You don’t know me, and I don’t know you. Understand?

Joonmyun’s words played in D.O’s head as he carried trays full of expensive wines through the huge ballroom. Men wearing brand-name suits chatted with women clad in designer dresses. They all seemed to be having a good time, talking about business, and family. However, beneath the smiles and politeness, there was a dark aura. Kyungsoo expected nothing less from a business party, where all everyone ever thought about was money.

Kyungsoo could see Kai and Sehun handsomely offering drinks to a crowd of girls who seemed infatuated with the pair. Kai looked rather uncomfortable under all the attention, while Sehun seemed to be entertaining them with something he was saying. Kyungsoo smiled, seeing that both boys looked like they at least didn’t despise being here.

As the short boy weaved through the guests, he found Joonmyun speaking to Luhan and Yixing. Joonmyun was an entirely different person. He spoke with grace and confidence, like the son of a CEO should. Their fathers were standing beside them, with smiles on their faces, as they discussed their children.

“Your son has grown into a fine young man!” Luhan’s father patted Joonmyun on the shoulder with a smile. “He’ll make a fine successor to your company.”

Joonmyun bowed with a smile. “Thank you very much for your kind words, sir.”

“I’m very proud of him. He already advises me on how to run the company! I think he thinks this old man isn’t capable anymore, isn’t that right, Joonmyun?” Joonmyun’s father laughed and grinned at his son. His eyes bore into his son’s soul, and his teeth were clenched. His expression said something like, Say something nice or die.

“I can’t hope to be as good of a businessman as you, father,” Joonmyun answered, a bright smile on his face. Kyungsoo was stunned by how real his words sounded. If he didn’t know this was all an act, he would have never guessed that Joonmyun was reciting a script he had written in his head.

Joonmyun’s father turned to Yixing. “And you my boy? I tried your new line of cookies, and I must say, they were absolutely delicious! Tastes just like my grandmother’s!”

Yixing laughed and bowed deeply. “Thank you so much sir! I’m very happy that you were satisfied with our products.” Even the usually reserved and introverted Yixing had an aura of confidence around him. However, the dark circles under his eyes betrayed the bravado and showed how tiring acting really was.

Kyungsoo walked away from the group, feeling sick from seeing the masks that his friends had the wear, just to impress their fathers and future business partners. He could understand why Joonmyun resented his father so much. Is this the life’s he’s been living?

He went about his business once more, serving drinks and collecting empty glasses. The dinner was about to start soon; he would have to serve plates of food instead of drinks. Kyungsoo started to regret agreeing to work at this party, the atmosphere of wealthy people was beginning to make him very uncomfortable.

Kyungsoo went back to the kitchen to grab another tray full of dark red wine, and milled around the edges of the crowd. Suddenly, three stunningly gorgeous girls walked past him, gracefully picking up glasses as they flounced past. Poor Kyungsoo was blasted with a wave of designer perfume and the smell of expensive shampoo.

After he regained his ability to smell things other than ridiculously rich girls, he found Joonmyun again, talking to the three girls who he had just met, as well as Joonmyun’s father and another man who was most likely the girls’ father. The oldest sister was perched on Joonmyun’s arm, a dazzling smile on her face. Of course, this was also quite fake.

“Yoona you’re so lucky to marry such a handsome guy! When will I find my prince?” The youngest of the girls sighed dreamily, daydreaming about the prince that would sweep her off her feet.

Wait? Marry?

Kyungsoo was thoroughly confused, since he didn’t know that Joonmyun had a fiancée.  For some reason, a small part of him broke inside, and he suddenly felt very, very sad. Joonmyun never told me he was getting married...

Joonmyun laughed modestly and shook his head. “I’m the lucky one, to be able to marry such a beautiful woman.” He held his lady slightly tighter, as if he really did mean the words he was saying.

Both parties’ fathers laughed heartily. “I’m glad your relationship is working out, my future son-in-law.” Yoona’s father grinned and slapped Joonmyun on the back. “Just saying, if you hurt my daughter, I will slaughter you, you hear?”

“Father!” Yoona cried indignantly.

Again, the large man burst out laughing. “I’m just kidding! He’s a good man.” He took a sip of his wine, thinking carefully. “I think we should have the wedding soon. Right after graduation maybe?”

“Now, now,” Joonmyun’s father said. “That’s a little bit late don’t you think? I’m getting old and I need him to take over soon. How about in two months?” He smiled sweetly and deadly at Joonmyun.

Joonmyun laughed, the wedding comment not seeming to faze him at all. “We can talk about that later. Dinner is about to start soon, so why don’t we head to our seats?”

That was Kyungsoo’s cue to go back to the kitchen, and begin serving plates. He was thankful to get out of that atmosphere and to somewhere where he could cool his head. His mind was still swirling with the scene that had just unfolded a mere 5 minutes ago. He shook his head furiously and took a deep breath. Get yourself together Kyungsoo. No worries.

Unfortunately, he was assigned to Joonmyun’s table. Kyungsoo carried the plates of expensive, high-class food to the table, and set them down as gracefully as he could. He ran back to the kitchen and returned with a bottle of 42-year-old Merlot. Kyungsoo moved around the table, starting with Joonmyun. Joonmyun quickly glanced at Kyungsoo apologetically, to which the latter could only quickly smile before moving on. Little did he know, Yoona caught the exchange.

Skipping over the far too young Tiffany, he served the middle sister. She stared at him with intense eyes, eyes that were far to wise for her age. Kyungsoo gulped and moved on to Yoona. He began pouring the wine, when suddenly the middle sister kicked him in the shin with her stiletto heel. Kyungsoo stifled a yelp, but spilled wine all over Yoona’s designer dress.

The eldest sister shot upwards with a scream, dark purple blossoming across the white silk, while Kyungsoo frantically tried to keep the bottle upright and suppressing the pain in his right leg. The only thing that crossed his mind was ‘Oh ...’

‘Oh ’ was right. Yoona was having a fit, cursing and waving her hands in the air. “You ! Do you know how much this dress costs?” She screeched at poor Kyungsoo, who could only fidget with his head down and endure the screaming. “This dress is from Italy, custom made, one of a kind, and you ruined it with your clumsy hands.”

The whole dining hall was quiet, watching the scene unfold. Kyungsoo was not even surprised to find that no one was going to help Yoona, even her own father who was rubbing his temples. Again the middle sister was staring at him.

Suddenly, Yoona whipped her hand across Kyungsoo’s cheek, the crack echoing. Some people gasped, but again, no one did a thing. She continued to scream something about brands that Kyungsoo didn’t recognize, and large sums of money. Yoona raised her hand again, and he braced himself for impact.

The slap never contacted.

Joonmyun was in front of Kyungsoo, a red mark on his cheek where Yoona’s hand had been. Everyone seemed stunned, even Yoona. Joonmyun gazed at his fiancée with a cold, hard stare. “Although it was wrong of him to spill wine on your dress, it is wrong of you to overreact to the point of physically abusing the waiter.”

Kyungsoo suddenly felt the intense urge to run away, to remove himself from the situation. He realized what a bad idea it was to agree to attend the ball.  The fallacy, the money-hungry, egotistical bastards, everything was just too much from him. But most of all, the events that just occurred confirmed the feelings he had been trying too hard to hide. He hated himself for falling for someone like Joonmyun, and he hated everything.

When Joonmyun turned around, he was already gone. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: I'm uncreative with chapter names lmao

Also that awkward moment when you're bored at work so you write fanfiction lol

Hope you liked this chapter, I hope the weekly updates are okay too :D Comment below letting me know what you think of this fic, feedback is very very much appreciated :) 

Thanks for reading, and I'll do my best to post another chapter next week!