Sunggyu was distant, that was for sure. From the moment he came back from the fitting session, he closed himself in his hotel room and only came out during dinner. And even then, he barely spoke a word and kept poking his food absentmindedly.

"Sunggyu! Sunggyu!" Sungjong's calling brought him out of his little word of thinking. He found three pair of eyes looking at him curiously, Eunji's eyes a little bit concerned.

"Sorry, I got distracted a little bit." He faked a smile.

"I was asking you if you liked your costume?" Sungjong asked again.

"Yeah, actually it's really good. You'll be shocked of how handsome I am when you see me at the party." he said haughtily, Sungjong rolled his eyes while the siblings just chuckled.

"I'll be anticipating then." Dongwoo gave him an amused grin.

Sunggyu just sighed that he didn't rise their suspicion any further, although he could still feel Eunji's scrutinizing look on him.

After dinner, the trio sat in the living room of their suit, busy studying dozens of thick folders.

"What are these?" Sunggyu pointed at the table clueless.

"Tomorrow's guests’ list. We need to study them thoroughly. We're the hosts, after all." Dongwoo answered, nose buried in one of the files.

Sunggyu hummed and sat next to them, taking one himself.

"What are you doing?" Eunji looked at him questionably.

"I wanna know what kind of people are coming. Plus, I don't have anything else to do." he said while flipping through the folder.

'And I wanna distract myself from certain thoughts.'

Well, the content of the papers was really distracting. The guests were all filthy rich people and many of them were foreigners. But what caught Sunggyu's attention in particular was the little comments on every guest’s profile.

All of them had big corporations and were powerful but they were all involved in illegal acts, as a side job. Most of them were the heads of drug rings others were known for their criminal acts. The dreadful feeling came back to Sunggyu.

Eunji sensed Sunggyu's eyes on her, but she didn't expect that fearful look to be on his face.

'What is it? Why does he look so troubled?' she wondered.

"I'm going to take a walk outside." Sunggyu slammed the third folder he went through so far and stormed out of the room.

Eunji hesitated for a moment before going after him.

It didn't take long for her to find him.

"You know, there are many other beautiful places, for you to stay here." she said jokingly, sitting on the stairs leading to the golf fields.

"It's dark and I was afraid getting lost. This is the closest spot to the lobby, plus I don't need to go further, I just wanted to have a little bit of fresh air." he answered.

"And why is that? There's something bothering you, right?" Eunji didn't need an answer, since it was too obvious to be ignored.

"What is it?" she asked again, when Sunggyu was still not talking.

"How come you're not afraid of meeting all those people? They're all cold-blooded criminals and tomorrow they're going all to be in one room, with you with them. As if your mother wasn't enough." he mumbled the last part.

Eunji didn't expect his answer. A shocked expression took place on her face.

"Do you need to attend this party? Can't you lie to your mother or just be a disobedient child and skip it?" he suggested, Eunji still in her state of chock.

"Y-you were concerned about m-me?" she blinked for a few times.

"Well of course I was!" he said in a matter of fact tone. "Do you think after seeing that guests' list I'll let you attend that party? And you didn't want me to come saying it was okay!" he huffed. "And why are you looking at me like that?" he asked in confusion.

The laugh coming out from Eunji didn't help his confusion.

"You better worry for yourself. I grew up with those people around me, it's no big deal. And if it will make you feel any better, they don't know about me. Like any other normal citizen, most of them don't know the identity of Kim Misook and Jung Jinyoung's child. It's a deal that I made with my mother long time ago, to keep my identity a secret for as long as she can. Seriously, none of them will talk to me." she answered after regaining her serious expression.

"So it will be safe for you, right?" he wasn't really convinced.

"Of course, don't forget that we will be wearing masks as well." she reassured him. "But thank you, for worrying about me." her heart fluttered at the amount of care he was flooding her with.

A moment passed with them just smiling at each other fondly.

"But that’s not all. Your mood has been down even before that." she remarked, still not giving on making him speak.

"It's nothing, really. I'm just thinking about tomorrow, that's all." he lied, and Eunji didn't buy it. But decided to go with the flow.

"You better go to sleep early today. It's going to be a long day tomorrow."

"Yeah, it seems." he agreed.

Nightmare after nightmare and Sunggyu only fell deeply in sleep at dusk, resulting in him waking up an hour before lunch.

He hurriedly showered and changed his clothes, the home service brought him something to eat.

After having his brunch, he went back to the beauty center of the hotel. Boa wasn't really happy with his late appearance but started working on his hair right away.

It didn't take long for her to change his haircut and hair color, styling it up, revealing his forehead. Sunggyu liked his new look a lot.

"Okay, don't leave this room. If you need anything call the room services to bring it to you. The makeup artist will come after finishing with Eunji" she said before leaving.

Boa insisted on preventing him from seeing Eunji before the party. It made him wonder how she’ll look in her costume.

'I bet she'll be really beautiful.' he smiled to himself.

Around eight, he was almost ready. Looking at himself in the mirror. The costume fitted him better than yesterday, making him look much more slender and mature. The makeup artist did a great job hiding his dark bags and drawing a thin line of eyeliner. His earrings, rings and watch matched the look.

"And now, the final touch." Boa came from another room, holding a little box. She took out what Sunggyu knew was his mask. She fixed the accessory on his eyes and knotted the silk straps on the back, preventing it from falling.

"There you go. You look like a masterpiece." she commented proudly, spraying perfume on his jacket and close to his neck.

Sunggyu agreed with her. It wasn't about being haughty or anything, but he really looked perfect in that costume especially with the mask on, even if it was bothering him.

The mask covered the space from under his eyebrows to his cheek bones, leaving the eyes uncovered of course.

It was mostly black, if not for the red hue on the lower part of it, making it look like it's on fire. And that shade of red matched with the red hue adorning his black hair.

A demon. That was his concept.

"The party is about to start, you must go."

"What about Eunji?" he questioned, giving a last look to his reflection on the mirror.

"She already left with the others. Have a good time finding her." Boa winked to him.

Sunggyu walked nervously to the party hall, trying to gather as much boldness and confidence as possible to start the night with.

Many hotel employees were standing next to the huge door greeting guests. They bowed deeply to Sunggyu when he showed up and two of them opened the door for him.

The sound of classical music invaded the great hall, where about two hundred guests gathered. The hall was very spacious and huge and can go as the most luxurious part of the hotel.

Dozens of golden chandeliers were hanging from the ceiling, while the floor was all of white marble.

At the extreme right side, there were many long tables holding all kinds of food and beverages. Many other tables were settled for the guests to sit at. The orchestra that was playing the music sat on another side of the hall, while a dancing floor took the center part.

The servants were all wearing simple black masks. But even though, they wouldn't blend well with the guests. The differences were very evident.

All guests were wearing high quality costumes, with extravagant masks.  Sunggyu saw them as hungry wolves, regardless the fact that they looked harmless in those outfits.

He knew that he caught the attention of many people when he entered, sensing a lot of eyes on him, but he tried to ignore it all, his eyes getting desperate to find Eunji in the huge place.

'Boa said something about being the perfect couple. That mean that Eunji's outfit is similar to mine.' he guessed.

To his great dismay, there weren't many wearing a red and black combination, and none of them was Eunji.

'She's probably wearing heels, and dyed her hair too.' he noted.

Sunggyu gave up on the colors matter and decided to look for someone with similar body proportions as Eunji. It was easier to find her that way, since most of the guests were older than her.

His eyes kept traveling from a side to another, while he took little steps at a time, until they caught the back of who was possibly his target, judging from the height and everything.

She was speaking with someone he couldn't see and didn't care to know at the moment.

He was just enchanted by the sight.

She was wearing a knee-length dress, revealing the upper half of her back. Two different straps parted from the middle of the back. The one going to the right side was a thin line of crystal pearls. The one going to the left one was made of white and grey feather. It started by being as thin as the other strap but it got wider the more it got closer to the left shoulder, it wasn't too wide, but wide enough to cover the shoulder. She had white heals on, too.

Sunggyu started walking closer but soon stopped on his track when she turned around. That's when he knew that beautiful was a degrading word.

The feather strap went back to being thin until it reached the front of the dress, which wasn't even, being a little bit lifted to the left by the pearls' strap.

The white texture was hugging her waist firmly but became looser after, having its own volume, until it reached her knees.

The dress though, wasn't purely white. The color got darker the more it went down, showing different shades of grey, until it became of dark grey on the knee level, as if it was burning but without fire, just smoke.

Her mask was very feminine and matched the outfit perfectly. It was white, with few crystal pearls spread everywhere, but the right side had the same grey effect as the dress. Her earrings, rings and bracelet were all made by the crystal pearls.

And as he guessed; her hair was dyed to light brown, with it being styled in a messy beard, that only surpassed her shoulders' level by few centimeters, decorated with crystal pearls. Her makeup was light, just pink eye shadow and pink lipstick.

Sunggyu didn't believe much in angels, but at that moment he was surely seeing one.

It was Eunji who took the last few steps he couldn't complete, standing few feet away from her.

"I found you." she smiled brightly. But Sunggyu just went into another dimension and wasn't thinking of coming back yet.

"Sunggyu! Sunggyu!" she waved her hand in front of his eyes. "Are you okay? Is there something wrong with my costume?" she asked, looking down at her dress. It was fine.

"Yes there is..." he said in a dreamy tone, still recovering from his little mental trip to the fantasy word, though his heart was nowhere to calming down.

"No I don't think so..." She said, still examining her dress, raising an eyebrow.

"You don't look real." his dreamy tone was still there. "too perfect to be true." he finished.

Eunji would've for the cheesiness of his line if it wasn't for her bashfulness. She could feel her face getting hotter.

"Y-you too. You look good." she ranted before averting her gaze elsewhere, searching for something to kick off the awkwardness.

"Aren't you hungry? What's a party without food? Come on! Let's eat." she dragged him to the long buffet. Sunggyu had an idiotic smile while being dragged through the fool.

After being served, they sat on a table next to what Sunggyu recognized as Sungjong, Dongwoo, Woohyun and a young woman.

"Wow Sunggyu!! I barely recognized you!" the young woman gave him a thumb up.

"Miss Lee!!" the voice was certainly Ailee's voice. "You look beautiful too." he awkwardly replied.

"Now I can see whose Boa is favorizing. Me too, I want an outfit as cool as his." Sungjong whined.

"Why? Yours is good too." Sunggyu complemented, trying to sound sincere. Sungjong gave him the are-you-kidding-me-look.

"I look like a cow." he sniggered.

Well, it was kind of true. His jacket, shirt and pants were a combination of large black and white spots, not exactly like a cow but that's the first thing you can think about when you see the outfit.

But Sunggyu envied Dongwoo's. He was wearing a simple white dress shirt and pants with black dress shoes, but the point of the outfit was his black lacy jacket. It was nothing much but chic and stylish at the same time.

Woohyun on the other hand, was wearing a similar outfit but in black, and his white jacket had many golden spikes around the shoulders and pockets. He looked handsome nevertheless.

'Wait, why is he sitting with us anyways?' Sunggyu wondered.

The mood at the table was already awkward and heavy. Most of them busying themselves with food. Dongwoo and Ailee were chatting and laughing, Sungjong threw some sassy remarks here and there, but Woohyun never said a single word, only rising from time to another to greet a guest that recognized him.

Sunggyu avoided talking in his presence. He didn't trust the guy, not when he saw the look he was sending to Eunji.

'Was that longing? Or am I starting to imagine things?' Sunggyu shrugged at the thought.

"The tables' sitting is fixed before head. We can't sit wherever we want." Eunji whispered, explaining the situation for him.

"I'm okay with it. But are you?" he asked in worry.

"It's no big deal, really. I told you, I’m used to all of this."

He nodded, trusting her smile.

Sunggyu sensed someone watching them, so when he raised his head he found Woohyun glaring at him. He smirked.

But his smirk didn't last long. A woman in a witch dress sat on the remaining vacant seat. The chairwoman.

"Oh the whole family is here! It's a rare sight to see you all sitting at the same table." she clasped her hands together. “Too bad my ex-husband isn’t here to witness this.”

Sunggyu could see Eunji rolling her eyes.

"Sunggyu dear! You look so handsome! I hope you're not bored."

Well, he was glad she didn't leave him any time to answer and just stood up from her seat.

"I have guests to talk too. Don't just here and go do something, other than eating, of course. And smile a little bit. You're supposed to be a family." she dragged the last word, her voice sounding like venom in Sunggyu's ears.

"She's crazy when she's drunk." Woohyun unconsciously remarked.

"Not really different from her sober state." Eunji was the one to reply.

"I'm glad none of you got that characteristic from her."  he pointed at the siblings with his fork.

"You should be glad, since your life is the one at stake." Dongwoo curved his lips upward, sending him a dangerous smirk.

"My life is always at stake, isn't it?" Woohyun smiled, though it never reached his eyes.

"Not like you don't deserve it." Dongwoo sat back on his chair, hands crossed over his chest. “If it was up to me, you should’ve died long time ago.” He added

"I didn't have a choice back then!" Woohyun snapped, looking at Eunji rather at Dongwoo.

"Yeah right! You were big enough to know how dangerous that ..."

"Guys stop! Not here" Eunji was the one to stop them, preventing her brother from raising his voice any further.

Sunggyu wasn't the only one averted by their talk, even Ailee's ears perked at the suspicious talk.

The tension invaded the table once again, a heavy silent falling over.

"Do you want to dance?" Sunggyu offered his hand, asking out loud, wanting someone in particular to hear, other than Eunji.

Eunji was surprised by his offer at first.

"Yeah. Anything to get away from this mood." she accepted his offer, and together they went to the dancing floor.

Dongwoo did the same to Ailee, leaving Sungjong and Woohyun alone at the table.

"What?! I'm not asking you to dance with me." Sungjong shrugged when Woohyun looked at him.

The latter gave him a disgusted look.

"I'm just distracted by your outfit."

"I know I'm fabulous." Sungjong flipped his dark brown locks. Woohyun just scoffed in disbelief.

"That Woohyun guy,” Sunggyu started talking in a hushed voice.

He was dancing with Eunji on a slow song. Both her arms were wrapped around his neck, while his hands were resting on her waist. Their bodies were really close, but not in an uncomfortable way.

“What about him?”

"Does he like you or what?" the way he was looking at her earlier bothered him a lot.

“What? Of course no. it’s a reciprocated hate relationship.”

“That’s not what it looked like to me.” He said in a serious tone. 

"Ooooh! Is that jealousy I hear?!" she .

"I-I'm not jealous." he cursed himself for stuttering. Eunji just chuckled.

“Okay, I’ll believe you.” She said in a sarcastic tone.

They kept dancing for few other minutes until the music changed. Instead of going back to their table, she guided him to a balcony connected to the hall.

A chilling breeze attacked them so Sunggyu hurriedly took his jacket and put it on her shoulders.

"I'm not cold, really." she said, touched by his small act.

"Yeah, but you may catch a cold, plus your dress is too revealing." he said firmly, it made her surpress a chuckle.

“You’re really the overprotective type, aren’t you?”

“Only because it’s you.” He grinned sheepishly.

A comfortable silence fell on them.

Sunggyu leaned his back on the stone railing and kept observing the guests.

"Masquerades are the closest to impersonate the real word." He said suddenly.

Eunji gave him a questioning look, he pointed at his mask.

"Humans are always hiding their real selves behind masks. Either they want to look better in the eyes of the others, or want to protect something or someone. Some are just forced to hide their true self. But people with masks have a lot to lose, while those without are risking all of their existing."

"I wouldn't say it any better." she agreed with him. "Which one is you?" she asked.

"You tell me."

"Hmmmm. I'd say the one without a mask. You're too sincere and forward, I don't think you're trying to please anyone." she replied with a grin. “One of the things that made me like you.” Her words made his heart flutter.

"What about me? What kind am I?" she asked him. He stayed quiet for a while, as if he was in deep thought, before he replied.

"I’d say you were forced to wear one? If not by your entourage then by your Analgesia. You're always trying to be tough and cold, but deep inside you're what I call an angel." he smiled fondly, a tint of pink decorating her cheeks, while she chook her head.

"I'm not an angel, and far from being one."

"Then you're a fallen angel." he smirked. "Just like me."

Sunggyu was about to add another remark but he saw a figure of a man approaching them.

He squinted his eyes a little until he matched the suited figure with someone he met before.

"Not him again!" he sighed, rolling his eyes.

Eunji turned around to look at the one Sunggyu was referring to.

"And I thought something was missing. What's a party without Lee Hoya." she noted sarcastically.

The guy, although he heard her clearly, didn't waver nor took the amused expression off his face.

"What we got here? The beloved couple! I was searching for you." he said.

"Too bad we weren't. And we were leaving too." Sunggyu threw his arm around Eunji's shoulder protectively.

"You don't want to hear what I have to say?" his words were directed to Eunji.

"I know what you're going to say and I don't want to hear it." she ignored his threatening eyes and walked with Sunggyu past him.

'You leave me no choice then.' he smirked.

Five minutes, that's for how long Eunji has been gone. Earlier, she unconsciously rubbed her eyes and ended up ruining her mascara, so she went to the bathroom to fix it.

Sunggyu said he'll wait for her in the lobby. But it was deserted, and he was nowhere to be seen, so she went searching for him in the ball hall.

It was long past midnight and the party was nearing its end, with most of the guests drunk and barely standing, so it wouldn’t be hard to spot him. Yet, he wasn't there.

Neither Dongwoo nor Sungjong saw him coming back and Eunji started getting worried, no, worried was a little word to describe her state at the moment.

Calling him wasn't one of the options, since he left his phone in his jacket's pocket, which was still

hanging on her shoulders.

She took her phone out from her purse and started typing.

To: XYZ:

Did you see Sunggyu?

Few seconds later, a reply came in.

From: XYZ:

No, last time I saw him he was with you. What happened?

To: XYZ:

I don’t know I just can’t find him.

Eunji went back to the suit, yet he was not there.

'And I thought the party passed unusually calm.' She was having a mental breakdown.

Her phone buzzed again.

From: XYZ:

An employee saw him entering Lee Hoya’s suit about an hour ago. Suit number 1254, tell me if something bad happens.

Without any second thoughts, Eunji stormed to the mentioned room.