Seohyun finally had a goodnight sleep after she and Kyuhyun have made up. Her heart was relieved of a big ton of burden. Not to mention also the cotton soft mattress that she laid upon and the fluffy pillows, she really felt like she was a princess and there was also a breakfast in bed. This was really too much! Wait! A breakfast in bed? Seohyun read the note written on the card on the breakfast tray.

“Good morning Seo, I thought of giving you a peace offering. Remember the recipes you’ve given me way… way back? I actually practiced them and it turned out quite okay. So I decided to prepare breakfast for you. I do not have enough time to buy you another present so please accept it, (no matter how bad it will be, keke). –Kyu”

Seohyun was smiling up to her ears while reading the note. She never thought that he could be this thoughtful. She removed the silver cover and there was vegetable omelet paired with sandwich (he used wheat bread) and a glass of milk. She took the fork and she tasted it. It was quite bland but she did not care. The fact that the evil Cho Kyuhyun cooked for him was already a big miracle.

After she finished her breakfast, she started fixing her bed. The maid peeped inside her room and when she saw her doing that, she immediately went inside. “Miss Seohyun, you are our guest, you should not be the one doing this,” she said to her while she was stopping her from fixing the bed.

“Besides, Miss Seohyun has to prepare herself. Master Yesung is waiting for you downstairs,” the maid said.

“Yesung-oppa?”  She tilted her head wondering why Yesung was waiting for her.

“Excuse me, but please stop calling me Miss Seohyun. I am not used to it. When it’s just the two of us, you can drop your formalities with me. I prefer it that way. Just call me Seohyun.” Seohyun told the maid.

“O-okay M-miss – I mean, Seohyun-shi,” the maid said while bowing ninety-degrees to her.

“I guess it can’t be help,” Seohyun thought. When they were outside, Yesung and Kyuhyun seem to be ordinary people mingling with people in various walks of life. But when they were inside this household, everything changes. They were like royalties. Wait, scratch Kyuhyun there. Kyuhyun always act as a royalty being bossy to the people and all. It emanates from his bones and he could not help it. Nonetheless, she found it cute and it was his charm.

When she walked downstairs, she saw Yesung waiting for her at the living room. “Hyunie, are you ready,” he asked her and then he put his arms around her shoulders. As they were leaving, they passed by a room and she could hear Kyuhyun arguing with Victoria.

“Why do I need to go there?” he asked Victoria who was handing him a red envelope. It looked like an invitation. “How about Yesung-hyung, he can grandma to that boring function.”

“Yesung-ah is busy,” Victoria replied.

“Busy with Yuri?” Kyuhyun retorted.

“You’re just envious of them,” Victoria replied in a sing-song voice.

Kyuhyun looked at the doorway and he happened to see Yesung and Seohyun walking outside together. He suddenly had a grim expression when he saw his cousin’s arms around Seohyun.

“Hey you! Are you two timing?!” He yelled at Yesung.

“Me?” Yesung asked pointing to himself. “Are you talking to me? For your info, I am not two-timing. I am just running some errands,” he explained. “Let’s go Hyunie, ignore that brat,” he said to Seohyun. Seohyun could only wave goodbye to Kyuhyun.

“Where are we going?” Seohyun asked. “Somewhere,” Yesung answered. Seohyun stared at him with a pout. She leaned her back to her seat and just observed the buildings that passed by on the window.

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Perhaps the ride had become too comfortable for Seohyun, she ended up falling asleep. When she opened her eyelids, she discovered that they were already on the main shopping district of Seoul. She looked to her left and right and all she could see were high-end shops boasting the latest trends in fashion.

“Where are we?” Seohyun asked Yesung.

“We are at Samcheongdong,” He answered. “Now, we just have to wait for someone to pick you up.” He said while tapping his fingers on the wheel.

“Oh, there he is now,” Yesung pointed to an old man wearing a long-tailed tuxedo. He walked to her side and opened the car for her.

“Miss Seohyun, Madame Cho is already waiting for you,” he held out his hand which was covered in white glove. This must be Madame Cho’s butler, Seohyun thought. But why does she want to meet me here?

As they headed to the place where Madame Cho was waiting, Seohyun could not help but be amazed at the luxurious dresses that the mannequins wore behind those display windows. Even if she would work double or triple, she knew she won’t be able to afford those.

Then they stopped by a shop, probably the biggest and the most expensive of them all. Intricately-designed dresses could be found on every rack and every shelf of the shop. She looked at her reflection on the glass window. Wearing a plain top paired with jeans, she was indeed a commoner beside those ladies inside who were clothed in fancy dresses and glittering accessories.

The butler swung open the glass door and motioned her to go inside but hesitation prevented her from doing so. She felt so out of place like a fish out of water.

“Excuse me, are you Miss Seohyun?” a girl asked her.

“They called me Miss Seohyun again. Can they just stop that?” Seohyun thought.

She looked at her and saw her wearing a white long-sleeved blouse and a black knee-length skirt. Seohyun recognized her to be one of the employees of the shop.

“Yes, I am,” Seohyun answered with a bow.

“Madame Cho is already waiting for you inside,” the employee said to her with a nice smile. “Come, please don’t be shy,” the employee told her upon noticing that she was fiddling with her fingers. The employee held her hand and guided her inside the shop. Seohyun’s eyes roamed around the shop and she was even more amused.

The shop was a dress boutique and salon combined into one. The boutique would be the one welcoming the customers. There were a lot of choices from coats to cocktail dresses to gowns and they were all gorgeous designs. Those were dresses suitable for princesses of the modern time. At the rear end of the shop was the salon. The shop aims to give complete service to its clients. Of course pretty dresses weren’t enough; the wearer must be equally beautiful too so there was the salon to take care of that.

The employee brought her inside a small lounge of the shop. She saw Madame Cho chatting happily with someone whom Seohyun reckoned to be a designer for she saw several fashion magazine spreads on the round coffee table. “Madame Cho must be here to customize some of her dresses,” Seohyun thought. Upon seeing her, Madame Cho immediately greeted her and introduced her to the whole staff.

One of the staff, the effeminate one, glanced at her from head to toe. He walked around her examining her built and figure and that made Seohyun conscious. He tilted her chin up and turned it from left to right.

“She’s really pretty, Madame. I must say, it won’t be difficult to enhance that natural beauty,” he said while twirling his scarf. “A little bit of fairy dust will do. Now, come my dear.”

Clueless of what’s happening, Seohyun just went with the flow. He brought her to the salon. With a gentle pressure on her shoulder, he let her sit in front of the mirror. He clapped his hands twice and then hairdressers and make-up artists ran quickly to them. Seohyun could hear him instructing them. She caught some things like, “A little make-up will do…’ or “Make it simple yet beautiful.” A minute later and she found herself dressed in a bath robe and surrounded by a group of people with their brushes, mascara, and hair blower. She felt like a very important person, a star, by the way they handled her. On the background she could hear Madame Cho talking to a stylist and giving some comments such as “That will make her old,” “The color is too loud,” “Too revealing,”  “So flamboyant,” and so on.

After a lifetime (well, it seemed like a lifetime to Seohyun), she had a light makeup on, a pink lip gloss on her lips, and they also tweaked some eye makeup to give her eyes a certain sparkle. Few touches and her ambush makeover would be done.

“Seohyun-shi,” Madame Cho called her when she was inside the fitting room. “Let me see, please.”

Seohyun stepped outside. She was wearing a flowing white dress that ended just right above her knees.  It was a V-neck dress that hangs loosely from her shoulder inspired by the dresses that were worn by the Greek goddesses. A white belt encrusted with gems gave accent and added elegance to the simple white dress. Its soft and light fabric made it very comfortable to wear.

“You’re so beautiful, my darling,” Madame Cho said and then she let Seohyun see herself in front of the full length mirror. Soft curls and waves were added to her usual straight brown hair. Some of her tresses in front were gathered into a little ponytail while the shorter strands were left hanging loosely at the sides of her face.  She stared at her reflection, a 180-degree change from the time she arrived there with the plain top and jeans.

“I’m like an ugly duckling who transformed into a swan.” Seohyun muttered.

“No, my dear,” the master stylist whispered to her. “You are already a Cinderella who was stripped off of her servant clothes, unleashing the princess within.”

“Wear this,” Madame Cho said giving her a blue box. Seohyun opened it and it contained a small necklace, a pair of sparkling earrings, and a bracelet that matched with the design of the belt on her dress.

“Madame Cho, this is too much already and why do I have to wear like this? Where are we going?” Seohyun asked.

“Never mind it and please stop calling me Madame, call me grandma.” Madame Cho said as she took the necklace and attached it to Seohyun’s neck. The other members of the staff also helped her in putting the accessories on Seohyun.

Afterwards, Madame Cho handed her a red envelope, the same envelope that Kyuhyun was holding earlier.

“You are going to a formal event with Kyuhyun,” Madame Cho said. “There was a small get-together party hosted by one of our family friends. Unfortunately, I cannot come. Kyuhyun is quite free nowadays so I think it is okay for him.”

“W-what? B-but M-mad-“ Madame Cho raised an eyebrow signaling Seohyun to change the way she addressed her.

“I-I mean,” Seohyun stammered not knowing where to start her argument or what to argue. “Grandma, I am not used to that. If Kyuhyun-oppa will be there already, w-why will I still need to go?”

“Because Kyuhyun needs a date.” Madame Cho simply said.

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A/N: I know you are all been waiting soooo long for this. I know it's a cliffhanger but I divided the supposedly long chapter into 2. This will provide a sort of a teaser. Enjoy!!!