A/N : Hello to the new subscribers! Hope you guys enjoy this chapter, and as always, your comment is love. :)

CHAPTER 15 : Cinderella

MINA’S POV

I was awaken after a few hours of sleep by a loud ring from my phone, and I knew exactly who was calling.

“Hello?”

“The recording’s in an hour. If you’re not here by fifteen minutes, you’re fired,” Luhan warned.

For some reason, the word fired no longer surprised me. As soon as he hung up, I took a quick shower, wore the first set of clothes I could find, and headed to their dorm. On my way, I was deep in thought about the truce we had last night, half-wondering whether or not he remembered that it happened in the first place. Despite not having enough sleep, I felt content that there might be a possibility of us getting along.

When I arrived, almost everyone was ready except of course - my boss. I greeted the members, who exchanged knowing looks, before knocking on Luhan’s room.

“Do you need help?”

“You won’t be coming with me to the studio today.”  he said without even sending me a glance.

“I won’t?”

“Go straight to Jung Wan’s and pick up my suit.”

“Alright. Is there anything else?”

“No. You can leave now.”

As I headed out of the room, I thought how there was nothing different with the way he treated me - truce or no truce. Though I guess it was pretty much better than being shouted at all the time. Besides, I figured it would be too weird if Luhan suddenly had a complete transformation.

I went to Jung Wan’s place about a month ago with Luhan for his costume fitting. I didn’t exactly remember where his fashion boutique was but it was quite easy to find, given how famous Jung Wan is in Korea as a fashion designer. His minimalistic elegant trademark conquered the industry a few years back, and since then, he had designed for a lot of big stars, including EXO.

The receptionist greeted me as soon as I got in, and led me to the sofa to wait for Jung Wan. The last time I was here, I didn’t get a chance to see him. And for some reason, meeting him alone felt very uncomfortable. In his thirties, he is already one of the richest person in the country. He was obviously an intimidating person, and even in his photos in magazines, he seemed to be a bit snobbish.

“You must be Mina?” Jung Wan suddenly appeared before me.

I hurriedly stood up and straightened myself, in hopes that he won’t notice my second-rate clothes, “Yes. Uhm - Luhan asked me to pick up his suit?”

“Right. She will hand it to you later.” He pointed to the receptionist with such a flare, he was more feminine than I was. 

“Later?”

“We have already prepared some dresses that might fit you. Maybe you could try it all out first before I call the stylist.”

I was lost, “I’m sorry? Dresses? Stylist?”

To my dismay, Jung Wan refused to explain what was happening. Instead, he kept silent and led me to the fitting room with a white glamorous dress on one hand, and a blue chic gown on the other. I was left with no choice but fit the gowns in front of the life-size mirror. I thought of calling Luhan to tell him what was happening, but I figured sooner or later the misunderstanding will be resolved. Maybe Jung Wan mistook me for someone else. I decided to fit the blue gown first since the white one was too revealing for my taste. It was a blue greek style dress which flowed to its ends, with sleeves hanging on both shoulders.

When I got out of the room, Jung Wan was sitting by the sofa. He eyed me from head to toe, probably scrutinizing how his elegant creation ended up with such an ungraceful girl.

I quickly explained, “I think there might be a misunderstanding. I was only supposed to get Luhan’s suit? Luhan from SM Entertainment? EXO’s Lu Han?”

Jung Wan chuckled, “Oh dear. Of course I know who Luhan is. And no, there’s no misunderstanding.” He crossed his legs and tapped his fingers, “Try the white one. There’s something I don’t like about this gown.”

What he didn’t like was probably the person wearing it. I was not elegant, let alone fit to wear an evidently expensive gown. I went back to the fitting room, still confused, and put on the white dress. This time, when I got out, his eyes widened and gleamed - he obviously liked it. Even I was amazed by how different I looked with the dress. It hugged my curves (that I didn’t know I had) and accentuated the color of my skin.

“Parfait!” he exclaimed, “Just perfect!”

He clapped his hands lightly before twirling me around to see how I looked. He asked me to wear my old clothes again before leading me to another room, where a couple of unknown faces examined me. For about five hours, I was led to each and every stylist’s hands. I almost slept while they washed my hair like ten times, braiding it and pulling it in complicated ways. It was nothing however when they put make up on me, I literally cried because of the eyeliner and the mascara. 

Of course I tried my hardest to ask everyone what was happening. But till the end, I was left clueless. After fixing my hair and my make up, they asked me to wear the white dress again. They then led me to the mirror, and I almost fainted in surprise seeing how I looked. I was a completely different person. For the first time ever, I actually looked…  I think I looked beautiful.

My mouth was hanging open when Jung Wan entered the room. “Beautiful. Exquisite.”

“I really appreciate this,” I smiled, “But I really think there’s been a misunderstanding.”

“Oh no dear. No misunderstanding.” He held me by the shoulders and led me to the reception area, “Come on now.”

I was resolved to get answers from Jung Wan, but before I could question him some more, a man sitting by the sofa stood up to gaze at me. I caught my breath in surprise.

It was Luhan.

LUHAN’S POV

The recording ended just in time for me to go to Jung Wan’s and meet Mina. The other members headed home to prepare for the party tonight. Apparently, I was the only one who had yet to get my suit. I immediately put on the suit as soon as I arrived at the boutique. The receptionist told me that Mina was almost ready, so I resolved to sitting by the sofa to wait for her.

I smiled to myself thinking how she was probably confused and lost the entire time, not knowing why she was suddenly getting a complete makeover. After a while, Jung Wan’s voice caught my attention, and when I looked his way, my jaw dropped. Beside him was a stranger - a stranger who up until yesterday was my assistant Mina. She was wearing a white dress that seemed to be tailored just for her. Her hair had been braided into a bun and her face has been completely exposed, with little make up on that accentuated her soft features. Despite my best efforts, I couldn’t help but stand there gazing at her for what felt like a long time, until it hit me that I needed to say something.

“Thank you Jung Wan.” I cleared my throat, “I owe you one.”

“Oh no Luhan. Mina’s really funny, I like her.”

Jung Wan bid Mina goodbye the fashionable way, cheek to cheek, and told her to call him if she ever needs anything. I was a bit glad that they got along so easily. When Jung Wan left us to ourselves, I was back to being the staring machine.

“Sir I’m so sorry but I don’t understand…”

“There’s a company party we have to go to. We’ll be late if we don’t start moving.” I turned my back and headed out, hoping that she didn’t notice that I thought she was a stunning sight to behold.

MINA’S POV

Was I relieved that Luhan put in a favor to dress me up, because when I saw the company party, I knew right away that my shabby shirt and jeans would make me look out of place. EXO was waiting for us at the entrance and when they saw me, they all cheered and praised me in surprise.

“Wow.” Kris said, “Just. Wow.”

“You look amazing Mina.” Chen complimented.

We were greeted with flashes of light coming from the cameras of the paparazzi and familiar faces - famous stars of the industry. I followed behind EXO members with my head down, conscious of how I looked, wishing that no one would notice me. Luhan looked at me and signaled me to go over his side. I felt a tinge of comfort having him close. When we reached the reserved table,  Luhan pulled a seat for me, and I blinked twice wondering what has gotten onto him.

“Where are the other assistants?” I whispered to Lay who was sitting beside me.

“I don’t think they’re coming.” he smiled, “but no worries, Luhan listed you as our plus one.”

“Luhan listed me as your plus one?” I asked in disbelief.

Luhan was sitting right across me, chatting with Xiumin and Chen. I glanced at him, not sure what to make of his sudden change. A river of questions filled my head, why did he make me a plus one? Why did he ask Jung Wan to give me a makeover? The only answer that made sense was that he ate something bad or he was high. As if to make things worse, he caught me looking at him. Unable to break away from the stare, I swallowed awkwardly. Then the weirdest thing happened… he smiled at me. Luhan actually smiled at me.

“Mina? Mina? Are you listening?” Lay nudged me.

“I’m sorry…” I regained my senses, “what were you saying?”

“I asked if you would give me the honor of this dance?” he smiled.

My eyes was torn away from Lay’s to the dancing crowd at the center of the banquet hall. I smiled at him and nodded as he led me to the dance floor. I heard the EXO members clamor at us, all the while teasing Lay. It came off as funny to me, because if anything, Lay was too friendly to even be awkward with. When we finally made our way to the center, he placed my right hand on his shoulder. Slowly, we moved side to side, back and forth, to the rhythm of the song.

“Isn’t it kind of weird that you’re dancing with me?” I asked.

“Not at all. Don’t worry about it.” He assured me, “So I heard you and Luhan spent last night together?”

I was taken aback, “When you phrase it like that, it sounds kinda wrong.”

Lay chuckled, “I can see he’s warming up a bit to you.”

“I wouldn’t really know…” I sighed.

“Just give him time. He’s rude and all, but really, he’s a good person.”

Before I could say another word, a throbbing pain in the ankle hit me. I made a wrong step which resulted to it being twisted. Lay noticed how I cringed in pain, but luckily, I was able to pretend to the people around us that nothing was wrong. He asked me if I wanted to go back to the table, but I decided to head outside to prevent myself from doing anything more stupid.

I looked around the banquet and noticed an exit that led straight to a quiet terrace. I sat by the ledge and removed the exaggerated heels I was wearing. I knew I would make a mistake - given how clumsy I was. It was a good thing though that no one really saw what happened. I didn’t want to embarrass Luhan, or EXO for that matter. When I checked my ankle, I realized that it was swollen. I carefully massaged it, gently twisting it to see if it was broken. I let out a shriek of pain and instantly regretted what I just did.

“Stop twisting it,” A voice interrupted. I caught sight of Luhan who had been standing by the door.

I rapidly put back my heels, “I’m sorry I left, I just didn’t want to make a scene.”

He approached me and knelt on one knee. He gently slapped my hand away from my feet, removed my heels once more, and insisted on checking to see if I had broken my ankle. Uncomfortable with it, I instantly withdrew my foot from his hold. But he took it back in a second, worry visible in his chiseled features.

“You couldn’t wait at least after dinner to act clumsily?” he said while carefully turning my ankle.

“I didn’t mean to, I’m sorry.”

“Does it still hurt?” he looked up at me.

“I’m fine sir,” I gently stood up, trying my best to balance myself, “I can get a cab to go home.”

He paused for a while, as if deep in thought.

I started to head out but before I could make one step forward, he pulled my hand, “Let’s go.”

He led me out to the exit, evading the guards and the SM staff. We hid behind the columns that surrounded the banquet every time a guard would show up. I didn’t understand what Luhan was trying to do. We rushed out of the banquet speedily, it almost felt like we were in a B-rated action movie.  Though my ankle still felt swollen, everything that Luhan and I was doing was just too funny to handle. And when I couldn’t help it anymore, I chuckled noisily. Luhan covered my mouth in one quick swift.

“Shh. They might hear us.” He whispered.

Luckily, we were able to reach the gate without being caught. I figured we were on our way to the main road to grab a cab, but then rain started pouring. He immediately took his coat off of him, and hovered it over our heads. I felt his arm cover my shoulders, sending an inexplicable jolt through me.

Unable to run because of my ankle, it took a while for us to reach the nearest establishment with a roof. Unfortunately, the only building near was an abandoned warehouse with a flickering lamppost that turned our action movie to a horror one. I looked over my white dress, and realized that it had turned gray. Luhan, on the other hand, looked like he had just finished a fight with a bull.

Without warning, Luhan burst out laughing like a kid who had just heard the funniest joke. He held his stomach, unable to stop himself from chuckling. Now, his screws have really began to unfasten itself.

“Are you-“ I furrowed my brows, “Is everything alright?”

He continued snickering, “It’s just-” chuckles worked its way between his words. “It’s just this is probably the stupidest thing I’ve ever done.”

Unexpectedly, I started laughing with him too, thinking back to our covert ways of escaping the banquet and picturing us like freeloaders on the street side. It took a while for him to stop laughing, and even after, a big smile was still plastered on his face. I felt a warm feeling inside. I thought about the many faces of Luhan that I’ve seen - and so far, this has definitely been my favorite. 

“Stupidest thing?” I asked.

“I don’t really do stupid things.”

“So why did you? All of a sudden?”

“Don’t you think it’s good to do things that don’t make sense once in a while?”

I smiled knowing exactly what he meant, “Would it be okay though sir? I mean, they might be looking for you.”

“It’s fine as long as I attended.” He glanced at me, “how’s your ankle?”

“My ankle? It’s better… but I think it’s best if we get going.” I added, “If the press sees you like this, it’d be chaotic.”

“We’ll leave once the rain dies down.” He handed his coat to me and signaled me to wear it.

I obliged since the dress I wore could barely cover my frigid body. I blanketed the coat on my back, faintly smelling Luhan’s musky perfume that stayed on it, a scent that fitted him perfectly. For a moment, there was nothing but silence between us, except for the pattern of his heavy breathing and the stony raindrops that fell on the pavement. We had seated side by side on the ground, with our shoulders barely touching. I closed my eyes and wondered if this was what it was like to be in a truce with Luhan. It felt a bit strange, but certainly, it felt right.

When I opened my eyes, I noticed that he was staring at me. I shifted awkwardly and looked everywhere else except at him. His gaze made me feel vulnerable, restless even.

“It’s too bad you hurt your ankle,” he paused and faced me, “We weren’t able to dance.”

His upfront statement sent shivers through my body, making my knees weaken. I didn’t know what he meant, and it scared me. He wanted to dance with me? Before I could jump to conclusions, his phone rang, breaking the obvious tension surrounding us.

He picked it up reluctantly and after a few seconds on the phone, his face changed, his grip hardened. Blood rushed up to his neck and his eyes turned stone cold. The absolute change of the mood frightened me, I had never see Luhan so tense, so furious.

Anxiety took over me, who was on the other end of the line?