Eunji knew that Suho was incredibly rich, she just didn’t know to what extent. Apparently there was no extent.

 

The two girls stared in pure awe as their eyes were glued on the sight before them. Diamond encrusted chandeliers hung from the ceiling, marble flooring plus jeweled accents, and Eunji was sure that the gold coloured wallpaper was made from real gold. The tables, which were stacked with luxurious food, seemed to be countless in numbers.

 

Eunji and Ahri had arrived to Suho’s mansion at exactly 7:00 p.m., much to their surprise. Despite this, the banquet hall (which was Suho’s living room) was filled with people. Eunji clung onto Ahri’s arm, and the two slowly made their way into the venue. They recognized the faces of some of the richest people in South Korea, as well as many celebrities.

 

Suddenly, the girls felt out of place. Eunji wore a simple white dress with lace designs throughout, accompanied by a pair of red heels and a black purse. Her hair was curled, with some parts pinned up with bobby pins. Ahri sported a dark green dress that reached her knees, which had ruffles at the hem. She wore a pair of heels, and straightened the purse hanging off her shoulder. She pinned her hair up into a bun, and wore a variety of accessories to compliment her outfit. Their outfits however, paled in comparison with what everyone else was wearing.

 

“Do you think EYO is going to be here tonight?” Eunji asked.

 

“No, they’re on a tour in Japan right now, remember?” Ahri replied. Eunji nodded her head, but her friend’s words didn’t quite register in her head. She was still focused on the glory of the venue, which seemed to be Heaven on earth.

 

“Where is everyone else?” Ahri muttered to herself as she scanned the banquet hall. When her eyes landed on a large group of guys that didn’t quite seem to fit in with the rest of the crowd, Ahri knew she found her target. “There they are,” she said and tugged Eunji’s arm to make the younger student follow her.

 

Luhan was the first to notice the girls approaching them. He instantly turned the flirtatious side of him on and walked up to the two. “I almost didn’t realize these two angels before my eyes. The brightness of your smiles must have blinded me.”

 

“If that’s your way of saying we looks nice tonight, thanks,” Ahri smiled. Luhan was looking straight at her face, but her eyes jumped around the crowd behind him. When her eyes landed on Baekhyun, she resisted the urge to gasp. He wore a simple suit, with a white dress shirt and a red tie. His hair, which was usually down, was gelled up revealing his forehead. Ahri swooned at the sight, and secretly wondered if he had noticed her.

 

Eunji greeted the members of the After School Club, but realized that Suho was missing. When she asked about him, Kris replied, “Suho’s obviously busy meeting business partners and whatnot. Besides, this is the one time of the year where his parents come home. If he’s anywhere, I’m sure he’s probably looking for them.”

 

Eunji hummed in response, but there was one part she didn’t understand. ‘One time of the year where his parents come home? What does that mean? That Suho-sunbae only gets to see his parents once per year? How can he even meet with them at this event? It’s crowded with people!’

 

Eunji then realized that Minseok was missing. When she asked Kris about him, the older member’s eyes widened as if this was the first time he realized Minseok’s absence. He quickly covered the shock in his face, and replied coolly with, “He’s probably getting some punch or something.”

 

Kyungsoo, who had been listening in on their conversation, jumped in and said, “He’s lying. We lost Minseok-hyung and we haven’t found him yet. He kind of just disappeared, but I’m sure he’ll find his way back to us.”

 

As if on cue, Minseok reappeared before the club members. Kris silently sighed in relief, and Kyungsoo mouthed a “I told you so” to Kris and Eunji.

 

“Hyung, who’s that?” Chanyeol asked Minseok.

 

Everyone’s heads swiveled to focus on Minseok. Standing beside him was a petite girl, with long chestnut brown hair and light brown highlights that had been curled and put into a ponytail. She was incredibly cute, and her poufy navy blue dress made her seem even cuter.

 

“Oh guys, meet my girlfriend,” Minseok beamed proudly and introduced the girl to the club members. “Her name is Minah, and she goes to the all girl’s school that’s a few blocks away from our school.”

 

“Hi, my name is Kim Minah! It’s so nice to meet all of you. Minseok’s told me so much about you all,” Minah smiled brightly and tipped her head.

 

“You have a girlfriend?!” a couple of the members shouted out at once.

 

“How come you never told us about her?” Jongdae asked.

 

“Why have you been hiding her from us?!” Luhan demanded.

 

“Do I have permission to call you two KimMin squared because both of you have Kim and Min- in your name?” Chanyeol asked excitedly, but trying his best to supress his inner fanboy from surfacing.

 

“What… just what? You have a girlfriend? And here I thought we were also the Single Guy’s Club,” Kris said in exasperation.

 

“Guys, I don’t get why you’re all so shocked,” Minseok chuckled. “And it’s not like I’ve been hiding her from you. No one ever asked me if I was seeing someone or not.”

 

“Well, it’s all just a little shocking because no offense hyung, but with the way you dress on an everyday basis, no one would expect you to have a girlfriend,” Tao said in a snarky voice. “I mean, sweats and baggy hoodies everyday, paired with glasses? I for one find it hard for someone who dresses like that to have a girlfriend.”

 

“Well, it’s because I have a girlfriend that I don’t have to try with my appearance,” Minseok shrugged. “I’m taken so what does it matter people at our school think of my appearance? I think people who are a bit too vain are the ones that are more likely to be without a girlfriend because it’s obvious that they’re trying too hard to cover up the fact that they’re single.”

 

Tao on his lip and looked at the ground in dejection. As if on cue, Sehun dug up the audio clip from his phone of horns going off, followed by a man’s voice yelling “Shots fired!”. Tao snapped at Sehun, asking the other why he kept on doing that. Sehun shrugged his shoulders and smirked at Tao, who huffed a breath and folded his arms.

 

.::.           .::.           .::.

 

Two hours into the party and Junmyeon hadn’t seen his parents once. He had been preoccupied with talking to his family’s business partners, and other influential personnel. If he had been kept this busy, he wondered how things were on his parents’ side.

 

In previous years, Junmyeon had the chance to talk to his parents during the party, and they even sat at the same table for the dinner portion of the event. This year however, Junmyeon had been swarmed by business partners and bombarded with questions.

 

“What university are you going to go to?”

 

“How closely are you working with your parents in regards to the growth of the Kim Group?”

 

“My daughter goes to a school that’s close to your high school, perhaps you two should hang out?”

 

“Since you’re their only child, no doubt you’ll be inheriting the Kim Group, correct?”

 

Junmyeon forced a smile and tried to answer each of their questions to the best of his ability. He desperately wanted to flee from the scene and find his friends. Oh, how he wished he could be Suho and not Junmyeon at the moment.

 

After Junmyeon quickly answered their questions, he slipped out of the conversation before they could ask any more. “I apologize for leaving so soon, but I need to make an announcement at the podium. I’ll let my parents know that all of you were present tonight.”

 

Junymeon walked up to the front of the hall, climbed onto stage and adjusted the microphone at the podium. He cleared his throat and tried to get the guests to settle down. “Good evening, everyone,” he spoke into the microphone. Within a few moments, the chatter from the crowd dimmed down until it was replaced completely by silence. Junmyeon continued, “I’d like to personally thank each and every one of you for attending the Kim Group’s Annual Christmas Ball. I hope dinner was to your liking. We’ll now be opening up the dance floor, where our live orchestra will be playing a variety of songs. The tables will still be replenished with food regularly, so if you are hungry feel free to eat! Now without further ado, let’s get to dancing!”

 

When Eunji saw Junmyeon on stage, she pointed in his direction and exclaimed, “Suho’s up there! Oh, do you think we’ll even get a chance to speak to him tonight?”

 

Ahri looked down at her feet and played with her hands. When Eunji noticed that her friend hadn’t been listening to her, Eunji repeated her statement. This time, Ahri’s head snapped up and she smiled nervously at Eunji and replied with, “Oh, I’m not sure but it’d be nice if we could, huh?”

 

“Alright, what gives now?” Eunji asked.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“This! All of this!” Eunji exclaimed as she moved her hands and arms in large motions. “You’ve been acting a bit strange tonight, you know?”

 

“I didn’t know there would be a dancing event,” Ahri mumbled.

 

“Ahri,” Eunji sighed as she cupped her friend’s arm. “It’s a ball, of course there would be dancing.”

 

“I was expecting dancing, but not ballroom dancing where there’s a guy and girl dancing in pairs,” Ahri replied.

 

“Oh what then, you were expecting the CEO of Samsung and the founder of SM Entertainment to start dabbing on the dancefloor while rave music is pumping in the background?”

 

“No…” Ahri mumbled. Then, she suddenly straightened her back and slapped her face with her hands. “Ugh, I need to get over myself! This is totally not like me at all!”

 

“Atta girl,” Eunji smiled at her friend and patted her back. “There’s the Ahri I know.”

 

“I’m going to ask Baekhyun to dance!” she suddenly proclaimed, causing Eunji to widen her eyes and cough at the remark.

 

“You can’t even speak to him properly, but you’re going to ask him to dance?”

 

“Yeah, let me go ask him now before I lose all my confidence!” Ahri exclaimed.

 

“No, no, no!” Eunji yelled, grabbing hold of her friend so she wouldn’t run off. “You can’t ask him first!”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Because then he’ll know he’s special!”

 

“Oh,” Ahri furrowed her eyebrows and hummed. “I didn’t think of it like that. Should I ask him last then?”

 

“No, not last either. If he’s last then he’ll know he’s special.”

 

“True,” Ahri wondered aloud, looking up at the ceiling as if the chandeliers had the answer she was looking for. Then, she added, “Somewhere in the middle?”

 

“Yes! But like, give or take a few from being smack dab in the middle because you know…”

 

“… he’ll think he’s special,” Ahri rolled her eyes and finished Eunji’s sentence. “But, don’t I want him to think that I think that he’s special? Because I do think that, unless he shouldn’t think that I think like that. But what if he gets the wrong idea and starts thinking that I like other guys because I asked them to dance? I don’t want him to think that either. Ugh this is all so confusing.”

 

“You said ‘think’ too many times in that sentence,” said a confused Eunji. “Have you decided how you’re going to ask him? Like, casually or upfront?”

 

“If I can manage to get the words out of my mouth, I think that’ll be good enough,” Ahri concluded.

 

Eunji patted her friend’s back one last time before sending her off. At this point, everyone had gotten up from their seats and were slowly making their way towards the dancefloor. All the members of the After School Cub were not to be seen at their table. They were either grabbing a drink, or trying to make small talk with some of the celebrities that were attending the party.

 

Eunji watched as Ahri nervously approached Yixing and asked her classmate for a dance. Yixing agreed with a lazy smile, revealing his dimples in the process. The pair made their way to the centre of the dancefloor and danced along to the tango that was currently playing. After the song finished, Yixing thanked Ahri for the dance before she could get the chance to thank him.

 

Ahri then asked Kyungsoo to dance. When she saw that Ahri had asked Kyungsoo, Eunji thought, ‘Why would she ask Kyungsoo-subae? He’s going to shoot her down!’

 

Unexpectedly, Kyungsoo’s face lit up when Ahri asked him to dance. He nodded his head slowly before her question finally sunk in. He smiled at her, which caused Jongdae to gulp, and offered Ahri his arm. The pair made their way to the dancefloor and danced along to a waltz. At this point, Ahri was beginning to loosen up, and the initial butterflies in her stomach had subdued.

 

Eunji watched Ahri as she danced with Kris and Chanyeol before she finally decided to approach Baekhyun. Ahri strode up to him with an air of confidence, but as soon as he turned to look at her, Eunji knew Ahri’s confidence was beginning to slip.

 

She wondered how Baekhyun was able to have that effect on Ahri. How could one smile cause Ahri to make a complete 180? It was something that left Eunji feeling quite puzzled.

 

“B-Baek-k-hyun,” Ahri stuttered. “W-w-woou-wouull-wo-“

 

Baekhyun stared at Ahri, furrowing his eyebrows and trying his best to decipher what she was trying to tell him. Then, as if he finally realized what she was trying to say, he smiled softly at her and took a step closer to her. “Would you like to dance with me?” he asked her tenderly.

 

Ahri nodded her head violently, so much that Baekhyun thought her head would fall off if she continued doing it. He let out an amused chuckle, then regained his composure. He straightened his tie and flattened the hem of his blazer. He offered her his arm, then added, “Let’s go, shall we?”

 

Ahri slipped her arm through his and the pair made their way to the dancefloor. A foxtrot was playing in the background. Baekhyun took the lead, and made sure they were going slow. From afar, the pair looked as if they knew exactly what they were doing, until Baekhyun accidentally stepped on Ahri’s foot.

 

“Oh my god I am so sorry,” his face instantly winced, as if he had been the one to experience the pain.

 

“It’s fine,” Ahri said, secretly appreciating the pain because it distracted her from her nerves. The pair continued dancing, and their moves seemed smooth for the few moments before Ahri accidentally stepped on Baekhyun’s foot.

 

“Oh my god I am so so sorry,” Ahri quickly apologized, mentally scolding herself for making the mistake. She hadn’t stepped on anybody else’s foot, and the one time she did it, she happened to be dancing with Baekhyun.

 

Oh, how fate loved playing games with her.

 

Baekhyun laughed it off, telling her that he was fine. “You must be twice as sorry as I was then,” he mused.

 

“Pardon?” Ahri asked inquisitively.

 

“You said ‘so’ twice. I only said it once. Maybe I should have said it three times then,” he said aloud, though it looked like he was saying it to himself.

 

“I would have said it four times then,” Ahri exclaimed. “But that wouldn’t be twice as many, so I would have said it six times I suppose. Am I making sense?”

 

“No, you’re speaking in alien talk,” Baekhyun replied with a teasing smile. Then, he took a breath and said, “I’m so so so so so so so so so so so so sorry.” When Ahri looked at him with both a shocked and confused look on her face, Baekhyun couldn’t help but laugh at the sight. “I said it twelve times, just to be safe.”

 

.::.           .::.           .::.

 

Eunji felt like she had been intruding on something special when she kept staring at Baekhyun and Ahri’s dance. She forced herself to look away, and went to grab some punch instead. She could have asked any one of the members to dance with her as well, and she was sure they would agree, but then why did she not want to?

 

Eunji mentally scolded herself, telling herself that something must be wrong with her for not wanting to dance with some of the best looking guys at her school.

 

‘No cute rich sons either,’ Eunji sighed. During the dance, there had been a couple of “questionable” boys who had asked her to dance with them. She recalled Lenny #1 (she didn’t ask for their names, and she wasn’t creative enough to give them all unique nicknames so she decided to refer to them all as Lenny. She named them all after her favourite troll face because that’s how she treated them all. As trolls), who wore thick glasses and held a body pillow of some intergalactic princess in his hand.

 

Lenny #1 had said she looked like his “intergalactic waifu”.

 

Then there was Lenny #2, who looked nice on the eyes but was probably the vainest person she had ever met (yes, he even topped Tao). He kept looking into the hand-mirror he always kept with him, and didn’t even notice her approaching him.

 

When she asked him for a dance, he was convinced his reflection had been talking to him, and giddily replied with, “Oh I’d love to dance with me too!”, then ran off to the centre of the dancefloor carrying the mirror with him.

 

Eunji wished that he would drop the mirror and break it.

 

Third time’s the charm, right? Not for Lenny #3. Lenny #3 was a young French boy with blond hair and green eyes. Eunji was sure Lenny #3 was about 7 years old judging by his height and high-pitched voice. Standing next to Lenny #3 was a skinny, middle-aged man with bright blue eyes. Lenny #3 whispered something into the other man’s ear, who said in perfect Korean to Eunji, “Master Francois requests a dance from this fair maiden.”

 

Eunji blinked slowly and smiled nervously. She eventually agreed, thinking that it would be the same as dancing with any other elementary school boy. During the dance, Francois suddenly said something out loud in French, causing Eunji to look at him confusedly. When the translator approached her and whispered in Eunji’s ear, “Master Francois says that if you two were in his country, you’d be making out by now,” she instantly pushed the small French boy away and ran off.

 

Eunji ran towards a set of doors that she had no idea where they led to. She slipped through the doors and into a hallway that was illuminated by moonlight. Her sudden entrance startled Sehun, who had been staring out of the window and at the star filled sky.

 

“Eunji?” he spoke in an unsure voice.

 

“It’s me,” she replied, not expecting his presence. “What are you doing out here, Sehun?”

 

“I’ve never been fond of parties. Too many people,” Sehun shrugged and went back to looking out the window. Eunji walked towards him, stopping when she reached his side and looked out at the same view he was staring at.

 

“It’s beautiful,” she said in awe as she admired the countless bright stars that decorated the dark sky.

 

“What brings you out here? I thought you’d be enjoying the party,” Sehun asked.

 

“Not after Lenny #1, #2, and #3,” Eunji shook her head and shuddered as the faces of the three “questionable” boys she had just encountered entered her mind. “I think I’m done dancing for the night.”

 

“Really? That’s a shame,” Sehun said. “Are there still a lot of people left on the dancefloor?”

 

“Not a lot. When I was dancing with Lenny #3, most of the couples had stopped dancing. They probably wanted to go back to networking,” replied Eunji. Then, she stopped to think about what Sehun had said.

 

‘Really? That’s a shame.’

 

“Were you thinking of dancing?” Eunji asked Sehun skeptically. When Sehun hummed a yes in response, Eunji noted how he was playing with his fingers and staring at the moon. “Well, it is a ballroom style dance, so do you have a partner?”

 

“Do you?” he asked.

 

“Oh god no, I don’t want a Lenny #4.”

 

Before Sehun could speak, the doors behind them opened and Jongdae took a step into the hallway. When he saw the pair, his face lit up and his lips curled into his signature smile. “There you two are! What are you doing out here? Let’s dance!”

 

Then, as quickly as he appeared before them, Jongdae disappeared back into the banquet room. “Well, if hyung wants it, I think we should listen. Let’s go back in,” Sehun sighed. He started walking towards the doors, and Eunji followed closely behind.

 

Sehun opened the door, but didn’t step through it. Wondering why Sehun stopped moving, she stepped beside him and noticed how his face went from surprised to shocked. “Sehun? What’s wrong?” she asked him.

 

He didn’t say anything. Instead, he cleared his throat and pointed a finger towards the ceiling. When Eunji looked up, a very familiar fern with red berries greeted her; mistletoe.

 

“I was going to tell you to not walk too close to me,” Sehun muttered.

 

“Ah! Look who’s under the mistletoe!” Jongdae squealed and pointed towards the pair. None of the businesspeople and celebrities bothered to turn around, but everyone in the After School Club eagerly followed Jongdae’s gaze.

 

Minseok whistled, then smiled at Minah. “Maybe we should find one of those,” he winked at her, causing Minah's cheeks to turn a bright hue of red.

 

Sehun groaned, then slapped his forehead. “Why did Jongdae-hyung have to announce it to the world? Now what?”

 

“Now, we don’t bother listening to him,” Eunji replied. “Besides, Kyungsoo-sunbae’s already on it.”

 

As soon as Jongdae had announced that Eunji and Sehun were under the mistletoe, Kyungsoo approached him and whacked him across the head. “Don’t force people into doing things they don’t want to!” he scolded Jongdae.

 

“Yah!” Jongdae shouted, turning his head around to see who had hit him. When his eyes met with Kyungsoo’s eyes, Jongdae gulped and tugged at his collar. Then, in a much more docile tone he added, “Who said mistletoe had to be about kissing? Not me, no way.” Jongdae ran off, prompting Kyungsoo to chase after him.

 

“Did you just ‘Yah!’ me? Oh boy you don’t want to know what I have in store for Rex!” Kyungsoo yelled.

 

Sehun covered his mouth with one of his hands and let out a laugh. “Way to go, Kyungsoo-hyung.”

 

“So, do you wanna step away from the mistletoe any time soon?” Eunji asked teasingly, poking Sehun’s arm. When Sehun realized that they were still standing under the mistletoe, his cheeks reddened slightly and he took a large step forward.

 

He looked behind, so that their eyes met each other. Then, he stuck his arm out ever so slightly and smirked at Eunji. “I can’t do the kissing, but dancing I can do. Care to call it even with this?”

 

Eunji walked up to him and slipped her arm through his. “Do I remind you of any intergalactic princesses?”

 

“No…?” Sehun replied, unsure of meaning behind the question.

 

“And you’re not carrying a mirror around because you’re a narcissistic bastard, are you?”

 

“No.”

 

“And you’re not a 7-year-old French boy, are you?”

 

“No. I’m Oh Sehun, no one else,” he replied.

 

“Good, don’t disappoint me then, Lenny #4,” Eunji smiled up at him, causing the both of them to break into laughter.

 

---

 

A/N: Ok so I had a pretty tough time writing this chapter >.< I hope you enjoyed reading it though! Also, don't be a silent reader! Comment, subscripte and upvote (because I need the reassurance lol. No but really, do it so Rex will be safe from harm). See ya'll in the last installment of this mini-arc :)

Also Lenny #3 was inspired by a scene from the movie "Princess Diaries 2". Do  watch it if you haven't; Anne Hathaway is like my favourite actress of all time.

\\ xoxo