“Get up Julia!” Shelly yelled as she jumped on her cousin’s bed.

            “Why?” Julia was not in the mood to do anything. Shelly always wanted to do things. Julia was working everyday nonstop to plan her wedding. She was physically drained.

            “We are going to go out for your bachelorette party!” Shelly said excitedly before laying on the bed and snuggling up to Julia.

            “Bachelorette party? I don’t even know if they do those in Korea.”

            “Yeah, but we are American. At least you used to be,” she said with a pout as she turned away. Julia knew she was faking her upset, but there was something about her tone that she didn’t like.

            “What is the plan?” she sighed heavily. She felt a little better about giving in when Shelly’s eyes lit up.

            “Let’s go dancing.”

            Julia remembered the last time she went dancing and those twins were all over her. She didn’t want anyone but Sunggyu touching her; both then and now.

            She shook her head at Shelly only to receive another pout. Julia didn’t like it when the pouts were used against her.

            “Okay, but only for a little and I only will dance with you,” she said seriously.

            Shelly rolled her eyes before getting up and looking desperately through Julia’s closet for outfits to wear.

            Julia and Shelly had been in the bathroom together for what felt like hours. Hoya had joined Sunggyu outside the door as they tried to listen. When it finally opened they moved away and tried to look casual.

            It took a moment for both of them to take in what they were seeing. Shelly pushed a very dressed up and very grumpy looking Julia from the bathroom. Julia was wearing a slinky black halter dress that she had attempted to modestly cover up with a shrug. She had her arms folded together under her chest to hide their bareness, but she only succeeded in pushing her s together and revealing more cleavage. Her legs were bare only from the knee down and she was wearing a pair of bright yellow heels.

            Sunngyu’s eyes were larger than usual as he ogled her where she stood. She looked down at the ground to hide her sudden blush.

            Shelly was not blushing even though her outfit was much skimpier.

            Hoya recognized the dress instantly. It was the sequined blue and purple party dress that Sungyeol had bought noona for her birthday. It looked much different on Shelly. Noona had a smaller less voluptuous figure than her cousin which meant Shelly was squeezed into the tiny garment. The dress that had ended mid thigh on noona barely covered Shelly’s behind. The tightness of the dress just drew more attention to her perfect hourglass figure. The top that only had showed slight cleavage on Julia was showing an ample amount with Shelly. Hoya was surprised it fit her chest at all.

            Hoya felt his heart beat quicken as he took in the outfit. He tried looking at her face, but it didn’t help. Her left eyebrow was raised while she watched his reaction. She was hiding a smile with the back of her hand. He saw now that her cheeks were red. Were they red before? Was she wearing blush? He couldn’t remember anymore.

            “Wh-what is going on Julia?” Sunggyu asked hoarsely beside Hoya.

            “Shelly wants to throw me a bachelorette party,” she mumbled. “We’re going dancing.”

            “Not dressed like that!” Sunggyu nearly yelped. Shelly chuckled at him, but stopped when he pointed at her. “That goes for you too. You may as well be wearing underwear,” he grumbled like the old man he was.

            “Are you picturing me in my underwear, Sunggyu?” Shelly said with a husky voice. Julia screeched and hit her cousin not so lightly on the arm, but she just laughed. “I’m joking. Jeez lighten up Jules. See this is why we are doing this. You need to have some fun.”

            “You girls can’t go. I’m sorry. Julia will be recognized in a heartbeat,” Sunggyu said as he folded his arms authoritatively.

            “I considered this and that is why we are going to a masquerade,” Shelly said with a smirk as she pulled two masks out of the bathroom. She held one in front of Julia to show how it covered most of her face. The mask was yellow like her shoes and it looked like a butterfly with peacock feather tipped wings that reached into her hair on the top and brushed her cheeks at the bottom. Shelly held her own mask up. It covered only the area around her eyes. The left side was white and the right side was black. Like ying and yang, Hoya thought to himself. Light and dark.

            “Well we are going with you then,” Sunggyu countered.

            “It’s a bachelorette party. No guys allowed,” Shelly said seriously.

            Sunggyu was struggling to come up with something to say.

            “I’ll go!” They heard Sungjong shout as he came running from his hiding spot in the kitchen. Hoya heard Myungsoo grumble as he too came out of the kitchen.

            “Woah, Noona… Shelly,” Myungsoo said as he approached with an amused look. “You guys look like you are up to no good.”

            “I’m not I swear,” Julia protested as she held her arms to her closer.

            “You can take Sungjong and Myungsoo with you then. They’re gay that’s close enough right? No offense guys,” Sunggyu said as he regarded them.

            “None taken,” they said simultaneously without taking their eyes off the girls.

            “I actually wouldn’t object to taking the boys, but the party is 21 plus unfortunately,” Shelly said sounding genuinely apologetic.

            “Boo,” Sungjong pouted. Myungsoo didn’t look that upset.

            “We could always just make out instead,” Myungsoo whispered in Sungjong’s ear not so quietly. He placed his hands on Sungjong’s hips and turned him back towards the hall as if the decision was already made. They stopped by the kitchen and Sungjong ran in to grab chocolate sauce before they disappeared into Myungsoo’s room.

            “Those boys should just do it already,” Shelly chuckled. Hoya didn’t realize that they hadn’t. Not that he thought about that. Shelly was often talking to Sungjong in secret, though. He hoped that wasn’t what they were discussing in those moments, but it seemed it may have been.

            Julia turned to her cousin and hit her again. Shelly was going to be bruised soon if she kept it up.

            “I’m just joking,” she said exasperated. “Alright boys if you are done with your inquisition we will be leaving. I’ll have her home at a reasonable hour I promise.”

            Sunggyu wanted to protest, but Shelly quickly grabbed Julia and pulled her from the apartment. Sunggyu’s shoulders slumped in defeat. Hoya wasn’t defeated though. He had been quiet the whole time because he already had a plan.

            “Sunggyu do you have a suit?” Hoya asked seriously.

            “Yeah why? It’s not like we can go.”

            “Hyung, it’s a masquerade. They don’t need to know.”

            “Hoya, you are brilliant,” Sunggyu said with a giant smile. He walked up to Hoya and grabbed his face in his hands so he could plant a kiss on his forehead while Hoya struggled to get away. “Have I ever told you that I love you?”

            “Just go get dressed Hyung. We still have to find masks and they have a head start,” Hoya complained. Sunggyu rushed off excitedly to get dressed and Hoya hurried to do the same.

            “You guys haven’t had !” Shelly yelled way too loudly as they sat at the bar of the club. It was just a regular club, but it had been decorated to look classier for the masquerade theme night. Julia surprisingly felt comfortable. No one had recognized her.

            From the way Shelly acted in front of the guys she had expected her to go wild in the club, but so far they had only sat at the bar and sipped on drinks while they girl talked. Shelly seemed to want to keep Julia the subject though.

            “Shhhhhh… I wanted to wait for marriage,” Julia said quietly.

            “Why? What is it like the 18^th century over here in Korea or something? Did you prepare a dowry too?” Julia couldn’t help but laugh. She only had one drink so far, but drinks hit her hard and Shelly had always been good at making her laugh.

            “No, it’s a personal decision,” she said with a firm nod. “My mom told me she waited for marriage, too. It’s romantic.”

            “Yuck. Jules you’re making me nauseous with all this romance and love stuff,” Shelly groaned as she leaned her head on the bar dramatically. Drinks hit her fast too apparently. She was at least one ahead of Julia. “So Auntie Kimmie told you that? When you were only like 15?”

            Julia hadn’t heard Shelly say Auntie Kimmie in so long. Visions of her mom’s smiling face flashed through her mind. She grabbed her soju martini and downed it before ordering another.

            “Mom had ‘the talk’ with me,” she said simply. “I’m glad she got to talk to me about it before she died.”

            Shelly wrapped her arms around Julia’s shoulders and hugged her. She backed away and looked at her with slightly glossy eyes.

            “Aigoo, my cousin is so cute and innocent,” she cooed while she pinched Julia’s cheek.

            She pulled away with a laugh. “What about you Shelly? I’m guessing by your reaction that you have had… you know…”

            Shelly laughed loudly; choking on her new drink. Julia wish she’d been paying more attention to how many she had. “You can’t even say without blushing, can you?”

            “Shut up and answer the question,” Julia said sternly, but still with a smile.

            “Yes I’ve had ,” she answered with a shrug.

            “Was he your boyfriend? Are you guys still dating? Wait why didn’t you tell me about this? Were you in love?” Julia rambled all her questions out drunkenly not seeing how Shelly’s expression darkened.

            “Not everything is sunshine and rainbows, Julia,” Shelly answered quietly. Julia could just barely hear her in the noisy club. She felt apprehension in her gut. She reached out to touch her cousin’s stiff shoulder, but Shelly brushed it off and then smiled at Julia.

            “Let’s dance,” she said a bit too brightly before pulling her into the crowd.

            Julia tried to dance with her cousin, but she wasn’t feeling it. She was lightheaded and still worried about what Shelly had said. She figured she was probably just making a big deal out of nothing, but she trusted the feeling in her gut.

            “Shell can we go?” Julia shouted in her cousin’s ear.

            “No Jules. I’m having fun. My head feels so clear,” she said dreamily as she continued to dance without sparing her cousin a glance.

            “I’m tired though and lightheaded. Can’t we at least go back to the bar? I don’t feel good.”

            “Just leave me then,” Shelly snapped. Her green eyes were blazing under the mask. “You’ve left me before it shouldn’t be so hard to do it again.”

            Julia stood stock still in shock. She felt tears building in her eyes. She didn’t think her cousin could have said anything to make Julia abandon her in a crowded club, but she was wrong. She turned from Shelly quickly and ran towards the entrance. She felt even more nauseous then a moment before.

            She made it outside and to the side of the building before vomiting onto the pavement. She had only had a few drinks, but that mixed with Shelly’s words had made her sick. She leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.

            Her eyes popped back open when she heard someone approach. She was hoping it was Shelly, but it was a man wearing a suit and a black masquerade mask. He stepped closer to her and she knew she should have backed away, but she wasn’t afraid of him for some reason.

            When he got close enough to her she breathed a sigh of relief. She knew those eyes and those beautiful pouty lips anywhere. She jumped in his arms without a thought to why he was there and hugged him around the neck.

            “What if I was some strange ert?” Sunggyu laughed into her ear.

            “Are you mad at me?” She asked quietly.

            “Why would I be mad at you?”

            “Because I left you,” she mumbled; thinking of what Shelly said.

            “You left me at home. Why would that make me mad? Julia, are you alright? You’re shaking,” Sunggyu said as he her hair and hugged her tighter. She wasn’t cold though.

            “I want to go home,” she whispered; sounding needy but not caring.

            “Let’s go.”

            He brought her to the street without releasing his hold on her.

            “But what about Shelly? We have to go get her.”

            “Hoya will take care of her,” Sunggyu answered casually as he attempted to hail a cab.

            “Hoya’s here? I don’t know Sunggyu… I don’t know if he can handle her. She isn’t in a good mood.”

            “I trust him. He won’t let anything happen to her.”

            “I trust him too,” she said feeling comforted. “Can I sleep in your bed tonight?”

            “Of course you can, but no kissing. You smell like vomit. It’s gross,” he said seriously.

            She let out a loud laugh and buried herself in his coat. She pulled the lapels over her head and hid in embarrassment. Her face was up against his warm chest and she felt it moving while he chuckled.

            “I love you, you jerk,” she mumbled into his shirt.

            “I love you too, pukey,” he said still in that serious voice that absolutely killed her.

            She continued to laugh loudly into his shirt and somehow managed to forget all about Shelly.