status, income, age or gender. There was the occasional Cinderella story but everything was usually okay. Once Yongsun entered her life, she had always begged to go with Moonbyul but usually just either went with her other friends, alone or just stayed at home with Byul, mostly just her sulking. This year, Moonbyul thought that Yongsun had finally given up on convincing her to go to the ball, as apart from the mention of it on Friday, not a peep was made about it. But nope. Secretly, Yongsun had gotten permission from Byul’s parents to take her to the ball. They had always wanted Byul to go have fun at the Ball on her birthday instead of just studying at home or something but they respected her decision. So when Yongsun offered to take Byul to the Ball, they jumped on it right away. They made a very elaborate plan, even making up to 3 to 4 backup plans in case they got caught, but Moonbyul being the clueless yet oddly genius kid that she was suspected nothing and that let them only use the original plan. 

After having a small celebration at home during breakfast, they managed to make Moonbyul believe that they were going to her favourite (and expensive) restaurant for dinner, so they had succeeded in getting Moonbyul into at least a suit, seeing that she would not wear a dress. Her parents BARELY managed to escape, lying really badly about something along the lines of a company emergency that cropped up, and the two (Yongsun and Moonbyul) could only go on their own, even though it was on the day of the ball, which was a public holiday to allow for everyone to attend. 

That led them to where they were now, with Yongsun and Moonbyul standing outside the door, Moonbyul hesitating while Yongsun was rushing her to go in quickly. “You might even find the girl of your dreams here! Hurry before she falls for someone!” Was the statement which led to her feet finally crossing the doorframe. Stepping into the mansion, Moonbyul just realised how big it was on the inside. It was already plenty big on the outside but looked even bigger on the inside. She was pulled down the hallway by an eager Yongsun, her legs dragging behind her because of her reluctance to attend this ball. Upon reaching the ballroom, Yongsun instantly pulled away from her and headed to the food