You looked at the dress that Jongdae had sent for you. You weren’t even sure how exactly he knew what size to get for you, but you also knew that when he set his mind to something, Jongdae was impossible to stop. He had also been sending texts all day telling you when to get ready, where to go for your nails and such - as he had scheduled appointments for you all over the city. You had just gotten back from the trip to the salon that Jongdae had sent you to, when there had been a knock at your bedroom door. One of the maids held the garment bag out to you.

 

“It’s from Mr. Jongdae. He’s waiting downstairs. He said to tell you to call for him when you’ve dressed.” She had bowed slightly after you took the hanger from her and she hurried back out and down the corridor.

 

You took the dress and closed the door, walking to lay the dress on the bed. Carefully ping the bag, you found a deep red dress that looked different from any style you likely would have picked for yourself. Of course, knowing Jongdae there was sure to be several reasons behind his choices for tonight. Knowing that if you took too long that Jongdae would get impatient and might even end up coming up to your room, you quickly changed into the dress.

 

Standing in front of the mirror, you turned to see the dress from all angles. You had to admit the dress looked great and was sure to be eye catching, which is what you were sure Jongdae had in mind.

 

There was a knock on the door and you went to open it only to find Jongdae had come up to your room. You stepped back and he walked in giving a quick glance over you, looking at the dress before nodding. “I was right. Now, sit and let me finish.”

 

You raised an eyebrow at him before being pushed into the chair at your vanity. Jongdae reached around to sift through the makeup set out across the top of vanity. He was obviously taking a much more hands-on approach to his plan, and you were a little anxious at the thought.

 

After sifting through the makeup you had set out earlier today, Jongdae pulled out a few items and lining them up in front of you. “Use these. And do a more dramatic look. I know that you know how to, so don’t feign ignorance with me. We are going to have you turning heads.” He reached a hand into the pocket of his suit pants and pulled out a thin box. “And this to match the dress.”

 

It was a tube of lipstick. The same deep red as your dress. You generally stayed closer to neutral looks. But it seemed that Jongdae had other ideas for tonight. Looking over the array of makeup that he had pulled out for you to use, it was obvious the look that he was going for. You also knew that trying to go against Jongdae when he had set his mind to something would be much worse than any potential problems that could come from simply going along with whatever he had in mind.

 

While you knew how to do the type of makeup that Jongdae was demanding, you had never attempted it on yourself, you had only done the style for friends. And having Jongdae staring and watching your every move did not help matters either. It took longer than your normal routine, but when you finished with the last touches, you caught a glimpse of a Jongdae smiling behind you. You weren’t sure which was more worrisome, Jongdae plotting or the smile he was currently wearing.

 

“Exactly! Now, I’m glad the salon did what I said with your hair. You’re almost ready. You just need a few more things.” Jongdae moved and picked up a bag that he had sat by the door that you hadn’t noticed at first. He pulled out a box and held it out to you.

 

Cautiously you opened the box to find a pair of red satin heels that matched your dress as well. It was obvious that Jongdae had meticulously planned every aspect of your appearance for tonight. He held out a smaller jewelry box and you raised an eyebrow at him before turning back to the box and opening it slowly. A pair of ruby and diamond earrings were set against the black velvet of the box. You gingerly took them out of the box and moved to put them on before Jongdae took it upon himself to do so.

 

Jongdae walked to the door after giving you a quick once over and nod. “Good, now let’s go.” He walked out of the room, not bothering to close the door behind him and you sighed.

 

Slipping on the shoes you had another moment of wondering how Jongdae knew the right size for you. Of course, with Jongdae, anything was possible, so you weren’t sure there was any use in even contemplating. Rather than taking any longer and risking Jongdae coming to forcibly drag you from the room, you stepped into your closet and grabbed a small clutch purse and transferred all the essentials and added the lipstick that Jongdae had bought.

 

When you walked downstairs, you only saw Jongdae standing in the entranceway. You glanced around before turning back to Jongdae as you reached the last step. “Where’s Chanyeol? He has to go as well, doesn’t he? I heard that you are all helping Junmyeon with the catering.”

 

Jongdae gave a sort of noncommittal shrug. “I’m sure he’s going with Baekhyun. Besides, I have a few things to do before I go help out myself.” He gave a slight grin before turning and walking out the front door, calling behind him. “Let’s go, and don’t even try to run off.”

 

You sighed, knowing there was no way you were getting around having to go to the auction with Jongdae. Of course, you assumed that you would be meeting whoever he had in mind for his scheme at the auction as well. You didn’t trust Jongdae, but you had to assume that he wouldn’t want to risk any retribution from your brother and Baekhyun if he did anything too horrible.

 

Rather than driving his own car, you saw that Jongdae had a driver for the night and a car that you didn’t recognise, but you were sure had been picked just for this occasion. You didn’t want to think of the paparazzi sure to be waiting at the entrance to the gallery where the auction was being held. You carefully got into the car, noticing with a slight inward smirk that Jongdae had refused to hold the door open for you. A return of lack of courtesy, you were sure.

 

“Won’t there be a scandal for me to arrive with you? Especially if you’re hoping to cause a stir with whatever plot you have in mind.” You turned to Jongdae as the car started off.

 

Jongdae grinned with a slight shake of his head. “I’m going to get out before you. He’s going to drop me off at the back of the building where Junmyeon will have everything set up. Then he will drive around and take you to the front of the building. Once inside, you’ll meet me in the side gallery with the current permanent collection.” He turned to you with an ominous smirk. “And then the real fun begins.”

 

While trusting Jongdae at any point would be a foolish decision, you were even more wary of him because of the smirk. You didn’t know who he was planning on having you meet with, but you weren’t entirely sure you wanted to find out now. He had said it was someone of power enough that it wouldn’t matter that you technically had little sway in matters, but you weren’t sure who that could mean.

 

You spent the rest of the ride to the gallery trying to figure out who Jongdae could be plotting with, but you still hadn’t figured out who it could be by the time the car stopped outside the back entrance to the gallery.

 

Jongdae turned back to you with a smirk. “Don’t forget, meet me in the side gallery when you get inside. You wouldn’t want to make your date wait for you.”

 

Before you could ask who it might be or say anything in response, Jongdae got out of the car and closed the door before turning to head inside. The car started off again and the driver spoke for the first time the entire ride.

 

“I’m going to drive off a few blocks before heading back to the front. Mr. Kim insisted.”

 

You nodded absently with a small hum of agreement. It wouldn’t honestly matter whatever you wanted to do, it was obvious that Jongdae had planned every detail of the night for you, whether you would agree or not. In fact, you were pretty sure that Jongdae had planned a few things that you might not entirely agree with.

 

When the car pulled up in front of the gallery you saw the line of the paparazzi and such along the entrance walkway leading to the doors of the gallery. It was an impressive display, and you wondered how much of the preparations had been from your brother’s group or the senior family and how much had been from the actual city arts council.

 

Someone opened the door for you and the cameras began flashing again as you were helped out. You made sure to be careful of the dress’ design to avoid any potential problems to arise. While you weren’t any sort of true celebrity or powerful person, you had enough connections that the paparazzi seemed to continue their interest in you enough to keep photographing you and calling for your attention to look certain ways over another.

 

When you made it into the gallery, you glanced around, smirking inwardly. Everything was set up to flaunt the families’ power and influence. There were members of several families that you recognised, even a few of the older and/or less active families. And then you caught a glimpse of Sungmi. While she was at the auction because of her position on the arts council and the social standing she had from both her own family and her husband’s, she was also from an enemy family.

 

Glancing around the room, you caught a glimpse of a few members of other outside families. That only furthered your suspicions that there was an ulterior motive for the auction. If you were remembering correctly, you saw several other members of enemy families as well. You mentally cursed having been given this dress by Jongdae to wear tonight. There was nowhere to feasibly hide your gun. While your brother hated that you had one, you knew that especially with this family, you needed at least one way to protect yourself.

 

Minseok walked over and held a tray carrying glasses of champagne. He stopped in front of you with a slight smirk. “You look like you could use a drink.”

 

You rolled your eyes at the line. “Thank you, but please tell me that you don’t say that to everyone here.” You took a glass and took a small sip, glancing around the room again, feeling eyes on you from somewhere in the room. “Especially with everyone here, you would hate to say the wrong thing to the wrong person.”

 

Minseok shrugged. “Us or them, it doesn’t really matter tonight. I’m still carrying a tray of drinks.” He glanced off to the side behind you for a moment before turning back to you with a shuttered expression. “But you should go to the side gallery.”

 

Without a pause Minseok turned and walked off in the opposite direction. You took another sip of the champagne, turning to see Jongdae moving a rope partition to block the larger entrance to the side gallery. You were pretty sure that Junmyeon or the older family would not appreciate his meddling in what was supposed to be their event.

 

Walking over to the side gallery you raised an eyebrow at Jongdae, a little on edge again at the smirk on his face. That was never a good sign. Especially with the plot he had in the works for tonight. At least the one you knew about, in some form.

 

You walked over, trying to take as long as you could, without anyone noticing you and/or the side gallery. While you didn’t know what Jongdae had in mind, you were sure it wasn’t something that others needed to be aware of. At least until he wanted. And even then, you weren’t sure it would be anything good.

 

Stepping into the side gallery you glanced around, taking in the artwork on the walls while trying to avoid Jongdae’s eyes. The longer you could avoid whatever plot he had in mind, the better. Doing your best to ignore him, you slowly started to walk around the room, looking over the pieces on display.

 

The side gallery had been set up with works from a local artist who seemed to be gaining a bit of recognition for himself. You were also fairly certain he was connected with one of the families in some way. While the pieces showed potential in some, there were also a few that you weren’t sure if they were gallery ready.

 

You stopped in front of a painting that you weren’t sure what it was supposed to be of. It was likely one of the modern type styles where it wouldn’t matter what it actually looked like as long as some rich and pretentious person paid exorbitant prices for it. And even then, this painting was not very well done.

 

“He isn’t very skilled, is he?”

 

You mentally cursed yourself for the slight jump at the sound of the voice from right behind you, willing yourself to keep from spinning around. Instead you gave a shrug before turning around, only to come face to face with the person that Jongdae had meant with all his hints and plots. You weren’t sure if you managed to keep a controlled expression, but you caught a glimpse of Jongdae leaning against the frame of the smaller entranceway to the gallery and you knew he was enjoying this situation.

 

When Jongdae had said the other person’s position and sway would more than make up for the technically lack of your own, he had been underselling his ambition. You knew that if Jongdae’s plot somehow worked the way he was planning, there was sure to be a huge shift in power within the families.

 

Doing your best to keep from letting the shock show on your face, you smiled in what you hoped would be at least somewhat attractive. Of course, having one of the highest ranking kings of the entire overarching family standing in front of you caused a little bit of nervousness to curl in the pit of your stomach. Even if his family had technically stepped down from any of the more hands-on involvement, they were still in charge of things and very much a huge power within the entire underground world.

 

“Hyesung, it’s nice to see you again.”