Nineteen

She blinked her eyes until her vision adjusted itself in the darkness. The sun was just rising, lighting the room just enough to see her surroundings. She stretched herself on the couch before sitting up and getting off of it. She decided that she was in a desperate need of a shower and dragged herself to the bathroom.

After she finished, she found Kai patiently waiting on the couch. He stood up when he saw her and walked by her without a word. She followed him down the stairs and out of the shop.

“You’re quiet this morning.” She commented as she trekked beside Kai down the sidewalk. Kai shot her a hesitant look before looking away.

“I was trying to contact Xiumin for the past few days.”  Kai mumbled out.

“And? Is he busy?” She asked, confused.

“He’s missing.” He sighed after a pause. She fully directed her attention to Kai, feeling slightly startled.

“What do you mean he’s missing?”

“I mean, the radio added him onto the missing persons list. “ Kai looked over at her with a slight glare. She her lips nervously and thought back to the night they went out to the club.

“Do you think that high officer guy got him?”

“No, they wouldn’t allow it on the radio if it was connected to the government. He was taken... and I don’t know who took him. ” Kai’s teeth visibly clenched as his frustration started to surface. She didn’t know Xiumin very well, but he did help her out at the club. She felt a little troubled by his disappearance; it was the second person she knew that had gone missing. She observed Kai’s tensed posture and felt her heart sink.

“I’m sorry Kai…” She murmured. She reached out and lightly took his hand in hers, “I don’t know what to say to make you feel better.  But…um, I’m here if you want to talk. I can…I don’t know, help you if you need me. I mean, you don’t have-“

“Ileana. It’s fine.” Kai interrupted her stuttering speech with a small smile and a squeeze to her hand, “I’m a little worried. But I know Xiumin can hold his own for a while.” She pressed her lips together and nodded while squeezing his hand back.

They continued walking toward the building Lay owned, stopping for breakfast along the way at the usual café.  Kai had to leave her at the building’s doors because he was running late like the day before. After saying their goodbyes, she managed to enter the elevator by herself, repeating to herself that her fear of heights was irrational and that the building was perfectly solid.  Exiting the elevator on the appropriate floor, she walked up to the front desk and was greeted by a new face.

“Oh hello, you must be Ileana. Lay is waiting for you in the studio.” A kind looking woman smiled at her from behind the desk.

“Oh, thanks.” She smiled back and turned around. She paused for a moment before facing the woman again. “Um, could you possibly direct me to the studio? I don’t remember the way.” Ileana asked, scratching the back of her head awkwardly. The woman laughed a little before nodding and beckoning Ileana to follow her.  She was led to a familiar hallway and thanked the woman before entering the room.  

She found Lay practicing in front of the mirror, not even flinching when she loudly walked across the hallway. She went over to the trunk Lay opened before and grabbed the heels and dress she used yesterday. She sat down on the floor with her back facing Lay and pulled up her knee enough to cover her chest. She stripped her shirt and pulled the dress over top. When that was done, she stood up, pulled her leggings down and shoved the heels on. The music stopped just when she finished changing. She turned around and saw that Lay was still very much focused on the mirror in front of him.

“Glad to see you’re ready.” He said without moving an inch. She scowled at him as she walked over to the couch and placed her old clothes onto it.

“Whatever, let’s just get started.” She casually found her way into her starting position.  With a click of a button, the typical music played and they started to dance. She forgot some parts, for which she received a stern lecture for each mistake. She honestly thought she wasn’t that bad, considering she only had one day to learn a whole 3 minute long choreography.  Lay obviously didn’t agree with her. 

“Lay…what exactly do you do?” She asked when Lay had finally agreed to break for a late lunch. He ordered some food to be brought to them in the studio and they were currently enjoying it.

“I’m an entrepreneur of sorts.” Lay responded in a flat tone. She nodded her head while observing the studio.

“What got you into dancing?”  She asked, rather curious. Her only reply was Lay casually shrugging his shoulders.

“…Okay. Then what do you like about dancing?”

Lay stopped from his eating and seemed to be lost in thought. After a few moments he replied, “The feeling.”

“The feeling…?” She raised an eyebrow.

“The feeling you get when dancing. It doesn’t require anything mental. Just physical. There’s no need to plan ahead or to think things through. You just move. And when you move the right way, in the right time, that feeling you get is what makes dancing enjoyable.” Lay's dark eyes made her stiffen. She felt as if Lay had just told her a hidden secret. She also felt like Lay was a little more human-like in her eyes. Lay had things he enjoyed, he felt things like herself.  She observed him for a few moments before moved on its own accord.

“You remember me, don’t you? From the vision?” She quickly clapped her hand over in shock. The question had been bothering her, but she never thought she’d catch herself actually asking Lay.

“I do.” Was his reply with no change in expression and no other questions attached.

“Well?”

“Well, what?”

“Aren’t you curious about it?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Why should I be?”

She firmly pressed her lips together, feeling rather frustrated. “You know something, don’t you? That’s why you sent Baekhyun away when he asked about it.”

“I sent him away because he was getting in the way of practice, like you are with your questions.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“You don’t have too. Now stand up, break’s over.” Lay stood up from the chair he was sitting in and gracefully made his way over to the mirrors. She sharply exhaled, willing all her anger to vent out with it. It didn't work. So, she marched over to her starting position as usual. The music started and she danced with a vengeance.

“If I knew getting you angry would make you dance better, I would have done it sooner.” Lay commented in the middle of them dancing.

“Try it.” She hissed, “Let’s see if you can feel your toes after.”

Lay only smirked at her threat.

After what felt like the thousandth time of going through the choreography, she heard foot steps from around the corner of the studio. She froze in the middle of the dancing when she saw Kai, Baekhyun and Chen strode on in, looking sharper than usual.

“Looking good so far.” Kai smirked, with a garment bag lazily hanging over his shoulders, “I got your outfit for tonight. Courtesy of Sehun.”  She peered at the bag curiously before darting between Baekhyun and Chen, confused.

“Are you guys going too?” She asked to two. Baekhyun smiled widely and straightened his black and white tie-dye-like designed blazer.

“You’re not the only entertainers tonight! Chen and I are singing at the banquet.” Baekhyun motioned between him and Chen who was fidgeting with his own blazer that matched Baekhyun’s design.  Her lips formed into an oh shape and nodded her head. Kai walked over, already dressed up as well with a military-esque white shirt and a black vest over top of it.

“Your clothing, miss.” He said with his smirk never leaving his lips as he handed her the garment bag. She took it with a small thank you.  Kai turned around and then shooed all the boys out of the hallway to give her some time to change. She giggled to herself. At least he understands the concept of privacy better now. She thought.

When the boys turned the corner, she opened the garment bag and gapped in awe at the dress before her.  The dress was strapless with a tea length silhouette that was shorter in the front and longer in the back. The base material was a satin with a black and white floral-like print. Stitched into the satin were multiple black stripes sewn into many fanlike shapes which varied in size all around the dress. The finishing touch was a black stripe of fabric wrapped around her waist.

Without much thought, she practically tore her clothing off and hopped into the dress. She thanked the gods that the dress fit her. She found that she was considerably lucky with clothing since she got onto EXO. After the dress was on, she rummaged through the garment bag and found some plain shiny black shoes and another small bag.

She opened the small bag and noticed a note;

These should come in handy
- S

She tilted her head a little at the note before digging further into the bag. She pulled out a set of long shiny black gloves which went up past her elbow. She put them on immediately and saw that they covered her mark completely. She rummaged some more into the bag and pulled out a beautiful mask. It was aged with a black, white, grey and silver design and had a black ribbon attached in order tie the mask.

“Are you done?” A voice shouted from around the corner. She straightened up.

“Yup!” She yelled back. Baekhyun run into the studio with the others casually following after him.

“You look great!” Baekhyun exclaimed, “Just…wow.” His eyes ran up and down her form, effectively making her flush.  She said her thanks and noticed that Lay had changed as well. He changed into a black and white linear designed and collared blazer which buttoned up to the side.

“Shall we go?” Kai asked, nudging his head toward the exit of the studio.

“Uh, one sec!” She zoomed around the room,  throwing the dress and shoes Lay gave her back into the trunk. She grabbed her old clothes and stuff them into the garment bag. “Okay! Good to go.”

They all nodded and walked out of the studio. She lurked behind the small crowd. Lay was leading the way while Baekhyun was excitedly chatting with Kai. Chen was walking beside her slowly.

“You look good.” He whispered under his breath. She glanced over at him and straightened her posture.

“Thank you.” She whispered quickly, still feeling the grudge from the night before affect her.

“You can still stop, you know.” He whispered again. She immediately glared at him.

“I thought I told you last night that I’m not backing out of this.” She hissed.

“Well, I thought some sleep would give you some more common sense.” He hissed back, his voice raising a little in volume. It unfortunately caught the attention of the others in front of them.

“What are you guys talking about?” Baekhyun asked, raising an eyebrow. Ileana and Chen sharply turned around and rushed to catch up with the others who had suddenly gotten far ahead.

“Nothing.” They chorused together as they passed by both Baekhyun and Kai.

They took the elevator down to the ground floor and exited the building. Lay stepped into a rather fancy looking vehicle, possibly EXO’s equivalent of a limo and drove off.  The others walked over to a black retro looking car. Kai opened a back door for Ileana and bowed his head.  She thanked him and entered the vehicle. Chen was the one who was driving and Baekhyun was in the passenger seat. Kai rushed around the car and got into the other side of the back seat.

Chen started the car and drove onto a busy street. They drove in silence, which was starting to set her nerves on fire.

“Kai, am I really going to be okay? What if I mess up?” Ileana leaned over and whispered into Kai before pulling back and biting her lip as she stared at him. Kai gave her a light smile.

“Don’t worry. I’ll be there to fix any mistakes you make Though I’m sure I won’t have to.” He whispered back into her own ear.  She nodded her head and stared down at the mask she was gripping hard in her hands.

“Here, “ Kai took the mask from her hands, “Let me put that on.” She sighed and turned her head around as Kai lightly placed the mask over her eyes. She felt him secure the mask’s ribbons into a knot. “There.” He said and lightly grabbed her chin to turn her head around, “Beautiful. Very mysterious as well.”

She flushed accordingly and looked down at her gloved arms. “Thanks.”

“And we have arrived.” Baekhyun sang in a singsong tone. She turned her attention outside and was shocked by the sight in front of her.

They were currently driving up a long dark driveway with streetlamps on either side of them. The driveway went up a hill where a rather large mansion sat.  They drove for a minute before the car came to a complete halt.  She starred up at the extravagant white mansion in front of her.  The door beside her opened and Kai’s hand reached out to her.

“Coming, miss?”

She stared at the hand for a few moments. She reached out and gripped it tightly.

"Let's go."

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AHAHAHAHAH! Imma troll, you all thought I was going to write about the banquet this chapter, didn't you? NOPE. But hey, I now have no choice but to write about it next chapter? Looking on the brightside? (Unless I create some sort of accident where Ileana runs off into the darkness and is never seen or heard from again...hmm)
Anyways, a lot of describing in this chapter. Sorry if it was boring, I added pictures because I at describing...like really bad. You obviously don't have to click on them, but I figured they would help mold things in the imagination area. :)

Exams are done! YESH. And I was in a fashion show yesterday which took up my entire time for 24 hours. (No, I'm not a model...a friend of mine is at a fashion school and she wanted her main model to be someone she knew ahaha.) Anyways, personal info for you all. I'm friendly, I swear. I accept all friend requests beeteedoubleyou :) 

Anyways, I HAVE A QUESTION/POLL FOR YOU ALL. Even silent readers! Please check off the choice that applies to you. And choose honestly! I swear I have thicker skin than I seem. I'm asking you guys for a reason!

Kay, thanks :)

And, I want to thank all my new and old subscribers! I got another batch of you coming over to the dark side with the last update! You guys nearly made me cry...why? I made it past 50 subscribers, you people are so awesome :'( I know I put the subscriber option to hidden (I don't really know why...) but anyways.
THANK YOU TO ALL COMMENTERS <3 Putting time into actually typing a comment means a lot to me. And some of you write PARAGRAPHS which I heavily enjoy reading. Thankyouthankyouthankyou!!!!

Kay, I'm out. I gots work tomorrow 3

Giveaway of the day: *Throws Lays chips* I know it's kind of an old joke, but I like chips. And I like Lay. So, I thought it made PERFECT sense.

ps: EXO-M SASAENG FANS, CALM YOUR ING ! 
pss: I don't care if tumblr is spreading the word that it's "roar" like a bufflao, not "roll". A bufflao will always be rolling in my heart <3
psss: DOES ANYONE SHIP SEHUN OUT THERE? I feel like I don't have any shippers for him even though he's a main character OO'.