"Your cheapest dress, please."

We were standing under a shabby tent where a family with little money was trying to fetch a few coins by selling their creations. The lady stood up upon hearing Jongin's request and then took a good look at me. I knew my face was well hidden under the darkness of the hood but my apprehension still rose. Maybe she would recognize me and rat me out.

"We don't have any in her size." The lanky woman crossed her arms. "For a little extra, we could get her measurements and tailor one to fit her."

Jongin shook his head and pointed to a light pink dress hanging on a line. "We'll take that one."

The lady sneered and clicked her tongue before crossing her arms over her chest. "That one would never fit her."

"How would you know? You can't even see her under her shawl." I shot Jongin a look even though he couldn't have noticed. He was being awfully rude to a lady he'd just met.

"Oh c'mon, boy. Let your dear mistress have the luxury of a custom-fit dress." The woman stretched her hand out to grab mine but Jongin brought me behind him.

"My sister," he snarled, "is rather uncomfortable around strangers."

I rolled my eyes at his little gimmick. What was so wrong about having a dress that fit properly? Obviously, Jongin didn't know how annoying a gown was when it wasn't tailored.

"It's okay," I said as I put a hand on his arm and stepped forward to face the lady in charge. "I was always taught that a proper fit made all the difference." My words seemed to please the woman as she nodded firmly. I gave her all the measurements that she would need as she beamed, probably excited that she was finally making a sale. I could practically feel Jongin seething behind me.

She nodded one last time as she gathered a few sewing pins. "You should learn a bit from your sister, young man," she said to Jongin. After a bit of persuasion on my part, he finally handed over the necessary coins. "Come back tomorrow morning, ma'am, and the dress will be waiting here for you."

I curtsied and walked away gracefully like I'd been taught to do since I was young. It wasn't until I reached the edge of the village square before Jongin caught up and pulled me to the side of the road. I hadn't even realized that I was walking through the middle of the dirt path.

"What'd you do that for?" Jongin looked vexed as he ran a hand through his dark hair. "Now we have to stay in this wretched place for the night."

I shrugged, not understanding the problem. "What's so wrong with this place?" I gestured to the village folk with an outstretched arm. "They seem nice."

He looked incredulous at my reply and stretched out his own arm. My eyes followed and I saw the castle that I had just escaped last night. "Who knows who's good and who's bad over here?" he countered in a low voice so that no passersby would hear.

"Why are you always so suspicious of everybody anyway? Just relax." I began walking away, uninterested in Jongin's words.

"Relax?" he asked as he followed me. "How can I relax when the two of us could get killed?"

"They're after me, not you."

"Yeah, and when you get killed, your father's gonna kill me."

I sighed and shook my head. "Nobody's going to notice it's me under this frumpy thing. You have nothing to worry about."

"Nothing to worry about?" I looked over and saw a vein popping out by his forehead, signalling his frustration. "Do you see yourself? Even under that, you walk with a different air than any of these people." We had approached a statue of a man on a horse and I took a moment to look around. Indeed, there were a few people who looked at me strangely but they were probably watching Jongin go mad.

"Then go and find us some place to stay for the night so people won't see me walking like an alien." I rolled my shoulders forward to imitate some of the children that were following their parents. It felt uncomfortable and went against everything I had learned about posture.

Jongin let out something that resembled a laugh. "Do you think I'm made out of money?"

"I'm sure once you're done protecting me, my father will reward you with a castle made out of gold."

"For putting up with you, I'd better find a statue of myself made of gold placed in the garden of that castle," he shot under his breath before walking away briskly with me left alone to glare at his back.

Jeez, all he cares about is his job.

For a second, I wondered if he had heard what I thought but even if he did, he didn't react as he just walked farther and farther. When he finally turned a corner, I took that as my cue to follow. I ran after him like a little, lost puppy.

-

I was forced to sit in the back of the inn at a rickety table as Jongin finished yet another plate of food. He tried to force some on me but after a plate of gruel, I was less than enthusiastic to try the other things available.

"Here's some tea," came a voice from my left and I looked down to find a little boy holding a big mug for me.

As I took it from him and smiled, I almost lifted off my hood out of habit. Instead, I patted his head and he smiled back at me with a mouthful of missing teeth. If a child this cute was at the palace, he wouldn't be working at such a stinky place; he'd be getting attention from all the aunties who fawned over the youngsters.

"Baekhyun, go fetch the water!" his mother called for the little boy and he obediently ran away, leaving me to sit alone with Jongin again. The table wobbled on its uneven legs as I took a sip from the tea and then put it back down.

After a few minutes, I saw Baekhyun walk back in again with a bucket in his hand. The water sloshed around as he walked and he grinned triumphantly when he finally set the bucket down in front of his mother. What he hadn't noticed was that much of the water had spilled onto his shirt.

His mother pulled out a rag and squatted down to wipe her son. "I didn't tell you to go take a bath," she scolded and I noticed that she also had missing teeth that matched her little boy. "Now you're going to get sick again." The boy didn't seem to care though as he ran away to greet a bunch of men who had just entered.

The sun was going down and even more patrons were filing in as if this place was a hotspot for get-togethers. I watched one of the customers get up on a table and pull out some sort of makeshift instrument to play some music. Others joined along by banging the tables with their spoons to create a beat. Soon the whole place was up and bustling in dance.

I had the biggest urge to join in but I knew from the gloomy figure beside me that I couldn't. I couldn't believe that I was just going to miss this chance. Last night, I'd seen a party just like this and I couldn't dance with them because they were too far. Now the gathering was right in front of me and I still couldn't join.

"Come dance." The little Baekhyun was back at my side, pulling my hand. Even though I couldn't even fathom the dirt that those hands have touched, I didn't pull away because I wanted to accept his offer.

I gave a sheepish smile instead. "Thank you but—"

"I'm gonna go outside for some fresh air. Don't leave the building." Jongin pushed his chair back and weaved through the crowd without a backward glance in my direction. Was this his way of giving me permission to join the party?

I shrugged and followed the little boy. We twirled around with his older siblings and I occasionally spun with some of the older men. I sang along to songs that I didn't know or understand and accepted the offer to play some of their instruments. Everybody just seemed like a big family even though they were all parts of different homes.

"Does this party happen every night?" I asked the innkeeper who was drinking a mug of ale herself. I took a second to make sure that my cloak was still closed and that all of me was covered. Having one hand securely holding the cloth together made for an awkward dance but nobody had complained.

"It depends who shows up," she shrugged. "But since yesterday was just the harvest festival, I think people are still in the mood for celebrations."

She offered me some ale but I declined. I was more interested in dancing around with the kids. They seemed to be jumping off the walls even though I hadn't seen them touch a morsel of food in the entire time that I had stayed watching them. One by one, from oldest to youngest, they were starting to tire and soon Baekhyun and I were the only ones left spinning around in the room. We shared one last laugh before his mother pulled him to bed.

The only people left were the bearded drunk men who were too lost in their cups to play their instruments anymore. I reached up to make sure my hood was still on and sat back at the little table. There was a room upstairs that we had booked as brother and sister but I decided to wait for Jongin to get back before stealing the bed for myself. It felt rude to not wish him goodnight.

I wondered if I was also rude for letting him go out on his own. Or maybe I shouldn't have paid the seamstress to make that dress for me. Then we wouldn't have to stay here.

But then we'd be staying under some tree out in the cold night. At least the torches in here kept us warm.

"You're back!" I looked up and saw the innkeeper with a mug in her hands running towards Jongin who'd just arrived through the door. "Here, have some ale to warm up those bones."

Jongin accepted reluctantly before speaking quietly with the innkeeper about something important. He didn't seem to get what he wanted though as he walked towards me dejectedly.

"Welcome back," I greeted him.

"She won't let us leave until the morning," he sighed before seating himself.

I put my chin on my hand and gazed at Jongin, wondering what was so wrong about the innkeeper's generosity. "You know, in my world, most people are grateful that people are giving them a place to stay."

"I just went to the dress woman's house and saw your dress in the window. She's all done with it." He took a swig of ale and wiped his lips on the back of his hand. "We could probably go pick it up right now and leave."

"So you wanted to just leave without paying?"

He nodded. "I was willing to pay for my meal but not the room and now she won't let us leave because she can't get anybody else to fill it," he said, gesturing towards the innkeeper who was too busy cleaning to listen to us.

I eyed his ale and then glanced back at him. "You want to get kicked out of this place?" I asked quietly.

He ran his hand through his hair and sighed before falling back into his seat and crossing his arms. "More or less. But I'd rather not start some fight in a nice little place like this."

I took a quick peek at the innkeeper to make sure her back was turned to me before grabbing Jongin's cup and chugging a few mouthfuls of ale.

"Hey, what are you—" Jongin sat forward and watched me as I doubled over. The mug was safely back on the table and I coughed a few times as the alcohol swirled in my stomach uneasily. My eyes began to tear and my face scrunched up in distaste.

"I feel...sick," I wheezed loudly. The saliva in my mouth began to taste so bad that I didn't dare swallow and it began to fall down my chin.

Jongin grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me up. He pushed back my hood and touched my cheeks. "God, you're red already. Why did you do that?" He looked truly distressed and I wanted to roll my eyes. Couldn't he see that I was trying to help him?

With the little amount of coordination I had, I pulled my hood back over my head. I pointed at my temple and tried to wink even though it probably came out wrong.

"What's with her?" I heard the innkeeper say from across the room.

"Uhh, nothing. She's...she's fine," Jongin replied while trying to hold me up.

No, I'm not fine. Get us out of here.

I pretended to gag and even Jongin moved out of the way so I wouldn't throw up on him.

"Does she need a doctor?" The innkeeper was closer now which meant my plan was working.

All of a sudden, Jongin's arm went under my knees and I found myself laying with my side against his stomach. I groaned from the dizziness, not expecting the swift lift.

"Ah no, I'll just take her upstairs. She gets a fever every few months out of nowhere." Jongin was carrying me somewhere but I was too busy coughing. "The apothecary told us to just let her sleep through it."

"A fever?" I heard the innkeeper rush towards us. "No no no no, you're getting out of here. My little boy gets sick way too often and the last time somebody brought an illness in, Baekhyun barely made it out alive."

We were being pushed out the door and I felt the cold sting my skin. "But my sister..." Jongin added some fake pleading into his voice and I commended his acting.

"Get your sister to a doctor. My place isn't for the sick!" And then I heard the door shut.

Good job. I pulled out my hand and gave Jongin a thumbs-up.

"Your acting's not half bad," he said as he carried me down the road.

I rubbed my head, feeling the real effects of the alcohol slowly seeping in. "Weird things happen when I drink but usually I use this trick when I don't want to attend a court dance."

"Ah, is that why I haven't seen you at half the dances?"

I pulled back my hood a little to look up at him. "You haven't seen me at half of the dances? I haven't seen you in any."

Jongin nodded thoughtfully and grinned. "That means I'm doing my job properly."

I huffed and pulled my hood back down. "Yeah, your job," I remarked and curled up to keep the warmth to myself. From what I remembered, there was a bit of distance between the inn and the shop.

"We're here," Jongin said and set me on the cold ground without warning. I guess I was wrong in my estimation; Jongin had arrived at our destination within minutes.

As he walked to the door of the seamstress, I glared at his back and curled my toes together. I didn't have the energy to follow him to the house.

What a gentleman.

He turned back and winked in my direction before the door opened to reveal the lady who had sold me the dress.

---