Word count: 2194 words

The Soirée

“Thank you,” I grabbed Sehun’s arm that he offered to help me get down from the car. Flashes and sound of camera clicks got even more wilder when my face was finally revealed, I barely realized that the valet had drove Sehun’s Stinger away from the lobby to the parking lot.

“Relax,” Sehun grasped my hand firmly and adjusted the position on his arm as we started walking inside the hotel, passing the horde of cameramen and reporters. “This is why I hate this kind of event,” I muttered while giving off a professional business-like smile and a small wave to the media. “We’re just attending a launching party for God’s sake, not walking down the Oscars,” I continued to grumble. Sehun only chuckled and did the same too- we have been in this kind of thing one too many times anyway.

When we have finally reached the hotel’s lobby and away from the public’s eyes, a staff member immediately greeted and directed us to the hall where the event was held in. “Well, just be thankful that Samsung separates the press conference and launching party, so we don’t have the media lurking around in there,” Sehun commented. “And for that, I am going to personally thank Kim Junmyeon,” I said resolutely. Sehun snorted at that, “If you can even approach him, then go ahead- tonight is his night, so he will most definitely be busy.” I just hummed in reply, “Exactly because he is hosting, we have to personally congratulate him.”

We have reached the hall, and upon entering, many familiar faces greeted our sight. Some are ones that we know personally, while others are just through the ropes of connections in the society we lived in. Of course, it was customary to greet the host, but it was not a wedding, so we could just greet Kim Junmyeon when the time fits. And this was still a business party anyway, people were mingling here and there, and I was sure we would get to greet him sometime today. So, I decided to just go look for my siblings.

Thankfully, my brother was relatively tall, so it should be easy to spot him in the sea of people. And considering Sehun’s height, which was obviously taller than me, he was the one who spotted my brother first. “Your siblings are there, let’s go,” he tugged me to the said direction. After some excuse me-s here and there, we finally reached a crowd- and I could spot my brother’s head then. My sister and her boyfriend were there too, seemingly to be in a conversation with someone I could not see. Before I could call out to them, Kim Jongdae already spotted Sehun and I first.

“Oh, look who have finally arrived!” he exclaimed, making the crowd looked at where he was looking at. My eyes widened a bit upon seeing that my siblings were actually talking with the host himself. Well, I supposed Sehun and I did not need to wait for the right timing to congratulate Kim Junmyeon anymore. I also saw that Kim Junmyeon’s eyes brightened and the permanent smile on his face widened a bit upon recognizing me.

 “You came,” the host smiled at me. Releasing my hold on Sehun, I walked to Junmyeon’s open arms, who were ready to greet me with a hug. “Hello Oppa,” I greeted him back with a smile after releasing the hug. “Congratulations on the new releases,” I told him. “And thank you for separating the press conference with the launching party,” I added. He let out a laugh at my comment, amused at how I dare to say it directly on his face. Behind me, I could hear Sehun greet my siblings and Junmyeon’s cousin.

“Thank you, and you’re welcome,” he replied me. “None of us really enjoyed the annoying press anyway, so we thought to just make a separate event for them,” he explained a bit. He glanced behind me, “And is this...?” It was only then that I remembered I came here with Sehun, and I just sort of literally ditched him right in front of his face.

“Right!” I gasped. I looked behind me, and Sehun was already walking closer to us, probably noticing that it was time for his introduction. “Kim Junmyeon, Oh Sehun,” I introduced the two of them, and they shook hands with each other. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, President Kim,” Sehun greeted the older male formally. “Same to you, Oh Sehun, son of Kia’s President Oh Yeonseok,” Junmyeon replied, the smile never wavered from his face.

The older male then turned back to face me with a teasing smile, and that mischievous glint just told me what he was thinking without saying it outloud. “Oppa, don’t you dare,” my low voice was accompanied with a warning look. His smile got even wider, “I haven’t said anything though,” he teased me. “Say a word, and I will reject your proposal,” I tried to threaten him. But apparently, my words brought the people around me into a frenzy.

“Wait- proposal?” it was my brother. “Wait what- since when do you guys date?” my sister continued. It was then that I realized my choice of wording sounded so wrong in so many ways- not to