Christmas Ball

The Pretty One II

Chaekyung stared at her reflection in the mirror and bit her lip.

She was wearing a pale light pink dress with a heart-shaped neckline which ended two inches above her knees. Her short bob hairstyle was now longer than before and ended around her shoulders. Jaekyung had helped to tie a waterfall braid around her head and added a pretty silver clip.

Not used to having anything on her face, Chaekyung had on minimal makeup: just light bb cream and blusher.

Any male that caught her sight would no doubt gape at the beauty, however the beauty herself wasn't sure of herself. It seemed as though Jaekyung and Chaekyung switched roles all of a sudden, since it was the elder sister who was insecure of herself in the past.

Ever since getting together with L, Jaekyung had become more outspoken, more confident and her newfound steadiness was quickly adding to her list of charms.

However, ever since Chaekyung broke up with L, she became oddly conscious about the way she looked and whether people were judging her. Originally, she was aware of the numerous suitors and she knew that lots of people thought she was pretty. She didn't think she was exceptional but she did acknowledge she was above average.

Now she didn't even allow herself that tinsy bit of pride.

Chaekyung swallowed and picked up her clutch and put on her heels. She took a deep breath and stared at the mirror once more, watching as a sweet looking girl gazed back at her.

"I wonder if L oppa will think I look nice like thi-" Chaekyung's eyes widened and she shook her head at the thought that had somehow forced itself into her head. She bit her lip guiltily and slapped her forehead.

"Don't think about those things, Lee Chaekyung. L oppa is dating Jaekyung unnie now and that's that." she sighed and trudged down to meet her sister. She hoped she would enjoy the ball. A little, at least.

 

 

 

L arrived to pick Jaekyung up first and Chaekyung nearly gasped out loud at how dashing he looked in a suit. The moment he stepped through the doorway, his eyes connected with Jaekyung's and a tender soft smile snuck up his lips. 

Chaekyung sighed and looked down at her dress, knowing that no matter how she tried to dress up, she would never catch his eye.

She glanced at her elder sister who was donning a beautiful pale lilac flowy maxi dress and had her hair in soft luscious girls. She looked like a fairy that came out of a fairytale.

Chaekyung felt like her little princess dress didn't look as nice as it did all of a sudden.

"You look beautiful." L murmured softly, smiling down at Jaekyung who blushed prettily. Mrs Lee fussed about for a few more moments, snapping a couple of pictures before sending them off to the door. L glanced back at Chaekyung and sent a friendly brotherly smile. "You look nice today Chae. Is L.Joe coming soon?"

Chaekyung nodded and forced a smile, noting the different adjectives he chose for her and her sister. "Yeah, go on with unnie and I'll see you guys there later. Have fun alright?" she plastered a cheerful beam on her face.

L flashed a killer smile before jogging over to his car.

Chaekyung fidgeted on the couch, suddenly not having the mood to go after all. She took out her phone from her heart shaped clutch and was about to message L.Joe when a loud horn was heard from outside the house. Chaekyung craned her neck to peek, and was astonished to find L.Joe hopping out of a white Lexus instead of his motorbike as usual.

She rushed to the door, her eyes wide as they took in his sight in a black tux. Strangely, his pink/red hair was redder than usual and he looked...well...hot. Very hot.

He seemed to be surprised with what he saw and faltered for a bit, before collecting his nerves and slowly striding towards her. His gaze however, looked slightly different and there was some foreign emotion in those eyes that was unreadable. He reached her side and Chaekyung looked away from him, doing her best to not include him in her line of sight or she would definitely start staring.

If L was a prince charming, L.Joe was the dangerous knight. 

"You uh..." Chaekyung accidently let her eyes meet his and she lost her tongue for a second. She never thought red hair was flattering but gosh did L.Joe look hot at that moment. In fact, she wasn't even sure if L would be able to pull of this look. "Where did you get the car?" she avoided the cliche topic of commenting on his tux.

L.Joe shrugged. "Rented it for the big night." he flicked her nose and both of them relaxed, the gesture annoyingly familiar that set them back into their comfort zones. "Why, did you think I'd let you ride my bike in that skirt?" he teased.

Chaekyung wrinkled her nose and stuck her tongue out. "How would I know!" she defended. L.Joe chuckled and tried messing up her hair, which made Chaekyung duck frantically for fear of her beautifully braided hair. "Yah Ariel!"

Mrs Kim watched them from the kitchen with a soft smile on her lips. "It's about time you got over Myungsoo, Chae." she murmured.

 

 

 

"Yah I can't walk fast in these!" Chaekyung complained, pouting down at her pretty heels that were seriously taking a toll on her calves. Her beloved fake boyfriend walked in large strides that she couldn't keep up with and was already way in front of her.

L.Joe glanced back at her and gave a relented sigh. He returned to her side and offered his arm, much to Chaekyung's surprise. She stared at his arm as if it was something foreign and L.Joe rolled his eyes, grabbing her hands to hold onto his arm.

"Hold onto me for support, stupid princess." L.Joe flicked her forehead, liking how she sent him her customary annoyed pout. Chaekyung's fingers tightened around his arm as they neared the entrance, signalling her nervousness that surfaced all of a sudden.

She never once cared about these balls since it was just a time to have fun and dress up prettily, but now she suddenly felt conscious of comments from passing people and whether they compared her to Jaekyung.

As she held her smile, what terrified her the most was that everyone would finally see that the younger Lee sister was no match to the elder one.

L.Joe glanced down at her, noticing her shift in emotions. He didn't know why she suddenly looked terrified and troubled when she was so excited about dressing up for the Christmas ball in the first place. L.Joe looked around and all he could see were admiring gazes from both females and males alike.

Being a male himself, he could tell he gazes of lust and desire from some of the fanboys which were stronger and more prominent than usual. Chaekyung really did look gorgeous that night.

L.Joe would never admit it to her, but she did take his breath away for a few moments when he caught sight of her. His heart gave an unexpected skip and he had to take a deep breath to calm his nerves before he could face her without letting it show how much she affected him.

She affected him. God, how ridiculous did that sound.

Shaking his head to clear his thoughts, L.Joe glanced down to check on Chaekyung once more. She was smiling politely and waving to some classmates, but the look of doubt was still present on her face.

L.Joe frowned lightly. What was she doubtful about?

He finally followed her gaze to find that she kept sneaking glances at L and Jaekyung. L.Joe fixed his gaze on Jaekyung and she took his breath away a little. She looked like she stepped out of a fairytale with her lilac maxi dress which flowed with her every movement.

He didn't notice Chaekyung peeking up at him, catching his reaction before sighing and bowing her head down.

Surprisingly, despite how beautiful Jaekyung was that night, L.Joe realized that he wasn't as stumped as when he caught sight of Chaekyung. The quiet charm eluded from Jaekyung, making her untouchable and goddess-like, such that L.Joe wanted to build a pedastal.

Chaekyung on the other hand, looked scared and insecure which somehow made him want to stay by her side protecting her instead of going over to Jaekyung which he should be. He caught a few more boys checking out his "girlfriend" and he felt this strange sort of pride rising within him that she was here with him.

He placed his hand on top of hers that was holding onto his arm as he led her to their friends. He side-glanced at the fanboys and smirked inwardly at their disappointed expressions.

"That's right, she's here with me." L.Joe scoffed in his mind.

When he turned back to look at Chaekyung, he noticed that she was staring at her feet instead and she looked...a little disappointed?

Before he could ask, they already reached the rest of their friends who immediately surrounded the new arrivals. "Chaekyung, you look really pretty tonight!" Soomi and Bomi came to her sides and Chaekyung let go of L.Joe's arm. He immediately missed the warmth.

One of the Infinite boys let out a wolf-whistle. "Yep Chaekyung, gorgeous!" Sungyeol gave her thumbs up. "If L.Joe hadn't taken you I'd have made a move!" he grinned.

Chaekyung broke into a smile and shook her head in amusement. L.Joe scowled in annoyance that she reacted to Sungyeol while she never smiled like that while with him. "Like you would hit on me, Sungyeol oppa." she laughed.

"You never know," Hoya snickered. "This guy is dangerous." he joked.

"Don't you dare hit on my sister, Sungyeol." Jaekyung warned jokingly. "She's already taken." Sungyeol opened his mouth to protest when L stepped up, raising a brow. "And don't you dare make a comment about hitting my MY girlfriend instead." he smirked, knowing his best friend too well.

Sungyeol pouted and rolled his eyes. "Aish, you guys aren't fun at all." he complained. "Imma hit the desert table." he darted off.

Ricky and CAP passed, looking unexpectedly dashing in their suits. Ricky's eyes lit up when he saw Chaekyung and looked pleased that L.Joe and Chaekyung had made up. With his help of course.

"Hello Chaekyung sshi hello hyung!" Ricky chirped, his gaze fixated on Chaekyung. L.Joe pursed his lips in irritation and turned the dongsaeng's head towards him. "Look at me when you say hi, damn it." he muttered.

Ricky pouted. "You can't blame me for only wanting to look at beautiful people." he scoffed. L.Joe's jaw dropped and the Infinite boys laughed quietly amongst themselves. Before mister Ariel could make a comeback, Ricky continued. "And you!" he gaped. "You didn't drive Chaekyung sshi here in your motorbike did you?" he accused.

Jaekyung frowned at that thought. "Did you?"

L.Joe shook his head hurriedly in a hurry to get back into her good books. "I rented a car for tonight okay?" he defended quickly, shooting CAP and Ricky a look. "I wouldn't let her sit on a bike on a night like this."

"What car?" Dongwoo asked, interested. 

"Lexus." L.Joe smirked. Dongwoo nodded, slightly impressed. "Not like L's mercedes, but getting there." he grinned. "But I never pegged Chaekyung as one who would fall for a guy who drove a bike-" he looked around. "Speaking of Chaekyung, where is she?"

L.Joe immediately straightened, alarmed. She wasn't around beisde him anymore and she didn't even tell him when she left! L.Joe's brows furrowed in worry when he thought back to her doubful, terrified expression in the beginning and his brain immediately conjured a million scenarios of which she was hiding away in the toilet or being bullied by other girls.

The degree of concern he felt surprised him, but he wanted to find her before he cared about what he felt.

His eyes scanned around the ballroom quickly in search of that pink pretty dress which he secretly adored, and he finally found her at the desert table with Sungyeol.

Woohyun laughed. "Looks like she really took up Sungyeol's offer when he said he wanted to hit on her huh?"

L.Joe sighed and rubbed his temples, pushing past the crowd towards her. "Stupid princess." he muttered.

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
blondesakura
#1
Omg it's been so long. Just came back to this website to check if this has been updated but sobs. I guess it'll never be. But thanks to this author for raising teenage me lol
amicoolikethat #2
Still no update 😢
Scarlet07
#3
Chapter 33: Please continue 🙏 😔😔😔
amicoolikethat #4
It's been years :(
cheonchoni
#5
Chapter 22: I just had to scoff. Heh, I came here for jaesoo couple so I guess I'll stop here since the story isn't even completed anyway :( I might die from curiosity if I continue
cheonchoni
#6
Chapter 20: L.joe is such a hypocrite lmao. As if he's not whipped for chae! And both of them are so dense i just wanna bump their head together
cheonchoni
#7
Chapter 19: Idc if I'm being mean but at least chaekyung know her place ( ̄ヘ ̄)
cheonchoni
#8
Chapter 16: Ahhh jaekyung really deserve everything the world. I kinda hate chaekyung at first, but I'm glad to see her changing into a better person
cheonchoni
#9
Chapter 15: Look at that, at least he have some concience to apologise properly. And did he just ditched a time alone with jaekyung to go after chaekyung? I see improvement there