“Today’s the day! Look alive Jaein-ah, we have to get you ready for your date!”

You woke up to the sound of Mrs. Kim’s loud and cheerful voice, and before you knew it, she had drew the curtains apart.

“AHHHH!” you yelped, using your hands to block the sunlight that was now pouring in. You blinked your eyes a couple of times, trying to adjust to the light and saw Mrs. Kim’s petite figure smiling down at you.

“Oh, you woke up?” she giggled happily and pushed you a little bit to make room to sit down herself.

You groaned, “You’re the one who woke me up…”

She shrugged at you, blinking back innocently, “Oopsie, anyway let’s focus on the more important thing! You’re going out all day today to get you ready for your hot date!” Her eyes were twinkling with excitement as she shook you by the shoulders.

“W-What? But the ball doesn’t start until 8…” your eyes widened at her words. You had never gone to the school dances during high school because you had been too focused on your studies, so you had no idea what to expect for this ball.

“Right, and that means that we have to get moving! We only have…ten hours to get you all prettied up!” Mrs. Kim jumped out of the bed and began to pull on your arm.

“Ten hours?!” your jaw dropped, Do I need that much work on my body? You didn’t know whether to feel offended that Mrs. Kim would reserve that much time to get you “prettied up.”

“Of course! And that’s the minimum, usually I would make you get ready for fifteen hours, but I thought you wouldn’t like getting up that early,” she spoke in a matter-of-factly tone. “Now up! Up, up, up, let’s go!” she giggled, pushing your body off of the bed. You groaned in protest, but Mrs. Kim definitely had some major arm strength to push your entire body off of the bed. She waved at you to follow her and skipped out the door.

Reluctantly, you followed her out the door and right when your foot stepped out of your room, you heard the door next to you creak open. You lazily turned your head to the side and immediately regretted your decision when you were greeted by Jongin’s piercing eyes. You were still uncomfortable with him, especially when he was with Krystal. You didn’t know why you hated the fact that they were dating so much, especially when you’ve known Jongin for so long. Maybe that’s why it bugged you though, when you saw Krystal’s face and personality, you wondered why Jongin liked her in the first place.

“Happy hell day to you,” he grumbled as soon as your eyes met with his. You gave him a questioning look before he explained, “the day where my own mother becomes a beast and perfectionist, looking for my perfect soulmate,” Jongin gritted his teeth at the word and sighed.

“B-But you’re already dating someone…” you said quietly. Surely Mrs. Kim wouldn’t set Jongin up with another date when he already has a girlfriend. Jongin stayed silent for a moment before he spoke,

“My mom has her ways,” he said simply and started to walk to the stairs. You were surprised that even Jongin could be in a bad mood after the news broke out about him and his girlfriend. Shouldn’t he be out celebrating with his perfect girlfriend, drinking perfect champagne, and being…perfect? You scowled at your own thoughts and quickly climbed down the stairs to find Mrs. Kim.

“Of course you’re coming dear! You’ll just have to be cautious of the reporters,” you heard Mrs. Kim talking on the phone when you entered the kitchen. You guessed that she was speaking to Dahye by the sounds of the conversation. “Mhm, we’ll see you there honey,” she cooed, “oh, Jaein? One second,” Mrs. Kim held the phone out to you and nodded for you to take it. You pointed to yourself, giving her a confused look, but took the phone in your hand and held it to your ear.

“Unni!” Dahye’s voice echoed through the phone.

“Oh hey Dahye,” you rubbed the back of your neck and wondered why she wanted to speak to you all of a sudden. You had become close with her ever since the first time that you had met in…Jongin’s bed…but she wasn’t the type to contact you first.

“So I hear you’re coming to the ball with us this year,” she giggled, “I’m so happy that you’re coming! Every time before, mom would always drag me to the ball and make me watch Jjong oppa get courted by a billion girls,” Dahye sighed. In your mind, you could imagine her with an annoyed look on her face, making you chuckle. “Anyways, I wanted to let you know that for today, I’ll be your fairy godmother and make you Cinderella!” she said giddily.

You frowned, “W-What? Dahye, I just want to be in the background of the ball, not be the main event!”

“Oh don’t worry Jay unni, the main event is going to be Krystal and Jjong Oppa,” Dahye scowled. So Dahye did already know about Krystal…

“Right….” You spoke dryly, but quickly covered it up with a laugh, “I’m going to go now, I think your mom is going to kill me if I take any more time from her,” you looked out to the door and saw in the window that she had already parked in front of the house and was ready to go.

“No kidding, my mom can be pretty hostile when it comes to beauty…” Dahye shuddered at the thought, “I’ll see you at the beauty salon soon unni!”

“You’re going to be there too?” you asked her, wondering why Dahye would need to have a makeover herself.

“Of course! The ball is exclusive, so it’ll be extremely hard for the reporters to enter the hotel,” she explained, “that’s why mom and dad only invite VIP guests that know of our family’s identities.” It all made sense, but you felt terrible for Dahye who still couldn’t join the rest of her family in the ball. She would be there, but she wouldn’t be there as the daughter of the Kims’ she would be just a regular guest. “But I think you should get going, my mom hates waiting for people,” Dahye warned. You subconsciously nodded and said goodbye to Dahye before she spoke something into the receiver just as you were about to hang up. “I’ll help you look pretty for oppa.”

You were just about to say something back to her when you noticed that she had already hung up. Look pretty for…Jongin? You scratched your head in confusion, but ran out the door when you heard Mrs. Kim honking the car horn.

“Here we are Jaein!” Mrs. Kim clasped her hands excitedly at the entrance of the beauty salon. You let your eyes wander across the salon and gaped at all of the products and gadgets that were lined up along the mirrors. She wants me to go through all of this?!

“Jay unni!” you heard a sweet voice call to you, and snapped your head up to see Dahye alrea