Sunggyu ran out of the auditorium looking in all the directions, gaining judging looks from others students. It's not like he cared, his only concern at the moment was to find Eunji before she could leave the school.

Earlier, she looked so surprised after her eyes started tearing up and left running. She couldn't hear him calling for her because of the deafning clapping that came from their audiance.

To add to his mesery, Mr. Kwon had to hold him from leaving to give him his thoughts about their act.

"I'm surprised of how well you acted this scene, it seemed so real if you ask me, especially after modifying the script, which was against the rules. But after that show I don't think I'll have the heart to give you a mark less than an A plus, both of you. Good job!" the man clapped in satisfaction.

Sunggyu almost looked in every hallway leading to the exit of the building, in the alleys leading to the main gate and even the rooftop. But Eunji was nowhere to be seen.

'Where did she go? I hope she didn't leave the school.' he run his hand in his hair while scanning the school from the rooftop, his eyes automatically landing on the huge garden above him.

"OF COURSE!!" 

Eunji rested her forehead and one hand on the tree, catching her breath. Her heart was aching so much, but not because of the running she just did. 

'I don't believe you! No, I don't wanna believe you!' Sunggyu's words were still ringing in her ears, adding to the unbearable ache. 

Her hand automatically traveled to her cheeks, feeling the wetness, the tears still falling.

It was bittersweet. She was in pain bacause of Sunggyu, but totally stunned by her tears.

Sunggyu was panting harshly when he reached the place, but a sigh escaped him when he saw the girl leaning on the tree.
He could see her shaking back and the faint sobs with every step he took.

"I think I pushed you too much." he approached her.

Eunji jumped startled and turned to him.

Red puffy eyes, trumbling lips and cheeks soaked with tears. She was giving him a heartbreaking look of confusion and hurt. Sunggyu never thought he could see her that weak and vulnerable, regret washing over him when he remembered  that he was the one who made her like that.

Sunggyu did the thing he saw most suited for the moment and hugged her.
Eunji was surprised by his act, well he just rejected her, but she was too worn out by her the sudden flood of emotions to react or push him away.

"I'm sorry, Eunji-ah." he apologized in the softest tone he ever spoke in.

"I didn't mean what I said early, really. I just took the chance to break you free. I'm so sorry." he tightned his hold around her, his hand caressing the back of her head soothingly.

"You idiot! Why did you do that!" she mumbled, her words muffled by his jacket.

Her hands clutched to his sides and she buried her face further in his chest, crying her heart out.

Sunggyu kept apologizing, lightly tapping and caressing her back to soothe her a little. But he startled getting worried when the crying seemed to worsen.

"Eunji, it's okay. Why are you still crying? I'm really sorry, I really didn't mean those words. Please stop crying." he freed himself from her hold enough to cup her face, his fingers whipping her tears away.

"I can't... They just keep falling." she whined.

"Do you want me to make them stop?" he smirked mischievously.

"How?" she questioned, clueless.

"Like this." he said before closing the distance between them and kissing her right eyelid, then the left one, resulting in a very shocked Eunji.

"Stop crying." he kissed her forehead this time. "It makes you look ugly." he smiled when she pouted.

"But most importantly, I don't like seeing you in pain." he added before pecking the pout away, adding to her surprised expression.

"Jung Eunji, I like you." he finished.

Eunji lowered her head, a poor attempt to hide her blushing cheeks and the wide grin on her face.

"Me too." she mumbled.

"I didn't hear you well." Sunggyu said teasingly.

He lifted her head, gazing straightly in her eyes.

"Say it again, I wanna hear it clearly." his tone was authoritative, but tender at the same time.

Eunji hesitated at first. She was still unsure of her decision, after all she risked a lot of things when she decided to confess. But looking at Sunggyu's dark orbs, feeling the amount of trust, love and care flowing from them made her gain the courage to do it.

"I like you, Kim Sunggyu. A lot." she finally uttered the words he'd been waiting for, for so long.

Sunggyu was beyond happy at that moment. He kissed her again, it was tender and sweet but Eunji was still not used to it.

"You ert." Eunji freed herself from his hold, punching his chest. She tried to hide her crimson red cheeks with her hands, looking anywhere but him.

"Does that mean that we're dating now?" he asked, grinning widely.

"Aish!! I don't know!" Eunji was beyond embarrassed at the moment and started walking away quickly from him.

"I'll take that as a yes!" he shouted, walking after her, feeling all giddy in inside.

They decided to skip the afternoon classes and go somewhere to relax, since Eunji was still emotionally unsteady. They both ended up walking around aimlessly until they reached a little playground, so each one of them sat on a swing, eating ice cream.

"I never played in such a place. They've never let me out of the mansion alone." Eunji confessed, looking at a few kids playing in the sand with their mothers at the side watching them.

"Who they?" Sunggyu asked.

"My nannies, the servants, the guards and Dongwoo." she counted on her fingers. "Only Woohyun would let me sneak with him, but he never took me to a playground." 

"What about you mother?" Sunggyu kind of guessed the answer to his question.

"She never cared, actually. I bet she would've been glad if I went out and was kidnapped or got lost. That's why Dongwoo didn't like me going anywhere without him. I mean even Woohyun betrayed us at some point." she paused for a while. " We were really close, you know. I trusted him a lot, even when Dongwoo asked me not to." she smiled bitterly.

"What did he do?" Sunggyu noticed how Eunji tensed at the question, but gradually relaxed.

"I was spending a few days at my father's hotel, a few weeks before the custody trial. No one knew that I was there, exept for Dongwoo. But I had to be stupid enough and tell Woohyun. He said he wanted to visit me and he missed me. So we agreed on a meeting spot. But he wasn't the one who came." a shiver run through her body at the memory.

"Was it the day your mother tried to..." he didn't have the heart to continue the question, but she understood him and nodded.

"Can't you tell me what happened that day?" he was really curious about that, wanting to know how awful it was. 

Eunji just shook her head.

"It's not that I don't want to tell you. I'll tell you, I promise, but not now. I don't like that memories. But one day, I..." 

Sunggyu chuckled at the way she was ranting, obviously afraid he'll be mad.

"Calm down. I told you before, I won't push you to tell me anything. Although I hate being in the dark, I don't want to trigger any bad memories or unpleasant events. I can wait." he smiled warmly.

Eunji was astonished by his patience and felt bad for using it in her favor. She kept gazing at him for a while.

"How can you be this understanding?" 

"Just because it's you." he said it as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. He took her hand in his, warmness filling his gaze, making Eunji disgusted by her self.

"I'm sorry." she apologized, her head hanging low.

"What for?" he frowned, sensing her mood getting down.

"For not being able to tell you anything, for making you wait this long and for triggering your bad memories. I didn't mean to hurt you. I'm sorry." maybe because she was still being emotional, but her eyes got teary again, threatening to fall down again.

"If you apologize again I'll really get mad! I told you I'm fine, as long as you are." he crouched in front of her, but she lowered her eyes more, avoiding his.

"I don't like seeing you sad, especially if I'm the reason behind it. Now lift your head, I want you to always look into my eyes, no matter how bad you feel. Let me see it. At least don't hide your feelings from me." he pleaded.

Slowly, she lifted her head. He was giving her the most tender look she ever saw. He smiled reassuringly, but he wasn't the only one who could read the other one, and Eunji could see the hidden pain in his expression.

"Then you too, don't hide things from me. It's okay if you want to share your concerns with me. I'll listen, really." his smile widened hearing her words.

"I know." was all that he answered. 

She was disappointed by his reply. She's used of being the discreet one, but she realized that she was too immersed in her own problems that she never really noticed that glint of pain that were always reflected in his eyes.

'I'll wait for you to open up as well.' she thought, not giving up on making him speak.

"I'll pick you up tomorrow morning. There's going to be a big havoc at school after today's show. We should be ready." Sunggyu said when they were taking the last turn to Eunji's apartment building.

"By showing up like this," she said, bringing their tangled hands in front of his face." Don't you think it's too much?" she pursed her lips together. "We should take things slowly, you know."

"I don't have this word in my dictionary. And I don't care about what they think of us, they won't stop pestering us anyways." 

"You really are an attention seeker." she shook her head.

"Well you confessed to this attention seeker earlier, so..." He shrugged his shoulders, smirking.

Eunji blushed at the memory averting her eyes elsewhere, walking quicker than before. Sunggyu chuckled at the sight and rushed his steps as well, catching her before entering the building.

He dropped a quick kiss on her cheek, his ears reddening in the process but not catching up with the dark pink shade decorating her face.

"You're really cute, you know?" he said ruffling her hair.  "See you tomorrow, good night for now. " 

He waited for her to react but she was as responding as a status, so he turned her around and pushed her inside. 

"I'll call you later." he waved for her, even though she didn't turn around and kept walking straightly, holding her face between her hands, mumbling a few words. Sunggyu just chuckled, a new kind of unknown happiness making its way to his heart.

"Oh, she's finally here. She'll explain everything for us."Sungjong said, peeking at Eunji who just came into their apartment, a dreamy look on her face alongside with a wide smile. Sungjong decided to ignore it for the moment.

"Someone just updated some videos from today's acting test. Yours has gained a lot of views. I've been discussing with Dongwoo hyung whether using artificial tears was legal or not." he continued, trying his best to ignore the weird unusual expression on her face.

"I told you, it's not legal! And the script was weird, but your acting got a lot better you know!" Dongwoo admitted, still impatient to hear her explanation.

"That wasn't the real script, I change it. I wasn't acting though, at least not the last part." she grinned, confusing them more. "And those tears were real." She emphasised, ignoring the shock she caused to the two boys.

"W-what do you mean by r-real?" Dongwoo stuttered, not really trusting his ears.

"I actually cried. It wasn't an act." she grinned again, proud of her self.

Sungjong rose from his seat and put his hand on her forehead.

"There's no fever. Eunji, are you okay? Should I call Dr. Park?" he asked in concern. She slapped his hand away.

"I'm fine. Actually, I never felt this great in years." she directed her words to Dongwoo, who was still processing her words. Sungjong gasped, hurrying back to his phone to rewatch the video again.

"Dongwoo." she sat next to him, hand on his shoulder. "I did it! I finally let go!" 

"You're not tricking us or something, right?" he asked, still processing her words.

She shook her head with a toothy smile.

"Where's that bastard?!!" he rose from his seat, anger evident in his tone. Eunji frowned in confusion.

"How dare he say those harsh words to my sister and hurt her after confession to her?! I'm going to teach him a lesson!!" 

Dongwoo was almost halfway to the door when Eunji's giggle echoed in the apartment, making both men look at her in confusion.

"Oppa!! Did you believe what he said?!!" she said between her giggles. When Dongwoo didn't give her any reaction, she stopped laughing giving him the don't-tell-me-you-did look.

"I thought you could read people better that this. He just said those words as a last attempt to break me free." she clarified, quoting Sunggyu's words. 

"So you're not upset, right?" he asked.

"No I'm not. I'm happy, for real." she reassured him. A wide smile crept to his lips, a father's proud smile. 

"I own him a lot then. I should thank him for making me witness this day." he said, a proud look on his face.

"Well there's one more thing you need to know." a blush took it place on her cheeks, Sungjong suppressed a laugh, knowing what was coming next.

"We started dating." she confessed.

"Oh." that was all that Dongwoo said, blinking few times, not expecting this at all.

"YOU WHAT!! WHERE'S THAT BASTARD?!!" He yelled. Eunji rolled her eyes.

'He's still the overprotective Dongwoo...' 

 Since the day of the confession, Sunggyu became a different person, the stupid happy expression never leaving his face and Eunji is all what was in his mind. It was almost impossible to piss him off since he was always cheerful. Of course dating affected his daily routine a little bit.

He went back to pick her in the morning, but they always walk hand in hand, their smiles wider than ever. At school they tried to be a little bit discreet but their relationship was  so obvious, especially since the rumors about them was already there.

They always kept stealing glances at each other during class and sometimes they'd secretly start a conversation, and sometimes, they get caught and punished. 

After school they'd hang up with the others and have fun and then he would walk her home again. And then, they'd spend the rest of the night talking over the phone, sleeping to each other's voices.

They were the couple everyone envied. They looked so in love and everyone could see the change in Eunji's personality. She started getting along with a lot of her classmates and other students started liking her more, but of course she still had a lot of haters.

One Sunggyu's favorite parts of the day was the time after lunch that they spend alone in the isolated part of the garden. They'd sit on the bench and talk so freely, or just stay silent, enjoying the peace of the nature.

"The weather is changing. We should go out on a date before it gets colder." Sunggyu suggested, his hand tangled with Eunji's. The latter playing with his fingers, amazed by their slenderness.

"Oh Kim Sunggyu? Are you asking me on a date?" she asked playfully, a new side he got to know after dating.

"Yes I am. What about this weekend? As our ten days celebration?" he winked, she gave him a disgusted look. "Okay, I know that was cheesy. I think I don't need a reason to ask you out anymore."

"Not this weekend, though. Remember, my mother is holding a party this Saturday and I'm forced to be there!" she whined.

"I completely forgot!" he slammed his forehead. " Isn't this the masquerade I'm supposed to come to?" 

"You still want come? You don't have too, you know." she mumbled, her attention going back to their tangled hands. 

"But I promised you, even if we're not dating I'd still go. Plus I don't wanna let you go there alone. Especially if people like that Hoya guy or Woohyun are attending." he insisted.

"Don't worry about them, Dongwoo and Sungjong will be there. I'll be okay." she reassured him.

"But I won't be. I don't have a good feeling about it." he frowned in concern.

"Me neither." she admitted.

'Especially with you there.' she thought.

"Then I better be their if anything happens." she nodded in defeat.

They went back to being silent, Eunji calculating the possible bad things to occur, until he resumed talking again, bringing up an unexpected topic.

"Ah, I just remembered to ask you something. Remember the time I went to your mother's mansion? I came across a very weird woman. Her way of dressing was very bizarre and the way she looked at me gave me chills too. Do you know who she was?" he asked, kind of curious about the woman.

"You met Madam Jo?" Eunji raised an eyebrow. That was the only weird person that was allowed in there. 

Sunggyu gave her a questioning look, pushing er to explain more.

"Park Joo Mi, but goes by the name of Madam Jo. That's my mother's best friend, and a fortune teller. They've been friends even before Dongwoo's birth."

"A fortune teller? No wonder she looked very spooky. But your mother's best friend? I didn't expect that."

"No one ever does. I can't believe it myself. But no matter how many modern and educated my mother looks, she believes a lot in those kind of things, and Madam Jo happen to be the best in the field regardless of her young age. My mother always says that she's the most contribute person to the company. She has the ability to sense what's good and what's bad to the business. I don't believe her though. I still believe that she's a con artist." Eunji pursed her lips in a thin line. "She'll surely come to the party, try to avoid her, you don't want to hear the nonsense she says." She advice him, Sunggyu just nodded.

"One encounter was enough." he mumbled, a shiver running down his spine when he remembered the woman's gaze.

Friday came fast and Sunggyu found himself riding in the car with Dongwoo, Sungjong and Eunji after school.
The anniversary party was the next day but they had to go to the hotel, where the party is going to be held, for the preparations. 

The ride was almost silent, if not for the songs playing on the radio.

Sunggyu sensed the tension building up in the air. They all seemed restless, even him. He didn't feel good about this party. And after seeing how bad things happen whenever he had that feeling, he started dreading the next day.

As for Eunji and Dongwoo, he knew how much they hated their mother, so getting nervous before meeting her seemed to be kind of expected, especially from Eunji.

He secretly held her hand, cutting her from whatever she was thinking about. He gave her a reassuring smile, gaining one in return when he mouthed an 'Everything is going to be alright'.

They broke their shared gaze when they heard a long sight emitted from Dongwoo.

"We're here. the Empire Hotel. "

Sunggyu's eyes widened in devastation when he saw the exterior of the grand hotel. It was a Romania-styled hotel, with at least fifty floors. 

'No wonder it's the best in the country.' he thought.

A woman in a black suit, followed with many other employees, was waiting for them at the entry of the lobby.

Two employees opened the doors for them while two others took their bags inside.

"Mr. Jang, Miss Jung, Mr. Lee. We're glad to see you again." the woman bowed. "and you must be Mr. Kim, welcome to the Empire's hotel." she bowed to Sunggyu, who looked kind of burdened by her robotic way of greeting, and not missing the way she felt uncannily familiar.

"Butler Yoon, I see that you came." Dongwoo said nonchalantly, before walking in the lobby, the woman trying to guide them.

The interior was nowhere less beautiful than the exterior, Sunggyu almost hurt his neck looking everywhere and studying the decor.

"Eunji ah!" a female voice called. It was a high pitched and loud compared to the quiet atmosphere of the hotel.

Eunji's face lightened and turned to the voice's direction.

"Eonni!! You came?!" a beautiful woman in her late twenties came running to them and hugged Eunji right away.

"Of course I came. Who's going to fix this mess other than me, huh?" she said pointing at Dongwoo's hair. It was dyed light brown but the dark roots were very obvious.

"That's not fair, I've been taking good care of my hair lately." he protested, the woman just gave him disapproving shake of head, but her expression changed right away when Sunggyu came in her  vision.

"You must be Kim Sunggyu, nice to meet you. I'm Kwon Boah, their stylist." she pointed at the three behind her."unfortunately." she added.

"Nice to meet you too." he said, chuckling at her remark.

"You're thinner than I expected. It means that I'll need to readjust your costume later." 

"My... Costume?" he asked in confusion, she ignored his question.

"When I finish with both of you, you're going to look like the perfect couple." she then pointed at Eunji. "You follow me. You need to try your costume first. I'll call the guys later." 

Eunji gave him an apologetic smile before following the lady.

"Since they'll be with Miss Boa for now, I'll lead you to your suit." Butler Yoon who never left said.

"We're going to check the preparations before. Butler Yoon, I'll leave him in your hands." Dongwoo excused himself, Sungjong waving to Sunggyu before catching with the elder.

"Well, I will lead you there." 

Sunggyu followed the woman to the elevator, he had the chance to observe her face better, and he was right, she looked very familiar. 

"Did we meet before?" he finally asked her. The woman gave him a weird look. "When I was a kid maybe?" he raised an eyebrow.

"No sir, I don't think so." she replied firmly, making him retreat from asking further.

"Have you been working in here for so long?" 

"I don't work here, sir. I come to the hotel on special occasions only. I've been the head butler of the Jang's mansion, where the chairwoman resides, for eight years now." she answered curtly.

"And before then, where did you used to work?" he could see that she was trying to hide her annoyance very hard, but he didn't care.

"I worked in many hotels before, until Mr. Jung's hotel closed down. Then the chairwoman kindly offered me to work for her."

'Kindly.' Sunggyu scoffed. 'Mr. Jung's hotel closed down? Eunji's father's hotel?' 

"You said it closed down. Why?" he asked, his curiosity waking up again.

But unfortunately, they reached the thirty eighth level and they had to go out of the elevator and walk down the quiet hallway.

"This is your suit. There's four rooms inside. You choose the one you like." she took out a golden card and slid it in the door's lock, the door opened. "here, this is you key. Have a good stay in the Empire's hotel." she handed him the card, bowed then left.

The suit was huge, maybe as huge as the penthouse. Four bedrooms with built-in bathrooms and king sized beds, opening on a huge Living room and a kitchen at one side. 

The bedrooms looked identical so he chose the closest to the suit's exit.

He threw himself on the fluffy bedsheets, enjoying the feeling of extreme luxury. But the conversation he just had with the butler bugging him. He wasn't being delusional, he met her before, but he couldn't bring his poor memory to remember the exact time and place.

His phone started ringing and he unconsciously smiled when he saw the caller's ID.

"Miss me already?" he asked teasingly.

"You wish. Are you in your room?" she asked.

"Why? Do you think I ran out already?" he said jokingly, a surprised chuckle was heard from the other end of line.

"hahaha, very funny. Get down, it's your turn in fitting. I'm waiting for you at the lobby. Hurry up, Boa isn't a very patient person."  

"Yes sir, I'll be right there." 

Sunggyu looked at himself in the long mirror, admiring the job of the stylists. When he heard the word costume earlier, he thought about something tacky, a long cap, weird pants and things like that. 

Well, he obviously underestimated Boa's talent.

His costume was no different than a fancy tuxedo, but it wasn't plain. The shirt was dark red, the jacket and pants black, simple so far. The best part was the back of the jacket, very aesthetic. It was painted with many different shades of red but not in a clumsy way. 
The shades  started being light from the shoulder's blade and became darker but with few hints of light red and sunset orange to the sides, and ending at the top of the shoulders and going a little bit down his arms, as if they were real wings, red wings.

And surprisingly, exept for it being a little bit loose, it fitted Sunggyu so well, especially the colors.

"Okay, so we still need to change your hairstyle, do a little make up and add a few accessories here and there and you'll steal everyone's attention." Boa said, still checking the length of the sleeves.

"Since it's a masquerade, isn't there supposed to be masks and all?" he questioned hesitantly.

"Of course there should be masks. But be patient, that's a surprise." she winked. "Now go, I still need to fix two other costumes." she sighed thinking of Sungjong and Dongwoo's costumes.

After finishing his fitting session, Sunggyu decided to go back to his hotel room, since it was still not time for dinner, he figured out Eunji would be still up there.

He got on the elevator and the door was about to close when a woman joined Sunggyu in. Madam Jo.

"Sunggyu, we meet again." she smiled evily.

'Did I became a celebrity or what? Do everyone in here know my name?' he was annoyed but mostly creeper by the woman.

He bowed so that he won't seem rude, avoiding looking in her face.

Sunggyu pressed the level's number, while the woman stayed still.

'Is she staying in the same floor as me?' he questioned.

"You probably know what I am by now." Madam Jo said, looking directly at his reflection in the elevator's closed door.

"Aren't you curious? About your life?" she turned to him, smirking. "You have a strong aura, you know? Even stronger than Eunji's." she offered him her hand. "Let me test it."

Sunggyu hesitated at first. He didn't believe those things and Eunji's warning made him more alerted.

'It won't hurt though. It's not that I'll believe her.' he convinced himself.

Slowly, he put his hand on hers but regretted it immediately.

A shiver run through his body and flashes of his memory came back to him. Memories from his childhood he wasn't supposed to remember.

A baby's cry, doctors and nurses surrounding him, his parent's smiling fondly at him, a six years old Mingyu touching his hand, him speaking for the first time, walking for the first time, falling for the first time, ... as if his life flashed in front of him in that crack of a second.

But one memory stood out, the day before Mingyu's death, the rain, the red umbrella, the kid in the playground under the slide,... Details he never remembered before came back to him.

The fortune teller's body trembled as well, her eyes closed while her hand clutched on his hand. Then, she steadied her self, took a big inhale of air and opened her eyes. 

It was a frightening sight, with her creepy clothing, her eyeballs rolled back and her voice changing octaves, getting a lot thicker.

"Sunggyu. The one with the dark past and the darker future. The one whom mother saw as evil, whom father didn't see as son, whom brother sees as a friend and whom' lover will despise. Know your family and know yourself, uncover your past's secrets and expect great losses and sacrifices." 

She finished by releasing a long breath, her eyes going back to normal and letting go of his hand.

Sunggyu was still devastated by what he felt, witnessed and heard. 

The woman was in a state of shock too. Sunggyu gave her a dark glare, waiting for an explanation. But when the elevator's door opened, she flee from the scene and disappeared in one of the suits.

'What did happen just now?' another shiver run through his body.

"Whom mother saw as evil? Nonsense! My mother loves me more than anything else, I don't doubt that." he yelled, looking directly at his reflection in the bathroom's mirror, bangs wet and water ticking from his jaw. The sound of the water running from the tap was the only one echoing in the room. He splashed his face again with the cold liquid.

"Father didn't see as son? What's new about that? Brother sees as friend? My brother is dead! Lover will despise?" he stopped, voice getting lower, he closed the tap and picked a towel.

"Why am I even bothering? Eunji said it herself, the woman is a con artist. Her words doesn't even make sense..." He tried to convince himself, drying his face thoroughly.

But even if he didn't believe her, it didn't change the fact that Madam Jo's words were true and had a lot to them than it seems.

Ehmmm... what did she mean by that? can you guess the secret behind her words? tell me your guesses in the comment section ;)

Well I wasn't supposed to update before monday, but then I saw your encouraging comments and that my story surpassed 100 subscribers and I was so happy and didn't have the heart to keep you waiting any longer  :'D I really love you guys and I hope that you will keep supporting my story till the end (You may regret it if you don't ) I mean I still have a lot of shocking surprises and plot twists just for you *winks*

Anyways, next chapter is almost done and I'll probabaly update on friday, or even before. See you next time :***