SURPRISE LOLOL

 

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There were many cons that came along with being the top showgirl of the nation. Some may see the cons as a good thing. However in your case, anything you recieved from this business was no more than a burden. Like fame and popularity for example. The moment you sold your soul to the devil, your freedom was gone. Unfortunately, the devil was your father and your soul was sold the moment you were born. Ignorance at this time, was unfortunately, a big problem. You were one of the few that had fallen into this trap. Fame and popularity? That was perfect, you had thought. But now you realized, it wasn't perfect. It was far from perfect. The moment you earn your fame, that was the moment you said goodbye to your private life.    There was no such thing as privacy once you entered in an entertainment system like this. Wherever you went, people knew you. Knew your name. Your face. For God's sake, posters with your delicate, fierce face was plastered all over wall street down at New York. Did people really venture from down there to come see you? You had no idea about it until one of the mother's of a showgirl told her, and she had told you. You were, more or less, surprised.    One thing's for sure, the moment a person lay their eyes on you, your face will naturally ingrain itself in that person's mind. Perhaps not at the particular moment. But the image of your face will return, almost subconsiously; maybe in a dream, or when they drank their morning tea. One way or another, the image of your face with soft bright eyes will always return in their mind and remind them that somewhere in the world existed a real life sparkling Jewel.   In simpler words, your face was simply unforgettable.    The moment you had stepped into the eatery with your father, the whole restaurant had gone still; murmurs halted, laughters faded and all eyes were on you. The waiter fumbled about as he led you to your seat. Your father had a cigar in his mouth, his chest was bumped out in a haughtily manner as he smirked arrogantly at everyone around the room. During this time, you would bow your head politely. Your father had warned you that you should never smile in public. Smiling was dangerous and it could easily gain unwanted attention. You had wanted to laugh at how ridiculous that statement was. It was almost contradicting your father's own beliefs.    Unwanted attention? Oh please, you were gaining attention regardless. Whether if you smiled, or scowled, or even breathed. Attention had become your promising companion.    While your father and you waited for the arrival of the young boy, your father put on quite a show for the whole restaurant to see. This was the side of him that you hadn't seen since you were the age of 9. He held your hand and fed you the sweet, warm bread. He courteously mixed the sugar in your tea for you, and gently patted your head. Rich women in the restaurant swooned at what a perfect man your father was, making him smile even wider and his pretentious act to become even more exaggerated. Irritation flashed in your eyes as you smiled at him.    At that moment, the door had opened. Your father sat up in his seat and he squeezed your hand. "He's here," your father had mumbled underneath his breath.    You squeezed your eyes shut, feeling every part of your body flush with some type of boiling anger. With a sigh, you opened your eyes and curled your lips into a tight smile. You could feel your father's chair being dragged underneath the tile floors. He stood up and straightened out his blazer.    You let out a breath that you did not realize you were holding. Your heart ached in your chest as you placed yourself in Kris's shoes. You couldn't possibly be able to hold yourself back if you saw Kris out on a date with another girl. The sudden realization of everyone's eyes on you reeled you back into reality. For a moment, you glanced back unconsciously. You and Kris met eyes briefly and you felt the emotion that he was feeling. Though his expression lacked depth, you understood it well enough to see the pain in it.   "Rose," your father said with a bright smile, placing a firm hand on your shoulder. He squeezed it a bit too tightly.  "This here is Byun Baekhyun, the son of President and Vice President Byun of Byun's Winery."    Without a choice, you gradually turned forward and held your hand out to shake his. Baekhyun flashed you a charming smile and slipped his hands into yours. Unlike Kris's rough, callous hand that gripped onto yours with strength and security, Baekhyun had owned very soft, luxurious gentle hands that gripped onto yours with tender carefulness. "Pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Rose. Beautiful name, might I add." Baekhyun bent down and placed a lingering kiss that tickled your skin the moment his smooth lips touched it. You shivered and quickly pulled it away. A flash of annoyance flashed in your eyes, and by the smirk on his face, you knew Baekhyun had caught it. However, he made no sign on commenting on it. Instead, he pulled out his seat and ordered himself a cup of sweet tea. You were shocked. You didn't know many people who liked that beverage aside from yourself. Your father prefered normal tea, while Kris enjoyed his natural tap water. Baekhyun seemed to have read your thoughts for he had glanced down at your sweet tea, and then back up at you. He a pair of the most docile eyes you have ever seen! Such innocence! Was this boy really the age of 18?    A buzz of gossip rang throughout the eatery at the sight of you and Baekhyun. You could already imagine what sort of rumour was going to spread by the end of tonight. The sparkling Jewel out on a date with the one and only son of the Byun's, two of the richest folks in Chicago. It's going to be a hit in the news. Your father knew it. He could sense it. He was good at sensing things and knowing when things will turn out big.    In the centre of your head, you could feel Kris's stare boring into your skull.    ---   From the impression Baekhyun was giving your father at dinner, it appeared that your father had grown rather fond of him. Whatever Baekhyun had said, your father had found it amusing. He laughed, a loud laugh, a laugh you've never heard him laugh before. While you chewed slowly on your smoked potato, your father and Baekhyun conversed freely as if they had been long time friends. You've never met a male his age to speak so freely the way he does. Was this really the real Baekhyun in front of you? Or was he putting on an act? Just like every other rich person in this town.    But then again, Baekhyun was no less of a public figure than you. Perhaps even more. You couldn't quite register his face with clarity from the night you first met him. It was too much of a blur from what little you could pull out from your memory. But here he was now,  right in front of you. His face completely clear as he sat across from you. His smile stretching from ear to ear as he talked to your father. The blurry face of the Baekhyun you had in your mind had now been replaced with the fresh face you were seeing now. From the top of his head to the soles of his feet, his smile, his eyes, even his ears, you engraved it in your  mind with great detail. His eyes would flicker back and forth at you inconspicuously. You'd catch it every time though. He wasn't as slick as he probably thought he was. You almost wanted to snicker at that.   After awhile, you found yourself yawning several times. It felt as though your father and Baekhyun were the ones having a date.  You didn't mind though.    You finished your meal while your father and Baekhyun had barely finished theirs. You let out a sigh and placed your fork down. Gripping onto your cup of tea, you stole a quick glimpse behind you. Kris was still standing next to the peculiar large plant. His expression was still empty, but his eyes had relaxed. You flashed him a secret smile. Though he didn't smile back, you could see it in his eyes that he was. If you didn't know him so well, you would have assumed he was trying to prevent himself from sneezing. You smiled even wider.    "Rose, what are you doing? Join us. Baekhyun would love to learn more about you, don't you son?" Your father smiled at him.   You looked at Baekhyun who nodded along. You tried hard not to roll your eyes. You placed your cup of tea down and clasped your hand onto your lap. You sat up straight with perfect posture and stared at the boy in front of you. Seeing the smile on your face, your father got up abruptly. "I'll be back shortly. I, er, have some things to discuss with Kris. Be nice to Baekhyun, Rose. I don't want you chasing him away like the others." He said in his joking but serious voice. Clearly, the joking tone was for Baekhyun and the serious one was for you. When he disappeared out the door with Kris on his heels, you clenched your hidden hands into a fist as you stared at Baekhyun.    "Look here sir, or boy, or whatever you would like to be adressed," you whispered quietly enough for no one to hear. You glanced around and quickly flashed a smile at the people who were looking at you two. You gave them your brightest smile so no suspicions would be aroused. When people returned their attention elsewhere, you sharply looked back at Baekhyun who still had his innocent, docile expression on his face. "I told you specifically that I wasn't interested. I don't understand why you must make it so hard for the both of us. I'm sure there are other fine women out there whom are better choices for a person like you."   To that, Baekhyun had said nothing. He stared at you with those peircing eyes of his.   You could smell the cologne he wore, despite being in a room filled with food. It was strong, but it wasn't repugnant to the point you wanted to puke. It had the scent of fresh sea water mixed with newly bloomed lilac during spring. It wasn't too shabby. At least he knew how to put on cologne well without excessively spreading it everywhere on his body to the point he smelt like the bathroom.    "A minute ago you were talking so much. Why aren't you