I looked in the mirror and smiled. All I needed were my shoes and then it all would be complete. 

"My my, you look really pretty." my mom said. I chuckled.

"I do, don't I?" I said happily. 

"Be careful at the prom, alright?" she said. 

"Don't worry umma, harabeoji will be with me as always, I'll be fine." I said.

"Don't call him harabeaoji!" she scolded, "You know he's a really handsome young man."

"Mehh, harabeoji." I wrinkled my nose. She shook her head disapprovingly and went away. I looked at myself again. My dress was pale violet red, with heart shaped bust and a skirt that reached down to my knees with a lot of black tulle underneath to make it fluffy and puffy. It had a thick sash on its waist that covered all the way from right under the bust to the hips, made of black lace and it made a cute bowknot in the back. I had my hair down in waves and I was going to wear my classic black shoes with a thin strap on the ankle, my look would be complete. My shoes had moderate heels that I could live with; it wasn't my first time trying out those heels anyways. 

I went to my room and grabbed my tiny black handbag and put my lipstick and phone in, then I was ready. I had to wait only a few minutes for Jonghyun to arrive. My mother welcomed him in as always. He was wearing classic black tux with black bowtie and a shirt of the same color as my dress. Well, we were going as a couple, after all. Okay not exactly couple, not like boyfriend and girlfriend, we were going together so we had to look coherent. 

"Oh look at this little princess walking down, you're dazzling." Jonghyun said with an exaggerated awe.

"Oh my, you're flattering me, Prince Charming." I said with a fake shyness. My mom laughed.

"You're both great, kids; now don't be late, I already called a cab for you, it should come soon." she said. 

"Thank you, mom." I said and ran the rest of the stairs down. 

"Seriously, though, I didn't think this dress would look this beautiful." he said. 

"Why thank you, you chose it with me!" I said, he chuckled. 

"Well, you can assume how stupid I am with dresses, then. I just thought this one looked cute." he said.

"At least you dealt with me hunting for two whole days. It's not something everyone can do." I smiled.

"It's not something I'd do for anyone, either." he smiled and winked, "You've been doing so well with not seeing a certain someone, you needed a reward."

"Yah!" I hit his arm, making him laugh again, "You're evil! Thanks so much for reminding me!" I grumbled. 

"You didn't even remember until now, isn't that awesome?" he said and reached out to ruffle my hair; but I stopped him.

"Not today; I need to look beautiful at least when we get our photos taken. You can do what you want later." I blabbered out quickly.

"Oh right, I forgot." he said, then instead of ruffling my hair, he fixed a few stray locks gently, "I'll actually be a gentleman for once. At least until everyone gets drunk and messy."

"Kids, your cab is here!" mom called. I hurried to the hall and slipped on my heels. We waved to mom as we got in the cab. The driver said he was already paid so we just had to tell him the directions. When we arrived, it was already quite crowded.

"Cheese!" the photographer said as we went in, we smiled as they took a few pictures of us then walked in to our table. We had reserved a table with our friends; my old friends were there as well as Jonghyun's friends... except Yonghwa. He was gonna be with Joon for the day because our table was full. Speaking of him, he was already here too... with the girl he had talked about. And she was pretty, wearing an elegant long dress and smiling like that... 

No, I wasn't going to think about that... but still thinking about it, it didn't quite hurt to see that girl there; just the fact that I had let go of my pride to ask him to come with me... that was kind of embarrassing. It was nice nobody knew, I would be really shy if anyone knew, especially since the girl was so pretty, too...

"Did he see you too?" I jumped from my seat with the voice that came right next to my ear again. 

"Do NOT do that Jonghyun!" I scolded, grabbing again at my chest. He was a master at scaring me, really. He just chucked.

"Your fault for focusing so much on that scene while I'm here." he teased, then nudged me slightly, "So did he notice you?"

"Nope, he didn't. Well of course he wouldn't and he shouldn't anyways." I shrugged, playing cool. It wasn't even that hard.

"And it annoys you." he stated and nodded, "Smile, though; if you shoot death glares at people, you won't have time to have fun." 

"Why thank you, genius, I didn't know that!" I chuckled. "If you think I'll ruin my night because of stuff like this, you're dead wrong. I'm alright."

"You're awesome, dazzling princess." he grinned back with that chic smile of his, I couldn't help but laugh. 

After the food service, the principal got on the stage. All the graduates walked towards the scene like a special ceremony and the principal gave them their degree by hand. They all got their pictures taken, then the girl with best grades and the guy with worst grades came up and gave a speech together, leaving everyone in a fit of laughter. Then came their dance show. The same two people came up and gave a good tango show before they all started dancing waltz. When they were done, I was left staring in awe.

"They really raised the bar this time, I don't know how any other year will be able to get past this show." I commented as we all applaused. Jonghyun nodded.

"We'll need to make a whole 16th century play if we need to surpass this." he said. 

"I wouldn't mind, I like those dresses; but it would be really expensive on girls, I'd say." I reasoned, actually taking it to count. Jonghyun laughed. 

"You think it would work?" he asked.

"It would be unique, that's for sure." I winked playfully. He chuckled and offered me his hand. 

"By the way, would you give me the honor of being your first dance?" he said like a true gentleman from old ages, with a flirtatious glint in his eyes. I put on my most flirtatious smile and took his hand. 

"Why of course I would." I said, fluttering my lashes slightly. When he pulled my hand lightly and stood up, I noticed that we would be one of the first couples to join the dance. At least we wouldn't have to be sandwiched between couples, I didn't quite like that. We walked to the dance floor and took the same formal waltz position, then started dancing to the music in synch with others. When I first joined the ball, I was so insecure that I had taken lessons on it. Jonghyun was my partner in the dance classes as well so we had no trouble dancing together. Instead of focusing on the dance, we could easily chat and we liked to gossip about people and new couples we saw there. Unfortunately, the Joon and his partner soon joined the dance and brought my mood right back down. 

"Are you alright?" Jonghyun asked when my face dropped. I tried to brighten up and smile at him.

"I'm very fine, yeah." I said, trying to believe it. He took two seconds to judge my words and decided that I was lying, I could see the process clearly through his eyes. 

"You're fine, my cute little , if you don't mind." he said casually, making me chuckle. 

"At least you admit you have a fine ." I teased; though I felt slightly weird talking about his being fine, I didn't want to think on it. I didn't want to think about anything tonight. I had been drinking champagne since we had arrived so I could always say I that I was tipsy or better yet, drunk but didn't know it. 

"Not better than yours, though." he smirked slightly. 

"Why yes, mine is better than yours thank you very much." I nodded. 

"You're making me wanna on you, stop." he chuckled. I laughed slightly. 

"If you wanna , go ahead." I said. He decided to ignore the comment and spinned me. Unfortunately, the unwanted couple was always in my visual field all the time. They were dancing quite closely - well of course they would, they were a couple after all... 

"You're impossible..." I heard Jonghyun groan quietly before I was pulled close to him. Before I knew it we were dancing closer than we ever had, so much that my nose brushed on the collar of his shirt if I turned my head and I could now notice the cologne he had on so light I hadn't noticed before. 

"What are you doing?" I asked, stuttering slightly. 

"You're staring at them. I'm right here; yet you're staring at them and pouting. If you hate it that much then why won't you say so?" he said bluntly. I blinked and looked up at him. 

"I don't hate it that much it's just-"

"Liar." he said before I could finish my sentence. He was now looking back at me and he was too close. When I couldn't say anything, he repeated himself with a quieter and lower voice. 

"Liar, and you're such a bad one, too. You should know that you can't lie to me. You hate seeing them like that and I can easily tell that." he said. I swallowed and looked away. 

"Well, I..."

"Stop hiding, look at me." he insisted. Something in his voice made it impossible for me not to do what he said. I looked at him. "You know I'll never judge you." 

"I know." I said and smiled slightly, finally giving in, "Yeah you're right, I hate it. I asked like an idiot and I was rejected like an idiot; now that girl being so pretty and so elegant, I feel stupid and I hate seeing them. I can't stop comparing myself to her; did you see her? Her hair is like a chocolate fountain and she's so slim and tall and pretty and elegant and-"

"Stop," I was cut again by Jonghyun, "She's not prettier than you are, I swear she's not." 

"Well, thank you, but-"

"No, I'm not being nice, I'm serious." he said softly, "You really are prettier. At least, to me."

I didn't know how to respond to compliments actually and with the heat I felt on my cheeks, it was even harder. But it only made Jonghyun smile sweetly. 

"See? A soft blush, a shy smile and you're like a princess walked out of a fairytale." 

"Stop it!" I whined, unable to help it. I probably wouldn't be able to speak properly if I wanted to, I could feel my cheeks getting even hotter than before. This was the first time Jonghyun had ever said such things to me and we had been friends for so long, it was weird... yet I didn't hate it. 

"Why? I'm only saying the truth!" he chuckled. I looked away shyly. The second I did that, Jonghyun took adventage of that and planted a quick kiss on my cheek - which only made me blush harder and flail at him.

"Stop doing that you little- I cannot with you okay- what are you even-" I sputtered some gibberish, unable to finish a proper sentence. Jonghyun was defending half-heartedly against my flailing and laughing. 

"I'm being a Prince Charming, do you mind?" he said playfully, then smiled while I was busy growling at him with a tomato head. "Actually, though, I should have said these to you much sooner. You know, I hate it when you say you're fat or ugly or stuff. It makes me wish you could see yourself through my eyes." 

I blinked a few times and looked at him. He wasn't messing around, alright. He was serious this time, he really meant it. It was the first time he was saying such things to me and it made me feel good, somehow, in a way I wasn't used to. I smiled at him. 

"You should have said this sooner. Maybe I wouldn't have gone on that deathly diet." I said. He rolled his eyes and groaned.

"You should never go on diets, you're unbearable when you're hungry." 

"Why thank you!" I flailed again. 

"It's true, I have no guarantee of life when you're on a diet!" he teased, laughing. I puffed out my cheeks.

"I can't help it, I don't like being hungry." 

"Then don't starve yourself, easy." he shrugged. 

"Easy for you to say, I gotta look pretty!" I said. He sighed.

"I told you, you're pretty already! You can let it be, I promise." he said. I sighed.

"Like you would understand." I grumbled under my breath. 

"Hm? What was that?" he said. 

"Nothing." I beamed in a very fake way on purpose; but before he could say anything, somebody poked his shoulder.

"May I borrow your partner?"